I'm working on putting in a split sump. My DT will drain into Sump A and then flow into Sump B (through a submerged line) and then return to tank. I'm also putting in a bypass so that I can easily drain to sump B so that I can take sump A offline for cleaning etc. Sump A will contain a ReefMat and a protein skimmer. Sump B will contain a refugium, probes, dosing, and return pump. I know that there is much debate/trade off about protein skimmer before or after refuguim. I have designed so that I can implement either configuration.
It struck me that I could possibly perform water changes with this configuration without having to take return pump offline. I could bypass Sump A, then empty/refill it, and then bring it back online. Does anyone see any down side to doing this?
A couple of things I thought of:
1. My overflow could gurgle and/or be imbalanced during the bypass period since it would be draining direct rather than through ReefMat, but once Sump A is brought back online it seems as it should return stable to its former operation.
2. It's a fairly rapid introduction of new salt water into the system since the bypass would be taken away suddenly. So new water would be in contact with livestock suddenly before full mixing in the system occurred. This doesn't seem to be a huge issue unless I had maybe had drastically different temperature, salinity or alkalinity between the new water and the existing - but it would be fairly momentary - and I anticipate always having similar parameters.
It struck me that I could possibly perform water changes with this configuration without having to take return pump offline. I could bypass Sump A, then empty/refill it, and then bring it back online. Does anyone see any down side to doing this?
A couple of things I thought of:
1. My overflow could gurgle and/or be imbalanced during the bypass period since it would be draining direct rather than through ReefMat, but once Sump A is brought back online it seems as it should return stable to its former operation.
2. It's a fairly rapid introduction of new salt water into the system since the bypass would be taken away suddenly. So new water would be in contact with livestock suddenly before full mixing in the system occurred. This doesn't seem to be a huge issue unless I had maybe had drastically different temperature, salinity or alkalinity between the new water and the existing - but it would be fairly momentary - and I anticipate always having similar parameters.
