How many people have gravity fed reactors fed from the main display tank?

Unlike Canadian_Man I can't put my reactor underneath my sump since my sump is at ground level already. So if I were to reap the benefits of gravity feed, I'd have to have the reactor intake in my main display tank.

Problem with this is, unless the reactor output is also in the main display tank, then my reactor is suddently a very slow overflow. In a power failure, the water will continually drain into the sump via the reactor, until the siphon is broken. So there is sump overflow risk in my scenario. If you look at my signature you'd understand why I have reluctance for this idea. Plus there is the extra hassle of having to manually restart the siphon after power is restored.

The simple solution is to have the reactor effluent come back to the main display tank. If the input and output are the same, then there's no sump overflow risk from the reactor itself.

But, I'm not sure how comfortable I am keeping my reactor output in my main display? I wanted to have it in my sump so that any excess CO2 has plenty of opportunity to escape to atmosphere before being introduced to the main tank. Plus if the reactor effluent pH is 6.5 do I really want this introduced into the main display? Isn't the sump the place for reactor effluent?

Am I overblowing the risk of CO2 and low pH reactor effluent into the main system? Because that sure is the simplest solution.

The only other thing I can think of, is have the intake in the main display tank, the output in the sump, and have a solenoid shutoff for the intake that closes the intake in a power failure. Couple of drawbacks. The first obviously, where the heck does one get a solenoid valve for 1/4" tubing that's saltwater safe, and how much are those? Too much, I bet! And second, it's just "yet another" thing to plug into the wall, and there are too many things plugged in, as it is.

Advice please!!!

Tony,

If you drip the reactor effluent into the tank or sump, then if you had no flow and only CO2, then the gas, would never reach your water and affect you system.

Maybe you could drip the effluent close to you overflow, so it goes down your sump to be mixed and does not make it to you main tank for long? But if your source and return are the same level, you have no differential pressure and no flow.

I just drip my efluent and don't run a solenoid any more.

Lee