I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but what sort of auto top off unit are you using? I find it hard to believe that you'd get any serious surface agitation using the bubble trap design on the right. The water level in that far right chamber of the sump should only be about a 1/2 inch or so low than the top of the baffle.
I'm using something similar myself. From experience, I can tell you it's a non issue. The float takes a little time to move, so it's going to "average out" any surface disturbance you have.
BTW, when you mount your float switches, mount one of them about an inch higher than the other. That way you will get a visual indication that the lower switch has failed. If you mount them at the same level, one could fail in the on position, and you'd get no indication until the second one failed in the on position and you got a flood.
The problem I had that made me start making baffles as your first illustration was because I use simple manual float valve that will open and close with agitation. Although it wouldn't be enough to change the salinity in the tank or anything like that, it was enough to turn the RO/DI unit on and off repeatedly. Had I not had a pressure gauge on the RO/DI unit I don't know that I would have even noticed that but it was enough to send my pressure gauge crazy to the point of vibrating back and forth and making loud noises. I "assumed" this couldn't be too good on the auto shut off either.
Rather than connecting directly to the RO/DI unit I changed and use a secondary storage tank. It's all still connected but I now have to switch the water on and off to fill the resorvoirs every couple of days.
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150 gal Custom. Born 5/7/07. 50gal, 29gal, 20gal Sumps. 30gal Frag Tank. ETSS 800 Skimmer, Deltec APF600 Skimmer. PFO Solaris Lighting on Display and Frag Tank
I have already put in the three baffles on the bubble trap. I'm just going to leave it that way unless you guys see any problems with it...
I just finished painting the back of the tank and installing my final baffle in the sump. I'm going to begin the plumbing work tomorrow, but nothing will be cemented into place until I finish the canopy (so I can stain the stand and canopy without the tanks in place). My lights are supposed to be here June 26th, so I hope to have most everything else ready to roll by then. I emailed Coralvue to get exact dimensions and mounting instructions for the lights so I could go on with the canopy, but I never got a response. I've got plenty to do in the meantime, so I'll just wait until they get here.
I've spent most of my day today relaxing, I did get a chance to go to the beach and look at the Master Fish Tank... I also spent a lot of time finally reading Chuck's construction thread, I'm almost to the end... I was on the edge of my seat with the tank drilling and the cutting of the brace! Really good stuff Chuck, you must really enjoy seeing your work come together.
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1 empty 55g with empty 55g sump (so far...)
My tank construction blog.. http://55reef.blogspot.com/
I stuck with my original plan on the configuration of pipes in the overflow box. I think I'm going to do a closed loop system hidden behind the rock in the tank (completely internal, no worries about leaks outside the tank) with something like a Rio pump and a SCWD.
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1 empty 55g with empty 55g sump (so far...)
My tank construction blog.. http://55reef.blogspot.com/
You realize that Rio and SCWD are both on the "junk" list?
I will admit that I've used two SCWD's and did not have a problem with either one of them however there are plenty of folks that have not had such good luck them.
Rio powerheads: The shafts are metal and rust and break very quickly. Don't know if their pumps are any better. I'd look at the mag pumps before committing. YES - they can be run external.
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150 gal Custom. Born 5/7/07. 50gal, 29gal, 20gal Sumps. 30gal Frag Tank. ETSS 800 Skimmer, Deltec APF600 Skimmer. PFO Solaris Lighting on Display and Frag Tank
Just viewed your thread. You are using flex tubing within your overflow box but can't see the clamps making the connections. Plastic I hope?
Coming along real nicely.
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150 gal Custom. Born 5/7/07. 50gal, 29gal, 20gal Sumps. 30gal Frag Tank. ETSS 800 Skimmer, Deltec APF600 Skimmer. PFO Solaris Lighting on Display and Frag Tank
No Rios, well noted. I may just drop a couple powerheads with a wavemaker instead... I'll have to search and see what kind of problems people have had with the SCWD. The guy at the LFS here seems to like them and I do like their simplicity.
I couldn't find plastic clamps so I'll be using zip ties for those and stainless clamps for the ones outside of the tank. I haven't hooked them up yet because I've still got to rip everything back out and glue/teflon tape things in after I stain the stand.
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1 empty 55g with empty 55g sump (so far...)
My tank construction blog.. http://55reef.blogspot.com/
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