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The light that came with my 55g used tank supports two 55 watt power compact whites and two 55 watt blue actinic bulbs but has an additional light bar of some kind running along the back edge that I would like help identifying. It is a thin little tube and emits a bluish lite that almost looks like a black light but probably isn't. It is also wired separately from the main lights.

The light has no labels but the guy I bought it from said it was a coravue knock-off and that he was ...

My 400g reef had five drains in the external overflow. They are equally spaced apart, and plumbing these into my sump was a little challenging. I'm sure I got a few gray hairs trying to come up with the perfect plan.

First of all, it needed five Durso Standpipes. All five are 1.5" black PVC going into 1.5" bulkheads. The drainlines are 1.5" as well.

Each Durso is drilled with a 3/16" hole in the cap to vent the drain. None of the Durso Standpipes were glued. They ...

With the return section completed, it was time to build the second section that is called a manifold. It has its own pump, and feeds a few items. The beauty of a manifold is that one external pump takes the place of multiple submersible pumps, and a series of valves provides the user to control flow rates to each item.

My goal was to run three reactors and a frag tank, and also have it available as a secondary back up to the main return pump if needed. I wanted to run the manifold ...

With all the months of planning, I still found myself thinking about how I wanted the plumbing to be, pondering on what would be the ideal layout that wouldn't result in having to make changes and modifications later. I had some crazy ideas in mind originally, but modified them some.

The principle is simple: Water drains into the sump. Water goes back up to the display tank. Avoid too many turns and fittings, and keep it looking clean.

The return assembly was a big ...

The new sump was designed to fit within the steel stand. It is 58" long by 31.5" wide by 17" tall, using 3/8" AcryLite GP.

The layout is simple, with a big skimmer section, an equally large return zone, and a full length refugium. This was the best choice for the equipment I own and the space I had to work with. The sump is sitting on a 3/4" thick sheet of pink foam, which acts as insulation from the concrete floor and keeps the surface very smooth for the acrylic.

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