sump vs canister

[DonMD]

I had planned on setting up a new 135 Oceanic as a non-reef tank with two canister filters. But, Oceanic discontinued making them, and now I'm hearing lots of suggestions that I go with a sump.

The tank will be in the dining room, so I'm very picky about the cabinet (I really like the Oceanic cabinet), because it will be good furniture, and also about extra noise, and I heard that sumps are noisy.

What do you SIMPLY nuts :D:D:D have to say? ? ? :argue: :argue::argue:What should I do? Sump or canister?

THANKS for weighing in! -Don

[Jhhnn]

I've never run a tank with a sump, but I'm gonna find out, because I just bought one yesterday, used. Looking it over, cleaning it up, a couple of things seem obvious.

First off the way the overflow works, the system will be a lot less forgiving of any out of level of the tank itself, and also that it'll only work when the water level in the tank is just right- there's not a lot of wiggle room in either condition, unlike canister filters.

I also suspect there have to be some running water noises, even in the best case scenario. How much and what kind- dunno yet- it might actually be nice, like some fountains... If the system I have, an "Oceanic Model 75 Plus Series" has a lot of splashing and gurgling, then it'll have to go for something quieter...

The sump systems are supposedly the best in terms of bio-load, and I can see why, so I'll have to try it, for sure...

I got the whole thing for a song, tank and filter, but it's a sleazy mess, requiring a lot of cleanup, and I'll have to build a cabinet, rearrange my study in some as-yet undetermined way to make it fit, so forth and so on... I won't really have any definitive answers for weeks, anyway...

[KDodds]

There are a lot of things you can do about water noise, and pump noise. Standpipes can eliminate water noise entirely or reduce it to basically inaudible levels. Pumps placed on mouse pads will seriously reduce vibration/noise as well. NOT pushing the limits of the overflow (which you probably would not be doing anyway in a FW tank) helps too. For instance, if the overflow is rated at 600gph, using a pump rated at 300-400 gph will be substantially more quiet than using one rated at 600gph.

[poconogal]

I've got 2 canisters running on my tank and am very happy with them. One's an Eheim Pro II 2028, silent as can be and best of all, I was able to buy it used on Ebay for a fraction of what it would cost, new. That's filled with lots of bio media. The other is an XP3, a little hum but still almost silent. That one is filled with bio media and organic removal media. Both also have mechanical filtration media. The tank's between the living and dining areas in an open floor plan, so it must be quiet. I know what you mean about Oceanic's furniture quality, I have the Oceanic Black Oak setup and love how it looks.

[csarkar001]

sumps are noisey because of the trickle. but if you're doing salt, there is no comparison - sumps win hands down. but for discus, i switched to cannister and am happy with my decision. also, if you do a planted tank, having a sump/trickle may remove too much of the CO2.

[Consigliere]

As a side note on planted tanks, if you eliminate the trickle aspect of a lot of sump filters and make everything completely submerged you can reduce a lot of the CO2 off gassing.

[DonMD]

Thanks for the replies. I decided to get a 125 non-reef ready, and so will stick with canister filters. They're what I know, anyway, so there's no learning curve.