Some more progress. Our gate valve FINALLY came in, at $60, it was quite the expense. Kevin used it to adjust the overflow height. So right now the water from the overflow goes straight into the rubbermaid sump/skimmer compartment, and then is returned to the tank.
The fish are eating me out of house and home at this point. It usually takes me about 6 to 10 weeks to make it through a ziplock bag of my own homemade food. However I have gone through my remaining half a bag in a few days. Why so quickly you ask? Because I picked up a few fish from the local LFS for a stupidly low price, as in $40 a fish. A few of the fish won't be staying with me long term, but they came as a package deal, so I couldn't really say no. At least they are in a bigger system now then they were before. I think they may have been in a 90 or 100g long when I got them. The scopas and the purple tang immediately became best of friends. They school together all day long.
I picked up a Powder Grey about 3 or 4 weeks ago, and put it into QT. When I got it, it looked thin, and its coloring was off. I originally thought that the coloring was a result of where it had been collected. While it was in QT its personality changed 180 degrees. It was shy initially, and skittish. Towards the end it was out all the time, always begging for food. The powder grey, or white cheek tang, immediately began to change color after a few days of being fed regularly. When I first picked it up it had a white back end, and did not display the white under its eye. Now after a couple of weeks of heavy feeding in QT it has color up to a nice solid dark grey, the yellow has come into is back end, and the white under its eye is beginning to appear. It also eats everything I put into the tank, a huge improvement from only picking at brine shrimp at the store.
Tomorrow I'll be making more homemade fish food. I have derived my recipe from an amalgamation of the contents of Jnarowe's, Melev's, Naka's and a few other's personal recipes. I've also added in a few things to tailor it to my tanks needs. I am making extra this time as usually since its a big hit on our local board.