I wanted to update today with some pics of things arriving, and my general thoughts on the plan. As the stock sump of the system seems fairly basic, and likely doesn't have a pre-installed Overflow sock fitting, I was able to find this as a solution. It is a basic 2 pipe 1" fitting, into a 7" sock fitting, that tightens down with acrylic screws, to the sump.
Inside the 7" sock ring, I ordered the Ice-cap 7" filter cup, and inside of it I will use just mesh, I picked up 5 bags of this stuff, made by Lifeguard, seems good enough to keep sump detritus free.
The sump will run as clean as possible, to avoid any clogging of the media, which will be this DIY spaghetti basket, grey in color, and square versus round, bpa free, and plenty of extra drilled holes, making it easy for water to pass through the media. Media is 2 liters of Aquaforest Life Bio Fil, after the skimmer. This media has the same Probiotic bacteria as the Pro Bio S, pre-seeded, so minimal wait time for effectiveness. This should keep nitrates reasonably low.
Final pic, is the skimmer I decided on, the Simplicity DC240. I believe this will be more than what I need, but I like that the pump is controllable, and the wedge pipe to further dial in.
Final thoughts for today...
I will be converting my BRS CO2 scrubber into a fresh air reactor instead. I will place the same pre-filter mesh, and some carbon, in the reactor. This will be cleaned as needed, this way the airline outside can remain descrete, as the filter will be inside. I am leaving it open, so if anything comes in, it wont pass the filter inside. Simple maintenance every month or two should suffice.
More to come Wednesday!!!
