Sump for my ten gallon tank.

[blackwolfXKAV]

Basically, here's what i want to do:

I have a ten gallon planted tank.

I am running out of space in the tank due to plants and a pesky hood.

I have room for at least a 5 g. or 7 g. tank next to the tank.

Can i make one of the tanks into a sump for my ten gallon?

how would i go about doing this? (which pumps, etc)

Is it worth it as far as increasing the qualtiy of the tank is concerned?

Thanks.

Also, it would most likey be filled w/ some sort of rapidly growing plant like duckweed or the like to suck up excess nutrients.

Thanks again, B.W.

 

[Phonemonkey]

I don't imagine it would be impossible, but it doesn't really seem worth it for a 10 gallon.

If you're wanting to increase the filtration in the tank, I might consider just adding a sponge filter. Wouldn't use much room, and would add a lot of bio filtration and a decent amount of additional mechanical filtration. Could go with one rated for a bigger tank and a more powerful air pump to push it even further.

 

[blackwolfXKAV]

I am running out of space in the tank due to plants and a pesky hood.

.

thats the problem, i cant add anything to the tank

 

[vidiots]

You could always get a bigger tank and use your 10gal for a sump.. It's as good excuse as any to get another tank.

 

[Shelby_Tempo_GT]

I don't imagine it would be impossible, but it doesn't really seem worth it for a 10 gallon.

.

I agree

 

[blackwolfXKAV]

thank you to all of you who responded so quickly, but do you know of how i can go about doing this?


if i can get an estamit, i should be able to decide..

 

[doox00]

you would need an hang on back overflow and a return pump, not sure the cost on a hob overflow, maybe somewhere in the 40-100 dollar range and a return pump, for a 10 gallon something small, maybe a maxijet 1200 would work, not sure on that though with the head pressure.

 

[Rallysman]

If you have the room for an over flow (which you would need unless the tank is drilled for some odd reason), just use a HOB or sponge as previously mentioned. It is definately not worth the hassle for a 10g.

Besides that, with a tank that small as a sump, you wont have room for much media if any when you put the pump in it.

Additionally, sumps are not good for a planted tank (neither are sponge filters though lol)

It is possible, but not practical.

 

[Native American]

Based on the footprint of the two...just cheaper to get a larger tank. Just my 2 yen, though.

v/r, N-A

 

[ElementX]

If you've got room to fit a 5g tank next to your current tank, you can definately fit a 20g tank. The 20g is only 4" wider and a 5g tank would be at least 10" wider.

I just picked up a 20g ($40) and 10g ($20) tank from the LFS this weekend. Both came with hood and light fixture. Why the 2 tanks?...well, I found this cool stand that will hold both of them without taking up a ton of space (and it comes in various sizes!)

I'm probably going to do a high powered planted tank on the bottom or use it as a sump for the top tank. If I end up doing the planted tank, I'm If I end up doing the sump, I think I'll use powerheads to move water from one tank to the other and run a large biowheel on the top tank.