Hello!

Also today, I managed to quiet EVERYTHING down quite a bit. The return line was burping and about every 15 seconds a large bubble would come out of the drain line making a loud... well, bubble sound. Anyway, while at Lowe's on one of the trips, I picked up several PVC reducers to get the noises stopped.

The drain line is 1.5" PVC and here are three reducers getting it down to 1". It's pretty cool in that it creates a funnel and the water sort of spirals out of it.

 

Overall, except putting the side paneling back on, the project is done!
I have fish and a few corals to put in over the course of the next few weeks, but now I can sit back and look at the tank and enjoy the hours of my labor. Of course, there will always be another project, but now this thread and change from "build" to "progress." YEAH!
Here's a shot - lights on and plumbing running! It's amazing how the water clears up in a day or two!

 

Nice going, looks like you have been busy. I wouldn't add any chemicals to the water just so you can get fish in there. Let nature take it course and you will less likely have problems down the road.
If you take your drain line all the way to the bottom of the sump then enlarge the size of the pipe and u-shape it back up to the water surface you will get rid of your noise. The increase in pipe diameter releases pressure. By resiticting the water with those reducers you are actually stopping some of your flow, especially when it is gravity that is draining it.
Just a thought.
Keep up the good work, you are on your way to a nice piece of the ocean.

 

Just wanted to post a picture update: