its okay you've been a great help. iv been thinking about it and might just drain the watter from my main display tank that way i dont need to turn of the skimmer which i think could cause further problems. however my return pump will need to be turned off as it will otherwise run sump dry!! for know im going to re route my drain pump to the display tank along with the float switches. my auto top off is controlled via a spectrapure solenoid so no need to relyon profilux for that atm.