Do i need a sump?

[mr_alberta]

Well I am a big fan of sumps. Do you need absolutely need one? No. I've seen many nice tanks go sumpless. Sure, they have a jumble of cords out the back, but hey, it worked for them.

Sumps are a great place to put equipment such as skimmers, heater, etc. The cost of one all depends on how fancy you want to get and what DIY skills you have. If your tank is not drilled, you could buy or make a HOB overflow to get water from your main tank to the sump. The sump itself could be a simple 10G tank where water enters one end and leaves from the other. Or you could get all fancy and have an acrylic one made up with probe holders, media holders, etc.

I also like sumps because a larger water volume means larger buffering capacity. Larger buffering capacity means the system will tolerate small mishaps better (i.e. I dumped too much FW into the tank!)

Anyway, hope this helps. If you have any more questions just ask!