Sump Vs Cannister Filter Help

Yes, I'm still trying to build the 40gal baby turtle aquarium. Its been weeks...I need to shave...I don't remember what I last ate.....help me!..I'm simply finding it hard to find concrete information online. I'm trying to get the most bang for my buck and already have a lot of the stuff for building a sump. Please correct me if I've made any mistakes or have any misconceptions. I'm having a hard time understanding if canister filters are better than sumps.


I was thinking of building a 10 gal horizontal sump alone for the filtration process for the 40gal tank sitting below the tank. I'm thinking the extra water would help keep things balanced and room to store more plants and media would be better than a canister filter because it has 10gal of everything a filter offers right? I could put the heater ect down in there. I mean putting some sectionals in whatever tub you want to make the sump out of, unbleached non mold resistant 100% polyester filling, lava rocks or Plastic Dish Scouring Pads costs pennies so it seems it all comes down to simply comparing the price of the pump for the sump to the canister filter price?

But to get to that I would need to know what the correct turnover rate is..

some say 4-6 others say 6-8 and some say 8-10 water turnovers an hour... How in the world am I supposed to know who knows what their talking about? It seems there's no hardcore science behind a lot of this or i'm simply missing the textbook demonstrations.

Heck couldn't I just place a trickle filter inside a tub of water to have both filter and sump? then just load down the tub of water with plants?

 

sump is better. I would go with a 6-8 turnover rate. It simple means if your tank is 40 gallons you need a 40x8=320 gph(gallons per hour)

 

I agree a Sump is better, I have on and I love it. As for turnover rate just get as high as you can without disturbing the turtles.

 

This is my basic understanding of turnover rate. Canister filters are a sealed unit. Water is forced through the media until it gets so blocked pressure builds up and can burst. With HOB’s and sumps it’s gravity fed. As soon as media starts plugging up, less water runs through it. That’s why if you have HOB’s with dirty media it will start to overflow the HOB. Because canisters are forcing the water, turn over dosen’t need to be as high. Sumps and HOB do need higher turnover. 5-6 for canisters, 7-10 for HOB’s is what I’ve been told.

 

This is my basic understanding of turnover rate. Canister filters are a sealed unit. Water is forced through the media until it gets so blocked pressure builds up and can burst. With HOB’s and sumps it’s gravity fed. As soon as media starts plugging up, less water runs through it. That’s why if you have HOB’s with dirty media it will start to overflow the HOB. Because canisters are forcing the water, turn over dosen’t need to be as high. Sumps and HOB do need higher turnover. 5-6 for canisters, 7-10 for HOB’s is what I’ve been told.

is there something i'm missing? It seems setting up a sump and or trickle filter is SO MUCH cheaper than canister filters and SO MUCH more beneficial I just don't get it other than canister filters are smaller and easier to hide... I don't want to be in an echo chamber though.. I was hoping to get some counter for canister filters.

 

is there something i'm missing? It seems setting up a sump and or trickle filter is SO MUCH cheaper than canister filters and SO MUCH more beneficial I just don't get it other than canister filters are smaller and easier to hide... I don't want to be in an echo chamber though.. I was hoping to get some counter for canister filters.

DON’T take my word on it, I don’t know much about sumps. I think filtration wise they’re on the same level as HOB’s but you can make them way bigger and quieter. plus, you can throw your heater (or saltwater stuff) and it’s hidden. A sump can be cheaper but I personal wouldent use a sump on anything less then 80 gallons. They make good canisters that work for that size and I can find them for half price used. After a certain size yes it’s cheaper to build a sump. A fluval fx5 (I think) is 500$ brand new where I am and rates for 150g. You can make a sump for WAY cheaper then that. So I’m no expert. I was gonna make a sump for my 65 at one point and I found it a LOT more complicated then I though once I started asked tricky questions. I’d kinda say that under 20 gallons HOBs are great, 30-90g a canister and over 100 gallon get a sump. But that’s just my 2 cents. I don’t have a sump, I just love my canisters. I waited long enough and got them both for half price or less used.

 

is there something i'm missing? It seems setting up a sump and or trickle filter is SO MUCH cheaper than canister filters and SO MUCH more beneficial I just don't get it other than canister filters are smaller and easier to hide... I don't want to be in an echo chamber though.. I was hoping to get some counter for canister filters.

That's because you are making you own sump, and not buying a pre-made one that can cost hundreds or even thousands. If you make your own canister filter or HOB filter, it will also be cheaper than buying one assembled.

 

Don't be fooled, a sump if you want it done properly, even being resourceful is expensive if you want the sump to be as effective, reliable and maintenance free as say a fluval canister you will have to spend some dollars, for a 40 gallon fresh water I can't say id ever recommend a sump, especially if you need to buy all the parts and drill the tank, I recommend getting a pre-owned canister filter. A decent one like a fluval 406 for turtles. I know nothing about turtles by the way. I see people doing diy things like that one in the video and I think why do you want that, if your doing diy do it properly, why do people think its cool to have something like that, its ugly and poor craftsmanship. I hope this helps. Go price a decent sump up, and look what it entails, then search Craig's list and ebay for a fluval canister or maybe a brand new one.