3ft sump tank + canister

[joeyttk]

I am currently running a 6ft tank, and is looking to keep discus.

I am not sure if I still requires an external canister given that I have a 3ft sump tank. The problem with the sump tank is that I hardly change the filter media and it is in an awkward position.

[bossteck]

How much filteration you need depends on your planned stocking.
However, even an extra canister filter can't make up for infrequent maintenance.

Cheers

[Dr. Tankenstein]

joeyttk,
If you could post a pic of the 'awkward' position, it would help.
Let me start by saying that I don't think you can overfilter water, the more the merrier I say.
We can discuss the pro/cons of using either or both. Here's a diagram of the filtration setup I used on my planted 90G discus tank (I'm running duel Eheim Classics on it now) . It uses both. To minimize plumbing in the tank, the canister draws water from the sump (not the main tank), provides additional filtration and conditioning (it's packed with lava rock and peat) and outputs back into the sump where the Mag7 pump returns water to the tank. Using this configuration prevents flooding due Mag7 or canister failure. The additional tank in the drawing is for top-offs and water changes.

[joeyttk]

thanks! your diy setup is very well thought of. I will use my canister for the sump too. and tks again for the diagram