Hey everyone!
New member, first post! Thanks in advance for any and all advice!
I have a 90 gallon fish and live rock tank with a Fluval 404 canister filter and a HOB protein skimmer that I have gotten weary of looking at as the pump AND the "bubble diffuser are incredibly obtrusive IN the tank... thinking, well, planning actually, on upgrading to a sump setup... now for the questions...
1) These things are pricey! For what seems to be little more than an acrylic box... are they worth the price, or can you make one yourself with an aquarium of suitable size? And why are the "drain kits" so expensive for what seems to be 10 bucks worth of plumbing from Home Depot?? Is the tubing an odd size, or some sort of special "aquarium grade" plastic??
2) Any recommendations on certain brands?? (Eshopps, Berliner, Marineland, Megaflow??) Favorite pump manufacturers?? (Quiet One, Maxi-Jet??)
3) One of the things I like about the canister filter is that a power outage does not create a problem... it will just start right back up when the power comes back on... will a sump set up be as friendly??
4) I am most interested to get all of the equipment (Heater, protein skimmer hardware, pH probe, temp probes etc...) OUT of the aquarium and into a sump.... will this all create a heat problem in the confined space under the aquarium in the stand??
5) I have never had problems with my water chemistry... I just abide by a few basic rules (start with RO water, change 10% every week, don't overfeed, good lighting...) and am a little concerned that switching filtration systems might cause an unforseen problem... should I run the new WITH the old for a month or so till the new media builds up a bacterial bed??
Thanks again! Any information from the experienced would be very helpful!
New member, first post! Thanks in advance for any and all advice!
I have a 90 gallon fish and live rock tank with a Fluval 404 canister filter and a HOB protein skimmer that I have gotten weary of looking at as the pump AND the "bubble diffuser are incredibly obtrusive IN the tank... thinking, well, planning actually, on upgrading to a sump setup... now for the questions...
1) These things are pricey! For what seems to be little more than an acrylic box... are they worth the price, or can you make one yourself with an aquarium of suitable size? And why are the "drain kits" so expensive for what seems to be 10 bucks worth of plumbing from Home Depot?? Is the tubing an odd size, or some sort of special "aquarium grade" plastic??
2) Any recommendations on certain brands?? (Eshopps, Berliner, Marineland, Megaflow??) Favorite pump manufacturers?? (Quiet One, Maxi-Jet??)
3) One of the things I like about the canister filter is that a power outage does not create a problem... it will just start right back up when the power comes back on... will a sump set up be as friendly??
4) I am most interested to get all of the equipment (Heater, protein skimmer hardware, pH probe, temp probes etc...) OUT of the aquarium and into a sump.... will this all create a heat problem in the confined space under the aquarium in the stand??
5) I have never had problems with my water chemistry... I just abide by a few basic rules (start with RO water, change 10% every week, don't overfeed, good lighting...) and am a little concerned that switching filtration systems might cause an unforseen problem... should I run the new WITH the old for a month or so till the new media builds up a bacterial bed??
Thanks again! Any information from the experienced would be very helpful!