basic plumbing first time help

Marine2149 · Apr 14, 2022

Can someone point me to an article or DIY on how to plumb a sump. This will be my first setup and I'm having a hard time figuring it out.

My main concern is to not flood my house. But I'd also like to create room for scalability.

If you guys could direct me to a video that has simplified the process or another thread on here or even a few do's and don'ts I would be very appreciative.

The current setup I have is a 90 gallon tank and an all-in-one 24 gallon that I'm going to convert into a sump. Should I be using the baffles in the back of the all-in-one and incorporate them into my sump or just block them off?

Thanks in advance for the help and guidance. I want another note the gear I will have will be.

Eshopps pf-800 hob overflow
Hugger 1060 gph return pump.

HuduVudu · Apr 14, 2022

@Marine2149

First off, if you are new to plumbing you are going to make mistakes. You NEED to except this. This is an experience thing.

Here are some tips to minimize your mistakes. First rule, measure twice, cut once. PVC is pretty forgiving. Unfortunately, aquarists try to fit stuff that is really tight. When you are new I would not glue anything until you have all of the pieces cut and dry fitted. PVC fittings have a depth. You can see the shoulder when you look at the female fitting. When I am setting up PVC I assume that the pipe will penetrate about half in. When you dry fit it won't go in as far as when you glue because of frictional issues. When you get a dry fit mark the depth and the orientation on the pipe and the fitting. This is so that you can reproduce the joint that you are making.

Also when you glue a fitting you must twist it into place. If you don't do this you are going to get leaks. You are going to learn the unforgiving part of this. You get one shot at getting this joint right. Once the glue hits the air it starts to get sticky and when you put the joint together you don't really get second shot.

Do try to leak test away from the tank. This will help you find leaks that will inevitably come. The leaks are easy to correct by using the watery super glue to seal joints that didn't together correctly.

Use unions to help with some positioning problems, this adds to the cost but it helps with success, especially with someone that is unfamilar with plumbing. Spaflex is a good choice to keep some of the fitting insanity down. Use it when you can.

Go slow think about each step. The more you rush this process the more mistakes that you will make.

If you have specific questions post back to the board. There are many people that have been through this process. This is one of the base skills that you need to be effective in this hobby.

my 2 cents.

Marine2149 · Apr 14, 2022

I really appreciate this info. Especially the twisting part. I have tile at home but right next to the tank I have hardwood floor. I would hate to ruin it.

Thank you once again. Do you know of any fail safes if my power cuts out and then turns back on. I'm under the impression that my siphon on my overflow won't just start again and I'm afraid that will be a leak for me.

Llyod276 · Apr 15, 2022

For the power cuts, they make such a thing called a relay. This will keep the return pump off if the power is off/cut. Some say a proper siphon wont break but yeah it will eventually. This is only necessary if your tank is not drilled. I had one on mine before i drilled it. Once drilled it doesnt matter. Other use an aqualifter pump to restart the siphon. But more pumps more things to go wrong.
They are cheap like 15$ get an electrician buddy to wire it up for a sixpack and bam problem solved.
If you are able just drill it. Its so easy my dumb butt can do it. Watch Youtube videos to test for tempered glass. Then drill away if it's NOT tempered. If it's tempered then your SOL and hang on back siphons are your best bet.

Marine2149 · Apr 15, 2022

Awesome info man. Thanks.

There's a tag that says do not drill tempered glass. I'm SOL.

I'll look into the relay. Did not think of that.

Marine2149 · Apr 15, 2022

Got my glasses baffles in place. With some guidance from my LFS. I got 1 8" baffle, a 7" baffle, and a 4" baffle.

HuduVudu · Apr 15, 2022

Marine2149 said:
Thank you once again. Do you know of any fail safes if my power cuts out and then turns back on. I'm under the impression that my siphon on my overflow won't just start again and I'm afraid that will be a leak for me.

When you are doing sumps you need to design so that when the pump turns off the sump does not overflow.

FOR HEAVENS SAKE DO NOT USE CHECK VALVES!

You can calculate what the amount of water that is in your display and determine the inch(es) over your overflow to determine how much water your sump will need to hold. This will determine water levels in the sump. Don't forget that the pumps will push up the water levels in the display so you need to account for that. The stronger the return pump flow the more water in the display that will need to be accounted for. Controllable pumps are definitely nice for this reason.

Marine2149 · Apr 16, 2022

Gotcha, thanks. I'll do some reading on this technique.

I made my baffles to roughly hold 60% of the sumps total capacity. Also accounted for my bubble Magnus curve 5 which I read works optimal at 8 inches.

Progress so far. Unfortunately I got a small leak on the side of one of the baffles. Gonna fix it today.