Hi I just bought a 5ft tank on TM It comes with a sump tank and the necessary plumbing. I am not sure how to set it up. Can anyone give me some instruction or perhaps direct me to an informative website that could help me?

I havent seen the tank yet. I hope that it not to hard to set up as I have always used power filters in my big tanks, this is all a bit new to me. It will be a freshwater amazon biotype.

what brand/size of return pump will I need to buy? what would people recommend?

cheers

score! that is an awesome tank and you got it really really cheap!

here is a pic of the sump off another thread (this pic is viewed from the back)

the water enters on the right side and trickles down through those teeth thing (this stops bubbles and salt creep in the sump. The baffles (divider things in the sump) are aranged in such a way that water has to flow under then over making it a sediment trap. of course the water level has to be kept above the hight of the lowest baffle.

I am afraid that you will have to make/ buy a trickle tower for filtration as this sump doesn't have one (they are not used on reef tanks).

For an amazon biotope for a 5 ft i would get an Eheim 1260 or similar

hey thanks for that.

Are trickle towers easy to get from the lfs or is it better to ty to make one.

I have googled and found some info and I think I kind of understand how it all works...the trickle tower acts as a wet/dry filter removing the bigger particles before the water enters the sump. The water in the sump is passed through various media before being returned to the tank.

So all I have to do is try to put it all together...I'm a bit "technically challenged" when it comes to this kind of thing but I suppose I will have to learn someday.

:-?

well if you hvent set one up, how can anyone expect for you to really know

so its ok

but in my opinion, just do this

imagine your canister filter

make one thats bigger, thats a sump

in essence, the sump is just a canister filter but in a larger grander scale

you have your bio media

wool

pump

etc

And not sealed so you're working at a static head height instead of 0 static head like a cannister.

I picked up my new tank but its pretty crusty as it was used for marines. It is covered with white scale stuff all over the inside of the glass

I was wondering the best way to get rid of all the build up - would white vinegar work to dissolve the scale, if I gave it a good rinse afterward?

the white stuff is called Salt creep... Water will get rid of most of it. For the tough stuff you can use white vinegar yes. And give me a PM if you want to see how a trickle filter works and you can come round and see.

Go into either of the Hollywoods and look at their sumps, much better than trying to describe it over teh interweb.

Here's how mine is set up:

cool thanks for all the help!

davidb I might take you up on your offer. will be in touch sometime after xmas.

It's interesting that the heater is placed in the sump in that diagram. would that work for a big tank like mine? it's a sizable amount of water. but I would like it as natural looking as possible...

Hi I went through this just recently and got great help on the forum, one thing that helped me and what I built and works great was this sump.

Have a look and see what you think. http://newaquariuminformation.com/aquar ... filter.htm

It's interesting that the heater is placed in the sump in that diagram. would that work for a big tank like mine? it's a sizable amount of water. but I would like it as natural looking as possible...

I'm not sure about 'better', but its not worse. Looks cleaner, heater isn't able to be damaged by big fish or rocks/wood etc. I actually run two heaters in the sump, one set to about 1C lower than the other so it only comes on when I do a big water change. Its also nice to have it as a back-up incase something happens to the main heater.