Jar*Head and jnarowe - Slow down there, guys! Building a new house as well as a new tank ain't cheap, and I already have the PF601S. It's rated for 660 gallons, which should serve my system just fine. I've been to Brian's (MakoJ) house on several occasions to see his tank and I know him pretty well. The only reason he changed to the PF1001 was not that his PF601S wasn't meeting his tank's demand, but he didn't want to have to refill it several times a year. They both function identically, one just holds more media than the other. I won't mind if I have to refill it every 3 months since it will be sitting out in my tank room and not crammed into a sump. And shoot, by the time my new tank meets that kind of demand, who knows what will be available? The other thing to consider is that Brian keeps his alkalinity much higher than I will since I'm using ZEOvit, so I think the PF601S will be fine. Lastly, I have a Deltec kalk stirrer (KM500) that's still never been used, and I can't wait until my demand increases enough that I'll be able to use it. But nice pick-up and thanks for looking out for me!
Regarding the surge tank, thanks for the information Jonathan and that'll definitely not be in the plan, at least not for now. I'll keep that in my back pocket for when the corals have choked off all of the in-tank flow and I need to kick it up a notch.
ConcreteReefer, tbone and skey44 - Thanks for your input guys. After reading more, including your comments, I'll probably go with the CJ's. I like the fact that they're very thin and they need no adjustment once the proper height is determined. Combined with the fact that they come made and ready to use, and they're black (I hate white PVC), and it's a match for me!
I'm not sure what "baller" means, guess I haven't lived in Austin long enough, but thanks anyway! The house is coming along great. In fact, today I stood on the roof and I was able to see all of the downtown skyline, including the UT Tower and the capitol building. It was a particularly clear day and I even saw an airplane going in for a landing at the airport, which is about 20 miles from the house.
Oh, and I almost forgot ... I met with the super at the house today, and he confirmed that the column adjacent to the overflow box is only partially load-bearing (the outer half). He's going to cut away the rear 6" of the entire column, which won't be visible to the living room anyway, and this will give me room to place external waveboxes flanking the overflow, as well as gain another inch or two for the overflow itself! Guess I better revise my tank diagram
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