What's A Sump??

alucardsay

alucardsay

Member
:help: Hi!
I've had a tank for about three years and knew nothing about reverse osmosis units, protein skimmers, live sand,etc. let alone used them. The only thing I used was a filter.Which probably explains the fact that I've lost over 20 fish since I started having a tank, but now through extensive research I have learned the purpose of these mysterious machines and am planning to completely remodel my tank!

Unfortunately, a few devices have eluded my attempt to gather info on them so I humbly ask you, masters of fish care,
WHAT'S A SUMP?! :confused:
Also, If you could, I would also like to know what microfauna are, what's the difference between feeder shrimp and brine, if a Mandarin Dragnet will have a symbiotic relationship with a pistol shrimp, what's a substrate, and any tips you have that will help me on my attempt to remodel my broken down aquarium. Please:help:
 
jobob

jobob

Member
ok a sump is a tank under the main tank, thats use to add water to the system. hide heaters,skimmers, for wet dry filters,refugiums. water is drained from main tank via overflow. their very good to have. the more water the more stable it is. im not sure about feeder shrimp? i think u mean shrimp from the supermarket used to feed anemones and big fish. brine shrimp are sea monkeys. i get frozen ones to feed my fish.
if a Mandarin Dragnet will have a symbiotic relationship with a pistol shrimp
no. a goby, i have a watchman goby paired with a pistol shrimp. becareful. not all shrimp will take to gobies. i have a candy cane one with mine. mandarins are hard to care for. u need lots of live rock for him to feed on. substrate is sand, crushed coral what goes on the bottom of tank. do not use crushed coral. use sand. save urself the headache of switching. i have no idea what microfauna are??? and, if possible get a bigger tank. u will reget it if u dont now. be prepared to spend money. its not cheap. and good luck
 
jobob

jobob

Member
refuguim, is a tank with a light on it. that has live sand and good algae in it, maybe some plants. it is used to filter the water. and or to grow copapods for the fish. sometimes their is a sump too. they very good for the tank. their usually use on reef tanks. they're pretty much the filter for the system. and there under the tank. like a sump.
 
alucardsay

alucardsay

Member
:D THANKS JOBOB
you have been a real help. I now know the fashionable and utilitarian use of sumps thanks to you. thanks for the warning about Mandarins and your explanation on substrates. I'm planning on using live sand along with bits of broken shells for my substrate( I finally know what this word means). Unfortunately I didn't fully understand your explaination on sumps. Is an overflow some sort of pipe that brings the water to the sump through gravity or is it something else and how does having more water make it more stable? Does it decrease the concentration of wastes or is it something else? If you read this please explain. Also, I'm pretty sure I have a big enough tank. I talked to a friend who's a real fishnut and according to the sizes I gave him my tank can hold about 25in. worth of fish with good water quality, but thanks anyway. Also I's like to ask of your opinion on a device I found called brine shrimp corral which grows and feeds brine shrimp to your fish automatically. Is it worth getting? Also are current pumps worth getting?Again thanks for all the info you gave me. You are indeed a master of all things fish
 
finfighter

finfighter

Member
I looked at your sump/fuge setup and i was very impressed. I was about how high up the tank the hole and bulkhead are and where to get the bulkhead from. Also wut size tank is this setup on? Also is this hole drilled in an acrylic aquarium becuz drilling through glass is near impossible without cracking it?
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
The bulkhead is an inch and a half from the top of the tank. The lock ring on the bulk head barely touches the trim of the tank. The tank is glass and I had it drilled at the LFS. It only cost 20.00 to have it drilled and it was worth it. If they break it, I get a new tank. If I broke it, time to get a new hobby.
 
finfighter

finfighter

Member
Thats a good idea ill ask my LFS before i get the tank if they can drill a hole in it. Would I need a whole 20 gal sump/fuge? Im getting a 55 gal tank. Also is there a valve from the tank to the sump anywhere?
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
The size of your sump is up to you but the bigger your sump is, the bigger your system will be. One of the reasons for adding a sump is to make your water system bigger.
 
