Yesterday, I drilled a 3/4 hole in the side of my sump to be an overflow for my Auto Water Changer. I was stressing about breaking the sump, messing up the hole, drilling into something so expensive, etc. I finally just did it, and it was literally nothing--easier than drilling a hole in wood. Drilling acrylic's nothing.
With that done, I started filling the tank, and after a VERY long time, it finally went over the weir and filled the overflows. Glad I'm putting the Auto Water Changer, cause I don't every want to do a 50% WC on this tank.
So I guessed at a water level to fill the sump to, turned on the pumps, and hoped for the best. The fish gods were pleased--no leaks, no overflow on the carpet, no PVC joints burst open, nothin but net as they say.
So here's the final pic of the sump.
So everything was running right, except for the hellacious amount of noise. It was like a couple waterfalls, a washing machine, and a constant toilet flushing--all at once. So I started playing around with the gate valve, and the outlets above the filter socks, and I got it down to a very quiet trickle sound. (more on that later). Herbie's with the gate valve are COMPLETELY quiet. Especially after I got the water level in the sump high enough to cover the outlet pipes over the filter socks. If those are underwater--much quieter--I didn't know that (first sump I've ever had, you know). This morning, I bought 2 Jaeger 250 Watt heaters and plugged them into a Finnex heater controller I've never used, stuck those in the sump. I figure I'll have 78 degree tank water tomorrow
So what's left? 1) Irrigation head and chloramine filter for the auto water changer. 2) Loc-line nozzles for the returns 3) Wash 400 pounds of PFS for a substrate 4) Wash all the Manzanita I got in last month. 5) Buy a bunch of Jungle Valisneria 6) Hang some lights from the ceiling over the tank 7) mount all the electrical gadgetry to the wall, up off the floor.