With a move coming up, I'll be breaking down my current tank (a new tank is all ready to go : )
The tank itself is a high-modified Innovative Marine Nuvo 38. The tanks was stripped down to it's parts, the glass cleaned to remove all traces of old silicone, then rebuilt from the ground up with a new rear wall and external overflow box. I used ASI high-modulus aquarium silicone when reassembling, and I was really happy with the result - I got nice clean seams on the rear wall and tank bottom. The rear wall was given a thick sculpturing of polyurethane epoxy and black sand for a rock wall effect. This system was designed to use dual alternating return pumps, although it could easily be used with a single larger pump simply by using a Y to feed the two return lines. In the rear wall are 10 1/2" return holes split into 2 groups of 5. The rear wall has 2 distribution manifolds to distribute water being returned to the tank to each of the return holes.
Rear wall and overflow inlets
Nice clean silicone lines
Overflow box - not the heavy-duty construction
The rear, showing the return distribution manifolds during initial construction. Prior to being put into service, this was all cleaned up and painted.
A current shot, showing the rear rock wall
The overflow box has a tight-fitting cover
The sides of the overflow box extend all the way to the bottom, leaving just enough of a gap to pass wires through - it's just enough to pass through a 3-prong power cord.
The plumbing - from left to right:
Return #1 pump line
Emergency drain
normal (full-siphon) drain w/ vlave for fine tuning and maintenance shut-off
2econdary drain trickle drain
Return #2 pump line
Sump and skimmer - you can see the built-in tubing holder for dosing, ATO, or whatever. To the left of the skimmer is a block of 3 float switches - low sump level, normal ATO control, and high sump level. Not seen is a built-in, adjustable probe holder for up to 5 probes, including one which is a bit over-sized for use with a Neptune Apex temp probe. It is behind the skimmer near the rear. To the right is the filter sock holder -made specifically for the E-Shoppes rectangular filter socks. If you look closely, you can see that the base of the skimmer (Warner Marine MF-121) has been raised - I built this sump to be deeper than usual in order to get a few more gallons of TWV. Normal water level is about 11"
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