What goes into setting up a basic sump?

[Dtilton]

Hi all-

Have had discus in a 29g for a while now and upgrading to a 58 reef tank with built in overflows so I can put in a sump. Using the old 29 g for the sump and I have a trickle filter and bioballs, so basically the overflow flows over the bioballs, into the sump, and gets pumped back up to the tank with a submersible pump. I'll put my heaters in the sump as well. Is that it for a basic sump? I'm going to add some plants, really low light, easy plants so CO2 offgassing isn't a concern. Is it that simple? And I now simple is a relative word, so what I mean is, am I neglecting any basics for a simple sump set up?

Thanks!

-Danny

[aquaticplantman]

Is it that simple?
-Danny

Actually, I think you're over-complicating it. I've said before, that I don't think there is any good reason to use a sump for a discus tank. It's personal preference in my book. Maybe you just want to keep all the hardware out of the main tank -- that would be the best advantage I could think of. Otherwise, you're losing a lot of heat energy passing the water down to the sump and then back up again. It's just not worth it. So no, you're not missing anything -- discus just need heat, oxygen, and a biological filter (and of course lots of food and WCs, but that goes without saying... usually).

Good luck,
Matt H.

[Ringo]

Hi Danny,

I would also add some sponges and filter floss to help clean the water. I use a mud base system (EcoSystem) on my 150 gallon and so far its been working great.

Good luck

[Dtilton]

Matt- You've nailed it on the head! It's mostly to keep the stuff out of sight and to have a nice uncluttered tank. Also, the additional water (25 g or so) will help to keep the levels steady. I have 2 filstar X3s now on a 29g discus tank and they've been great for the past few years. We also have a 90g reef tank and that's got so many gadgets and gizmos that we put a 75g sump in the basement b/c it wouldn't all fit in the stand!

Ringo- 150! That must look great! We're doing plants as well, so that will help balance the water. This is a big step up for our discus- 29g to 58g! (cue: theme from the Jeffersons- Movin' on up!!)

Thanks both for the responses!

-Danny

[dandestroy]

I'm planning as well on a sump system for discus.

I want to rig a breeder 30 gal tank with a 30 gal sump.
I want to do this so I can't cut down a lot on WC. (my guess is that 2 discus in 60 g wont pollute much)

I've got inspired by Hans fishroom, he does WC based on bioload instead of that crazy daily WC. Don't get me wrong WC are good, but been able to pinpoint the actual amount require to achieve perfect water without wasting any would be the best thing. I like to believe that an oversized sump could reduce the amount of WC requirement. It's all about water quality and there is many way of achieving it IMO.

So back to the sump: my main concerne is the fact that bioball do reduce toxic ammonia and nitrite into nitrate, but what then???. If there a was a way of getting rid of nitrate as well, but been able to keep TDS to a minimum in the same time (maybe I'll try a good quantity of java moss). I will have a pH probe on lat all time to mesure subtle change in bioload which should reflect rizing nitrate level.

I'm also planning on rigging a hot magnum with micro cartridge in that sump, and fluidized bed filter as well and a sponge filter. the sponge filter should suck up a lot of nitrate and because it is so easy and fast to do do a few sqeeze once a while compare to other kind of maintenance.

So my idea is to have nothing in the breeding tank other than 2 fish an a cone, therefore wiping the tank will be so simple.

I hope that this give you a few ideas. take some pic once you start building it to keep us posted.

[kmuda]

In order to receive much nitrate reduction using plants you have to use really fast growing plants, which require more lighting than you plan on using. Being into Oscars I have experimented heavily with nitrate creep reduction using plants, denitrification filters, and freshwater plenums. With the massive bioload of an Oscar, it would take a massive amount of fast growing plants to do much good. It would be easier with a lightly stocked Discus tank, but you would still need fast growing plants.

In my Oscar tank I have a 20-gallon sump that contains 12 submerged wallpaper sponges that I never touch and never allow to come into contact with air. The sponges are about 4" thick each, layered 2 deep. In essence, this is a freshwater plenum.... something salt water/reef aquarist do as a matter of best practice, using deep sand beds. The concept is that the interior of the sponges becomes anaerobic, allowing for the colonization of denitrifying bacteria. Via all of my methods, I have reduced nitrate creep by about 40% in my Oscar tank, with the sponges accounting for about 1/2 of that.

I have not applied this concept to my Discus tank yet because I am still trying to learn these fish. Having 12 each 4" thick sponges sitting in the bottom of a sump, untouched for years, seems a little risky for a fish that people are wiping down the walls of their aquariums to prevent "harmful bacteria", or for which bare bottom tanks are considered almost a necessity for the same reasons.