The Eshopps Oceana, Aquos, Alpha & Titan are four new sump lines in their recently announced Color Series of aquarium sumps. In a very short period of time we’ve seen marine aquarium sumps go from a commoditized, basic box design to mega-fancy, bespoke filtration instruments with more bells and whistles than reef tanks themselves.
This ambitious strategy on the part of Eshopps aims to offer a sump with the features tailor made for aquarium and especially marine applications at every level of the hobby. The most obvious design detail of these four different sump lines is their coloration which ranges from subtle accents in the Aquos & Oceana, to completely colored in the Alpha.
The introductory line of the Eshopps Color Series is the Oceana Class sump, which is hardly more than a basic rectangle with a filter sock, a skimmer compartment, and a sump chamber. The Oceana Class is recognizable by its white background and yellow trim & walls while the next step up, the Aquos Class sumps for Hobbyists have blue trim and add a small refugium chamber.
The Alpha Class Advanced sumps like the one pictured above are almost all orange with a grey bottom, adds a good deal more space to every section and introduces a few additional features. Welcome improvements include four built in dosing lines, a built-in probe holder, and our personal favorite is the small integrated media filter. The Titan Class sumps for ‘Professional’ uses tones down the color scheme a bit with a white back and sides, a grey bottom and trim with some details made of blue acrylic.
At first glance it seems like Eshopps might be complicating their own catalog of sump lines and designs, but upon closer inspection it’s clear that there is a reasonable, gradual increase in features and accessories from the Oceana to the Titan lines. The new Eshopps Color Series will both help reef builders get exactly the suite of features they are looking for from an aquarium sump, and spend only as much as they can afford, and a touch of color for styling while they are at it.
