purpose of a sump???

What exactly is the purpose of a sump... I have a 60 Gal SW tank... do i need a sump... I have an extra 20 gal or 10 gal tank.. should i set one up under my tank? I mean i have a filter made for a 100 G and a very good protien skimmer... just never really thought about what they are for....
i hear it's mostly for salt water, but fresh water also??
Let 'er rip.... also what would i need for a slump and setting on up, besides another small tank..

10 is way too small for a sump.

Sump?

good ? i would like to know to

Everyone in this thread currently, has pm.

Pope, I know exactly what a sump is. But the repetitive use of the word slump made me question it.

Of course you do. I included you simply to not exclude you.

From what I've been observing, sump systems are the most efficient systems for a large multi-tank setup. Such as a fish breeder or a pet store. It doesn't seem necessary or economical for those of us with less than five tanks (and mostly smaller ones) to use a sump system. You seem to have more than adaquate filtration for your different tanks.

This is not true. I'd be using a sump on my 29 if could fit it in my stand.

Here's some info sites on the topic:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4473218_make-sump-fish-tank.html

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/bcorsettingup/a/aa020298sumps.htm

For my own situation of two 55G's and one 29G at work - all of which have completely different water chemistry, heat requirements, etc ... And the fact that I simply find it more cost effective and space efficient to invest in a quality appropriately sized (or oversized) general filter + a UV filter per tank. Gives both filtration and temporary redundancy in case one or the other breaks down. (All tanks are filtered for at least double their volume).

If you have the space and enough tanks that all require the same exact water specifications - then looking into a sump system may be a good option. MusicCityCichlids has a rather impressive group of sump systems.

It really is less applicable in fresh water environments, but the added benefits of a sump, especially combined with a refugium are invaluable in the salt water aquarium. Necessary... not at all.

reefkeeping magazines 3 part article on sumps

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/gt/index.php

And an opinion from a local guy.

[url]http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html [/url]

wow, why was i writing slump???? Embarrassing.... lol YES sump... and pope hooked me up with everything i need.... i believe i will be workin on getting one4 asap...

a sump/fuge adds more water volume.
more water volume creates more stability which is essential for a reef.
a sump acts as added filtration when combined with a fuge because of the extra live rock in the fuge along with cheato and other macro algaes that help to absorb excess nutrients that you do not want in a reef tank. its all about nutrient export.
the fuge is also a great place to house trouble makers. a sump with a fuge requires light just like the main DT to thrive and the light can be run on an opposite schedule than the main display this helps keep the PH stable. on a plumbed RR tank the sump is also where your return pumps and skimmer are housed. the sump is also where you would run media reactors such as calcium,GFO,carbon or a kalkwasser.
IMHO would I have a sump/fuge on a FW tank No
would I have a sump/fuge on a FOWLR maybe.
would I have a sump/fuge on a Reef yes without a doubt.
would I have a sump only with no fuge on a reef No because I would be losing most of the benefits that having a fuge adds. disclaimer these are my opinions the opinions of others may vary:)
this is a homemade 75 gallon sump/fuge the water falls down into the sump on the left then the skimmer cleans the water then the water is sent over the baffles and through the cheato"nutrient export" then from there it go's through the bubble trap then into the return pump side and it gets pumped back into the main display for me this is where I top off the tank and where I pump the water out when I do water changes the stock in my tank never get stressed from water changes or other maintenance because I dont need to mess with the main tank I just shut the pumps down and the DT water falls to the marked level in the sump I do my maintenance turn the pumps back on and I'm done.



I hope this makes sence

Get one with a little built in refugium like cwhip's for macro algae, the algae will help use up nutrients and prevent algae in your tanks and give a good home for all the little bugs.

these hob fuges work very well on a small non RR tank.

I lost my hob fuge last Friday. I went from undectable nitrates to 20ppm last night. This is BAD BAD BAD. I wound up having to throw down a quick and dirty 50% water change to drop the nitrates to 10ppm. I can only hope I didn't shock the system doing this as I didn't have time to do it properly. (You ideally should heat your change water so you temp match the display) So now I'll be monitoring nitrates daily and looks like I have water change after water change coming until the tank stabilizes and figures out a way to deal with the excess nitrates. Let's hope it doesn't retaliate with a GHA bloom. I've got weld on coming to repair the hob fuge I was running before, but I've lost my macro algae and all the little bugs that are so important to a stable system. PH is swinging and nitrates are on the move. I'm a FIRM believe in fuges now that's for sure.

pope I bought a Diamond goby who sent my established sand bed flying into the water column and after the lil bugger was done my trates were at 10 for the 1st time ever so I started using Micro Bacter7 to get control again. just a thought:)
can someone change the slump title to sump? ever time it pops up in my mail I choke on my coffee

so you could have a 30 gal show tank as long as you had a sump of 20 or so just to kinda make the water volume more, just like a big tank (salt)

so if, let's say i wanted to make a sump, for my 60 G SW... i have a 20 G tank i could use... or if i'm gunna do it i should just get "fuge" one, since it works better?

basically just a straight tank wont really do right?

i know a cpl ppl that have 60gs without a sump and their awsome!
a sump basically expands your water volume so its easier to manage your params!
you can add baffles to it so that you have a chamber for a skimmer ,fuge then the return chamber were your pump will go! ^ in this order
i found this (by reading and looking at pics) to be the best way to have a sump set up!:)
just my 2cents

i like the HOB fuge becuz theirs no risk of pods getting chopped up going through a return pump
in the HOB they just fall out!

i like the HOB fuge becuz theirs no risk of pods getting chopped up going through a return pump
in the HOB they just fall out!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



these are copepods they are so tiny you can hardly see them with the naked eye
there is no danger of them getting chopped up by the return pump.

Demonkegman wrote:

so if, let's say i wanted to make a sump, for my 60 G SW... i have a 20 G tank i could use... or if i'm gunna do it i should just get "fuge" one, since it works better?

basically just a straight tank wont really do right?

if your tank is not Reef Ready I would just go with the hang on back fuge you will still get a lot of benefits from it and you wont have to worry about floods.

^

So what all do you put in a HOB fuge while we are on the topic?

Rubble, chaeto, do you put some live sand in there?

all of the above!
sand,cheato LR rubble anything