The tank we acquired included a powerful pump and a swimming pool-sized filter. Or at least, it had the parts, but for weeks I had no way to confirm whether they actually worked. It can be harmful to turn on a pump with no water in it, and in any case would prove nothing except that it made noise.
To test it, I had to get new PVC piping to replace the parts that had been hacksawed up when the last owner took the tank apart. Home Depot doesn’t carry 1½-inch flexible PVC for plumbing this sort of thing, though — it seems to be kind of a specialty item for hot tubs and saltwater aquariums.
Last week mail-order finally arrived, and I could cut up and dry-fit everything in the driveway. Here’s the tank with water in it and the pump running at last. The picture hardly does justice to how powerful the pump is — that water is churning hard.
