Plumbing Question/Advice Needed

H

Hoss

I want to try and plumb my tank tank this weekend but need some advise. It is a 120 gallon tank with a center overflow. Inside the overflow there are 4 holes and each one is drilled for a 1" bulkhead. If I had my way, two of them would have been 1.5" for drains.....but such is life. Anyway, how would you guys plumb this tank?

I'm going to have a Reeflow Dart for a return that will be feeding a chilller (eventually), 1 carbon reactor, 1 phosban reactor, and will eventually feed a small frag tank.

What diameter PVC would you use for the drains and the returns? I'm thinking 1" for the returns and all the feeds and then 1.5" for the drains by utilizing reducers into the bulkheads.

Should I use the thin walled PVC or the thick walled for the return? I will of course be using a lot of unions and ball joints (on returns) to affect flow as needed.

Thanks all.

Josh
 
ya sounds good on the 2 1in returns and 2 1.5 on drains. the Reeflo pump will prob be little big for what u need but u can have some water dumping back into the sump. what about your skimmer ? i have never used thin walled pvc always used regular, it should be just as good but dont know u might check to see if it will hold the pressure of your pump
 
I wouldn't use thin wall pvs.It will get brittle with time and
saltwater flowing through it.
Schedule 40 is the best pvc to use.
Definately use 1 1/2" on your overflows to help cut down the pressure and
subsequently the amount of micro bubbles you get in the sump.
Are you going to install durso piping in the overflow box?I would.
If you do end up with too many micro bubbles in the sump a Tee at the overflow dumpout
with a riser going upward with a airline inlet of sorts will also help cut down micro bubbles.

I agree the dart pump will probably be to big and I also agree you
could dump some of the flow back into the sump.Good idea.
 
always use schedule 40. there is nothing worse than coming home from a long day at work to a living room full of wet carpet.

im not sure using 1.5 inch drains and reducing it is worth anything. it still has to flow through a 1 inch hole. if your tank was drilled for 1.5 drains i would deffinately say go for it. i dont think stepping on the gravity side of a system helps anything. on the preasure side it makes a difference because restriction and volume come into play in regards to flow.

my 150 has (1) 1 inch drain and is more than sufficient for a 1350 gph pump so (2) 1 inch drains should be more than enough for the 2X00 gph pump you are going to use. not reducing will save you some fittings and spots for potential leaks. run one drain directly to the sump and run the otherto the fuge. i think the pump is actually not overkill. i run a quiet 1 5000 and a mag 950 on my system which is a total of 2400 gph. you can split yours and dump some back into your sump or use that to go through the other acccessories and chiller so you only have to have that 1 giant pump. as far as the return size i would just use whatever size the pump requires +1. like if the pump outlet is 1.5 inch use a 2 inch pipe and split into (2) 1.5 inch spouts. one of those i would split to (2) 1 inch and use those for your return spouts in the tank. the other side i would install a ball valve and use it to feed the other accessories you have. after it feeds those, they should all dump back to the sump not to the display. you can install ball valves to each accessory so you can controll them individually. as you "T" off for each of these remember to step down so the preasure will stay up. the individual ball vales will help with this as well. it will be some trial and error but once you get everything set it should work great.

this is just my opinion. check out marc's site too he is very knowlegable on things like this.
 
I have the Dart pump and it's too big for my setup. I have a 156rr and it feeds the chiller and phosban/carbon reactors too. Pump it throttles back to 1/4. I used 2" from sump to pump and 1.5" pump to bulkheads. My drains are 2"
 
I have the Dart pump and it's too big for my setup. I have a 156rr and it feeds the chiller and phosban/carbon reactors too. Pump it throttles back to 1/4. I used 2" from sump to pump and 1.5" pump to bulkheads. My drains are 2" said:
do you have the return split or does the entire pump volume go back to the display?
Click to expand...
 
Well after lots of reading and research, I think I am going to stay with the Dart (possibly the Snapper). I'd rather have too much and reroute the "extra" flow back into the sump. I plan on feeding everything but the skimmer off of the Dart. Yes, I do plan on having Durso's in the overflow.

My new dilema is that the bulkhead already drilled into the sump I have is a 1". The inlet for the Dart is a 2" so I am going to see if there are any LFS's around that will drill a 2" over the current 1" hole.

The outlet of the Dart is 1.5" so I plan on using 1.5" for the main part of the manifold and then "T" off of that to 1" returns and probably 3/4" accessories that will all have their own ball valves, unions.

Since I have the 1.5" PVC laying around, I plan on using it for the drains. There will be one dedicated drain that goes the skimmer section, and the second drain will be split going to the seperate refugium and the rest going into the sump. A ball valve will be used to control flow in the refugium.

I also plan on doing water changes in my garage (which is right behind my tank). I'm going to try and utilize a ball valve to block all flow going to the tank/accessories and have an outlet going into the garage. This way I can just turn the DART on, fill a container with 10-15 gallons of used salt water in the garage and dump it in the alley behind my home. I'm not exactly sure how I am going to get the water back into the tank, but that is another problem. Maybe a seperate designated MAG 5 or something in the mixing bucket.

