Slow and steady... I still have to even section off this sump tank. I plan to use some course aquasponge and egg crate for dividers and figure out these chambers with a big refugium.
Sorry, but that is a disaster waiting to happen. The return outlet may be pretty close to the water's surface but unless it is completely out of the water, it will siphon back too much water. The piping will drain also. Take *fish collector* 's advice, look at the water levels in the picture he posted, try to mimic that. Pick a skimmer, read its water level requirements (normally 6-8") and use that for the 1st chamber's water level and go down from there. The chamber with the return pump should be the shallowest section, just high enough that the pump doesn't suck in air as it runs. The ato goes is return pump chamber, at that water level.
My man take it easy. I've seen 2 posts from you now. Both of them wildly in the opposite direction of what is going on here. Both with a pretty crazy attitude. There is no ATO, there is no float valve, there is no skimmer... I built the overflow myself. I can kick the power off completely right now and it will not overflow either tank. I don't just throw money at things and repeat what others have said. I understand how they work. There's many different ways to do this. Thank you very much if your goal is advice.
Take it easy? Crazy attitude? Don't be so sensetive, im trying to offer help.
Certainly not or "he" would t be on forums asking for advice... I am at the very least familiar with systems without the need for protein skimmers and how they can be completely redundant based on a tanks overall needs. I would never try to knock someone that didn't run them... Also seen many open wall sumps, they are fairly common. I've never run one myself but think that's the path I'm going. We will see how it works out.
Sir, this is a forum of reef aquarium enthusiasts that come here from literally around the globe to discuss their reef aquariums. There are "normal" things that we do that have been proven to work and are accepted as the best way to do something, it's not that there isn't more than one way to do it but rather why would you? But none of that is important here, you asked about your bacteria bloom, posted some photos and are likely unhappy with the direction the discussion has gone. There are plenty of other things that we could be doing with our time but we choose to come here and offer advice to someone who asks for it that perhaps could maybe make their journey into the hobby more pleasant and successful. The recommendation to use a protein skimmer and advice on how to set up a sump to avoid disaster would be 2 specific things that we saw in your photos that would improve your chances of success in this hobby. It's not to say that the way your tank is set up currently won't work, it'll work, but there are much better ways and that's all we're saying. There were also a few methods of dealing with your bacteria bloom that were suggested. I hope you can use some of things we have discussed to make your hobby a more pleasant one.
What is comical is the first recommendations to deal with the bacterial bloom issues was UV. OP was needlessly and vehemently against the suggestion initially stating that he didn’t want to spend the money on unnecessary tech. At the end of the day, installing UV solved the issue
