After debating some other methods I'm now trying to build a sump filter for my 55g freshwater tank. I also want to grow plants in it. I'm using a 30g tank I happened to have as the base. After much study I think I understand the overflow. What I'm not sure on is how to structure inside of the sump itself. I've seen many diagrams all conforming to the same basic pattern: three sections, one with a waterfall, and one section divided into one inch bubble guards as they call them. ( I haven't found an explanation for the bubble guards, are they for the saltwater tanks only?) This standard pattern is probably the one I should be using. But what be easier for me to build and what I had originally envisioned was something like this. Sort of a maze like structure leading the water through a channel in which various filter media could be packed. This is easier for me to build as I would not require barriers cut to the exact width of the tank and so I could use these plastic barriers I happen to have, and I wouldn't have to buy an acrylic sheet then cut it. Would this work? If not why. And finally, if the the standard sump design would be vastly superior to my design, why is that?
