# canister filters vs wet dry sump



## tlspmm (Feb 1, 2009)

I'm a owner of established 110 gallon aquarium(48x18x30) . currently I 'm using 2 emperor 400 for filtration w/ 1100 marineland powerhead w/ bio sponge w/ 20% water change every other week. Fish are healthy and even have 4 fry swimming around. Want to upgrade filtration but very confused . I'm leaning towards 3 stage wet dry sump w / 1200 gph cycle and new 110gallon tank w two overflow boxes . What are the pro & cons . I now many of you have already been here so really looking for your input . thanks .lol :fish: :fish:


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Welcome to CF
I had a lenghty, long winded post that got lost in wire world  
The basics of it was
If you are handy, a DIY sump would be my choice..media choices, ease of service, least disruption of aquascaping, best overall filtration.
Not too handy, canisters, for most of the same reasons given for the sump.
My last choice would be HOBs
You didn`t mention if $$$ was an issue.


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## boredatwork (Sep 14, 2007)

You can find several articles online about the pros and cons of a sump vs. canister. It would also be very helpful for you to search the forum - you will find a lot of great information.

The most common starting point is here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/gt/index.php


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

If money is no object then why not use both. I have a 125 gallon tank with an FX5 and 30 gallon wet/dry. I am using the wet/dry that has 10 gallons of bio balls in it for my bio filtration and the FX5 for my chemical, bio and mechanical filtration. My tank has the dual internal overflows that feed the wet/dry and the FX5 is setup just like the directions say to. My system is very easy to operate and I have no worries about my tank overflowing onto the floor. I just installed 2 Durso standpipes in the 2 overflows and now my tank is super quite. In my opinion I have the best filtration possible. I can over stock my tank without to much worry of over loading my bio filtration. I may be floatin my own boat here but I really think that my setup is superior. As far as I am concerned there are no cons. That is my 2 cents.....


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> I may be floatin my own boat here but I really think that my setup is superior. As far as I am concerned there are no cons. That is my 2 cents.....


Ok, we can discuss this, since you opened it.  I run just a wet/dry with no canister, and my 
biofiltration is more than able to handle anything I throw at it. Adding a canister with another gallon of 
biomedia would be of no practical benefit. It might add 5% to the overall surface area for bacteria to 
colonize. But, do I need that even if I overstock? Is there nowhere else for this increase in bacteria to 
colonize? And If I get to the point where I need to absolutely maximize the amount of surface area for 
bacteria, then my system is teetering on disaster.

There is a con, another device to clean, and I hate cleaning canisters. One of the benefits of running a 
sump whether wet/dry or not, is the ease of maintenance. Adding a canister cancels some of that out. 
Also increases cost of running the system.



> I have no worries about my tank overflowing onto the floor.


That's good, but are you saying the canister does this for you? How so? Any wet/dry system can 
spring a leak. How do you have no worries about a flood?


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## boredatwork (Sep 14, 2007)

prov356 said:


> > I have no worries about my tank overflowing onto the floor.
> 
> 
> That's good, but are you saying the canister does this for you? How so? Any wet/dry system can
> spring a leak. How do you have no worries about a flood?


I was going to make a bad joke about this but deleted after I realized it would probably be misinterpreted. Just through everyone should know that, haha.



prov356 said:


> Adding a canister with another gallon of biomedia would be of no practical benefit. It might add 5% to the overall surface area for bacteria to colonize.


Even if it did add more surface area, unless the sump was not providing 100% bio filtration already, then the canister does not add any more usefulness to bio filtration. Bacteria doesn't grow on media just because it is there, there also needs to be a source of ammonia. But if all of the ammonia is being handled by the sump, then there is not bio advantage to the canister.

Now, in reality that is not 100% true. Some bacteria would grow in the canister, but then some would probably die off in the sump. The better statement is that based on a given bioload, there is a relatively fixed amount of ammonia produced. The amount of ammonia will be directly related to the number of bacteria. The number of bacteria for a given bioload will remain relatively constant not matter how much bio media you give it.


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

Hey Prov, Thanks for the flame there buddy  Maybe it sounded like I was trying say that my setup was better than everyone else's, but that is simply not what I was trying to do. I know that I can't really argue any of this with you since you have alot more experience than I do with filters and fish tanks. It has been a long time (10 years) since I have had a tank setup, but I really believe that my setup should be one of the better ones out there. 
I had just gotten finished setting up and tuning my Dorso standpipe that I made yesterday and I was feeling pretty good about the filtration system that I have.

As far as my canister goes, I am not really using that for my bio filtration. It is setup more for mechanical filtration. Alot of people on this site alone are running nothing but canister filters and they love them. As far as cleaning them, I don't think that having to clean my filters is a con like you said. It is simply part of the hobby and I enjoy doing all of it.

The wet/dry is what I am using for bio filtration. You are correct when you say that my wet/dry can spring a leak, but that can happen to any part a system that contains water or any other liquid. When I said that I wasn't worried about my system flooding the floor it had nothing to do with my tank springing a leak. I simply meant to say that I wasn't worried about the overflows flooding the floor, just in case that was one of his worries. I have tested and retested my overflows to make sure that if the tank shuts down they will not overflow onto the floor.

I hope that this doesn't get between us here prov. You have been alot of help to me and I thank you for it. I would like to count on you to help when I need it in the future. Sorry if I offended you.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> I hope that this doesn't get between us here prov. You have been alot of help to me and I thank you for it. I would like to count on you to help when I need it in the future. Sorry if I offended you.


Didn't intend to flame, and I'm sorry it was taken that way.  Too much coffee today. :dancing: :dancing: :dancing: :dancing:


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

*sleepy09*

Check your mailbox. PM sent.


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

*Prov*

Check your mailbox. PM sent.


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