thom_smith
Active Member
Have a new tank on the way in approximately two months and now planning a sump build but unsure if what I am trying to do will actually work. Want flexibility of socks or fleece filter. Currently have 7" Klirs but more often than not just use socks and slip in the Klirs if I am traveling or unable to keep up with changing or washing socks. Several reasons why but not relevant to this story. Have a desire to eventually migrate to ReefMat 1200. At least maybe migrate and don't want my present build efforts to preclude me from doing so. I'd be using a ReefMat in an otherwise non-Red Sea ecosystem except for salt. To get the flexibility, I'm proposing removable sock plates that I can take out and put the ReefMat 1200 in their place. HOWEVER, I have a bean animal overflow with three drains. Primary which handles overwhelming majority of flow, secondary should ideally be nothing more than a trickle and emergency unused unless something bad happens. Primary and secondary to be plumbed into a submerged area of my input/sock/fleece chamber. A wall then separates the input from the sock/fleece. When using socks, the input chamber overflows to and across the sock plate, through the socks, into the bottom of the chamber then through baffles to the skimmer, refugium and return chambers. Easy. ReefMat isn't quite as simple. The inlet hose(s) must be plumbed. WANT to install the ReefMat such that inlet plug faces front of sump, inlet hose goes out the back of the ReefMat to a submerged bulkhead. Opposite the bulkhead will be the two submerged drains. BTW, bulkhead will be removable with a nylon screw on coverplate installed in its place if using socks. The drains are just draining into this chamber but not continuously plumbed to the bulkhead. Will this work? Option 2 alternativel, I could potentially install two bulkheads, dry fit/not glue slip fittings to the inlet side of the bulkheads, dry fit/not glue slip fittings and elbows to the drains. Not my ideal situation because space quickly becomes an issue after spinning the unit such that fleece rotation is front to back, both inlets are used and immediately elbow toward the back connecting to the bulkheads. I'm not completely certain space required as manual only depicts front to back depth in this use case as D1 dimensions below the Freestanding Installation section. I'm just guessing at the side to side length including the inlet tubing sweeps or, preferably, elbows. So I have space concern. And I have probability of noise also with very unequal flow entering the ReefMat from primary and only low/trickle from secondary. Option 3, I just plumb single bulkhead as originally planned and on drain chamber side I dry fit/don't glue fittings to connect the primary drain to ReefMat allowing flow through secondary drain to overflow the drain chamber wall freely entering the bottom of the fleece chamber then skimmer, refugium and return chambers unfiltered. This seems feasible because unfiltered flow through secondary shouldn't be significant but still undesirable. Options 2 and 3 complicate the build because in addition to the removable sock plate I also need a removable drain plate so I can access that chamber to install/remove the fittings. And somewhare along the way here I am reducing my drain plumbing from 1 1/2" to 1". I strongly prefer Option 1 or 3 and not exceeding ~11L x 24D x tbdH input/sock/fleece footprint. I know the drains and dual 7" sock plates can fit in this same space. What are my ReefMat options here? And how much space do I need? Or am I just trying to accomplish an impossible task?
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