Hey peeps,

Just joined OFL and I must say I love what it has to offer. Getting help, advise, suggestions from people with "hands on" experience is so beneficial to expert and novice alike...

Herewith the tank I bought for my oscars:



My question is...my cabinet has support shelves in the centre as shown on the pic. Meaning I have two "areas" available on the sides that's roughly 25 x 25 x 27inches big (each). Can I (and do you suggest) that I have two small sumps working together (20-30) gallon each?

Welcome to our little community, glad you have decided to join

No, I would forget having a sump. I have got a 125 gallon tank which is virtually the same as what you have got & when it was operational I had two Eheim canister filters in each cabinet. If you open up the cabinet doors and look at the back, there should be a hole or two. I'll be very surprised if there isn't a hole in there.Also, they should have also put some holes at the back of your lid to take the pipe work from the filters. These type of aquariums are made to house filters in the cabinet's. Unfortunately it will be very difficult to fit a suitable sump on that particular tank, you would probably have to replace the cabinet.

I hope that helps

Yeah boet...there are two holes in the top supporting glass cut into the tank...prolly around 10cm in diameter each. Unfortunately the cabinet does not have holes in it...but nothing I can't fix with a drill, lol

Like I said...the tank holds around 650 liters...so which Eheim models would you suggest?

I am very surprised there are no holes in the back of the cabinet, like you say, if you're careful you can do them yourself.

There are quite a few Eheim canister filters that will probably suit your tank. If your funds will allow anyone to do it properly I would recommend double the amount of filtration to tank is rated for. In other words, a couple of Eheim 2028 filters will probably suffice. Check these links out. If you read the specification that will tell you what tank the filter is rated for

www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/catalog/eheim-filters-c-62.html

www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/catalog/...sional-c-62_101.html

Strangely, the Eheim 2028 has disappeared, maybe they have discontinued them, shame, they were really good filters. However, you will get something that will do the same job. I must add the Eheim are the Rolls-Royce of filters and therefore the most expensive, if you want something a little cheaper and maybe look at Fluvel

Can still get the Eheim 2028's here in South Africa...only problem is...they go for around 4 and a half grand each

Thanx for your input OFL, can you (or anyone) give me reasons why 2 sumps will not work?

I have been doing a lot of reading comparing sumps to canisters...and if there's no real reason for not using 2 sumps I think that will be the way to go. So if anyone can tell me why not...please step up

This sump will fit nicely into either side of my cabinet...meaning I can have two of these...giving me double the filtration (only make it freshwater of course):

saltaquarium.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ/...ef.org/diy/sump.html

from the pic you posted it doesnt look like you have any overflows built into your tank(if i am mistaken on this simply ignore the rest of my ramblings). without these a sump becomes a lot more difficult to install. not impossible just more difficult.
however if a sump is what your really after then by all means go for it. but on a small tank(anything under 200 gallons) the easiest and most convinient way to filter is by using a pair of canisters......


just my opinion

Thanx for the reply...

In all honesty though...if it was "easy" to keep oscars without any challenges...wouldn't everyone keep them?

Keeping Oscars isn't challenging, in fact they are one of the easiest fish to look after as long as you provide them with the correct living environment. You would have to carry out on lots of alterations on your aquarium for you to be able to install a sump filter. In my opinion the amount of work involved in installing a sump on your aquarium far outweighs the actual benefit of having one in the first place.

Great thread guy's.... Learn something everyday...

I personally like sumps... BUT you need to build your own stand, because the stands that come with the tanks just don't have the space for them. So I agree that sumps can be a pain, but I build my own stands anyway, so they work because I have the space for them

OFL wrote:


I agree with you there...what I meant with "challenge" though was...they need bigger tank than most fish, need good filter system seeing as they are messier than most, etc. So "sorting" out a way to run a sump would be considered a challenge giving the fact that I would have to build/modify a few things(mind you...paying ZAR 9000 for two Eheims is a challenge in its own )

OFL wrote:


You are prolly right...but wouldn't it feel better building something and stand in awe after everything is done...compared to simply buying something and throwing it into your tank? Debatable I reckon...