Please help me with my plumbing

[jden092901]

Hey,

Im setting up my 120 reef in a few weeks and I need help with the plumbing. The tank has been drilled in the back, drain is 1" and return is 3/4. I had a custom overflow built into the tank. Now, when I plumb for the drain would it be best to not put pvc in the overflow box...just covering the box with a strainer so inverts and fish down get caught in there. For my return, the pump may be a little too much. I will have a sea swirl, could I put a ball valve on to reduce the flow if needed? I just dont know how to pump it, how to set up for my sea swirl and so on. Is there a diagram online somewhere I can look at?

Thanks again,

Josh

 

[gparr]

If you're talking about not having any piping in the overflow box, i.e., just letting the drain be a bulkhead at the bottom of the tank with piping to the sump, you wouldn't want to do that. The waterfall noise will drive you out of the room. There are several overflow piping configurations you can use to drain the water and keep the noise to a minimum. I'm sure others can chime in with suggestions as to what is best.

In your return line, it's good to have a ball valve and a union between the pump and the tank so you can cut off the back flow and remove the pump for cleaning. But you generally don't want to restrict flow from the pump if you don't have to. The longer I do this reef thing the more I appreciate the importance of flow. If you don't have a means of easily removing the drive pump for cleaning, you won't do it very often and eventually it'll lock up from deposits on the impeller shaft, not to mention losing efficiency over time.

You also need a means of preventing backflow in the return line should the power go off. I use check valves, but am very anal about keeping them clean so they don't fail. Many are opposed to check valves, saying they'll fail. These folks will drill a small hole in the part of the return that is in the aquarium so the siphon will be broken when that hole is exposed to air. Failures happen with this, too, as the hole gets plugged with debris, isn't cleaned, and no longer breaks the siphon.

When plumbing a tank, I've learned the hard way that it's very important to have a system that can easily be dismantled and cleaned, is simple in its design so water flow is not restricted, and allows you to do maintenance with minimal hassle so that you'll actually do the maintenance.

I'm no expert and my comments are meant to get the discussion started. There are many others here, I'm sure, who can give you more detailed advice. I would also suggest you visit fellow reefers in your area to see how they have their tanks set up. You'll see a wide range of designs and quickly see what makes sense for you and what doesn't.

Gary

 

[clownnut]

i will put a tee in the return line and let some water going back to the sump or reactor.

 

[UFreefer]

not sure how many gph you plan on putting through the sea swirl but you could use all 4 holes in the overflow as drains and just soft plumb the sea swirl over the back

 

[AZDesertRat]

You will want a standpipe in the overflow to both reduce noise and give you a smooth flow. A good standpipe will allow air and water to mix so you get laminar flow with no gurgling or gulps like a flushing toilet. You can build one in a few minutes using maybe $3 worth of PVC parts and pipe. I used a design from Ken Stockman and it works great, you can search stockman standpipe and find the simple directions. Other options are a Durso or a Gurgle Buster.

For the return like laready mentioned make sure you have a means to remove the pump for cleaning. I would have to disagree on the not restricting the flow though. Restricting the flow on the discharge side of a centrifugal pump is often the best option, it actually makes the pump more efficient on its pump curve. It will draw less wattage (power), run cooler, often quieter and last just as long if not longer since its more efficient. Use of a Kill A Watt meter wil show the reduced power consumption since it is doing less work by pumping less water, increase the head you reduce the flow thus work being performed.
Returning flow to the sump is not an energy efficient option. You are still pumping the water thus the power will be higher and heat will be more, it may also cause noise.
Of course there is a limit to everything, I would not buy a 2000 GPH pump and restrict it to 500 GPH but slightly oversizing is a wise investment.

 

[jimsflies]

My drain line is drilled near the top of my tank. I have a slim style overflow box. I basically put a 90 degree elbow facing down inside of the box for the intake, then on the back of the tank, the drain line goes to a tee mounted vertically. On the side of the tee facing up, I extended it to above the water level with a short section of pipe and then put a cap on the top (I did not glue the cap on). I then drilled a hole in the cap. I then drilled and tapped the cap so that I could thread an air valve on the cap. The valve allows me to fine tune the air intake to match what is necessary for the drain to function properly and quietly. Essentially, this configuration is an external durso and has functioned well for nearly four years.

My personal feeling is that with the size tank you have that a 1-inch drain and a single 3/4 inch return is on the small side. I have a 1-inch drain and a 1-inch return on my 50 gallon tank. I estimate the drain line maxes out at about 700 gph...and even that is pushing it.