Hey ive been trying to figure out how to set up my sump makin all kinds of different designs and plans for almost 3 days. im thinkin i wanna get a tank and put a skimmer, followed by some live rock, then a bubble catcher, then a return water reservoir. I was having some problems putting a filter in my designs. I didnt know how i would run the lines to feed from one compartment to another at a constant flow, so im thinkin im just gonna have that seperately put onto the tank. So my question is, how should i put an eheim professional 3e on my tank? im not fimiliar with the input and outputs, so i dont know how to octo proof it. any suggestions?

-Keith

Many people do not run an additional cannister filter with a sump but Octane's tank is too small so, in addition to twice weekly water changes, I also run a cannister and have it pulling from and returning to the sump. It has worked out well and his larger tank (tanking longer than anticipated) will likely also include a cannister in the sump.

ive decided im going to go with a different style of pump. lookin at this one
http://www.aquacrylics.com/150info.htm
check it out and give me your opinion. oh by the way, since im unfimiliar with this kind of filter, what kind of filter media do i put in it? how much? any brand recommendations?

If you do a sump just buy a tank that will fit under your display and have your LFS drill it. You can also section parts of it off with glass or acrylic for the skimmer, live rock, refugium, and return. You can also make a section to run carbon and filter socks.

would it be possible to run the line from the tank, to the eheim pro, then to the sump? id still get the sump style filter too, i just figure more filtering. probably better for the octo.

If it were me I would just run the filter on the main tank separate from the sump. The intake and out aren't that intrusive and it would add good mechanical filtration as well as biological. You would also be drawing water from different places and are more likely to get the stuff you want out out. Octo proofing I put a large intake on mine to reduce the chance of my octos wrapping around it and getting stuck, I also put plastic screen door mesh over the outflow ( overkill )

If you do a sump just buy a tank that will fit under your display and have your LFS drill it. You can also section parts of it off with glass or acrylic for the skimmer, live rock, refugium, and return. You can also make a section to run carbon and filter socks.
With a sump setup like this there is no need for any other filter , the sump is the canister filter. I'm sure if you look around the net you can steal some good sump designs then throw on your own mods.

cool. thanks. i think im gonna run the eheim on one end of the tank and then the sump on the other side. ill keep the sump style filter in there and put the skimmer in it. im plannin for a briareus, and the weather here is pretty warm, so luckily i wont need anything else but a heater. if theres any more room in the sump ill put some of the live rock in it, 100 pounds of rock is gonna take up a lot of tank room. oh and how much sand should I get? im thinkin on like 80 lbs. good?

im still amazed that a glass tank can hold 750 pounds of water, 100 lbs of live rock, and 80 lbs. of sand (still trying to find out how much sand). thats crazy.

80 lbs is about right. There won't be 750 lbs of water in there anymore once you get the rock and sand in.

true, forgot about that. still a whole lot of weight. thats amazing to me. well sweet. i think im done planning, just gotta order my stuff now.

Well, live rock weighs more than the water it displaces. Otherwise, it would float.

i figured. thanks for the info everyone.