sump vs. hang-on

[noaquariumyet]

can someone explain to me the difference and how a sump works and what is included in the materials to get a sump to function correctly...is a sump better? thinkin about 100 gallon and dsb...lr. Also thomas712 i have read many of your posts and im like wow how could someone possibly know so much about anything....plz respond!!!!!!!

 

[cboyfan2020]

A sump is pretty much a box of water that increases the total water volume of the tank making it more stable and giving you a place to put heaters,skimmers, and such so they are not hanging in the main tank. For example: A 120g tank with a 50g sump is equal to a 170g tank in water volume. All you need is an overflow and a return pump along with some pvc pipe. You can put your skimmer, heater,etc. in the sump and it is a good place to put additives and top-off water. You also have the option of adding a refugium which is like another filter. I am planning to do this.
Here is how I am setting mine up.

 

[noaquariumyet]

so what is the point of having sand it the sump...and what size sump tank would be sufficient for a 100 gallon....and is a sump compatible with a fluval 404 filter...already bought this that is why i ask....thanks for the reply

 

[cboyfan2020]

you can put sand in the sump but if it is just going to be a sump most people like a lot of flow through there and it will stir up the sand which isnt good. If you want the DSB in the sump then i would not have a whole lot of flow. I would get the biggest sump you can fit in the stand. Either a tank or a rubbermaid container. If you are going to put sand in the sump make sure you put baffles up and leave a seperate compartment for the return pump. Also if you are going to put sand in it just make it a big fuge but you will need powerheads in the tank for flow because fuge's need slow flow. HTH

 

[jukis47]

I would go with the sump it filters water quicker and it dosent take up as much room, because its under the tank.

 

[cboyfan2020]

The basis of a sump is not too filter water. A protein skimmer in a sump will filter water but a sump is just extra water which increases the total volume of the tank. This is good because it means things change slower in the chemistry and you have more time to fix them before it crashes the whole system. Kinda the same principle of dilution. More water there is the less the change negatively affects the tank. A refuge is a filter that is the same basic design as a sump except it uses macro algae, a DSB, and LR or a combination of these things to filter the water and remove excess nutrients and such. HTH

 

[dindi]

Well I don't have a sump nor do I have a filter in any of my little saltwater worlds...my water parameters are totally perfect..just power heads and great livesand....sumps, well maybe my ecosystem in my 75 but everything else is just liverock and lots of circulation. All is great...2 years and running..