Plus the point that already having a Profilux the last thing I want to add is another controller.:wink:
They sound like great pumps.
I wonder if a Profilux could accomplish the same timing for someone that would want that type of water movement?

As stated before the reeflo dart golds are great pumps (from customer and my personal viewpoint) but I have never had any experience with starting and stopping them on a daily or hourly basis (really not recommended) . I would though recommend your return from your sump to be a constant. You should not need any more holes drilled to accomplish your required tasks. Mitch it looks like you have some options on your 5/1/5 flow pattern which is great.

Kevin

The Profilux can control a wide variety of pumps including the Abyzz. The Abyzz controller has pump temp, RPM, water sensor, and wattage draw which you can't get with aquarium controllers. Whether you need these features or not is another matter :)

Make sure if you have a variable water level in your sump that your skimmer isn't adversely affected. You can have it shut off on the same timer, if you go that route.

Oh I didn't know that. So you can buy these pumps without controllers. Also nice to know.

The pump comes with a power supply with alarms for power or water shortage. There is a rheostat to manually set the pump output/RPM.

The cool thing about brushless DC pumps is they use less energy at lower RPMs. When you turn the 420 watt pump down to 65% capacity, it only uses 94 watts. A cycle of 35% for 10 seconds and a pulse of 65% for 2 seconds uses much less energy and gives the same net flow (without waves).

I tested a DC pump out of The Netherlands recently. It;s half the price and almost half the electricity, but the magnet on the pump stated to show rust pitting after three months use.

There are a few companies working on brushless DC pumps. Wait 6-12 months and you will see them replacing Iwaki and Sequence etc. For now, the price puts them out of reach for most.

I like the faux rock ! I would mind doing something like that to the back wall of my next tank. Can anyone tell me what this is called and point me at a DIY thread ???

There are lots of threads on aragocrete, spray foam, and epoxy faux rock.

http://reefcentral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1300282

Thanks, everyone.
With regards to the actual building progress, my work has taken up pretty much 100% of my building time for the past month.
I think I can get the stand built this coming weekend, but I'm not sure if I will get the actual tank on the stand.
I'm looking forward to designing the back wall that is going to accommodate the mechanical support system.

Ron Shimek's sand formula is a good one, but it leaves out one important factor... scratching acrylic. I use Special grade with some extra shells and coarse sand mixed in. This way you are less likely to stir it up and get it stuck in cleaning magnets and it won't scratch the bottom of the viewing panels as much when you use a plastic scraper.

This is my first acrylic tank, so I need to learn a number of techniques and maintenance schedules that I'm not used to. The special grade is actually too large for keeping a number of different organisms that I would like.