I have noticed a lot of people using sumps, wet drys, and calc reactors and who knows what else. I just wanted to put this out there from my experiences. I ran a 75 gallon tank for 8 years with LPS and softies. The fish stock were a powder blue(small) coral beauty, Yellow head sleeper goby and a yellow tang(small). The filtration on the tank were 2 Hot Magnum hang ons and one HOB skimmer air driven type. And I used 3 powerheads. The tank ran for 8 years perfectly until I had to move and take it down. The parameters were always great and the livestock was extremely healthy. So why do people go through great lengths to add all the filtration they can?
Filtration overkill or keep it simple??
- Thread starter jaa1456
- Start date
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
A sump isn't a method of filtration, it's a way to add water volume to the tank and hide your equipment. A wet dry is just a different type of filter (not commonly used on reefs) and not really all that complex. A calcium reactor has nothing to do with filtration and is a way of maintaining calcium in an SPS dominated tank.
Soft corals and LPS are more tolerant than SPS, so not as much filtration is needed.
Personally I think a skimmer in a sump is a lot simpler than 3 HOB filters / skimmers to maintain, and provides for a place to hide my equipment making a nicer tank.
Actually a sump is a filter, true it adds water volume but still a filter. You have a sock, some have refugiums. But it is still a filter and houses the bacteria. Wet drys are still used by some people and those were filters as well. And the hot magnums if you are not familiar with them, take 2 seconds to change or add anything but I ran mine empty besides a micron filter.
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
The items in your sump provide filtration, not the sump itself. As per the definition, it receives drainage. The drained water is processed through whatever equipment is in the sump, then returned to the tank.
I personally prefer the Berlin technique. Using a skimmer as a nutrient export. I also keep a small fuge with macro algae and run a reactor w/ GFO. I have a UV that I plan on implementing soon too.
Why would you not take advantage of modern nutrient exportation options that are available to us?? The only reasons I can think of are ease of maintenance (debatable) and removing good nutrients (coral food).
My two closest reefer friends (no names) both keep a skimmerless systems. Their tanks are both around 4-5 years old, and they both look magnificent.
To each their own..
Why would you not take advantage of modern nutrient exportation options that are available to us?? The only reasons I can think of are ease of maintenance (debatable) and removing good nutrients (coral food).
My two closest reefer friends (no names) both keep a skimmerless systems. Their tanks are both around 4-5 years old, and they both look magnificent.
To each their own..
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
So if you have a sump with nothing in it, how is it filtering anything?
What I'm trying to explain is that the sump is a tank... that's all. The socks, fuge, skimmer that are in the sump provide filtration. Not the sump.
What I'm trying to explain is that the sump is a tank... that's all. The socks, fuge, skimmer that are in the sump provide filtration. Not the sump.
I ran a tank with no skimmer and used a wet dry on it for 12 years with no problem. That was the only filtration besides powerheads. It was on my 265 and there were only 4 fish and it was heavily stocked with corals. Yet I did have more ups and downs with the water than the 75 and both tanks were running at the same time along with my 125.
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
Ok, so my hood must be an engine, since no one has a car with no engine.
We're arguing semantics here, but in my opinion it's important to be clear about things on a forum that people new to the hobby read.
We're arguing semantics here, but in my opinion it's important to be clear about things on a forum that people new to the hobby read.
jaa1456 said:
To add water volume and house heaters...which are not filters.
A sump is a sump. It's a great place to hide heaters and filtration equipment in order to keep these unsightly items out of the display.
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- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
Exactly my point, we all have a hood on our car, but it can house any number of things inside.
I've actually seen people run a sump just to house their heaters and add water volume with no filtration involved.
- Location
- Long Island
This is becoming a very buddhist/philosophical debate. What makes a car? Is it the pieces which it is comprised of? Is it the function? If someone takes the wheels from the car, and it doesn't run, is it still a car? etc...
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