Sump Or Canister Filter?

[mbriggs84]

I'm looking for opinions on sumps and canister filters. I have a 90 gallon tank not set up yet. I have two whisper 30/60 HOB filters for it. I'm afraid this might not be enough filtration, so I'm thinking of going with a wet/dry setup. I have a 10 gallon tank already that could be used for a sump. I'm not willing to drill the tank, since I have no experience with this and I'm afraid I could damage it. So I would have to use an overflow box. Just trying to get any advice I could on these systems. Thanks

 

[hanny93]

sumpsumpsumpsump

not o0nly is it easierr to maintain, but it increases the overall volume of your tank, reduces the amount of equipment etc in your tank (as you can put heaters and UV filters in there) and it increases media volume.


It also means its easier to administer meds etc, and can also act as a miniseparation tank, say if you had an aggressive so and so!


Could also put a light over it and stick a load of fast growing plants in there if you had an algae problem but didnt want huge masses of plants.

 

[Lufbramatt]

For a 90 I'd just get 2 decent sized canisters and use hydor eth external heaters. Less bother with overflows and return pumps, and tbh a 10 gallon sump doesn't increase your water volume a huge amount. If you had a 100+ gallon tank or a 30 gallon sump available I'd say go for it, but otherwise I don't think the benifits are that great.