Alright I have a few more action items to 'strategerize' about.
Basicaly going to have:

20gl display tank
10gl sump
10gl fuge

little less than 40 but Ill just say 40gl total voulme.
4 to 10 times = 160 -400 GPH (I'm not sure if that 4-10 rule of thumb is for total or display volume)

Lets take the high side of the medium (not planning on any sps) and say 300 gph

The reef central calc comes up with 3/4" Drain and 5 inch overflow.
The overflow number is pretty streight forward.

How big a hole to i ned to drill to accomidate that drain size? (not familiar with bulkhead sizes)

Also any suggestion/changes to my thinking would be greatly appreciated.

The reef central calc comes up with 3/4" Drain and 5 inch overflow.
The overflow number is pretty streight forward.

How big a hole to i ned to drill to accomidate that drain size? (not familiar with bulkhead sizes)The answer to this question will become evident when you buy your bulkhead fitting. I would not drill the whole before you get it. That's asking for trouble.

If I were doing this tank I would not do a 3/4" drain. It probably would handle it but, 3/4" is small enough to clog under certain circumstances and that always happens when your not at home. The result could be a flood and dead critters. I recommend you go with a 1" bulkhead for added safety and piece of mind, mine if not yours!

If you look at the bulkheads of www.Drsfostersmith.com (http://www.Drsfostersmith.com) they show a 1 and 1/2 inch hole for a 3/4 inch bulkhead. I purchased mine from them because they listed the hole size which allowed me to order my bit so they would arrive at about the same size. My bit came from a user on Ebay by the name of Lau and he has great prices, like $5, plus $5 ship from Hong Kong. They worked well for me. Just do a search for diamond hole drill bits and see if you can find him. You will need to know the mm size of the hole, as they are all listed on Ebay in mm size though.

FYI 1 inch = 25.4 mm

Thanks Everyone. I now have direction and purpose.
1" drain looking like a 45mm hole
3/4" return a 38mm hole
Speaking of a drain I'll probably just order one of these instead of building one.
http://cart.dursostandpipes.com/comersus/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=2


The only big $ item im going to splurge is a CSS 65 needle skimmer. Not exactly when Im going to do that (maybe next Month, being a three paycheck month:D )
Soon as I have some goodies in Ill hopfully start on my project Thread.
Heh, if the drilling goes bad, it may be the quickest thread ever.:cry: