Roller Sump or Triton Sump(refugium) Pro's Con's Whats your Preference

[Michael71]

i have never had an actual sump on a tank. My freshwater tanks were always mechanically filtered and live planted and my reef tank had rear compartments that i dumped excess live rock rubble into. I am trying to decide on a sump for my build and vacillating between a model built for a roller mat or one with a fuge compartment...before anyone says do both... i am not looking to have one custom built and i think both is overkill if the tank is properly stocked plus run with an appropriate sized skimmer. That said, please share your experiences good or bad.. ifnyouve run both really want to hear about the comparison.

Look forward to the responses.

 

[Michael71]

Bump

 

[keelo]

If you want all 3 options look into the trigger platinum series sump

 

[keelo]

Here is mine

 

[andrewey]

If you're on the fence, I suggest refugium. The roller may or may not be your scene, but the refugium allows you to run a fuge (obviously) or use that space for other activities. I've used that space in the past for growing frags, housing fish that needed to be removed, storing carbon/gfo reactors, etc. Since it's a "blank canvas", it's the safer approach unless you were dead set on a filter roller.

 

[Michael71]

Not dead set on either but am curious as to which works better keeping chemistry in check...15 years ago with my last tank...this is pre-roller and algae scrubber everyone battled to remove phosphate and nitrates ...niw everyone is dosing those which leads me to believe new tech cleans the water too well. I am considering doing a shadow 3 overflow on a custom glass cages cube so have been looking at the synergy sumps. I plan on a 100 gal display and my goal is to start with live sand and at least 50% or more live rock.. so dont want to over filter. If that makes sense. Am leaning towards fuge just because it feels like one less piece of equipment to restock with filter material.

 

[andrewey]

Nothing has changed in terms of "over filtering" or cleaning the water too well. All versions including turf scrubber, skimmer, fuge, mechanical filtration, carbon dosing, etc. can be used for nutrient export.

There was a period that people shot for very low nutrients, but this caused issues in some people's tanks. Generally speaking, low nutrients is a good benchmark, although you will see successful reefs at very high nutrients and very low nutrients. It's a balance with all the other parameters, but as it can be a can of worms of include the effect alkalinity, N/P ratios, etc can have on growth, color, health, dinoflagellates with a particular value of nitrates and phosphates, aiming for low, but not very low nutrients good starting benchmark until you decide what works best for your particular reef. Since some people's nutrients can get too low with their particular setup, they dose nitrate/phosphate.

 

[Michael71]

I am going to go cube 32x32x20, maybe 33x33... custom building the stand with a live edge slab probably 48" too allow room for a large sump and ato reservoir under the stand...i want my equipment space roomy so i can access the equupment easily and allow for good airflow. Looking synergy ts34 or 44.

 

[Michael71]

its so weird to see so many threads with people dosing phosphates and nitrates...my last reef was always running nutrient rich.. so much so that i ran a phosphate reactor full time and did weekly 20 percent water changes...no dosing