Hi I have been wondering whether a tank with a sump would work for cichlids it would have 2 chambers that the water runs thru into the sump

so water would go thru filter wool then noodles then rowa phos then back up into the tank and out thru a spraybar.

Tank would measure 700x520x500 has corner overflow then sump underneath

Works out to 230 litres Do you think this would work. I keep african cichlids.

lots of people do this with their big display tanks to make the tank look natural and tidy, so it should work out fine for you.

sounds good to me

other people will give u more info

Go for it helen

Think it will become an awesome filter. Piet would testify to that

should make the water go through filter wool last to catch fine particals so all the muck doesnt get blocked on the wool, then have the noodles etc 1st to catch the coarse stuff that way you wont lose any suction/power

Hi everyone thanks for your replies. Would the size be ok for them

I have malawi cichlids

Hi there

I have three tanks an 850 litre a 400 and a 200 the 400 is set up with a sump as you describe and is superb, i am going to convert my 850 to the same system.

Our set up as follows if of any interest.

Overflow from main tank enters the first chamber which has course wool on the top then noodles bio bals and shells water coming out the bottom into the second large chamber, the water here is always good quality we just have a pump in this part of the sump that pumps back to the main tank, we have a valve on the otlet side of the pump to regulate flow back to the main tank.

A trap to watch, if you are setting this up yourself, is to make sure the outlet backinto the main tank is only just below the max level of your main tank, as when the power goes off the main tank will siphen back through the inlet untli it equalises, so you need a bit of spare capacity there as well.

The other advantage is you can put your heater etc in the sump, so nothing in the main tank.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Sumps are excellent

Sumps are alot better forfiltration simply cos of the extra media you can

I use them on my shop tanks and display tanks

The way I would run the media would be using Filter wool or Dacron first

You want this to catch all the particles in the water so your Biological Filtration doesnt get dirty

I then run a large sponge approx 50mm think to also stop particles getting through

Then I run Ceramic noodles or Bioballs

Ialso have a s bend in the bottom of the sump b4 it reaches the pump which I fill with Seachem Matrix

If you dont have the S bend simply use some Matrix or mix it with the Bioballs

IMO the Matrix has a larger surface area and a better surface for bacteria to grow on then Bioballs

Brad