![]() ![]() This is by far the most popular location for many aquarists due to the ease of plumbing and it is easily hidden away once the stand doors are closed. There are 3 main locations that most aquarists install their sumps in their homes. Save yourself the headache and get a drilled tank if you want a sump or an All-in-One Aquarium. The return pump then empties the contents of the sump into the display tank and it overflows! Many a tank has been flooded because the power comes back on, the return pump starts, but the siphon does not. You can buy a small pump that sits on top to suck water into the siphon, but it’s just a bandaid. This type of overflow has caused me more problems on clients’ tanks because when you get a power outage, the siphon breaks, and sometimes the siphon starts on power-up, and sometimes it does not. Just have your tank drilled or buy one drilled. I cannot advise you enough to stay away from these overflows. Having a reservoir built into the sump keeps everything neat and tidy. This freshwater needs to come from somewhere and usually most people fill a 5-gallon pail with freshwater every week to keep the system working. In the return section of the sump, I mentioned how this is where evaporation occurs, and to keep stable water parameters we can install an Automatic Top Off system to replenish the evaporation with freshwater. By growing macroalgae in this area, you can dramatically reduce the amount of phosphate and nitrates in your aquarium allowing for cleaner and healthier water.įor a far more in-depth look at Refugiums please take a look at my article on them: What Is A Refugium? 2. Refugium SectionĪ refugium is an area dedicated to growing macroalgae and allowing Copepods to grow without being eaten. If you have space where the sump is going to sit or you wish to build your own custom DIY sump then there are two additional sections you can install to make the ultimate sump: 1. You can find out all you need to know about ATO systems in my article: What Is An Aquarium Auto Top Off? Additional Sump Sections To overcome these two problems one of the first upgrades an aquarist will purchase is an Automatic Top Off System. The other major problem with water evaporating is that it leaves the salt behind, so as more water evaporates the remaining water will become saltier as the ratio of water to salt reduces. If left unnoticed the water would drop until the pump runs dry which will cause the pump to fail. The important part every aquarist needs to know is that this is the section where the water level will decrease as the aquarium water evaporates. The water then passes through the filtration in the sump before being pumped back up to the main aquarium. Sumps work by having water drain down from the main aquarium via a weir and overflow section and into the sump. So as you can see a sump may not sound like much at first glance but the benefits far outweigh the cons and if you have not bought an aquarium yet or are thinking of an upgrade then an aquarium with a sump will be one of the best decisions you will make in this hobby! How Do Aquarium Sumps Work? To help you understand more about what a sump is you can find a great selection of varying sized sumps to reference while you read through this article Here at Aquarium Algae BusterĪ sump allows you to install devices like Refugiums or Algae Turf Scrubbers to grow the algae out of sight rather than it growing all over your main aquarium. Chemical media can be placed into mesh bags or media reactors that can hang on the side of the sump.Īdding material to increase bacteria surface areas like MarinePure ( ) blocks can dramatically increase the biological load (bioload) the aquarium can now support = More livestock. Having a sump allows you more space to add additional filter media to help control parameters like nitrates and phosphates. My Saltwater Aquarium Sump – Installed In My Basement More Filtration When selecting your next aquarium a sump can be a very beneficial addition to both a freshwater and saltwater tank so let’s go and look at the sump and discuss why you should really look at getting a tank with one! Sumps provide additional space for installing filtration equipment out of sight and increase water volume to help maintain water stability. ![]() Water moves from the aquarium to the sump and back. My idea of a sump was something that sits under my house to stop the basement flooding! How did that have any connection to an aquarium?Īn aquarium sump is an additional tank or vessel that is usually installed in the aquarium stand. At some point during your research into aquariums, this thing called a ‘Sump’ may have kept popping up and I remember thinking ‘ What the heck is that‘ when I first heard about them. ![]()
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