How do sumps work???
- Thread starter Thyroyalgeek
- Start date
Pump brands and strength are a personal choice that have many variables.
If the tank is in a room where other things happen (like people watching TV or sleeping), it may be about noise. Some pumps are loud, from the motor or vibration, some are quiet, and may influence your choice,
some pumps need to be bolted to a heavy object like a brick to keep them quiet.
Some pumps suck electricity like crazy, and may be an influence, because of energy cost.
Some species of fish need more flow/current than others, this may influence your choice.
I keep rheophyllic species, so this is a major factor in how I choose how large and how much head pressure pumps provide.
You may also intend on putting more than one tank on a sump later on, so getting a larger pump in the beginning may be a a money saver in the end.
There are probably many more reasons.
If the tank is in a room where other things happen (like people watching TV or sleeping), it may be about noise. Some pumps are loud, from the motor or vibration, some are quiet, and may influence your choice,
some pumps need to be bolted to a heavy object like a brick to keep them quiet.
Some pumps suck electricity like crazy, and may be an influence, because of energy cost.
Some species of fish need more flow/current than others, this may influence your choice.
I keep rheophyllic species, so this is a major factor in how I choose how large and how much head pressure pumps provide.
You may also intend on putting more than one tank on a sump later on, so getting a larger pump in the beginning may be a a money saver in the end.
There are probably many more reasons.
You could try using bigger socks or people have tried putting a lower micron sock or filter floss inside the sock to help ca5ch some of the debris before it hits the main sock
Yes, you rely upon the surface area more so then anything else. for example, a bio ball has more surface area then a ping pong ball despite being roughly the same size.
This thread will likely help you
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/beginners-guide-to-filter-media.88677/
Pump brands, I have 2 Jebao possible running and can't recommend them enough. Grabbed them from Amazon, just search it and they'll pull right up. Media, I went all out with MarineOure, 1 gallon will handle up to 500G of water per their soec and they sell it by the quart. Also, lava rock is like $8 for a 10# bag at Lowe's. You need your in with mech, then flow through your bio media, through a polishing pad/polyfil (personal preference), then return to the tank. This can be done with 3 baffles at most. GL, and look forward to the updates!
My sump system for my 300 gallon is pretty simple. 55 gallon tank. Going from left to right: Two large filter socks from the overflow. The water is pulled using a submerged pump through a bag of bio balls. Yes, there's some debate if the balls should be totally submerged, but I've had this tank up and running for 8 months and the water has been perfect. Then the pump sends it back to the tank via a pipe that splits into two returns. I have a pretty light bio load( two 15 inch peacock bass, 12 inch red pike, 12 inch irwini catfish and a 17 inch pleco.) If I increase the bio load I might add a canister in addition to the sump.
