cyano

For anyone who has not read any of my most recent posts (though most recent may still be a couple months old) I have been fighting with Caulerpa Toxifica and hair algae. I have done frequent water changes, water parameters check out good (with a test kit but I will hit on this subject again later), lighting is a few months old so still within spectrum, and I am close to hair falling out over the stress this is causing me lol. So now that everyone is caught up here is my thought process.
When I first started up my system two years ago my funds were running low so in one particular piece of equipment I went cheap when I shouldn’t have, my protein skimmer. I know hind sight is 20/20 but even at the time I knew I would be looking at an upgrade in the future but I was hoping to hold off as long as I could till maybe I had the funds to get what is needed rather than having to cheap out too badly again.
So on to the goods! I am looking at relocating my sump from under my tank to the other side of the wall giving me the necessary space to upgrade my equipment as well as provide the necessary space for proper care and maintenance to the sump area. I am also looking at expanding my sump to make it larger increasing my water volume in the system and giving me a real refugium. I plan on adding an additional tank that can be tied in to the original sump by teeing the inlet to the sump into both sumps and the new sump being connected by a bulk head into the old sump tied in at a higher level so that tank maintains the same water level and yet can still support a higher level if needed. With this set up my biggest question/issue is with the water maintaining the same level on that portion wouldn’t it be better to have the skimmer and equipment in it so that there is very minor tweaking and adjusting during operation due to water evaporation? Though if it is in that area and that area has lower water flow then the skimmer would not be as effective correct? This brings me to….
The new Skimmer which currently I am looking at a Reek Octopus 6” needle wheel skimmer rated for 150 gallons which is double my tank capacity. Will this be fine or should I be looking into a bigger skimmer? I am not trying to break the bank here but I am willing to dish out a little more if it will be better in the long run. Currently I am looking at 197.00 plus tax from my dealer for the skimmer and it is a non-recirculation skimmer. Total for this entire project I am looking to try to come in at $500.00 or less with my budget so keep that in mind with any suggestions please.
The one piece of equipment that I am going to be adding for the first time will be a bio-pellet reactor. Currently I am looking at a small hang on back (of the sump) reactor by Reef Octopus with a capacity of either 500ml or 1000ml bio pellets (undecided just because when it says max amount on some things it means get a bigger one if you will be maxing this one out.) With what I have read it seems that my water volume would require me to be using just under 500ml worth of bio-pellets which is why I am on the fence about which reactor to get. I will not be allowed by my wife to do any upgrading until I hit the lottery so keep that in mind as well. I will be using the vertex bio-pellets based on what I have read on here unless anyone has any other suggestions or recommendations. I came to the conclusion of adding this piece due to the fact that even though I am not reading positive with phosphates or nitrates does not mean they are not present and the algae and caulerpa are most likely devouring them for growth throwing off my tests.
I will gladly take any and all suggestions to consideration with this especially with the sump modifications as a lot of this will be uncharted territory for me. In fact as I type I am still pitching ideas to myself so I feel little headache coming on.