180g tank equipment upgrade

[east52]

so i am looking for some good/cheap suggestions for upgrading my equipment. i have an 180 gallon tank that isn't looking too well so i am going to restart it with better equipment.

overflow/sump:[/U][/U] so i have an overflow box that i would like to switch out for an internal overflow. i have to make sure my glass isnt tempered or not before i try to drill it. the sump is just an acrylic sump thats just empty with a skimmer and return pump. id like to redo it with baffles or get a bigger tank to make an actual sump.

water movement: at the moment i have 2 hydor koralia 1050s and i dont think they are cutting it. its an 8ft tank so i was thinking like 2 mp40s or to go cheaper 2 jebao wp40s.

skimmer:at the moment i have an sca 302 skimmer its rated for 180 gallons. it works ok but id like to get something bigger/better so i was thinking bubble magus curve 7. i think it was rated for 240 gallons. so itll be an upgrade.

return pump: if i do drill ill upgrade the return pump too. this is something im not sure about. id like to get an external pump. ive read that theyre more reliable. is that true? any suggestions?

any advice or suggestions given will be greatly appreciated.

[FDdragon]

its a bit tricky checking if your glass is tempered or not. you can youtube it and there is a way using polarized glasses and a cellphone to see if your glass is tempered. That is how I checked mine before drilling it.

you can add two overflows on each end. just in case one gets clogged you still have the other one that works. I built my own overflows and they are working great....plus I have returns in both and they provide pretty good water flow at the ends (just to help with movement) make sure you overflow plumbing is larger than your return. 1" overflow and 1.5" return.

for your sump, if you can find a good used tank for cheap that can work. then you can go to a glass/acrylic shop and have them cut you some baffles. if the shop is cool and the pieces are small, sometime they have scraps that will work and you can get them for free. I used acrylic in my sump and it was at least 1/4" thick. the design depends on you and what you want to have inside it.

as far the external pumps being more reliable....I cant answer that as I have not done the research. I have a submersible pump that I use....and my theory was that if anything happened to the pump or plumbing, at least it was all in the sump and not outside where the water can damage my floor. that was just my theory when I built it all