Alright, now the fun begins!

Rock is in, Saltwater is in!

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps40bf9777.jpg

All this gloominess is due to the overloead of Micro bubbles that I'm getting. Its extremely frustrating to see them in the display.

Any ideas on what I could do to fix this?
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2fefd149.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1750587.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1c7ca673.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psbb60bacd.jpg

I think, I may have screwed up on my sump design. I see this long 'worm like' line of bubbles going in through the return that get blasted all over my tank.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9cba81a6.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6ed74897.jpg

Here is a shot of the complete setup. I ran my skimmer today as well just to see how its performing. It seems to be doing okay. ofcourse no skimmate just yet. It seems a bit loud atm, will have to look into how I can reduce its noise level.

I'll be adding about 10lbs of live rock to my tank to properly seed the base and dead live rock. I'm thinking about adding agents like prodibio to aid in the cycling process but have not decided on anything yet. Still have to look into their benefit and costs.

I really need you guys' help on my sump design/return for this micro bubbles issue. I want to get this issue out of the way before I add any live stock to my tank. Please throw your ideas and comments out there for me to learn from and hopefully come up with a solution for my problem!

Cheers!!

Put an elbow on it facing down, or even just a strainer should help

your dad sitting there like a boss

Yeah I Was thinking of doing the same. I'll grab it on my way home from work and see how that changes things.

Lol... Yep!

I'm also thinking about increasing the gap b/w the baffles for the bubble breaker. The water seems to go over top it if I open the drain valve more than 1/2 turn

I left about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch gap b/w them. Is that less than the optimum gap?

really nice work on that stand! looks like you really lucked out on the package sale it's all quality stuff which is half the battle.

Thank you very much! It took a long time but I'm satisfied to have it sit inside my living room and not look tacky!

Yeah, I think I have everything I need... Maybe a few too many things. It's just a matter of getting this sump working right and get the cycle going!

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps828a0a54.jpg

It hurts me to see that powerhead without the zip tie and dryside secured to something. It will be an expensive repair for that thing to hit the ground! Personally I don't take the chance but its up to you!

I love your stand good job I wish I had to patience and time to do that for myself!

Thanks for pointing that out. I was thinking about securing it too. I've seen a few of those small plastic square sticky things with small zip ties on them but don't know what they are called or where to buy them. Any suggestion on where I can get them?