The stock sump set up, in my opinion, is questionable too. It just goes to show you... just because you spend boo-koo bucks on a set up, doesn't mean that everything works in a way that makes sense.
The far left chamber was designed, by Elos, as the service chamber. This was where you were supposed to fill/replenish your top off water. I guess if you were using a aqualifter or another peristaltic pump, it would work but i wasn't going to drop another $200 on a Osomocontroller. Plus, I felt like the 2 gallons of resevoir (or 8% of total water volume) would be going to waste if used as an ATO. So, it was converted into a refugium.
The middle bottom chamber is designed as a mechanical chamber, the left bottom is designed as a biological chamber, and the center is obviously where the skimmer and return pump goes.
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to keep the water flowing properly and not overloading the mechanical chamber, i decided to silicone a piece of thin acrylic i bought from hobby lobby to block off any overflow from the service chamber (the new refugium) to the mechanical chamber. The mechanical chamber flows the water down and back up, like a bubble trap, and to "overload" the chamber with extra water flow doesn't allow the bubble trap to work properly.
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I am a bit worried about the humidity issues I might have under the stand after I close the door. I read that the SL1 module is REALLY sensitive to water. If anyone has any experience wiring up a Reefkeeper into the stand, help??
By splitting the line and using the ball valve, i thought i was going to be able to keep air out of the line and push only water into the fuge. as it stands now, the bubbling varies from the fuge to the mechanical chamber back and forth. any solution suggestions is welcomed!!
Chiller and ballast set up
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There is a 9" clearance under the sump stand segment which allows for 2 2.5 gallon tanks to be used as an ATO resevoir. I was going to use a split to plug two pumps to 1 ATO but the lack of space (and the questionable design) kept me from using 2. Plus, considering how much water evaporation has to occur for the ATO to go off (salinity was hitting 1.028 range before the ATO kicked in but then again, it might be a chemistry issue), I am considering purchasing a Spectrapure because of the precision of a pressure switch.
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I purchased the tank with 2 skimmers, the Elos NS-100 and a Bubble Magnus clone made by SC Aquariums. From the little I've played with it, the NS-100 is a pretty horrible skimmer. I've played with seaclones and have dialed in the venturi to skim a better product than this unit. It uses a spray injection system, much like Aqua-C's products, but uses a cheap looking plastic pinch as air control.
The Bubble Magnus clone, on the other hand, is a beast. I've added an adjustable airline valve to the needlewheel pump and it has doubled the skim production. I've had to tie on a filter sock because of how much bubbles were being produced.
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On a side note: whenever you purchase products that are designed, built, or intended for another market (Europe, Asia, Australia, do Africans even practice reefing?! :tongue
, you CANNOT find plumbing fittings at your local home improvement store. Inlet pipe is something like a 22mm bulkhead and the flex PVC that comes with the Elos system will not fit any standard bulkhead sizes. I had to thread it through a 1" pvc that i shaved down with some sand paper and used 2 clamps to keep it down. The outlet pipe was piping i purchased intended for the Fluval 206 canister. I think it's a 19mm flex tubing.
