I just fired up my system again with test water.
This time I plugged in my Coralife Super Skimmer to see how it worked.
Guess you can't really tell with just plain water?But my question is about the water level in the sump.
It's a 20 gallon that measures 30 long x 12 Wide x 11 Deep.I have the water level at 6 1/2" witch puts it about 2 3/4" above the pump for the Skimmer.The instructions call for 3 to 4".
I simulated a power outage and it leaves 2" to spare in the sump so that works right.
So now my systems working great,overflow is nice and quiet everything looks good.
Now I want to add my auto top off switches and I'm thinking a 5 gallon bucket to hold my extra water.
I am adding the pictures I have so everyone can see where I'm at.
I have also decided to put a closed loop system in on the far side from the return and overflow.
Any comments and suggestions will be appreciated.
I'm just itching to get this aquarium going and if this set-up looks good to you-all I am going to hook my top off up and figure out what light,sand and rock I need and order everything.
Phil
I think you are going to have microbubble problems with your setup. It looks like you are running a Quiet One 4000 for the return? It appears to be plumbed wide open, with no ball valves or bypasses?
You can combat this in a couple ways, you can baffle the sump or you can slow it down. I personally think slowing it down is better for several reasons the biggest of which is better skimmer performance.
Simply adding a "T" and valves to divert some of the pumps output back to the sump is a good way. I would not simply just add a valve and turn down the output of the pump. This puts uneeded head on the pump, wasting power.
Guess I'm going to have to look into what you are saying because I really don't understand what you are saying.I am just running test water right now waiting on $ to go the rest of the way and I don't see any bubbles.Any more help I can get will be a appreciated.
Thanks Phil
Phil,
the microbubbles im reffering to probably wont show up with fresh water. Salt water on the other hand, has a much different surface tension, and therefore has the ability to make very small bubbles. It is these very tiny bubbles that allows a skimmer to function. This is why a skimmer doesn't work in a fresh water setup.
These very fine bubbles do not dissapate as readily as larger bubbles. Therefore in your situation they will most likely be pumped from the sump into the main tank. Some people say that these bubbles can be harmful to livestock, but I dont necessarily believe that. The main reason I dont like microbubbles is because it looks bad. It makes the tank have a hazy look to it.
Hi Yea I can see what you are saying and did a little reading this morning before work.Thats why when I turned my skimmer on it did not work and I kinda figured that.
Looks like I will put some baffles in.
On the other hand maby I should set the sump up with a refrugum anyway eventhough it's just starting out as a FOWLR.
what do you think?
Have to get back to work.................
Phil
My only other concern would be that the return nozzle, in the display, dips quite low in the water column. Unless you find a way to break "siphon" in case of pump failure, I'm not sure whether or not your sump could handle the volume of water sent from the overflow.
Hi Dave the picture is deceving I do have syphon breaks in and they work well have simulated a power outage as I said in my post it leaves the water 2 " from the top when the power goes out.So the first part of my ?'s was about the level in the sump being at 6 1/2 " and if that sounded good so I could put in a top-off switches?And now I am concered about micro bublles
Phil
If i was building this i would add 1 set of baffles between the return pump and the skimmer. I would set them 1 inch apart and use 2 upper and 2 lower baffles. That should get rid of most of the bubbles. However if you plan on a sump with a refugium i would put 2 diferent baffles in using 1 top and 2 bottoms in each section.
OK i will. I just think that there is a 20% chance it will stay a fish only tank and a 80% chance it will become a reef tank with fish I just say do it now and not worry about it later.
ryan 
