What is a sump and what is it for ?

[enhanzed]

http://f3c.yahoofs.com/auc/000225494...AmqsLBknNKe_Yf

[biweilow]

it is a sump filter.

it is usually placed under a tank. water from the tank flows into the tank via a pipe, and passes through filter media before being pumped back into the tank.

[enhanzed]

so its like a external filter ? is it better than a cannister ?

[David Moses Heng]

i'm using one for my 422. since day 1 of set up, i have only clean it once(the mods is going to frown on me) and i have never did water change for my tank since day 1. The only maintenance i did is add water and ferts. Bio load is 5 peruvians, 3 red line, 2 borneo, 20 neons, 20 pgymy cory, 2 sterbais, 20 golden pencil, 4 german rams, 2 whip tail, 4 rummy nose and some other babes that i can't recall the naem as i don't see them commonly in the average LFS..

[larlee]

my friend also uses this filter for his 6ft aro tank, his filter is 4ft......never perform water change....give up.....

[enhanzed]

oh so with this thingy , there is alot of beneficial bacteria and there is no need to WC ?

if my tank nitrate is quite high but ammonia is always zero ...do i still need to WC ?

[bossteck]

Not 'no need' but less frequent.

[enhanzed]

where to get something like that ?

[bossteck]

You can have it custom made, or look out for second hand ones, but it is not your typical 'plug and play' type of equipment.

Since it is most likely going to sit below your main tank, you got to make sure your purchase can fit.

Then you got to figure out how water can flow from your main tank into your sump (hopefully water only, and not fishes). You very likely need to drill a hole at the base of your current tank, though there are work-arounds for this.

You need a return pump that is suitably rated (some calculation required). Got to figure out how to prevent water from flooding your house should the return pump fails / power trips, must break the siphon of the water from the main tank to the sump tank. It is really not difficult, but not easy to explain in writing either.

All in all, my personal opinion is, it is a job best left to experts

[fisherw]

Eric

How different is the overhead filter boxes? The powerhead pumps up the water, it goes through the various media and then flow back down. If there is a problem, filtration stops but no flooded home.

Is the sump at the bottom more efficient? More aesthetic?

[michael lai]

Sump tank has a tendency for mosquito breeding.

[hc rotala]

I saw people put some Guppy fish there to prevent mosquito nesting.

[BFG]

A sump tank is basically an empty tank but has partition built into it to divide the sump into different compartment according to the need of the owner. There are no specific design for a sump tank and it is up to the owner of the sump to design how it would turn out to be. All you need to know is what you want the sump tank to be.

The partition are what divide the sump into compartment but there are 2 types of partition, the overflow and the underflow partition.

Overflow partition- This partition allow the water to go over it. The use of this particular partition will set the height of the water in the sump. So if you need the water in the sump to be a certain height, this is the partition that will set the height of the water in the sump. As a precaution, do not set the height of this particular partition to exceed half of the height of the sump tank as you need the other half of the sump tank to accomodate the backflow from the tank should the return pump is switch off, either intention or unintentionally.

Underflow partition- This partition is the opposite of the overflow partition. It's main purpose is to eliminate bubbles that are formed when water go over the overflow partition. This partition has a gap that do not touch the base of the sump as this gap will let water through from the bottom but the bubbles will be staying on the surface of the water from the overflow partition. The water coming into the next compartment will be free of bubbles.

What types of compartment you can have?
Depending on preference, there are alot that you can choose to have in the sump.

Filter floss compartment- With this compartment, you could trap heavy debris like plant leaves and other floating debris from getting into the filter. The filter than would only need to filter out unwanted stuff out of the water column, prolonging the time for the next filter maintenance.

Freshwater top-up compartment- With this compartment, you will have a place to store your aged water to top-up the evaporated water. You will need an auto top-up equipment to monitor the water level in the sump in order to top up the aged water into the tank. The amount of water evaporated will only be seen from the sump as the water level in the tank will remain constant with the use of the overflow box.

Filtration media compartment- If you do not need to use a filter, you could have a compartment to house filtration media in one of the compartment, either using a single media for a single compartment or you could use a few media in a single compartment. Up to your preference.

With the above compartment, you could add a dosing computer to automatically dose your fertilizer. With this auto dosing computer, you could set how much you want to dose each day to your tank from the sump. The return pump will automatically carry the fertilizer back to the main tank. This will free up some precious time spent in front of your tank and you would spend more time looking at the tank than working on it. This is the dosing computer I was refering to-

http://www.grotech.de/ENGLISH/index.php?c=1&s=teciiing

You started with 3 dosing pump and can extend to 11 dosing pump for your dosing need.


So, in the end a sump is not a bad piece of addition to the tank setup. Reefers have been using it from day one for their marine tank but their usage is a bit different although there are similarities between the 2 camp. Hope this helps!

[enhanzed]

wa sounds damn chiem and expensive

[David Moses Heng]

wa sounds damn chiem and expensive

I disagree. If done correctly, it is actually cheaper and much more easier to maintain. For the pumps that Rohaizal recommend, it would be personnal preference. I didn't use them. My sump set cost me about $130 for media which includes 3 kg of lava trock, 2 kg of biohome, 1 large piece of green bio mat, 2 piece of black bio sponge and 3 layer of german miki filter wool and not forgetting 200 bio balls.

cheers!!

[hii]

I don't believe not need WC, cause slowly you will see a lot black spot algae grow on the leave. When i started planted tank i also didn't change water just refill for about 2-3 months and later i found out lot of plants invest by black spot and green spot on their leaves.

[enhanzed]

$130 for the media sounds ok to me ...but how about the tank itself ? and still need cannister filter ?

[BFG]

Yup, the dosing computer pump is an option to have. I didn't know this equipment exist until I set up my marine tank. If I have known that, my planted tank would be set up differently to accomodate this equipment. Back then, dosing fertilizer manually was a chore and truthfully, I did not keep up to the required regime. With this equipment, all you need to do is to have a stock solution of some of the 'stuff' that you need to dose into the tank. Calculate how much your tank need and programme the dosing computer to add it daily. You are now free of the chore and will have more time looking at the tank instead of fussing over it.

[hc rotala]

but how about the tank itself ? and still need cannister filter ?

Oh, oh……. Sump is hardly insufficient for a single tank purpose, unless you need a specific chemical filtration with a canister added.

[David Moses Heng]

Oh, oh……. Sump is hardly insufficient for a single tank purpose, unless you need a specific chemical filtration with a canister added.

care to explain further?