Sump vs canister filters

Dutchy

Dutchy

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I`m wanting to get started in marines and have been trying to sift through all the information so i can get started right. I`ve been speaking to some people and some are recommending canister filters over sumps. Could someone please help me with the pros and cons of each.
 
welcometomasa
Well, i can only vouch for sumps as its all i've ever used. They are more biological, not so man made if you get my meaning? where we use what nature does to help out and its a nice place to hide all the nasty equipment we dont want in our tanks
 
Hi Garth, welcome to MASA.

A sump is used to house all the equipment that you don't want to see in your display tank, heater, skimmer, space for calcium, phosphate and carbon filters along with a DSB, it also provides a larger water volume for the benefit of your display tank which helps to lower the dangers of chemical issues, the only "cons" i can see with a sump, room to house it and the possiblilty of a flood due to blocked syphons or power loss.

External cannisters, do their job if you have little room, you can run phosphate and carbon, as well as filter floss.

If you have the room, go for a sump, the pro's outweigh the cons.
 
Garth Nieuwenhuis said:
I`m wanting to get started in marines and have been trying to sift through all the information so i can get started right. I`ve been speaking to some people and some are recommending canister filters over sumps. Could someone please help me with the pros and cons of each.
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Well its like this:The pros will tell you to get a sump and the cons will try to sell you a cannister filter....:lol:...

Seriously though,I'd definitely take a sump if I was you.It offers so many advantages.It holds all the stuff you don't want to see in the display.It acts as a "sin bin" for those odd nuisance creatures that just cause havoc in the tank and apart from killing them its the only other place to put them.It gives you fantastic bio-filtration.It's a place to first put things that you are not too sure about before dumping them in the main tank.It's a...........The list really just goes on.;):thumbup:
 
For me the big difference is that a canister filter only performs a portion of the filtration you need in a marine tank, it is so effective in converting ammonia to nitrate that it actually becomes a nitrate factory and then it stops


Where a sump with a functioning DSB will convert nitrate into NItrite and then into nitrogen gas where the critters will stir the sand and release the gas out of your system.

Its the same argument as in this link DSB vs Bio Balls - Marine Aquariums of South Africa - wiki
 
Welcome to MASA. I say sump, because of the DSB you can have. Not only does it break nitrates down into nitrogen, it can also house chaetomorpha algae used for nutrient export should you prefer that - it has the space for it as it is right above the 15cm sand bed. Also a good place for copepods, amphipods and other critters to grow and multiply without predation ;)
 
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:lol: Einstein was a clever uncle hey :lol:
 
goodisor said:
Well its like this:The pros will tell you to get a sump and the cons will try to sell you a cannister filter.... />
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Chuckle chuckle There should be no doubt here guys. A cannister should never be used with any filter media. The flow is to fast for carbon and phos media as well. It should only be used for flow. The biggest benefit with a sump is that it allows us to surface skim. Skimmer should be able to process most if not all this water IMO these two pieces cannot be compared
 
goodisor said:
Well its like this:The pros will tell you to get a sump and the cons will try to sell you a cannister filter....:lol:...
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Brilliant;).

The other quite basic thing is that its a mission cleaning a cannister and the cleaning messes with established bacteria populations. (Something difficult to clean usually doesn't get cleaned so well.)
 
Hi all was wondering if you could please help me. I want to replace my filtration in my 37l nano.
Would a canister or a sump be better?
 
generally with a sump, you want as big as you can fit under the tank, ideal would be the same size of the tank but thats unfortunately rare
 
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