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Stan & Debbie's Saltwater Aquariums Blog

By Stan & Debbie Hauter, About.com Guides to Saltwater Aquariums since 1997

What is a Sump? Do You Need One?

Friday May 30, 2008
Some aquarists are unaware of the many benefits of adding a sump to their systems. Here is a description of what a sump is, how it is used, the many designs and set ups one has to choose from, and what benefits it can provide your system.

More: Easy, Cheap DIY Sumps Why pay a fortune for a custom made sump if you don't have to?

Forums: What do you put in your Reef Tank Sump? Had to put a 17 gallon sump on my new 40 gallon reef tank ...

Forums: Sump/refugium question I'm curious about one thing with respect to sumps that also happen to be refugiums. Do people ...

Comments

January 30, 2007 at 8:12 pm
(1) Elijah says:

I just have a quick question. I have a 32 gallon hex tank with about 50lbs live rock or more, and 10lbs live sand or more. 3 fish, plenty of coral, mostly soft corals, and some inverts. I have a marineland wave maker wet/dry filter. and 1200 powerhead with plenty of aeration. 200 watt heater and 2-64watt blue antic/10000k bulbs, one 15 watt 6500k flor, and 2 1watt moon lights. I’m having a lot of trouble with the nitrate readings in my tank.. I mean, I have been testing it regularly for a while and every time, my PH is perfect at 8.1-8.2, my Nitrite is at 0, my ammonia is at 0, my salinity is at 1.020-1.023 but every time it shows my nitrates off the scale. It reads about 180-200. I don’t think that is possible, because everything is living and fine, but my corals do seem a little bit under the weather. But I’ve been changing out 1/4 the water once a week for the past 4 weeks with reverse osmosis water and still no change in the reading. But my corals are doing great most all the time. SO do you think it may be that I’ve had the test kit too long and it’s no longer any good, or can my nitrates really be this high? thank you!

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