Hey peeps. How are all?

For the last few weeks since becoming an Oscar owner I have been thinking about going with a Sump instead of a canister. Right now I do have a canister running but seems to be more costly and more to maintain than I originally hoped for. It has become pretty rutine so I am not scared of it anymore but am curious if a sump would be "better"?

Any Ideas, thoughts, concerns?

Also, my apologies if this topic is already being discussed, couldn't find anything that explained the benefits or even if its better..

hi JimmyO, members can only give insights if you can refresh us with your
current set up. tank size; type of canister; number of fish/es; etc.
there are times sump is not appropriate for the existing tanks one has.

sumps really only come into their own on large aquariums. if you have a mid to small tank, anything under 200 gallons then your best course of action would probably be canister filter.
that being said it really is up to you if you want to use a sump or not. sumps are second to none in biologocal fitration due to the large amount of media they can hold but the do tend to lack a little in the mechanical department.
there are member who use sumps on smaller tank with great results but imho unless your tank is large i would go for a canister over the sump.



just my 2 cents.............

Hey, thanks for the responses. Here is what my set up is.

125 G tank
RENA (unsure of the numbers but filters nicely)
1 Albino Oscar (about an inch or so)
2 Bolivian Rams (2 inches a piece)
2 power heads with low power, mostly to aerate.
1 largish dragon thing that floats bubbles from its mouth
1 18 inch bubble wall
Some fake plants and a small hiding spot for the rams.
Thats about it for the tank and tank contents..

Then I agree with Cris... Use canisters!

I cannot really add much more than what the other members, especially Cris have already said.

I totally agree with Cris when he says that a sump filter is not really worth the bother unless you have got a very large aquarium. There are a few canister filters that are made for very large aquariums, I don't think they do any more than 1200 L (350 gallons) so you would in theory need two of these on a large aquarium containing quite a few fish, after all, you wouldn't bother going for a very large aquarium if you were going to stop it with quite a few large fish. So even if you go for the cheaper end of the market, you're still looking at around £300, probably nearer £600 if you go for Eheim. For about 200 quid you could have a top of the range sump, including pumps, heaters and media. Whereas your canister filters would hold a mass media for 600 gallons, a large sump filter would do 6000 gallons easily.

At the end of the day you can use a sump filter on just about any sized aquarium if you wish. Also bear in mind that they are not quite as straightforward to set up as a canister filter. You need to install lots of pipework and plumbing into your aquarium. This will involve drilling holes in both the Cabinet and the aquarium. So whereas you can install a canister filter onto an an aquarium without too much trouble and without the need to empty it, however in most cases a sump filter would need to be installed onto an empty aquarium.

Awesome. just want to make sure I am setting up a good environment for my buddies.

Is there such thing as; too much air being pumped into the tank? With the 2 power heads and the bubble dragon and the bubble wall..? Is it too much?

I would worry, you're not going to cause any problems with using extra power heads or air pumps.

As long as your fish are acting like fish, you are ok...

You guys/gals are all awesome! Thank you for the insight. This site is THE best site. I love it.

The little guys or girls seem to be happy as can be.

Thank you all, again.

JimmyO wrote:


all your questions are covered.

your O will grow very fast (about an inch a month) while your rams are probably full-sized already. There are two possible outcomes:
1) since the O has grown up with the Rams, all will be ok and they'll live happily ever after
2) once they can fit into your O's mouth, they may turn out to be a tasty meal

that's the only thing I can add