Sump or no sump?

[Eti]

Hello everyone,

I have had my discus from Hans for 6 months and so far so good. Went through some bumps with some bacterial and internal infections but I could take care of them with a lot of research on SD!
After viewing the video from hans on youtube (where he shows how he changes the water), I feel a sump would really be the way to go for a couple of reasons:
Not freaking out the fish when you dump fresh water in their tank but change directly in the sump
Better filtration
Better control over medication/treatment

I only have a BB 75G tank right now, not drilled. Would you think a sump can be a real added value and is it complicated to add one without drilling holes (which I would love to avoid). Oh and also, y tank is only filled up ½ way, if that matters..
Let me know your thoughts!
Thanks

[jffoley]

A sump is the way to go, IMHO. My first discus tank is also a non-drilled 75g. I found someone locally selling off accessories and came up with a CPR overflow box. Used with a TOM Aqua Lifter pump to keep the siphon going it works fine. The Aqua Lifter needs cleaning once in a while. Also a good idea to have spare diaphrams on hand.

My sump is simply a 16g tank. The overflow goes into a hang on filter sock in the sump. I'm also using Swiss Tropicals poret foam to separate the flow from the return pump. (can't have enough mechanical and biological filtration!) I have a plastic bin with some Pond Matrix on the pump side of the poret for additional biological filtration. Tank has been up for almost 2 years now and no problems at all. Most of the research was here on Simplydiscus!

A strong suggestion is to use an auto top off switch. I use two. One is in conjunction with a 5g bucket of RO water connected to a powerhead for top off the system due to evaporation. The other is reversed and connected to the system return pump. If the siphon fails this prevents the return pump to empty the sump into the display tank and possible overflow. Don't want that!

Hope that helps!

John

[kkdiscus]

My next tank is going to be a sump type. Changing filter and cleaning much easier!

[DiscusLoverJeff]

A sump is ok to use if you have adults and are not doing daily water changes. Starting and stopping a sump takes time to get use to doing because you have to break siphon and make sure it doesn't overflow on you every time you turn it off. There are some people who have it down path and some who don't.

There are some easy to clean canister filters out there than can do the same thing as a sump that might be a little easier to use. A Filstar canister for example holds a lot of media and is super easy to clean. When you do your water changes, unplug it (you can put it on a remote outlet if it is hard to reach), fill your tank, plug it back in.

[Crockett]

If you do go with a sump, this is the one I have. It's a really great set up and you will not have to worry about starting and stopping issues and the risk involved with breaking the siphon and worrying about overflowing when you turn it off etc.., etc. It's designed with the goal to mitigate that risk, only thing you might not like is that it should probably be used with a drilled tank.

[Eti]

Thanks so much for all your advices guys!


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