Sump vs Canister whats the difference.

[asonitez]

Well I'm about 4 days from getting my New lighting. Tonight I got a sand sifting goby... this little guy goes into the sand eats it up and then spits out good clean sand. He is AWESOME. Honestly him + my lawnmower blenny has eridacited almost every sign of Hair Algae and red slime algae in my tank. So far so good. However,


My tank is a 54 Gallon Corner and its currently in the corner about 2 inches from the wall to accomodate my Hoses for a EHEIM Canister filter rated for a Tank of 124=180 Gallons. I currently have a TUNZE 9005 skimmer thats doing an awesome job. The more I look around the more I see that people use sumps for reef tanks vs the cannister filter. Honestly I don't plan on keeping anyting rare or super important in this tank other than the fish and a few extremely hardy corals. I want to know if I should blemish the thought of having a nice living room piece correctly fitting the wall instead of standing 6-8 inches from the wall to accomodate the overflow box. Is the Canister filter ALL that bad. I religiously clean the filters on BOTH of my tanks every sunday. What do yo guys reccomend? Rip out the Cannister and install a sump and mak the tank stand a few inches from the wall??

 

[Mthompson]

Comparing sumps to canisters is apples to oranges. Overflows will only set the tank off the wall about 4". You can then use the sump to hide your heater, skimmer, etc. It is also a good place for dosing, adding top-off, water changes, macro-algae, and just about any other thing you can think of. I personally use both a canister and sump. Although, I only have carbon in the canister. People have definitely gone sumpless with success, but I would recommend a sump when first starting out. I know it has made my life a whole lot easier!

 

[Mthompson]

The canister does help with water flow as well. I don't know about the Eheim, but my Rena XP3 has a bunch of different output nozzles/configurations, giving me many possibilities.

p.s.- seven, those are some good bible verses you have there...though just a tad out of context :wink:

 

[asonitez]

See thats the only real big benefit I'm finding in SUMPS vs Canisters ..
I have my heater in my Tank in the back where it can barely be seen. Unlike the HUGE box IN the tank and the over flow box on the back of the tank the only footprint IN the tank is the long tube for the canister filter intake. the Spray bar gives me a really good surface disturbance. I'm leery of the sump idea because it seems sumps are good if i plan to cultivate some micro algae or emply a refugium in it for some reason. but I really don't intend to. I DO think that my sump gave me better WATER flow but I couldn't reallly substantiate that. I HAVE A sump but I just have not used it yet. other than the first time. I'm so confused.

 

[Len]

On bigger tanks, you really need the sump to accommodate for big skimmers, etc. Sumps are simply more versatile, but they are more complicated then a canister.

 

[asonitez]

do what do you think i should do? Rock on with the canister filter? Or Suck it up slide the tank out a few inches and get a sump in there. Toss my skimmer in it and then call it a day? Just hope i don't get any blackouts??


what the hell do i put in a Sump anyway?????
I got ceramic bio-media in there. Can I add Carbon Media in there as well?

 

[mr_X]

your tank will also have greater total water volume with a sump. 30 gallon tank with a 10 gallon sump equals a roughly 40 gallon tank, minus the room you'll be leaving incase of a power outtage.
if you choose a cpr overflow, there is a long, but flatter intake area on those. they won't take up much useful space. the J tube types have a bulky-er surface skimmer box. i have live rock and macroalgae in my sump, and i use a filter sock at the intake. you can put live rock in it if you like, but i wouldn't use the ceramic rings.
you can opt to have nothing in it if that suits you.
i think another plus of a sump is the choices of skimmers you will have. there are MANY quality in-sump skimmers, and very few hang on types.
sumps also make waterchanges easier. just drain the sump, and refill with the new water, then turn the pumps back on. simple!

 

[asonitez]

I think I'm leaning toward putting my sump back in. it would mean I wasted money on that canister filter and that I should have just opted for a cheaper insump skimmer than the tunze one i just bought. It's a little depressing that my idea didn't follow through with the canister filter, small footprint skimmer and lots of live rock. One would think its just simple enough to just Clean the canister once a week rinse everything out and move on but according to you guys its a nitrate factory, cermic rings are an nitrate factory. everything i do seems like its designed to kill my fishies. bah.. its very frustrating.

 

[mr_X]

no, the cannister is good to have. it will come in handy for carbon/phosban/rowaphos...things like that.
the ceramic rings are just unnecessary, since you have live rock doing that job for you.

what did you pay for the tunze if you don't mind me asking?

 

[pcardone]

I think the sump will be better in the long run. I currently don't have one piece of equipment that I started with 5 years ago.

 

[asonitez]

200 beans.. I paid about 200 bucks for the tunze skimmer from fish supply. bah... Mr.X can you please help me set up my sump? Like take the pic tell me what to remove what to put in what compartment etc?




Heres my Sump.

Powering it. I currently have a RIO 600 For the Skimmer/Aeration and
the Return Pump is a RIO 1700 if I'm not mistaken. Its not infront of me.


The Directions are here

Page 1http://www.pro-clear.com/Instructions/Pro 75/PRO 75 INSTRUCTIONS (2) 1-28-05.pdf

Page 2http://www.pro-clear.com/Instructions/Pro 75/pro_series-fig1.pdf

Page 3http://www.pro-clear.com/Instructions/Pro 75/Pro 75 fig-2 1-28-05.pdf

the thing i don't understand is.... the Water Level.. Where should the WATER level in the Return pump and Bio/ball/Eggcrate area be?

 

[asonitez]

I'm removing the Built in skimmer. I was told its very inefective. Also can i put activated Carbon anywhere in that bio/ball setup?

 

[mr_X]

hmm. how large is the hole in the top? what i would do is gut the sump. drop a skimmer right in the middle, and don't bother with anything else. it's tight to make partitions and put live rock or a place for carbon.
i had something similar at one point, but mine was pretty big. i was able to section off an area for a pile of live rock...and a skimmer, and no room for anything else.
in order to figure out what the water level is supposed to be, you need to take into consideration how much water will drain out of your display in the event of a power outage. set your overflow to the level you like, make sure your return will not back-siphon any water, and then between that information, and the functional level of your skimmer, is your good water level.
i hope i made that understandable. :?

 

[asonitez]

well i can tear out the area near the Built in skimmer contraption and fill that with live rock rubble. I can then tear out the interior area with all the crap that has bioballs and ceramic put my skimmer in there. Should I leave the sponge that leads to the return pump compartment?

 

[mr_X]

you can if you want, but you'll need to clean it regularly. i'd remove it.