I bought the stand and canopy from a local place in san jose, ca that does custom tanks. I doubt he would take non-local orders.
Update after long break:
Tank moved to different area (same room)
Dedicated circuit with GFCI
Plumbing done
All equipment purchased (except RODI)
Rock and Mystery wrasse purchased (in separate quarantine)
Here is my overflow plumbing. On the left is an emergency drain that empties a few inches above the water line. The splashing sound will alert me that something in the main line may be clogged. I have a T coming down, the horizontal line feeding the skimmer, with a ball valve to control the flow through the skimmer. The vertical line of the T has a ball valve and then goes straight down a couple inches below the water line. After doing some research, I think this is the best way to directly feed your skimmer from the overflow and use Herbie's method.
Here is the return plumbing. No check valve, no union, no ball valve. I figure my return pump is on the undersized side, so I want as little pipe friction as possible. Also, if you notice on the left hand side, I have 2 TLF phosban reactors. I plan on running carbon and phosban in series, powered by a little Minijet 404.
Here's the return. I purchased a grossly overpriced (sorry oceansmotions) oceansmotions omni flex nozzle. It's basically a 1" 3 section locline-style nozzle that looks nicer. 26 clams shipped. I might try a Pacific Coast flow accelerator (penductor), but I heard they don't work well without a high pressure pump.
It's a DAS EX-3. Same body as the Deltec AP851, but with 3 Aquabee 2001's. Less reliable than the Eheim pump on the Deltec, but puts out about 130% more air. (650 l/h eheim vs. 1500 l/h 3x aquabee)
Looking good. I see a nice big reservoir for top off
I assume you used clear PVC glue. I see absolutely no excess glue, so hopefully you made good seals (fully covered in glue, inserted and then twisted).
My only criticism: it's kinda weird that you went with hard plumbing on the return when you could've just gone black vinyl to the top (would look just as clean).
I used purple primer and clear PVC glue, wiping off excess glue after insertion. I tried to be neat. And yup, I did do that quarter twist afterwards.
I used hard PVC on the return because I think glued PVC connections will be more leak proof and fail safe than hose barb connections. I'm sure hose barb connections are safe, but I prefer using only glued PVC connections for areas outside the sump.
Oh yeah, the skimmer cup can be removed. I thought of that beforehand.