I need advice please

[Myka]

The Octopus and the SeaClone (in particular) are a complete waste of money. The Super Skimmer is likely to give you a wet floor, but is an ok skimmer otherwise. Honestly, make enough room in the sump for an in sump skimmer, and buy a Vertex or used EuroReef. Don't skimp on a skimmer, for a novice reef keeper, a good skimmer will buffer some of your mistakes and save your butt.

I would say toss the sponge...it will become a nitrate factory. Any media you put in the tank you want to remove in a short period of time because it will collect detritus and allow it to break down causing a rise in nitrates. Thus the point of a good protein skimmer...to remove the organic impurities before they can break down. Use some filter floss/padding instead, and plan to replace it twice a week - replace not rinse. J&L sells 18x36" rolls of it for $4 which you can cut to size. What are those colored "water conditioning" medias?

When building a sump like you are planning you need the water to overflow back into the tank, and be sucked into the sump to keep a consistent water level in the display part of the tank. If you push out of the sump with your design you will end up overflowing your tank at some point no doubt. Also, I wouldn't put sand in the sump as there will be too much flow in there it will siwrl around too much, and there really is no point with your design.

[Whiskey]

Thanks for the advice on the skimmer and the sand.

The water conditioners would be stuff like charcoal and/or other additives, a buddy of mine has been reefkeeping for many years and he was saying he uses a few additives (I can't remember which and he's in Hawaii ATM so I can't ask him) that really seem to help his reef's health.

If the inflow is greater than the outflow then there won't be any flood issues, right? The tank will only fill the sump as the sump pumps out enough water to fill the sump... Or, is it all an issue of exact balance? Is the safety aspect of a seperate tank that there's sufficient room for the potential overflow?

I really don't want a wet floor.

[banditpowdercoat]

Tank drains into sump.
Pump in sump pumps back into tank.
You need to keep a level in your sump that if the power goes out, and pumps shut off, the tank will only drain so much, and wont overflow the sump. This is acheaved by such means as a siphon break, or just the weir level of your overflow. When you first fill up the tank/sump, I fill TANK untill it overflows into sump. When sump is full, and no pumps are running this is the "Power OFF" level. tank is full, and sump is full. Now fire the pump up, and the pump will pump sump into the tank. Tank will then drain into sump. The ballancing act is not to pump more into tank than is draining back into sump.