To sump or not to sump...

[Nirodim]

Starting a new 75gl freshwater tank and am placing it into one of those built-in cabinet/shelving things I'm making for a wall alcove I have. 

As such there won't be much room in behind the tank for tubing and the such and I want to be able to hid the filter and heater...

Is a sump a good idea?  All the literature I've found on them on the web associates it to something almost exclusive to saltwater tanks.

I've also been looking at the pentair modular system that can be placed under the tank, anyone have experience with that?

[audioslave_36]

there are a few of us here that have sumps on our fresh water tanks. for various reasons, my reason is my ID sharks like to smash heaters and move stuff around. so for me the sump was the only choice. But it does make for a much cleaner looking tank.


Dave

[babblefish1960]

I would agree with audioslave that there are times when it is for the consideration of the fish, particularly when they get really large and clumsy. There is the neatness factor too, it is sometimes annoying to view a tank in the living area of our homes that is rife with wires and tubes and hoses distracting from the scenery.

From a biological perspective though, not all saltwater tanks use sumps, and by the same token sumps are not exclusive to saltwater tanks. A sump essentially increases the volume of load bearing ability of the water column while skipping the part where you need to increase the size of the original tank.

As for the pentair remote filtration, there is nothing wrong with this system whatsoever, it just requires plumbing and attention to detail regarding the maintenance of the equipment. For example, don't place them in such a position that you can't open them to service them without removing the tank or otherwise dismantling the system.