Synergy reef sk60 with clarisea 5000 rollers review

[rocket098]

I just bought a Fish last week from a guy with same sump. He showed me his setup. His way around was one clarisea and one 7 inch sock. You will get more flow then. The problem is when you have a large tank and you need the high turn over rate this sump can’t do it with the filter rollers. As far as user error I emailed him just as you did he had no solutions. I will post some pics give me a little bit and see for yourself

 

[Rappa]

thanks I wanna see them. I was gonna ask if you tried doing that with one sock, one filter...

Can you open the drains on the Clarisea's a tiny bit to allow bypass?

 

[rocket098]

Here is the tank and my overflow is massive no restrictions there. I have two main drains 1.5 inch each then an emergency and a bean animal 3 drain for the slow flow. Obviously no restrictions there. This overflow can handle probably 3500 gph. Plumbed down to the crashbox. Now I’m flowing 800gph right now and look at the water level in crashbox it’s maxed out. It’s just trickling over the top of crashbox grate. Trust me I would love to be wrong here but there is nothing to change that will give me another 1000 gph.

 

[rocket098]

I think the main problem is probably that There is just not enough force acting on the water to get it to flow through the filter roller tube connector which is only 1 inch. So how can a claimed 2600 gph flow through two little 1 inch pipe connections. When you connect the overflow pipe directly to the filter roller you have all that water weight and height pushing it through the opening. Unfortunately the water in the crashbox is only a couple inches above the pipe opening and just doesn’t provide the same force.

 

[ReefSakes]

I just bought a Fish last week from a guy with same sump. He showed me his setup. His way around was one clarisea and one 7 inch sock. You will get more flow then. The problem is when you have a large tank and you need the high turn over rate this sump can’t do it with the filter rollers. As far as user error I emailed him just as you did he had no solutions. I will post some pics give me a little bit and see for yourself

Yeah that's a bummer that you have to use it with a filter sock to be able to work properly. In that case what is the point of the fleece roller as the point of going fleece is to get rid of the socks.

 

[rocket098]

Yep that’s what I was thinking. If I have to change one sock what’s the difference if it’s two lol. So basically I’m stuck racking my brain on what to do here. It’s just so disappointing because the amount of time and effort I already put into this sump.

 

[Rappa]

I wonder if you would get more force to the crash box if you went straight pipe in the overflow and ditched the elbows. Just a thought... Direct straight shot down drain. The way your overflow is draining could cause a siphon effect which will drain slower. There's possibly no force because the water flowing down the drain is pulling the water from your submerged elbow's in the overflow instead of a straight gravity drain with some air venting which would drain faster. I don't know... Just thinking out loud...

 

[ReefDreamz]

I'm running the SK72 at about 2700 GPH (powered by twin Abyzz a200's) with zero issues. Clarisea rolls last months. Three things that really help, one, lowering the water level in the fuge section to it's lowest point. Two, using the extended float switch holder in the Clarisea's that should come with the sump (note that my sump did not come with these and I had to contact Synergy Reef to get them). Three, modifying the Clarisea part with the slats in it like this to allow for more flow:

 

[rocket098]

Cutting the slots in those tubes was the first thing I did. I have those extended float holders Too. Why do you have an mp10 on the crash box section? I also have my fudge water level at about 7 inches which is lower then yours. I’m sorry but I just doubt your doing 2700 through those clarisea rollers. But please give more info.

 

[ReefDreamz]

Cutting the slots in those tubes was the first thing I did. I have those extended float holders Too. Why do you have an mp10 on the crash box section? I also have my fudge water level at about 7 inches which is lower then yours. I’m sorry but I just doubt your doing 2700 through those clarisea rollers. But please give more info.

Well TBH I haven't measured my flow rate but I'm running each Abyzz at 75% and according the pumps head pressure chart I should be at ~1300 gph per pump. Flow is cranking through my sump so I have no reason to doubt it, I've actually thought about turning down the pumps because the flow with just my return pumps on is almost too much for my acans. The MP10 is because I drip kalk into the crash box, bonus is no detritus build up in the crash box.

 

[rocket098]

You wouldn’t need an mp10 there if you had 2600 gph flowing through that little crashbox. I appreciate you giving information though. Are those 1.5 inch drains into the crashbox? Are they fully open at full siphon.

 

[ReefDreamz]

You wouldn’t need an mp10 there if you had 2600 gph flowing through that little crashbox. I appreciate you giving information though. Are those 1.5 inch drains into the crashbox? Are they fully open at full siphon.

You're right the MP10 really isn't necessary. I bought it for my display not realizing it wont work on 1/2" glass so I threw it in the crash box. Yes, 1.5" drains one is full siphon one is open channel.

 

[rocket098]

So it’s bean animal drains. The full siphon drain is it throttled down any? I’m assuming the open channel drain is just a trickle down.

 

[ReefDreamz]

So it’s bean animal drains. The full siphon drain is it throttled down any? I’m assuming the open channel drain is just a trickle down.

Yes bean animal and yes the full siphon is throttled down although by how much I couldn't say. The open channel on mine is more than a trickle, I may not have it set perfectly but it works for me

 

[rocket098]

Ok thanks I can tell you just knowing those things that your flow is nowhere near 2700gph. especially looking at your overflow run lengths. Did you plumb all that in yourself? Looks like whoever did was pretty good.

 

[rocket098]

Anyone else with these sumps want to chime in on your pros and cons please help us all out and do so.

 

[ReefDreamz]

Ok thanks I can tell you just knowing those things that your flow is nowhere near 2700gph. especially looking at your overflow run lengths. Did you plumb all that in yourself? Looks like whoever did was pretty good.

Yes plumbed it all myself.

 

[rocket098]

I just want to give an update I have spoken with Rick at synergy reef. I appreciate him reaching out to me to give additional help. I want everyone to understand that my main issue with this sump was just the flow rate I was getting with the clarisea filter roller combo. The sump itself is an incredible product and looks very nice with the color choices. Rick has suggested plumbing in the overflow directly into the clarisea instead of the crashbox to get an increase in flow. If I decide to go that route I will give an update on how that goes In terms of flow. I just wanted to give an honest review of this sump to help others out.

 

[Rappa]

So it isn't the sump that's the issue, it's your configuration and the Clarisea's themselves causing low flow for you? Based on SK-5000 reviews that I read, seems people use the bypass screw to up the flow through the sump if higher flow is desired. Yes, it's unfiltered water, but it will get filtered eventually with higher turnover rate. Your tank is beautiful, yet huge at 425+ gallons. Isn't the SK-60 sump advertised that it's only rated for systems up to 300 gallons? I like the idea of plumbing drains directly to the Clarisea's as that sounds like it will work for you. Good luck and please update if you do that?

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Well, Rocket and I had exchanges some PM not too long ago, at the time, I was doing ok, though my tank had only had water in it for a bit more than a month. Not I am at about the 3 month mark and I just removed the SK-5000s from my SK-72 sump for the same reason, can't get sufficient flow through them...