hypertech

Use a ring of plumbers putty to make a little pool of water around the spot you are drilling. It will keep the br submersed and cool until you start breaking through the other side at which point you are pretty much done and don't need to worry that much anymore.

I put the seascape one on the back of my current tank. I like it. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21123

No. The DC8 is now 2 generations old. The current power bar is the EB8 (Energy Bar 8). It does run aquabus. None of the power bars have variable output outlets. The 0-10 V outputs come off the control head (the current model has 4 outputs). There might be some more DC outputs and possible 24V outputs on the brand new one, but that is pretty irrelevant to my setup. Even with Tunze controllable pumps and a dimmable fuge light, I'm only using 3 out of the 4 variable outputs. Most lights use a separate module so variable lights often does not consume one of the 0-10V outputs.

The power bar looks huge and I don't think it would fit in my setup - particularly since I currently run two of them. The additional benefit of the power bar is supposed to be per outlet energy use statistics where as on the current one you just get the amps the whole bar is drawing. While that would be nice, I think I prefer having the bar be half the size and not look like a kids toy. The control head apparently has some upgrades so it can run more software on it rather than in the cloud, has built in wireless, and can do updates on the fly. I would appreciate these improvements. They say that eventually you will be able to buy the control head alone and it will be backwards compatible with all the existing stuff (energy bars, modules, etc). If I were buying today, I'd save my money and get the current controller. Premium Aquatics is even having a sale right now to clear out stock with an old style probe for $450. That's what I would get. If and when this new control head proves itself, I might upgrade to that but keep on using all the old energy bars.

I'd try to find it so I don't accidentally stab myself with it. The rust is less of an issue. GFO is basically rust pellets and people put that in their tank on purpose.

I don't have any experience with the compact pump line, but the 1250, 1260 and 1262 run like champs.

I'd also guess that the return pump is slowing down. Any chance your water levels drop when this happens? IF you don't have a constant water level in the return chamber, the head pressure can vary, which affects the flow the pump can put out, which affects the water level of your overflow.

Diving gloves won't keep your hands dry. Drysuit gloves would but they seal to a suit. The way you keep your gloves warm and dry suit is what DaveS said above. My suit has rings on it and I literally just pull over a set of chemical gloves. This keeps them dry and a set of knit gloves underneath keep you warm. If you want dry and warm hands, I'd get some knit liners and a set of yellow kitchen gloves. Put them on and a rubber band (or three) around the wrist. If you don't mind damp hands, then there are a couple dive shops in Alexandria and I think one in Vienna where you could pickup some wetsuit gloves. The one in Fairfax closed.

Absolutely - it handles it just fine. And a tiny trickle in the emergency is no big deal. I've had my fair share of floods and this is one area that I've tested and tried and am perfectly happy I've got a sound approach. I test every failure scenario I can think of after plumbing something new. I've been running a herbie for many many years and it works just fine and is very safe. A bean animal isn't even an option for me since my tank is a factory ready reef. It has two holes in the overflow and that's just not a problem. Even if I were drilling it with a custom overflow, I probably still wouldn't do three holes. More holes is more risk for a crack between the holes. I'd take two holes separated further apart over fitting in three holes just about any day.

That's not a flaw with a herbie its a flaw in how its setup. Either the drains are too small or the pump is too big. It really shouldn't cause a flood either. Assume your drains are the same size. Under normal operation, a restricted drain is handling the full return flow. If that drain get plugged, you have an unrestricted drain available. Since all the water could flow down a restricted drain, it should be able to get down the unrestricted drain. This is easy to test - just put your hand over the drain output on the main drain for a herbie or close the valve all the way. If its setup right, the water will just flow through the other drain and there will be no flood.

IM (not so) HO, a Herbie works just as well and can be setup much easier and on standard RR tanks.

If its all down hill and the pipe is large enough for gravity to get the water back, you could try an air break (this seems fraught with danger of water on the floor though). Otherwise I think you are going to need separate returns or check valves.

That sounds like way overkill for a couple aptasia. You are more apt to trigger a cycle and kill everything. Try treating just the aptasia first and see if you can keep them in check that way before going extreme on it.

Aiptasia can be a fact of life with a reef tank. My luck with peppermint shrimp has been mixed. They tend to go after them when you first get them till they get fat and lazy on fish food and then they quit doing their job. For the big ones in the back, I'd hit them with some aiptasia-x. It does a pretty good job of killing them. But, they will probably come back at some point at which time you treat them again and just keep them in check.

pH probes are basically consumables. Plan on replacing those. The temp probes last a long time. The rest will probably depend on where it was mounted. If its not been used much or it was far from the tank, it'll probably last a long long time. If its been real close to the saltwater, dripped on, splashed and so forth, it may be corroded and not last as long. There's no moving parts though so absent corrosion or damage, they should last a good long while.

If you do the sock holder, make sure the top of the holder is below the top of the tank. If the sock gets plugged up you want it to overflow into the tank.

You are probably fine, but there is also little harm in throwing an air stone in the sump. I like to aerate water change water so I have one on hand. I'm not sure if I'd bother going to the store for one, but if you have one, why not just run it to be on the safe side..