I wonder if it would be possible to implement one of those roller filters? Like the Clarisea? I'm unsure if it would hook over the side though since pre-fab acrylic sumps tend to have the lip on them. So, maybe it wouldn't work, as the water level would be too deep to just set it in the sump.
I'm not too familiar with the roller mat filters, but any solution that you try with one of those still leaves you with the inaccessible drain chamber collecting detritus.
Part of it could be the huge UFO grow light I've got over the sump. It's a 300w light that lights up the entire thing. Probably just too much. The idea originally was large sump with room to grow lots of chaeto for nutrient control, which should be somewhat self limiting based on available nutrients and not strip the water as some methods can, and a lot of light was needed to max effect.
Haha! Really though, hair algae sucks up just as much in the way of nutrients, if not more I suppose but it also catches so. much. detritus. I might not even care about the HA, it's more about the amount of detritus.
I think you've probably had it when I was there before but I didn't pay a ton of attention because it wasn't something I was considering. But, I think you wer sourcing other filter material at the time and had a few samples you were looking at. That's about all I remember on it.
Maybe I need that Midwest Aquarium sump Dan is selling. It's 3" too wide for my display tank, but since I'm trying to plumb two tanks into my current sump, I could put this midway between the two tanks and plumb both to it. It's got..what, 4 drain and 3 return holes? I could utilize almost all of those with two tanks plumbed in.
But! I wouldn't want it just out in the open for noise purposes. Enclose it in a nice cabinet? @jlanger
A shot of how things sit, except at the far end is now a 4' tank intead of the one in the picture. The Ikea cabinet in the middle still fits in the middle. Replace that with the remote sump in a cabinet?
