To Sump or Not To Sump?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Oscar

What are the pros and cons of a sump? I have still to make a decision on my first tank, but here is what I see so far:

Pros

• A place to hide equipment
• More stable environment due to larger volume of water

• Location to top up water, add salt etc

Cons:

• Extra noise of water cycling
• more locations for water leakage

Care to add to the lists?

Thanks

There's all the cool plumbing you get to do/look at. Then there's the built-in water flow and O2 exchange. It can be a bit of a trial to tune the noise of the overflow. I like to hear the water burbling a bit, and I have had to un-silence my overflow a bit to cover the sound of the pumps.