Sump / Refugium for a 180 gallon aquarium ?

[rvales]

I have a 180Gallon dual overflow aquarium. I am looking for a sump filter / refugium. I am looking on the net and most are made for reef aquariums, some look cheaply made and there are some that are very pricey. Can someone recommend the proper size and a link to a quality made sump that is reasonably priced?

[fishbubbles]

You could make your own from a 40 or 55 gallon tank. Plenty of DIY videos online showing how it's done. You could stand some poret foam vertically for mechanical filtration and still have room for heaters behind them.

[Cove Beach]

I’ve had sumps for years on all my tanks. There are a few questions that you have to ask yourself. First is location, space available, and budget.
If you are locating the sump underneath the stand you can go with a simple glass tank that isn’t drilled and use a submersible pump. You can add a glass divider if you want or just use Poret foam. Another option would be an acrylic sump, higher in cost unless you find one used, but it allows easy plumbing of an external pump.
My personal experiences have taught me I don’t like hitting my head inside a stand and I don’t like kneeling to work in my sump. Also fish tank maintenance means spilled water sooner or later. So you may consider locating the sump externally, like in an adjacent room or possibly a basement if you have one.I have also found making daily maintenance simple and easy makes it more likely to be consistent which is very
important especially for discus. Just some thoughts. Please post what qualities or option you have to have and myself and others will be happy to offer help.

[captainandy]

What is the exact reason you want to add the sump/refugium?
If you want to lower nitrates and phosphates you might want to google algae scrubber.
Much easier than adding extra tank space and plumbing.

In reefs, the sumps are needed for other reasons including biodiversity to feed corals, deep sand beds, growing algae, etc. Water changes are much less frequent because of the salt and RO/DI water expense.

[rvales]

I decided to go with Bashsea Biofuge 48x18x18 and Bio-reactor 6-24 the quality is exceptional. The customer service is the best I have ever experience from any company. I sent Bashsea an email asking about their products, not only did I get a reply email with an in depth explanation. I received a follow up phone call. I spoke to Steve the owner of Bashsea. He is a really knowledgeable and he was into Discus breeding as a hobbyist in the past, but running a company like his does not leave him much time for breeding Discus now. He was not trying to sell me anything and gave me his recommendations.

[rvales]

What is the exact reason you want to add the sump/refugium?
If you want to lower nitrates and phosphates you might want to google algae scrubber.
Much easier than adding extra tank space and plumbing.

In reefs, the sumps are needed for other reasons including biodiversity to feed corals, deep sand beds, growing algae, etc. Water changes are much less frequent because of the salt and RO/DI water expense.

I wanted a refugium and an easy way to hide my heater, make water changes and clean the filter.