markfnq Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 hi all whats every ones views on sumps verses air ? we all have different requirements and needs .whats everyones pros and cons on the two ? .i am undecided myself and am thinking of using a mix of the two on a tank rack with 6 x 4x2x18 6 x 3x2x18 3 x 2x2x18. cheers mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daydream Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 Air all the way keep tanks seperat from infection.Indervidual tanks alows for seperate conditions for diff sp.If you have a problem stays contained to 1 tank.Medicate A couple of hundred lt or a couple of thousand.I know what I prefer.Alot of people think a sump is easy less work but this is not always the case.Some people get lazy with a sump thinking its ok ill do it later its a big enough filter and Bang crashes=cost get lazy dont quarinteen get infection=cost. Just my op thou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 I love having a sump, water conditions are the same in every tank so no need to monitor each one, just one big water change whenever I feel like it, easier to heat up just 1 big volume of water, nice, neat and tidy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve6610 Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 i have both, but even in my sumped systems i run air, but i do agree with daydream, while sumps are easier for some things, its also harder to keep certain fish seperate i'm changing my fish room around and while i will still have some tanks sumped, i'll be making each system smaller, so i can control things better, my biggest reason for sumps is during winter i can use bigger heaters but less of them, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daydream Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 Heat the room cheaper than heating water room temp28 tank temp26 easy as that takes a few days to get water up to temp but once its there it holds it well.cheapest way is aircon then oil elec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 bit hard in a garage where the doors open and close throughout the day my tanks run at 20-22 degrees on most days, and then on a hot day 24-25 degrees triggers breeding action like crazy - this seems to work for me as Lake Tanganyika is about 22-24 degrees on average and fish from low depths experience colder water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daydream Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 Thats where im luky garage full insulated 100 tanks run aircon 24/7 only opens for hour at a time run air not sump warm air pumped into water=heat as most my fish like it warm temp what ever i want .This way I can trigger breeding when I want.Works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betta Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 I agree with all of the previous posts, both have a lot of pros & cons, the main questions are what do you want to do with your tanks? Do you want to breed all the same sp? Are you going to use a whole bank per sp? What will you be using for quarantine/hospital tanks? How often do you want to spawn & how many fry in an average spawn? All of these are determining factors as to what system you should use & also the main question is what do you prefer/feel comfortable using? I would recommend a mixture of both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daydream Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 Have used and worked with both and aways go back to air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve6610 Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 I agree with all of the previous posts, both have a lot of pros & cons, the main questions are what do you want to do with your tanks? Do you want to breed all the same sp? Are you going to use a whole bank per sp? What will you be using for quarantine/hospital tanks? How often do you want to spawn & how many fry in an average spawn? All of these are determining factors as to what system you should use & also the main question is what do you prefer/feel comfortable using? I would recommend a mixture of both. that's about spot on, you said it way better then me, i think it really comes down to what you want, and what your breeding, i'm using both, and both work for the right fish, but as stated above, i'm changing the size of my sumped system as it will give me better control, i also can't heat the room, as its not sealed, so heaters are my only option at the moment, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Junkie Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 I think it also depends on the size of the tanks and where they are and stocking levels There's nothing worse than looking at a beautiful display tank and then spotting two big sponge filters and a heater FJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markfnq Posted November 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) this is a rough sketch of what im setting up. tanks on the left 6 x 4x2x18 will be sumped. roughly 2000 litres 40 mm bulkheads .25mm poly back to tanks. pump laguna 11000 lph . will be using 45,s as not to reduce flow. cant decide whether to have 2 taps or one per tank. keeping the plumbing distance short to increase flow. tanks on the right 6 x 3x2x18 and 3 x 2x2x18 will be a mix of air and diy over tank trickle systems. what are your thoughts on tap size and number 25mm or 15mm? keeping malawis in the left side and fry and odds and ends on the right. thanks for the replys cheers mark! yellow to sump green sump to tanks. [/img] Edited November 12, 2012 by markfnq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betta Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) Looks good mark, very cool setup. I've always been a fan of the over tank trickle systems, very effective & not much chance of overflowing anything if you loose power Edited November 12, 2012 by Betta Damn Autocorrect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markfnq Posted November 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 cant see the value for money running pressure pipe from sump back to the tanks. should still get plenty of flow with the large bulkheads and the big pump. still in the planning stage so open to options. cheers mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martib Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 go both,looks like the plans have started,when ya need a lift give me a buzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brisxr6t Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 I run a sump system with 15 tanks on it and a number of seperate single system tanks....I have to say that while the sump system is awesome for power and time saving it sucks for disease and unknown problems which go through all the tanks, instead of just one. Also a major pain to treat. I am currently working on reducing the amount of tanks of the system or possibly splitting it in two or three. If I were to do it all over again, I probably wouldn't lol......but would run more smaller systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Junkie Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 cant see the value for money running pressure pipe from sump back to the tanks.should still get plenty of flow with the large bulkheads and the big pump. still in the planning stage so open to options. cheers mark Mate just go flexi hose This one is ribbed on outside but smooth inside for fast water flow FJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Junkie Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 I run a sump system with 15 tanks on it and a number of seperate single system tanks....I have to say that while the sump system is awesome for power and time saving it sucks for disease and unknown problems which go through all the tanks, instead of just one. Also a major pain to treat. I am currently working on reducing the amount of tanks of the system or possibly splitting it in two or three. If I were to do it all over again, I probably wouldn't lol......but would run more smaller systems. What about a UVC that would stop it spreading FJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
