Having heard a lot about sump filtration recently I am wondering what are the advantages and disadvantages over canister filters?


I have been told that keeping marine fish requires a sump so that you can have a protein skimmer but one of these isnt needed for freshwater. I have also been told that a disadvantage with sump filters is that they start to smell if you dont clean them often enough. Altho this could be classed as an advantage as you cant leave your for filter dirty for too long

You are correct, they are mainly used on marine tanks. Again, I think you are probably right in what you say about the additional items such as proteins skimmers.

However, sump filters are probably the best and most efficient filtration you can have in my opinion. I haven't got mine setup at the moment but I have read a lot about them and spoken to people who are in the know. A canister is really a sump. After all, it is held under the tank and is full of water most of the time, that's all a sump is. The good thing about having a sump is that you can literally double the amount of water you have. So if you've got a 55 gallon tank, you could have a 40 gallon sump which means you have over 90 gallons in all. This will certainly help with tank maintenance. It also means you can have a huge amount of media. With canister filters, you are limited to what you can get inside them. Sump filters will also be a lot easier to clean than canisters. I have got a drain hole in the side of my sump. When I want to clean it and drain the water out, I just attach a hose pipe straight out the window. With canister filters, you got to remove them out of bottom of the tank, take them apart and give them a good clean. Then you got to get them going again which can be troublesome sometimes.

Sump filters are just simplicity in themselves. All you have is the tank and some pipework. The most expensive part of the actual pump itself. This is normally housed in the sump and can be lifted out really easily.

I can hardly wait to get mine going. Even though my canister filters have served me well, I'm glad I'm not getting some more. I will be keeping them running on my 125 gallon tank for the time being.

Anyway, that's my personal opinion

I have to second OFL. Sumps free up alot of things. All of the equipment can and should be placed in the sump. It does increase the water capacity. When set up the right way (and it is not rocket science) they are 100% over flow proof. DIY sumps cost pennies on the dollar (I don't know the euro conversion) compared to purchasing a premade system. IMO you get WAY more bang for your buck with a W/D sump. I like them so much I have a 90gln tank with the W/D sump built into the acual tank taking up about 15glns of space. I will never go back to canisters, HOB's or any other type of set up.

Only place I disagree with OFL is canisters are not sumps they are presurized filters. The princaple is roughly the same only completely diffrent.

Mr Cracker wrote:


I stand corrected


Well, one can't always be right

ok so sumps have advantages but not enough to warrant getting rid of my cannisters. Next time i set a new tank up i will get sump filtration. If only i had known this about 8 months ago when i set up my biggest tank

Unfortunately, fitting sump filters to an existing tank isn't quite as straightforward as a canister filter. sump filters require you having holes in the bottom of the tank. So you would have to completely clear the tank out and start from scratch.

There are other options besides drilling holes. Over flow boxes can be bought but they are pricey. Over flow pipes can be made very cheap with pvc.

Sheesh. I wish I had the net at home I would show how these things are set up.......

Funnily enough, I was considering having the outlet pipes attached to the side of the tank, rather than the bottom. However after some discussions, I decided that it would probably be better coming out the bottom. And since I had the tank made especially for me, it was easy to have this done. So I suppose really, you could set the sump up without having to clear the tank out. Now forgive me if I'm wrong, I think you would probably see more pipework this way, rather than doing it where all the pipework is contained inside the tank and Cabinet.

I will be setting it up in the next two or three weeks, I'll take photos at various stages which should be good. I also take some video of the sump working so people can see the principle of how these things work.

I am now 100% convinced that I am not going to swap my canisters for a sump. Would consider it if I ever set up a new tank tho

Check this website out. This is where I am getting my media from. I think the sumps are more geared up for ponds than tanks. However, I don't suppose it be that difficult to modify one for an aquarium. And check the prices out, including media.

www.cdaquatics.co.uk/catalog/filters-fil...-c-143_77_78_94.html

The prices are soooo cheap when compared to canister filters. Ok you need to buy a few pipes but its still cheap

They are very cheap. Obviously the price goes up for the larger ponds. But for the average tank, you could get a superb efficient filter that would be so much more efficient than a canister filter for less than £50. I have had various canister filter is unable cost me over £100 because of the size of tank I've got. I wish I'd known about the sump filters at the very beginning, I would have bought one.