Parts to aquariums help...

[AdoreFish]

Not sure of the appropriate place to post these questions, hopefully here is ok...
A man is selling a 55 gallon all glass Oceanic aquarium for $250.00 with stand and some things that I have no clue what they are.

Overflow (what is this)?
30 gallon acrylic sump (what is this)?
new bioballs (what is this)?

Never heard of these 3 things! I'm posting a pic of the tank and stand but should probably delete the pic soon because he might not want his pic on here. Can anyone help? I'm clueless and want to know what I'm getting into before I speak with him.

 

[Chris_A]

Ok so an Overflow is a way of getting water safely from the main tank into a sump below the tank. They are normally either a drilled hole in the tank with a water tight fitting called a Bulkhead or they hang on the side of the tank and use a tube to transfer water from an internal compartment into an external compartment before draining down to the sump.

A Sump is just a tank under the main one used for filtration, heating, water volume and to get as much stuff out of the tank as possible for a cleaner over all look in the main tank. There are almost as many types of sumps as aquarists so finding out what type it is would be a good idea if you are thinking of buying. One thing to note... I didn't see a return pump listed in your post. You'd need a pump to get the water back out of the sump into the tank. Depending on the application and the type of sump that could run you $150+.

Bio balls are a media used for biological filtration, normally in Wet/Dry filter sumps. Personally I think they are not necessary in most applications (fresh or salt). Plus the plastic most are made of is Hydrophobic (meaning they "repell" water) and they only process Ammonia/Ammonium and Nitrate so they simply produce Nitrates.

This is all pretty simplified, a google search for any of those will give you more reading than you can shake a stick at .

Chris

 

[bartnl]

well an overflow is just a different type of a filter, you can just go on google and see what it is, a sump pretty much keeps the right amount of water in the tank...it just stores whater until there isn't enough in the tank...usually kept right under the tank..and bio balls are put in the filter...they are an area where bacteria colonize...

 

[bartnl]

ooh i got killed by the person above me