Plumbing and return pump help

[Reef of Fillory]

This mod does add a lot of complexity where a simple BioCube works pretty well "out of the box".

Without knowing what you're up to/why you're doing the mod I have no ideas – other than slowing the pump down to what the tank and drain were made for. Probably only 100-200 GPH for such a small tank volume. Which is fine!

While that makes for a perfect fix, I suspect it may also defeat the point of what you're doing. Since there's nothing really wrong with 100-200 GPH, maybe the "real problem" is that your pump is too big?

I really wanted to get a new/bigger tank but bought the biocube and wife says no to a bigger tank until we're out of our apartment [second floor, limited space for a tank].


Reason for all these mods is that I was not having any luck with the nano skimmers and wanted to add a bigger/in-sump skimmer, want to increase my water volume, wanted to get rid of 2 extra pumps, and run a refugium instead of a chaeto reactor [which was performing poorly], have a better place to dose and hide my equipment without cords and everything sticking out of the back =)

Also going to go for trying the Triton method, so Im going with their recommendation of 10x+ flow through the refugium [~300+ gph + room for GFO/Carbon reactor if needed]

 

[mcarroll]

Nobody seems to know what's behind the 10x (well, nobody that's spoken up so far), so I'll speculate:

To whatever extent that their flow rate is actually called for, it's purely due to the remoteness of the sump from the display. With an in-tank "sump", you don't need it. To the extent there is a use for that flow rate, you created the need by creating a remote sump. A solution that comes with its own problem.

What 2 pumps did you get rid of? Seems like you added two even bigger pumps in the process.

As to the need for an algae reactor, there are other ways to approach nutrient issues.

Given this, I would honestly leave the installation as-is and just cut the flow on the Quiet One using it's built in valve/restrictor until the drain works right – whatever flow rate that happens to be. Later on if you determine that you really need the extra flow you can always go back and re-work the plumbing you have by adding a second outlet or something.

What skimmer did you add, BTW?

Last, did you figure out what was prompting the need for skimmers and algae reactors in the first place? Many small reefs like this get by fine without them....and you may still have the same issues with the sump. (Notice all the folks with sumps and algae reactors, etc, etc, who still end up with algae problems...) Like were you having coral loss, or algae issues, or...?