Gimmiefish... I hated the reflections on the sides so much on my other tank that I had black sides on this one. There's no reason to be able to view the tank from any of the other sides since my tank sits 8 feet in the air and is in the garage (although, I can remove my rear panel for viewing and cleaning when desired). If this tank were more conventionally located, then I would have it viewable on three sides.... but, that would entail a different aquascaping concept.
I'm sorry, I don't have a plumbing schematic. It is very simple though. The circulation is provided by 4 sequence 23's that each pump 6000gal/hr in a closed loop. The pumps are located under the tank and enter/exit the tank from the bottom. There are four seperate rock platforms made from 1 1/2 pvc (one for each pump) that the rocks sit upon. On each of these pvc platforms are seven 3/4" exit points that have loc-line connected to. Each closed loop pump connects to its platform to distribute the water. Because all 28 jets are hidden in and under the rockwork, a very turbulent flow is created within the tank without any plumbing being visable.
In a nutshell, my pvc rock supporting structure does double duty as a closed loop distribution system.
The return pumps are two ampmaster 3000's that just pump from the sump to the tank... nothing unique. The overflows have 2" pvc piping to the sump.... one of these flows through the heaters on its way to the sump.. the other one flows through the chillers on its way to the sump.
As for the sand question.....Each platform has three of its seven jets located under the rocks. Sand, nor detritus, doesn't stand a chance under that kind of flow... it just gets swept out into the water column from gaps in the rockwork.
