Archivarium 2004

[Sand]

I have 6 fair sized tanks. I use canister or internal filters. very simple.

I thought about replacing 2 medium sized tanks for 1 much larger one. a fancy one with a cabinet under it to store fish supplies etc (I have plain Iron stands now)

so I'm in the store & he starts asking me about if I want a sump, wet dry - skimmer-trickle-DLS?...., and he mentions more stuff that I don't know what it is. I say, um, I don't know, I'll get back with you.

I have always used UG filters when I was a kid and now canister or in tank filters. what is all this stuff for? I've read about them but I still don't understand what the heck it means!! then I see the quote below & I think, why would all my water drain out of my tank bcuz of a power outage? huh? MY filters just stop if the power is off.
would I be better off with these other things?
I have only freshwater fish & they are all easy to care for non aggresive fish.
they don't get ill I've learned through the years, so long as I vacuum the poo each week & replace 20-30 % of the water I've removed when I vacuumed. see below for the quote I was talking about

"skimmer boxes can be used with many types of filter systems from wet/dry trickle filters to single or multistage canister filter systems. Skimmer boxes help to meter the flow of water entering your filter system and protect your aquarium from completely draining in the event of a power outage."
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[Irons]

It sounds like he was trying to sell you equip for a a salt setup. With a cansiter filter and everything hooked up I don't' see how a canister would drain a tank.
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"... instead of considering what to say when they write, people now just let thoughts drool out onto the screen," - about e-mail
Irons.

[Darkblade48]

The only way a canister filter could possibly drain your tank is if one of the tubings (either input or output) came lose

That would be disasterous

[ercnan]

If done correctly, a skimmer box (external overflow), or even an internal overflow will only drain water down to the point where it enters.
In a power outage, no water in means no water out.
I always shut my sump pump off when feeding to keep the food in the tank and not get washed into the sump. My external overflows only drain about 2 gallons into the sump when the pump shuts off.
Again, if done correctly, your tank will not empty itself in a power outage.
There are several things to keep in mind when doing the sump thing to make sure it's right. Just read through the posts, get the info. and ask more questions if need be.
I've had several thought and questions, and most if not all have addressed in these forums.
These people are great, and will help as much as you let them.
Hope this helps. Good luck.

[dale]

Hi sand,
Hope I can shed some light on it for you.
A sump is nice but not neccisary for your situation. It is simply a system that is big and allows for lots of different filtration combo's and the addition of equipment like heaters and protein skimmers in a hidden location. It can be used for freshwater but is mostly used for salt water.
The sump (usually) operates by pumping water from the sump container up into the main display tank. The water then overflows the main tank either through a predrilled hole or a hang on the back syphon setup, back into the sump.
Your tanks can drain in three ways:
1.) If your predrilled hole or H.O.B. syphon plugs up, the sump pump will pump all the sump water into your main tank which overspills onto the floor. You can solve this somewhat by making sure the sump pump intake is near the top of the sump and not at the bottom (then it can only pump a little before sucking air).
2.) The pump can stop but the syphon effect continues, thus draining your main tank into your sump which overspills onto the floor. This can be corrected by either ensuring the predrilled hole is near the top of your display tank or that the H.O.B. syphon intake tube is also near the top of the main tank. That way only a little water will drain before the syphon effect is broken (that is also what a skimmer box does). The sump should be set up so that it can hold the amount of water that will syphon out in the event of a pump stoppage (one or two inches).
3.) The pump return line is set too deep in the main tank. If the pump stops (some models) it can actually begin a reverse flow (syphon effect) back into the sump. If the return line is too deep it can drain the main tank. Obviously, to correct this just ensure the return line is at the top of the main tank.
Whew, that's a lot to think about. Hope you can make sense of it.
Dale.
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