finfighter

finfighter

Member
Well if ill probably get a 20 gal to since i can get a 2 1/2 gal lamp like the one u have on petsmart for $7. By the way,this is off topis, but wut kind of lighting do u have for ur tank and do u have coral?
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
$7.00 for a lamp? Are you sure its flourescent and not incandescent? I paid $27.00 for my lamp. I just have regular flourescents on my tank. I will upgrade eventually. The only coral I have is Xenia. I have it on a shelf which is up near the top of the tank. About 3" from the surface. By the way, yes I have a ball valve between my return pump and my tank. I will eventually install a check valve also. My LFS wants 15 for it and Lowes wants 5 but Lowes does not have all the parts in stock that I need. There is a plumbing supply near here that I have to make a trip to anyway.
 
finfighter

finfighter

Member
The light fixture is incandescant. Do they make fluerescent bulbs small enough for the width of a 20 gal tank?
Also i wonder if instead of drilling a holein the tank if adding a pump to pull the water out of the top of the tank would work?
 
jobob

jobob

Member
ok think of ocean its huge, if 10 fish poop it wont change the water. but if 5 poop in a 10gal it mite. but if u have say 5 in a 10gal the max ( i know its a litttle much but bare with me) but if u have a 30gl sump.say half full.(so it dont overflow) thats 25gal with 5 fish. less of a change in the water, from the waste. thats y adding more water is better.
if u wanna get a light cheap go to home depot and get a 24 in strip for like 10 bucks, thats whats over my sump. and as for lighting i have 4x55 power compact and 2x65w pc. thats 350w. on a 55gal it comes out to 6.3 wpg. i have alot of corals,mushrooms,zoo polyps, frogspawn,sponges,colt coral,xenia, toadstool,cabbage leather,hammer,tree leathers,bubbles,sebae anemones,bubble tip anemone,oyster,monipora,green star polyps. i think thats about it. anyway, im upgrading my lights to metal halides, i built the canopy and the lights will be here this week. but heres my tank as of now.
 
finfighter

finfighter

Member
Thats an amazing tank. I want to get metal halide now so i dont have to do it later but i have no idea wut i need or how much it costs wut ru getting and where from?
 
alucardsay

alucardsay

Member
:scared: THAT IS AN AWESOME TANK!
UNBBELIEVEBLE. How long did it take you to build up that tank.Man you must have a very powerful light to be able to have that much coral. I wish I could get coral but such an endevear is waay out of my price rangeThnx again for the info.
 
finfighter

finfighter

Member
Its not really the coral thats expensive its the light needed to support the coral (and the knowledge needed about the lights) I kno im getting coral i just dont know if the $300 lights that only have a 9.75" window will work.
 
jobob

jobob

Member
thanks, im glad u like it. its been up for about 8months now. i did take some stuff from my 29, that was up for about 4mon. then i switch. well for 6 of those months i only had 4x55w power compact on it. i had 2x65pc from my 29 i put it on to see what would happen. and wow what a difference. so thats whats on their now 350w of pc. o by the way. that 4x55 was a cheap light it was i think 100 bucks with shipping. i got it from an auction site. its a jebo. i did switch the actinics(cause the ones it came with were fake,35 bucks) from auction. so for 135 u can keep nice corals.
FinFighter what kind of $300 lights do u have? and what u mean by the 9.75 window will work? and the coral does get expensive, i probly got about $700 worth of corals in my tank. now if u buy frags and grow them urself. it can be cheap. i did that alot in the begining. and i went to this pet store about 1 12 hrs away and they had high school kids workin. and i got about $500 worth of corals for about $100, it was amazing.
now for the halides. i got them from an auction site( u know which one) for about 200 with bulbs. look they have retro fit kits for about $200. then i built the canopy for about $40. and im useing the old pc as the actinic. yea if ur in to the hobby, and plan on stayin get mh now. or u could get a pc or vho light that u know u could reuse, like i am. then later upgrade to mh. so the final price on my mh with pc is about $340. thats alot better than the $700 for the ones u just plug in. always see if u can DIY somehow.this is one of my fav.
 
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