Preparing For A Sump - Questions...

[dubious49]

hi everybody. i'm planning to upgrade my 10 gallon to a 29 gallon and was thinking of using the 10 gallon as a sump. knowing nothing about sumps i've been researching the topic throughout this forum and the rest of the internet for the past 4 days. so now that i'm armed with information, i've narrowed my sump-newbie-ness down to a few specific questions:
1. initially, i'm envisioning a basic setup (i.e. an overflow box connected to the 10 gallon sump that contains a skimmer, heater and a pump/return). would it be a hassle to convert this basic sump into a fuge after the everything is up and running? would it be better to plan out the fuge from the start?
2. similar to question #1, if i set up the tank first without the sump, can i get away with no skimmer and weekly water changes until i install the sump? and if not, if i buy a HOB skimmer will i be able to use it in the sump or will i need to replace it with an in-sump skimmer?
3. lastly, and probably the stupidist question of all, how do you do water changes on a tank with a sump? if i had to guess, i'd say that you break the flow cycle to/from the sump, cyphon the water from the main tank, replace with new water and then re-establish the flow cycle to/from the sump. is that how it works?
i think answers to those three should cover it. but if anyone can think of anything else that i might have missed, i'd be most grateful.
thanks!

 

[thedogofwa]

it would def be better to plan the fuge from the start. However a couple thoughts come to mind. 1, if you could remove the sump from the system for a bit to add the fuge, then no biggie. You could also add baffles to create the fuge area out of something like the dividers they sell at ***** and such while it was in service. Or maybe you could come up with some other baffle design that would make it doable. Let me add this thought. A 15G high is a much better choice for a sump or fuge.
2. just the sump isn't really going to do much for you besides increase water volume. I ran a 29 with a 15G fuge w/o a skimmer for almost a year. As long as you meet the height and space requirements for the skimmer, there will be NP with using the skimmer on the sump later.
3. not sure if theres a correct answer or not but I always emptied the sump and replaced the water in there. Then I would turn the return pump way down so it exchanged the water slowly. My thoughts were that the new water would be better mixed with the rest of your volume, making it as unoticable to the inhabitants as possible.