There is so much going on in this thread that I love, I dont even know where to start! I have a thing for fishrooms. What can I say? Do you plan to place the sump under the tank? It is just harder to work in them under tank. I am very fortunate my fishroom is in the basement so my sump is elevated at a pretty good height to work on. The merfolk are great, but they will outgrow that tank in short order.