[Todd]

Just sat down to take a hard look at what I will need to pump my new tank and I came up with a bit of a problem. I have a center overflow coming on a lay down 135. I had planned for a herbie style overflow (ie 2 drains), 1 return and 1 cord conduit. The tank is built, so those holes are there to stay. The problem is that the way I have my sump planned puts my skimmer very near the center of the stand, which would make maintenance hard with the plumbing in the way.

To minimize this I am thinking of putting 2, 45 degree elbows on my drain pipes and running the pipe as close as I could to the top of the stand, and then 2 more 45 degree elbows and dropping them into my return chamber. Is putting the elbows going to cause me problems? What about the horizontal section of pipe? I quite like the way I have my sump designed so I would like to leave that alone. (The return chamber is on the right side of the stand, and the drain pipes come in the center of the tank).

Also for my return pump (Reflow Snapper @ 2600 gph), I was thinking of putting an elbow almost directly after the sump, before the pump. Is this going to restrict flow to the pump too much? I don't think that it should be a problem as the manual doesn't say anything about this, and it also allows for the pump to draw water up, which I would think would be much harder then one elbow.

When my return lines go into my sump, what is the best way to plumb these to minimize noise? How far underwater / any fittings that I should use?

I plan on putting unions on, so that every section can be broken down. Would it be best to put the unions near the bulkheads on the display? What type of considerations should I have for moving the tank in the future for the bulkheads on the tank and the pipes that are connected to them.

So.... in summary:

1. Are Elbows, and a section of horizontal pipe on the return lines okay?
2. Is a elbow right before the return pump okay?
3. Best way to minimize sound on the drain line as it enters the sump?
4. Where should I put unions on my pipe sections that go into the display and what should I do to make it easy to move the tank in the future?
Additionally:
5. For those of you that have bare bottom tanks, what color is the top of your stand painted? What color should it be? (the rest of my stand will be painted black, and I am leaning towards BB).

Okay so that was more then a few questions, but I will be building my sump very soon and plumbing no later then a week from today (Wednesday)!.