[carlyc]

We had a 120 gallon DAS reef tank for 3 years that did extremely well. We moved to San Antonio in June and unfortunately had to break the whole tank down and we donated all the livestock and live rock to a local public aquarium (sad but necessary). We have finally gotten into a house and are ready to start again. I would like to have the tank drilled and go with a sump and refugium. I also intend to upgrade to MH from VHO and like the idea of the sea swirls to get all the powerheads out of the tank. My problem is that I have no understanding of the whole plumbing aspect of the sump and overflow, etc. but I really want to understand it before I talk with someone about drilling the tank. I have been pouring over threads and articles but most are beyond my knowledge of plumbing which is ZIP. My husband is handy but has no time and less interest than I in seeing this through. We are very new to this area and our outing to local stores was underwhelming. Can you offer some help and also recommend resources that would be my speed. I did alot of research with the other tank the first time and it was awesome and generally trouble free. However I really am ready for this upgrade, but I want to understand the whole deal. After updating myself on skimmers I am leaning toward a EuroReef or LifeReef skimmer, though I am not sure how to coordinate the whole design, do I decide on the skimmer and then get something to fit around it or do I start with the sump/refugium? I understand that LifeReef could do the whole deal.But I want to know what my other options could be if I go with the EuroReef. The space under my tank is 19.5" deep, 41" wide and 31" high. What size sump and is it really better to have the refugium be gravity assisted (above the tank)? Also how do I decide about the overflows. And what considerations are there with using something like the sea swirls in relation to all this? Sorry for the length but thanks in advance for any help you all can offer.

[SeaMe]

carlyc, here is a link to a site with excellent photos of plumbing, etc. Let us know how it goes!

http://www.padens.homestead.com/