Talked out of a sump?

During a trip to my LFS I talked to one of the employees about my plan for adding a 10 gallon sump to my 29 gallon tank. To my surprise, he was not for it. Said to keep things simple and keep my HOB filter for such a small tank. Wondering how you all feel about that advice. I already had a design put together now its just on hold. Thanks in advance.

Dan

 

well depending on a couple factors I would still go with a sump. I had a 30 gallon tank that was running a wet/dry filter that was a nitrate factory so I could never get them down. once I removed the filter media and constant water changes. I was still never able to get the nitrates down. so my opinion is... a sump with macro algae is the way to go.

 

Sump. HOB filters will become nitrate factories as well if the filter pads are not changed constantly.

 

I agree they both can. that's why I was saying to have macro algae in it. so more or fuge than a sump I guess.

 

Thanks for the responses. I have an emperor 330, can I make that into a fuge easily? and is that something you recommend? Or sump with a small fuge?

 

IMO the emperor 330 could be made into a fuge, but I think the issue would be slowing the water flow through it enough to allow the macro's to do their job.

 

That makes sense. Sumps in general always seem to be a good idea IMO being the added water volume, which is why I was surprised when that guy suggested not to. I made my custom stand to fit a sump in it so I wonder what problems could arise in adding a sump to my already up and running tank...any ideas?

 

I'm a little skeptical at the amount of macro you can really grow in those sorts of hang-ons. For significant nutrient export you really need to grow quite a bit of macro algae from what I've read.
I've heard recommendations that refugiums be at least 50% of the display tank volume to really be useful. Now that may be a bit large for most people but really how much algae can you really grow (and then remove) on a weekly basis in such a small area?

I would look at doing the sump personally. Especially if you would like some experience with learning how the larger tanks work. More water volume will be better, you can get a better skimmer in there, hide your heater etc etc.

It's really up to personal preference though. You can definitely keep on top of nutrient issues with water changes if you like. Find the pros and cons of each and decide which one you would like to do, you can be successful going both routes.

If anyone tells you that theirs is the only way to do it I would suggest moving on to the next person for opinions.

 

I kind of understand why your lfs said that. Depending on what size tank you can use for a sump the added water volume might not really be all that much, but in my opinion a sump is still worth it.

 

Maybe the store employee diddn't want you to start going the DIY route in fear of losing another customer to online shopping and making (instead of buying) their own equipment. Why else would he try to talk you out of a sump? The long term benefits far outweigh the initial cost and time it takes to set one up.

~Will.