tanks w/ overflow vs. canister or wet-dry filters?

[Guest cooliegirl17]

im eventually going to start a saltwater tank but im still doing ALOT of research about the saltwater hobby. I have 2 freshwater tanks and am mostly familiar with wetdry (trickle) filters, box filters, canister filters, etc. In salt water tanks...what exactly are overflow built in tanks? so all the filter media is in a closed off section in the corner? What are the pros and cons of a built in overflow filter system vs. just buying a fluval canister filter for instance? Would u say the extra $ spent on a bulit in overflow is worth it? thx!

[discordja]

this is an overflow

 

http://superfishstore.com/waterworld/nfosc...%20overflow.jpg

 

In this case, water comes over the lip of the overflow, swirls around a bit and heads down that stand pipe (the candy cane pvc thing). From there, it normally goes down into a sump such as this

 

http://www.melevsreef.com/29g/sump/sump_month1.jpg

 

in that pic, the water flows in on the right, through a small refuge area where macroalgae grows, and then makes it's return trip with the pump on the left. normally it will flow back up through the left most white tube on the left in that first picture.

 

That is a very simple set up. water overflows, into a refue area, back up through pump. They can get more than more complex. I attached my sump to this image. I have the same kind of overflow and return but in mine, I come down into the left most area where my skimmer resides, it then spills into the main return chamber, and I have a second small minijet pumping water into the refuge chamber on the right where rock, sand and macroalgae are.

 

For the most part, filtration in a reef aquarium is a completely different planet than freshwater. Most people don't use wet/dry filters because they can become nitrate factories. Some people use cannister filters but only do so from time to time or do so in conjunction with Ozone. The goal in reefs is to minimize nitrates and keep water clarity to a maximum.

 

So in the world of marine, you have a couple of standard mechanisms.

 

1) protein skimming. You can see in the image I attached, to the left is my protein skimmer. Protein skimmers remove materials in the water that would eventually break down into amonia -> nitrate. This will help limit the overall amount of nitrate you are producing. Skimmers can also help in removing particulant matter from the water column.

 

2) some kind of refugium. This is normally in sump. The first pic is an example of this, macroalgae grows and feeds off of light and nitrates/phosphates in the water.

 

Neither of these two include the biological filtration that your tank from denitrifying sandbeds and live rock.

 

PS

 

K I lied about attaching an image. It's too large. So I'll just link to it when I get it up.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d189/dis...ja/IMG_0368.jpg

[Guest cooliegirl17]

thank you for all ur advice! wat i forgot to mention in my question was the word "reef ready". when a tank is "reef ready", it basically means there is a section closed off in the side of the tank where overflow occurs and a regium is located? as i draw closer to buying a tank, should i buy one that is "reef ready"? r there other alternatives? i know reef ready tanks are more expensive, but is it worth the extra $ in order to save a lot of extra hassle maybe? so to the best of my understanding as of now, a sump pump underneath the tank along with the overflow section built into the tank connecting to the sump is the best way for a beginner to set up their 1st tank?

[JMsAquarium]

thank you for all ur advice! wat i forgot to mention in my question was the word "reef ready". when a tank is "reef ready", it basically means there is a section closed off in the side of the tank where overflow occurs and a regium is located? as i draw closer to buying a tank, should i buy one that is "reef ready"? r there other alternatives? i know reef ready tanks are more expensive, but is it worth the extra $ in order to save a lot of extra hassle maybe? so to the best of my understanding as of now, a sump pump underneath the tank along with the overflow section built into the tank connecting to the sump is the best way for a beginner to set up their 1st tank?

 

A reef ready tank is one that has holes drilles in it for the bulkheads. In this case you will not need a tube siphoning the water from the tank over the frame.

Overall, it makes life easier. You got the big picture, but it is not were the refugium is located. It is just a place were the water gets out of your tank, and from there it goes to the sump. As previously described.

[dbartco]

And keep the questions coming, it is the best and easiest way to learn! Or post up your location, and I'm sure a local reefer would open up the doors and let you have a tour of their system to explain it all. And wehn you are ready to fill it, joining this club is definitely the cheapest was to go.

[JMsAquarium]

I second Doug's input. Feel free to come and visit. Sometimes seeing how things are set up, can go long ways in understanding how things work, checking different options and ideas. You will soon figure out that there are many ways to do things.

[Guest clownfish4]

This is the simplest way I can put the basic info you need/are looking for:

 

An overflow ONLY carries water out of the tank, there is no filtering involved

 

The water is carried to a sump, which is just another tank with partitions in it.

 

You want to put your skimmer in the smallest chamber possible and keep a medium flow.

 

A refugium can be done in two ways. If it is in the sump, you want it in a chamber after the skimmer. The main purpose here is to remove excess nutrients.

 

You can also use a third tank that would be above your display. Here you pump water from the display to the fuge and have it drain back into the tank. This increases your display pod population, etc. and also helps with removing nutrients, although it is just more things to have.

 

I also like to run carbon personally. I constructed a special canister out of pvc that is hooked up to one of the drains from my main tank to my sump.

 

Like everyone else said, keep the questions coming and feel free to ask people in your area about checking out their tanks, everyone here is pretty nice. Although I would avoid Chip, Howard, and some of the others that need to get out a little more often! :whip: J/K

[bludevil12]

Would you guys say that an overflow/sump etc is necessary for all tanks, or for the larger ones?

[discordja]

Depends on how you define large. I'd say for anything under 40 gallons you can have just the tank and deal with 'nutrient export' (the fancy phrase we tend to bandy about meaning getting the nitrates and phosphate levels down in your tank) with regular water changes and good feeding habits. On these tanks you can also often times forgo to use of a skimmer as well. Once you get to larger tanks you are going to start getting into the realm where managing water changes large enough to deal with the nutrient build up gets a bit taxing and you will find it's more efficient to start using a skimmer or a refugium or often times both.

[Guest clownfish4]

Personally I think carbon and a skimmer are a must on anything over 10g, although I'd put a skimmer on anything under as well. I wouldn't say you "need" a sump on anything under 30g or so, but they have many advantages. And personally, I think if you have the space for a tank that needs a sump, you have room for a sump. You can always throw it underneath. If you give us some idea of a tank size we'll be able to help you with more specficity.