Does anyone have any experience with eshopps sump/refugium combo?

[LaneBrain]

I’m looking into getting an Eshopps refugium/sump combo (the eshopps AR-200 or older R model). Does any one have any experience with these sumps? Looking for good and bad.
thanks!

 

[italquam]

I dont but I can recommend Geos Reef sumps, very good build quality and made in USA.

 

[Joe Rice]

I have the "3rd gen" R-300. Been using it for six years. Does the job. But I've never had any other so I don't really have any basis for comparison.

I have access to both sides of my sump so it's not a problem for me that the return chamber is behind the refugium chamber but would be a pain if I couldn't get to it from the back.

The return chamber is a pretty tight fit so I actually drilled a hole between it and the main (skimmer) chamber, installed a bulkhead and put my return pump in the main chamber, drawing water from the return chamber.

Another downside is that the area where water comes in from the overflow is inaccessible. It's a small area but it's impossible to clean.

I like having a refugium chamber and they did a nice job splitting the flow so that the water entering the fuge bypasses the filter sock.

 

[acoustic-reef]

I used the ADV-100 3rd gen for most of last year. Overall I liked it and it had just the right amount of space for the skimmer and refugium area. Return area was a little tight for cleaning and as Joe says - if you don't have access to the back of the sump it's tough to clean the bio media area. As I expected the water coming in from the overflow was the dirtiest part when I took it down (because you can't get in there at all for cleaning).

I am probably going to list it soon (need a bigger one for this year) if you're interested let me know. excellent condition