To sump or no sump

[KQuillan]

Is a sump needed for a 100 - 150 gallon tank? What is the purpose of a sump? Will standard filtration (aio) work instead?

 

[Troylee]

Sumps are nice and very convenient but not a must. They add water volume “more stability” and house a place for pods to grow and house all your equipment like heater, skimmer, reactors and a fuge if that’s your thang. Basically keeps the display clean!

 

[CasperOe]

↑ exactly that! but don't let anyone tell you that you can't be successful without a sump! It is definetly possible..

and if you think about it, the rear compartment on an AIO tank is your sump! It's just on a smaller scale..

 

[HardyG]

Not needed at all. It’s all preference. Personally I feel the positives outweigh the negatives. Increasing total water volume, eliminating HOB items that could distract you from the contents of the tank itself, and as said earlier, a great safe place to grow pods.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The purpose of the sump is to hide all the equipment away under the cabinet, so people see only a display tank, and nothing else. The protein skimmer, reactors, heater, dosers, etc, all go in the sump hidden in the cabinet. You decide what equipment you want to put in the sump.

All in One means all the equipment is hidden in the back of the aquarium. These are usually plug and play type set ups.

Then there is "hang on back" equipment which work fine as well on any standard tank.

It depends what you want, what your experience level is, how much money you want to spend, etc...