After my first build I found aspects of it to be lacking/not to my liking and always wished I could start over;
-remove some starter corals I didn't like
-rework the rock 'scape
-sump layout didn't work for me
-electrical was too exposed
-stock Aqueon overflow didn't work for me
-drain plumbing of 1" was undersized to run all the way to the sump. With so many elbows and nearly 6" of run, plus the fact that it only dropped a few inches from the tank bottom to the top of the sump, I had to dial back an Eheim 1262. Otherwise it would always run through the emerg and I wasn't comfortable with that.
Last fall I was seriously thinking about redoing the 'scape. I bought some LR before X-mas and started curing it. After some water testing it looked like I would be in for the long haul, and I started getting other brave ideas ...
In February I commited myself to replacing the sump.
I bought a used 90g from my good buddy David (thanks for the hand packing it home
). I stripped it down, had the glass height cut down by 5-1/4" (if memory serves), then re-assembled it.
Now it's a 4' 60g. I added baffles etc and tested it. All is good to go. And the LR is coming along very nicely, so I looked at the plumbing under the DT. I planned on replacing the 1" drain plumbing with 1-1/2" so I could run the return pump full out.
While I was under the DT checking clearances for the new plumbing, I found a leak, and it turned out to be the DT - a pinhole in a bottom corner about 1/8" above the trim.
Murphy just made all my dreams come true, or be careful what you wish for, or whatever ...
Tank was emptied and stuff transferred to a temp holding tank.
Over the first couple days, and then the next couple months, I lost 99% of the corals - some nearly 4 years with me - but thankfully the fish survived.
Anyway, after the tank leaked back in March, I decided to redo 'everything' I didn't like.
I bought a stock 75g from J&L, and drilled it for an Elite Aquatics overflow, which I bought from Reef Supplies. Thanks to member IanWR for the heads up on the box
I bought the
3-DRAIN ELITE OVERFLOW SYSTEM. Although I only want to run a Herbie, I figured the 3-drain unit would be a good purchase for future upgrades or resale value.
Drains
I fabbed a cover to keep the emerg from splashing everywhere
New sump
I'm now running a single 7" sock, and built a heater hanger. The hanger also has holes for my dosing hoses.
I isolated the return plumbing this time to remove any pump vibrations
And I split the returns as 1 outlet per side was blowing sand away from the glass, no matter where I pointed them. Now all is good
