Good progress. Interested to see that refugium.
Is it possible to raise the skimmer department water level? Skimmers can always be put on a small pedestal to come to the correct water level.
Sure. With this sump design, skimmer and return compartments are equal depth, the divider between them is bottom opening only. Water level in skimmer and return compartment will be set by where I put the ATO sensor. I do need to maintain enough empty volume in the sump to contain overflow and return line siphon when the power is out, but I could raise the skimmer/return level by a couple of inches. That'd help with the waterfall a bit, but if I raise it so that the drop from refugeum to skimmer is an inch or so, which would silence it, I would not have enough empty volume in the sump.
I think that a 10 degree or so angled piece of acrylic, which I have already, from the top edge of the refugeum wall into the skimmer area, so that the water is guided in, would probably be enough. Honestly, unless I'm around the back of that wall, where the closet door is, I can't hear the waterfall noise now. I'm big on quiet, but this really isn't that big of a deal.
This is tap water... can't start running the skimmer yet, but I'd imagine I'm going to want it on a pvc/eggcrate stand anyway. Helps isolate vibration, and allows flow under the unit, to keep detritus suspended. Even if you don't need the height, it's a good idea.
Ref will have several varieties of macro algae... C. Mexicana, Chaetomorpha, and Gracilaria, are most likely. We'll see. 4 liters of Pond Matrix on the bottom, perhaps some rock rubble, as well. I'm planning on a 2 tube 24" T5 fixture, with daylight bulbs, running inverse to the tank lighting. With the drain lines coming in near the exit from the refugeum, directed towards the opposite end of the tank, water movement in the ref section is fairly turbulent.
First time I'd ever programmed a Reefkeeper. I'm an automation developer... I'm used to Allen Bradley ControlLogix equipment. This thing is pretty primitive
Seems to do what it needs to do. Easy enough to figure out. Don't know if I'll ever plug in a laptop again, it's not that difficult to set up from the keypad. Never even needed to look at a manual
