Reefer 625 XXL---Help with Sump Adjustments

[paulgriffin971]

Hi All:
I have a red sea reefer 625 and I'm having trouble setting the water heights within the sections of the sump so My skimmer will work right. I'l try and explain as best I can so that when I ask the quesitons you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

Equipment:
Reefer 625 XXL
Bubble magus curve 7 Skimmer
Jaebo 10000 DC return pump @ 40 watts @ 5200 Gal/hr
300w Heater in skimmer section of sump
PS--My Apex probes (ORP, Temp, Sal., PH) in the downpipe below the gate valve and before the filter socks.

As an overview, the sump is divided into several sections:
1. The return pump section
2. The skimmer section
3. The refugium section
4. The filter sock section
5. The down-pipe section--where the gate valve dumps water into the sump from the main aquarium

Between the filter socks and the skimmer section there is a removable glass plate with flow slots at the top. That's so that area can be used for a refugium--chaeto, bio blocks, etc. The plate itself is not adjustable. It seems the water flows from the downpipe/gate valve, through the filter socks, then fills the refugium area, and once that's full it pours through the slots at the top into the skimmer section. Next is the adjustable plate between the skimmer section and the return pump section. This is where the skimmer section water flows over a plastic adjustable plate, down through a filter pad, then into the return pump section. Here is where my questions come in.

When I set the adjsutable plate between the skimmer section and the return pump section, I followed red sea and adjsuted it to 1cm below the top of the filter pad. Filled the aquarium with water until 6" in return pump section, opened the gate valve all the way open, turned everything on and then my return pump ran dry. So, I decided to cut back the power on the return pump and try it again. Worked fine. Adjusted the gate valve to about 1cm below the emergency pipe, and let it run for 2 weeks during initial cycle. Everything works fine, auto-fill is emptying, and everything is quiet. Today was skimmer on day. Set it to max so bubble level would be belwo the rin of the collection cup base, and turned it on. Talk about foam! Over skimming to the point I jsut took the collection cup off and let the foam run. Next up will be mroe egg crate to raise the skimmer, but got to wondering about that adjustable plate....

So now my questions:
1. What is the purpose of the adjustable plate between the skimmer and return pump sections? Does adjusting it up or down have any effect on anything else?
2. Can I adjust this plate lower so my return pump can run more flow?
3. Can I adjust the plate so that my skimmer section has a lower water level and my skimmer will set in the recommended 9" of water without the egg crate to raise it up?
4. If I remove the refugium wall, the water level won't have to rise up to the screens before it dumps into the skimmer section. It would just go from the filter socks to the skimmer section. So I could theoretically move the adjustable return pump area plate down and the run my pump on a higher flow, while aslo lowering the water in the skimmer section. Will this work?

Sorry for the long winded write-up here, jsut trying to be as detailed as possible. Would be great for BRS or someone with a channel to do a video on this so newbies like me understand what adjustments do what since red sea left us hanging

 

[PbMan26]

That adjustable wall is used to set the water height in the skimmer chamber. So yea you can lower it if the water level is too high for your skimmer.

Adjusting that wall has zero effect on anything else. The setting of your return pump is in no way related.

Removing the wall between the refugium and skimmer chamber won't have any effect on return pump either.

Just note, lowering that wall or removing the other will reduce the volume of water the sump holds.

Your return pump and the overflow/gate valve is what needs to be in sync. If your sump runs dry when your gate valve is wide open and the emergency overflow is taking water, then the pump is set to high. Just need to find the balance that works.

 

[paulgriffin971]

Perfect, thank you! On a sort of related question does putting the temp, ORP, salinity, and PH probes in the return section(near the pump) better than where I have them now--in the down spout area under the gate valve? Logic being I figured I would capture much better tank parameters where the water enters the sump vs. where it exits.

 

[PbMan26]

Perfect, thank you! On a sort of related question does putting the temp, ORP, salinity, and PH probes in the return section(near the pump) better than where I have them now--in the down spout area under the gate valve? Logic being I figured I would capture much better tank parameters where the water enters the sump vs. where it exits.

As long as there are no air bubbles you'll be good. You don't want air getting into your pH or ORP probes. Also you don't want your temp probes too close to heater.