sump or outside cannister filtre for my new 150 gallon tank

[lazza]

i have kept tropical fish for many years always with undergravel with power heads i am thinking of setting up new tank for discus but i am unsure of the filtration system that would suit "sump or cannister filtre or even both and wat size sump would be of benifet as i have the chance of a free four foot tank which i can use also wat size of filter and wat type or would both be even more substantial my five footer has already got an inlet and outlet pre drilled with fitted bulkheads i would be very greatful of some advice from all who wish to help a greenhorn future discus keeper thanks lazza

[walt3]

if its already drilled i would go the sump route for sure. most tanks can be used for a sump so if you can get one free then it makes sense. you can look on line for ideas as to how to actually set up the sump as far as design and what would go where. if your going with a bare tank then some amount of bio media would probably be needed. if your not doing small discus you could do a large canister as well or in addition too. i use one with a substrate 75 gallon and young fish. more work but its working. water changes are of coarse key so thats something to think about with young ones. many on this site dont worry about big amazing filters because of the massive daily water changes they do. if you get adults and a nice filter you wont be "as" tied to that rule. either way test water and keep them supplied with great quality water. i use a canister because i dont have the space for a sump. i did use a sump on my reef but did not need media as the live rock inthe tank was the media. that and a giant skimmer. lol. too much filtration never hurt fish but too little....... :(

[lazza]

hey walt3 thank you very much for youre information it was very helpfull i will go and mull over wat you said and will get back to you with wat i decide and will post some pics soon

[strawberryblonde]

If your tank is pre-drilled and you can get your hands on a free tank for a sump go for it! The only downside (if you can call it that) is needing to turn off the pump during feedings of flake food, etc. I get around that by soaking my flakes prior to feeding so that they sink below the water surface. Beefheart sinks fairly quickly so that part is easy and my freeze dried blackworms go into an upside Lee's feeder cone so they never get a chance to float off into the sump.

I use a sump with poret foam and a decent sized pump, but not a huge pump. My discus HATE too much flow, clamp down their fins and refuse to go near the spray bars if the flow is too high, so I tried to keep the flow rate at about 4x per hour.

To solve the "food bits in the sump" problem I added a simple highfin lacy catfish to the water inlet end. That guy keeps the pre-filter poret foam and the water on that end pristine! I've only had to clean the foam once and that was when I pulled out the catfish for a month... won't do that again. LOL

By doing the poret and adding the catfish I don't have to use micron socks on the hoses and can keep them partially submerged so there isn't any gurgling noise.

I'm growing out discus in this tank and so far it's working perfectly. My newest batch was 4" at the beginning of July and is now just at 6". I wouldn't recommend using such a huge tank for growing out juvies (3" or less) since they'd probably end up feeling lost in all that space. If you plan to grow out babies it might be better to house them in a smaller grow out tank till they get to 4" and then transfer them over.

[jlcoop277]

My sump is all DIY. 30g rubbermaid tub, micron sock and return pump.
My discus don't seem to mind higher turnover. Right now I'm around 7x an hour I'm gonna bump that up and see how they do, I can always turn it down.
I Like the socks, I do have my pipes submerged into the bottom of the sock which stays below the water line. No gurgle. If you go that way make sure you have unions or don't glue the pipes that go into the sock or you'll have hell changing the sock out. Currently I have a few plants as bio filter but I'm gonna switch them over to the ceramic cylinders.

[lazza]

hey toni thank you for this info very informative more ideas to ponder over much regards laz

[lazza]

hi jlcoop277 thank you for sharing some insight into youre set up gives me more info to think about much obliged laz