beets Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 building big 7-800l tank to be stocked with africans. one canister wont be enough and i dont no much about sumps or how big it would need to be. what works best? pro's cons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Cannister filters are great, I use them. Sumps are what the experts use. Makes everything easier and tidier, as you can hide heaters etc in the sump. Less clutter in the tank, and you can do water changes a lot easier. You need to make sure that you have the overflows in the right place to prevent an indoor swimming pool, but it's not exactly rocket science. The only reason I'm not using a sump is because I'm still learning, and Canister Filters are great for beginners who aren't too keen on doing their own plumbing (drilling glass, setting up powerhead, etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 for the price of a decent new canister filter you can get 3 times the media into a sump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 I would say, enlist the help of an expert (lots of them on this forum), do some research and get a sump/ canister combo. I love my sump because it can hold sooooo much media (I have about 7-8kg of bio-media in mine) and it also hides the heaters. I also run an FX-5 alongside it for bio-filtration mostly, but it also does a great job on mechanical. The great thing about this set-up as well is that any floating particles are filtered by the overflow into the sump while the particles lower in the tank are filtered by the FX-5. After flooding your living room once or twice, a sump really isn't that hard.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 a canister is an easier thing to set up but a sump will give you more filtration. it just depends on how much effort you want to put in and what you want to spend. a clever design will also make a sump into a holding tank which could be useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 where are you beets sump sump sump But on my 700 l I run a sump and a canister...go figure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beets Posted March 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 i am in hastings. i have done a bit of googling but cant find anything about how big the sump needs to be. what do u mean by a holding tank? as in for fry? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 yeah I have workd my sumps as a minimum of 10% of the tank. but if it is bigger say as big as you can fit in your stand you can have all your "workings" at one end and use teh rest to hold other things like fry or plants. The benifit is you have a bigger water volume so more stable chemistry and you are kind of running 2 tansk in one Also makes water changes much easier HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 i have done a bit of googling but cant find anything about how big the sump needs to be. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?29-Setup-and-Filtration http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?337-DIY-Filters There is an absolute wealth of information about building and designing filtration in those two forums. As to how big it needs to be, the most obvious consideration is the need to be able to hold the "skim" (the water above the pump that will drain into the sump when the power is switched off). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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