This is the sump of my last tank. It is a simple and cheap 45-gallon tank. It had no compartments, no filter socks, no [insert third thing here when you think of a third thing]. And you know what? It kept my water clean, my nitrates at around 5ppm, easy to access, and my salinity stable with the ATO. Yes, it's a bit of an eyesore, and I would have preferred to have kept it in a cabinet, but my stand didn't have a cabinet. The concept is simple. The mangrove and caulerpa removed the nitrate and phosphate, the skimmer took care of the fats, and the sand and rock allowed for bacterial filtration and grew pods for my fish.
I recently upgraded to a fancy tankwith a fancy sump. It's got like five compartments. A place for the water to enter, a filter sock section, a skimmer section, a refugium section, and a return pump section. Yet, it is doing so much worse at keeping my nutrients down! Last I tested, my nitrates were 50!
My issues are as follows.
- The first two compartments are just for the filter socks, and filter socks are a lot more hassle than helpful. They collect a small amount of detritus, get clogged, and then the water diverts over the baffle, bypassing the socks. This not only renders the socks useless once a little dirty but it also affects the water level of the rest of the sump which stops the ATO doing its job properly.
- The lack of refugium space. So far in my reefing journey, the only thing that has consistently worked at keeping the microorganisms happy and the nutrients down is a refugium. Yet this gives far more space to the almost useless filter socks and even more space to the skimmer. I have space for one small rock (yes, I added another to the skimmer section and one to the return pump section) and one rock is not nearly enough! I used to grow enough macroalgae to sell it to my LFS every month. I have not sold him any since upgrading because I can't grow enough.
- Finally, there is the ATO system for this. I use a 5-gallon bucket. The little plastic container with the float valve is useless. First, it is attached firmly in place and needs a wrench to remove, which makes it a PITA to fill. Second, it is way too small. Finally, it gets in the way of the "refugium", which I should have mentioned has nowhere to put a refugium light.
So, in summary, despite having the fancy thing, my fish and corals are less happy because my nutrients are higher, my salinity is less stable, I have fewer spaces for bacteria to grow, and I have less space to produce pods. Though, admittedly, the new sump is prettier.
(also annoyed by the new skimmer, my old Tunze comline skimmer worked all the time while this new one stops working around any detritus, and is just in general far more finicky.)
