Sump vs pressure filter

[Rodders02]

Hey all, I'm a complete noob when it comes to filtration and all the mechanical side to fish keeping. So I'm currently in the process of building an 8x3x2.5 plywood tank and I can't decide wether to go with a 10000 l/ph pressure filter or a 3x2x2 foot wet dry sump or fully submerged sump. The tank will be housing a mangrove jack, possibly 1 or 2 barramundi and a salmon tail catfish. I will be using standard bioballs for media. Please let me know firstly if either of these is enough filtration and which is better. Cheers, Tom

 

[SantaMonica]

Not exactly sure of the difference you mean betweend wet/dry and submerged sump. All sumps have a submerged section, and a section above the water. But for evaporation alone, a sump is probably what you want. Plus you can put the other things in there too.

Bioballs work, but will accumulate particles since they basically are a mechanical filter. So the particles rot and add nitrates. A filter floss above the bioballs helps prevent this.

If you want to avoid a sump, you can make an ammonia tower which is basically a tall narrow bioball tube. Great at converting ammonia, but even with floss at the top it will still make nitrates.

 

[duanes]

There is nothing magical about a pressurized filter, it does the same thing a sumps does.
I find sumps easier to do maintenance on, because if you put bio media in bags, and use filter socks for mechanical, to clean these things the filter (sump) is not shut down, and does not need to be taken apart. You just pull out the components, rinse and put them back in the sump.
Of course if your pressurized filter has a simple auto, or semi auto backwash option, it may also be easy.
But if it needs to be taken off line, taken apart, and put back together to clean, this tends to discourage cleaning.
I usually have my sumps very fulll (maybe considered fully submerged), and if I want a more wet/dry option have effluent trickle thru a bio-tower, into the sump.

 

[SantaMonica]

That's the ammonia tower.