Basement sump. Flex PVC and valves in stand ? Herbie

Magoo

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Installing a 120g with 3 1” bulkheads on the bottom of the tank(center interior overflow).

Don’t want to drill thru hardwood floors. Am going to run flex PVC throught the back of the stand, through wall, down the cavity, back through the floor joist into the basement. (~15’ run to sump from there. Will likely transition to hard pvc once in basement)

Herbie style, plan on gate valve on main drain near the sump in basement and a ball valve for easy shut-off. Ball valve near return pump discharge in basement.


- what valves are recommend under the stand, if any, on either the return/drain/emergency?
-should I just use unions from the bulkhead to flex pvc?
-if i’m using flex pvc going from vertical to 90 degrees horizontal in the wall, do I need any support to reduce the strain on the bulkhead? (I have 8” cutout at the top of stand in the back to make the bend, or can install hard pvc bends and then add the flex pvc to reduce pressure, or drill more access points into the stand farther below.

The attached photo is the top and rear of the stand.

Thanks for any advice.

79DD87F9-162A-4652-B0FC-CE98786DC04B.jpeg
 

ca1ore

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There are different kinds of flex PVC which will determine how well you can make the turn. I always use the ultra flex stuff. (sometimes called EZflow or thin wall). I think it is a good idea always to support plumbing coming from the bulkhead and, yes, OK to use unions. I would not use regular PVC 90s, rather defeats the purpose of the flex in the first place. Also make sure that any horizontal runs still have a slight pitch towards the sump. I would generally avoid the shallow DWV fittings with flex, it compromises the joint welds; maybe OK on lower pressure drain lines but a definate no-no on returns.
 

EddieJ

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when I ran a dual Herbie in my 220 with a basement sump I put the gate valves right in the stand close to the tank. Will be very difficult to adjust from the basement for one, but I think it's more stable with the gate valves closer to the tank. That's my input.
 

Pntbll687

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Flex tubing is fine to use! It will probably make it much easier to get where you need it to go. If you can, get grey or black tubing, the "clear" or opaque tubing does have a tendency to grow algae if there is light getting to it.

Add unions wherever you think you need them. Think about if you need to remove the tubing or pvc for some reason and where unions would make life easier.

I would see if you can go with a 45 elbow instead of a 90. With a herbie set up that 90 may allow air pockets to form, and you may get some gurgling coming from the pipe.

I would go with ball valves under the stand on all pipes. You never know what can happen, and spending a couple extra dollar on 3 ball valves isn't going to break the bank.
 
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Magoo

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Thanks for the feedback.

I’ll place unions where needed so consider that solved.
I plan to not use elbows until getting to the final hard pvc run. I’ll drill 3 holes lower in the stand so I’m not putting such a heavy curve on the flex pipe to the bulkhead.

- For the Herbie gate valve, will adding the gate valve below the stand instead of in the basement keep the entire run quiet?

- I read adding valves to a emergency line in general is a bad idea. Has anyone found it beneficial vs the risk of your emergency being shutoff for whatever reason when really needed
 

wangspeed

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I put a ball valve on my emergency. Never know if you might want to service the overflow or something crazy like swap the sump.
 

ca1ore

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Although it is less convenient to do adjustments, I prefer the siphon gate valve to be right near the sump. That way, the entire length of the siphon drain pipe is full of water, which both increases the pull on the drain and ensures that you don't hear any rushing water up near the tank. There is nothing wrong with having a ball valve on the emergency as long as you don't restrict it during normal operation. I run a bean, rather than a herbie, so I don't put a valve on the emergency; but I do have one on the open channel simply to make certain maintenance tasks easier.
 

keithdoc

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Agree with locating your gate valve near the sump if you want it quiet.
Ball valves are fine if you only want them for off/on - I'd use gate valves for anything that needs tuning.
I'd recommend against valve on emergency drain

Use unions ABOVE grade, and BELOW grade - will make life easy if you ever need to move tank/sump/etc.

I recently got rid of my spa flex. Only cause I couldn't find fittings to cleanly terminate it.

To paraphrase a wise man - with three 45s, there is no fitting /angle I cannot reach/match ;)
 

ca1ore

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I recently got rid of my spa flex. Only cause I couldn't find fittings to cleanly terminate it.

Same fittings as rigid PVC :confused:
 

Freddy0144

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Interesting reading through some of these post. I recently built a 225 with the sump in the basement. I choose to go through the floor we have laminate and it will be easy to repair in the event we were to move. The tank was plumbed with 1" rigid pvc and I implemented a Bean animal overflow. If you are going to use flex make sure it is well supported with clams and such to remove the load from unions / bulkheads. The biggest issue I have is the return pump, I am loosing a ton of flow due to the head pressure and I scaled down to 1" pipe too soon. I may end up re-plumbing the return at some point as I am looking at new pumps. I am pushing the water up about 12' and there are far more 90's than I originally accounted for. I thought about using flex, but based on the youtube video from last years MACNA I thought that rigid would be the way to go. Best of luck.

One last note, find a plumbing store on line and order the fittings on line I ordered boxes of 50 for what I paid for ten in HD.
 
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Magoo

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I’d agree. HD had good selection for my 1” needs but I bought a bunch extra and walked out a few hundred poorer not including valves.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

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  • Gate valves.

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