Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquattro
Curious why you don't want a sump? For the cost of an old 75g or something, it hides all the stuff. You don't need large overflow boxes, you could have a single pipe.
A sump does give you more options for skimmers, heaters, reactors, etc.
All that being said, the sump really only hides gear. If you can arrange all your equipment off the back and sides, then there's no real difference.
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I find the overflow box and sump seem to get filled with dietrus over time and just seems like another thing that needs to be cleaned. The plumbing underneath I have never been a fan of and just don't like the idea of holes in the glass and feel that the seals/plumbing are going to fail at some point or another. Maybe I'm just paranoid, lol.
I dislike the overflow boxes as I find them a large eyesore and I hate having to adjust flow/rocks around them. My Tunze Skimmer is tiny compared to one of the boxes and if I got a Tunze Comline filter as well, the combination of the 2 will still be considerably smaller. The benefit of hiding everything in the sump seems odd to me if you are having to create a big box, or overflow of some kind that intrudes into the tank as well. I guess each person has there own taste though, mine seeming in the minority.
Also, I never seem to get a quiet system with the sump set up. There just always seems to be the sound of water falling/gurgling somewhere. The system is in an office and it would be nice if the system was as close to silent as possible.
People talk about the benefits of gas exchange from a sump. Could this not be obtained by having powerheads aimed at the surface of the water, or is it considerably better with a sump and your tank mates will die without it in a large system?
I will agree with mike that the photo period you can create in your sump to keep the PH stable is not something obtainable without it. The increased volume also helps, but I am upgrading to get that volume. If I wanted another 60 gallons of volume to make the system more stable, why not get a 300 gallon display tank instead of a 240 gallon with a sump?
On the whole, it just seems like something that makes the system more complicated, more work, more prone for something to fail and more expensive. I like to try to use the KISS rule in life, and the sump seems to be the opposite of that, with little benefits I can't obtain by doing other things that are simpler. That is unless there is something that I am still not realizing/considering. I prefer a less stocked system to allow the occupants more space, so that is not an issue for me as well.