Plumbing suggestions?

It'll work just fine the way he has it, but it might not be as quiet as you want it to be. I can't make out the overflow chamber very well, but you can use a small overflow chamber to adjust the water level in the tank a little higher than you'll be able to get with just the strainer sticking in.

Here's a picture of what I think fishwolfe is recommending, and is also probably what i'd do in your situation.



That's basically a durso standpipe with a bulkhead between the "T" and the elbow fittings. I forgot to draw the bulkhead... use your imagination . There's a hole in the cap on the top to allow air to get in. At this point you could even extend a pipe down from the elbow if you wanted an intake further down closer to the substrate. Just make sure the hole in the cap is big enough and it'll break the siphon when the water level drops below the "T" fitting. The funny thing on the bottom left is a hose barb, in case it wasn't obvious .

I thought about doing this with my 29 gallon since the stand was too wide to drill the bottom of the tank, but it turned out the sump won't fit so i'm just making a new stand instead.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)