large sumpless bow

[ruiny]

I am looking at down grading my 280 with a 180 sump to a 100 to 150 gal bow that is sumpless.
I'd like to hear thoughts on going sumpless on this size tank.
As well as any pictures on larger than normal bow tanks.

Thanks

 

[stunreefer]

I would recommend against it for the simple fact that you can hide all your equipment, top-off, dose etc. in a sump. Not to mention they're much easier to work on/in/around than a tank with all hang-on-back equipment or all-in-one equipment.

Out of curiosity, why do you not want a sump?

 

[Ed Reef]

Going to be difficult to handle a 100 to 150 gal bow sump-less IMO.

Good luck.....

 

[wetWolger]

I would not even consider it...I ran a 46gal bowfront sumpless....and that alone was a complete pain. Having a fuge relative to a tank that size will be literally impossible (you just can't hang that much weight). Not to mention your skimmer choices will be limited, particular for a tank that size.

I was able to do the 46gal sumpless, it already limited a lot of the equipment I wanted to use. I could not imagine trying to attempt anything larger.

 

[Lightsluvr]

IMO

IMO

Personally I would never have a bow again... the curved glass makes it impossible to get clear close-up photos of the tank occupants...everything is distorted by the glass.

LL

 

[ruiny]

I went and looked at a full reef in a bow and didn't like the distortation. So bow is out.
I will still run an external skimmer.
I just wanted to have a more open stand without a sump
And mostly just wanted to have reduced noise.
I hate the flushing water sound.

 

[Lightsluvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15515633#post15515633 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ruiny

I will still run an external skimmer.
I just wanted to have a more open stand without a sump
And mostly just wanted to have reduced noise.
I hate the flushing water sound.

A properly adjusted overflow won't have a flushing sound... It should sound more like a peaceful babbling brook...

If you want an open stand, you might look into putting your filtration equipment in an adjoining space... Lots of through the wall systems also chronicled on this forum.

Before I started our build, I studied many of the threads on here to get ideas, inspirations, warnings, etc.

Good luck with your project.

LL

 

[wrestle1952]

I gave up sumps years ago. My sumps flooded and ruined a hardwood floor. Since that time I've gone sumpless with HOB skimmers (Remora Pro, Coralife Superskimmer) and a Hagen Aquaclear 70 with a surface skimmer and Chemipure Elite. I have never experience flooding since then (an occasional leak here and there) but nothing a mop or towel couldn't fix. There are a number of excellent HOB skimmers with external motors so it eliminates the clutter in the tank. My SPS are thriving with my caps beginning to overgrow things where I have to do some serious fragging this weekend. Equipment takes up minimal room (far less than a built in overflow) and my tank has been up and running for three years in it's present state. I will upgrade to an Eshopps or Deltec so I won't have a pump in the tank.

 

[kmu]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15610478#post15610478 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wrestle1952
I gave up sumps years ago. My sumps flooded and ruined a hardwood floor. Since that time I've gone sumpless with HOB skimmers (Remora Pro, Coralife Superskimmer) and a Hagen Aquaclear 70 with a surface skimmer and Chemipure Elite. I have never experience flooding since then (an occasional leak here and there) but nothing a mop or towel couldn't fix. There are a number of excellent HOB skimmers with external motors so it eliminates the clutter in the tank. My SPS are thriving with my caps beginning to overgrow things where I have to do some serious fragging this weekend. Equipment takes up minimal room (far less than a built in overflow) and my tank has been up and running for three years in it's present state. I will upgrade to an Eshopps or Deltec so I won't have a pump in the tank.

Thats what I love, I really like running sumpless ideas, I have a 34g solana AIO and love it, gonna upgrade to a larger tank and probably use a similar AIO design...

can you please post pics of your system?

 

[wrestle1952]

Go to my gallery under wrestle1952. I have added a few things since those pics. I'm sure you'll hear a lot fo stuff on here. What our hobby lacks is a Consumer's Report so you get unbiased testing of equipment and systems. All you get on here is opinions. There is no scientific reports or data that prove having a sump is more beneficial to a reef system. Someon on another post stated a sump increases oxygen. Where is the ORP data to prove it? Look at the new large RedSeaMax tanks.....no sump yet they are beautiful. Take a look at my gallery and you can see thriving SPS with no sump. I will upgrade to a larger tank in the future and still go sumpless. I may have to use two HOB's and bigger Hagen but it beats all the plumbing, extra pump, etc.

 

[kmu]

thats a beautiful sumpless tank, Do you have all those tangs in a 50g?

 

[wrestle1952]

Yeah and they're growing daily