Let me know your thoughts and if you have any other suggestions. Thanks everyone.
 
New Question because I can not find anyone to drill over the 1" hole already drilled in my sump.

This sump has 2 1" holes in it. I'm guessing the previous owner had one for the skimmer and one for the return. Here is my idea. Can I utilize both 1" holes for the single feed to the DART? Basically I want to have the PVC exit the bulkhead and meet at a 2" "T" using reducers. Then from that 2" "T" I have a single outlet of 2" to go into the DART. The DART would be drawing water from two seperate 1" holes in the sump.

Thoughts?
 
your skimmer is an external unit or it sits in its own sump?
 
while you would think that 1+1 = 2, it is not absolutley true. you want to avoid the bends and such but i am pretty confident you can do exactly what you are wanting to do. Or another idea is to get small glass squares and glue over the existing hole and drill another one.

as far as re-routing the flow back to the sump, dont worry about that. Put a ball valve on the dart and throttle it back and save electricity. The dart does just fine as i had mine throttled back about 40% and could not tell the difference in noise, cavitation or anything like that. also, dont let 3600gph fool you, it will be much less with the turns and twists and head pressure you are talking about.
 
@dp1416 wrote:
while you would think that 1+1 = 2 said:
just because the pump inlet is a 2" doesnt mean that 2) 1" drains wont be enough. 2) 1" drains should gravity flow well over 3k gph.
Click to expand...
 
@dp1416 wrote:
while you would think that 1+1 = 2 said:
I thought about drilling another hole, but the paranoid person in me thinks having that many holes drilled into the tank is probably a bad thing. Thanks for the info on the DART. I knew you could throttle it back, but did not know that much.
Click to expand...
 
@1badbluehb wrote:
[I]@dp1416 wrote:[/I][quote="while you would think that 1+1 = 2 said:
just because the pump inlet is a 2" doesnt mean that 2) 1" drains wont be enough. 2) 1" drains should gravity flow well over 3k gph."]

The skimmer will be internal with it's own pump.

He was referring to the DART inlet, not the drains. I still think I am going to use 1.5" PVC because I have it laying around. Just have to buy reducers for the bulkheads.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
@1badbluehb wrote:
[quote="I have the Dart pump and it's too big for my setup. I have a 156rr and it feeds the chiller and phosban/carbon reactors too. Pump it throttles back to 1/4. I used 2" from sump to pump and 1.5" pump to bulkheads. My drains are 2" said:
do you have the return split or does the entire pump volume go back to the display?"]
I have 3/4" ball valve on each of my returns.
Click to expand...
 
where you are putting the intake for the sump is not that big of deal. if it was in the back of a tank with a ton of holes, that is one thing. how much water is the return section of your sump going to hold, 15g? i would not worry about it as much as you are.....cover them up and drill a new hole and be done with it. You will be a lot happier in the end. 2 holes = two points of failure and extra plumbing that will clutter up the set up. dont be a sissy (tounge and cheek), get that tank drilled :lol:
 
@Hoss wrote:
[I]@1badbluehb wrote:[/I][quote="[I]@dp1416 wrote:[/I][quote="while you would think that 1+1 = 2 said:
just because the pump inlet is a 2" doesnt mean that 2) 1" drains wont be enough. 2) 1" drains should gravity flow well over 3k gph."]

The skimmer will be internal with it's own pump.

He was referring to the DART inlet, not the drains. I still think I am going to use 1.5" PVC because I have it laying around. Just have to buy reducers for the bulkheads.

Thanks."]


i understand what he is saying. all i am saying is the inlet size on the pump doesnt matter. if it draws from a sump the 2) 1 inch bulkheads will be more than enought to gravity feed it. dont stress about haveing someone re drill your tank and all that mess.
Click to expand...
 
not trying to start a debate, but the inlet DOES matter. The output does not, but if the pump is not getting enough water into the intake it will cavitate causng the pump problems. two one inch lines only gravity drain 6-800gph and the pump is 3600gph. Will it work, sure. Does performance issues come up and the pump run hot, you betcha. Read the pump pump instructions it will tell ya. also, i have seen it first hand, noing to metion names but he had a 1 inch hole and drilled it to a 2 inch hole and a world of differnce.
 
Thank you everyone for the advise and direction. I am leaning towards drilling it to 2" just to avoid any possible problems.

Anybody have a 2" glass bit they can bring to the meeting on Saturday? Better question....anybody want to drill this thing for me on Saturday at Neptune's? Bill does not drill tanks anymore, but he may let us drill it at the shop.

If anyone is willing to help out and teach me (and the group) how to drill tanks, I'd greatly apprecaite it. If I get a volunteer, I'll see if Bill is ok with it. Of course, I would not hold anyone accountable should anything go wrong.

Thanks.

Josh
 
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