I have not done a ballast system myself, but based on years of reading the forum, and having friends try it, I am going to put my vote in for #4 as well. And as folks said, if you switch sides a lot, get the X-Link system as well. I would also recommend ripping out everything and starting from scratch, as it sounds like you have already started. It seems like trying to save pieces and rework things and save money ends up causing more frustration than it is worth.

I guess I wish there were a faster impeller style pump for you guys using the giant bags. For the 1100# sacs, it is still an 11-12 minute fill time. Maybe its not that big a deal, it just sounds like a long time. Also, with the X-Link the time to swap sides should be reduced to about half as much time.