Wondering if there's a 'best' way to plumb this sea table.

[SuperSessile]

I'm planning on setting this sea table up in my classroom - don't worry, it's not going on this lab bench - and I was wondering if there's a right/wrong way to plumb it. When I was in grad school, our lab had two tables that we had bottom holes drilled, and we used pvc as stoppage/overflow pipes that we could pull out when it was time to clean. I imagine this choice was made to enable quick drainage of all the urchin poop that accumulated. When I went to Mote Marine Labs, however, their coral tanks had an overflow hole drilled on the side. If it really just depends on what I'll be putting in here - it's up in the air. I want my students to run experiments in this, and I imagine I'll use different species each year. I'll likely start with sea urchins as they're hardy and I can have HS students work with them without too much concern that they'll destroy the population, but I'd like to do other species eventually.

Also, I know that this choice could drastically change the sump size I need. My options right now are extra 20 and 30 gallon fish tanks I have laying around, but the school has resources so I could potentially get something bigger...

So what do ya'll think?

(Tank is 96x24x12, will be supported on 24 concrete blocks on the corners and middle + a plywood board between the blocks and the tank)

 

[twentyleagues]

I've had all sorts of tubs and tanks drilled in various locations with and without weirs. They all work. Bottom drilled is probably the least "safe" at least without a weir to control the water that is able to go through the hole in the event of a accidental stand pipe removal. Also depending on the slope of the sides drilling the sides could make for uneven water level entering the pipe, making for more drainage into sump when power is off.

 

[SuperSessile]

Now that you mention it, back in the lab we actually had two catastrophic "accidental" standpipe removals (actually a failure to put them back in). I think I'll roll with the side of the tank! Thanks for jogging my memory!