The sump is for my SCA 50Gal. It is the stock sump. The Cheato is on top of the live rock and I have a power head sitting on the bottom that I trigger every 90 minutes for about 15 minutes to have some movement. The sump pump is a Jeabo DC pump (DC4000). I will pull the metal clamp today. My main concern is when I move the Cheato is stirs up the Fuge and that material then goes to the sump pump and gets in the main tank. Is that a problem? Right now I am 3 weeks in on the cycle so no clean up crew yet. Thanks Guys!
It is not a problem, if it works
However, there are a few things to consider when using those filters sponge things... First is the maintenance... Filters like this often collect a lot of gunk, which, if not cleaned often, will become 'nitrate factories' and could cause some issues down the road. However, if you are fine cleaning them when they need to be cleaned, then there is no problem. That said, if you neglect to clean them, you run the risk of flow restriction: i.e. the flow going into the return chamber will become less than the flow (the pumping) out. So either your return chamber will become empty and cause damage to the pump, or the one of the other chambers will start to overflow (and will lead to the return chamber becoming empty).
Another important issue with those filters is that they will catch the most of the pods from the refugium, which is a huge benefit to refugiums. So, if I were to use these filter pads like this, I would forget about the rock and the powerhead, and just keep the chaeto in there. It would make it super easy to cull the chaeto and clean the chamber if there was nothing else in it.
But like I said, if it works for you and you can keep up with the maintenance, then you are good to go.
