Plumbing Q

Munch

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
So I'm designing my new tank plumbing.

The tank is drilled for two holes (1 drain and 1 return).

When do you use ball valves vs gate valves, or is it simply personal preference?

I'm planning on running a turf scrubber and reactor, should I tie these into main return pump, or have a second dedicated for the reactor and scrubber?

Next, flexible PVC, if I go that route when they say 1/2" Flex PVC, is that the inside diameter? So 1/2" Flex PVC will attach to 1/2" PVC fittings?

Also, I saw an odd setup, off of the return line, an extra valve with overflow back into the tank. What's the idea here? (see pic):

View attachment 11499

Finally, threaded or slip? I like the idea of threaded, in case I ever want disassemble, but are you better off with glued to avoid leaks?
 

Cake_Boss

Blue Whale
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
Re: Plumbing Q

Munch;222434 said:
So I'm designing my new tank plumbing.

The tank is drilled for two holes (1 drain and 1 return).

When do you use ball valves vs gate valves, or is it simply personal preference?

I'm planning on running a turf scrubber and reactor, should I tie these into main return pump, or have a second dedicated for the reactor and scrubber?

Next, flexible PVC, if I go that route when they say 1/2" Flex PVC, is that the inside diameter? So 1/2" Flex PVC will attach to 1/2" PVC fittings?

Also, I saw an odd setup, off of the return line, an extra valve with overflow back into the tank. What's the idea here? (see pic):

View attachment 11499

Finally, threaded or slip? I like the idea of threaded, in case I ever want disassemble, but are you better off with glued to avoid leaks?
Gate v ball valves, gate valves allow for better/finer control.

If your return is strong enough to run both, do it. If it's not, you'll have to a) get a bigger pump b) get a dedicated pump c) route your drain to feed the ATS/UAS.

Flex PVC will fit the appropriate PVC fittings, treat it as regular PVC.

About the pic, my guess was that they had too much flow going to the tank and it was causing noise issues. You can run a scrubber or reactor from that extra pipe.

Threaded v slip, your choice. You can mess both up, both will work. I like threaded because I can redo my plumbing if it fits me. I use Teflon tape and potable water safe thread compound (mine was blue). You can use slip because it's easy and fast. Use plenty of glue though, or else you'll have leaks.

Any more questions?
 

Munch

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
Perfect thanks!

One more Q, check swing valves, use em? If so, on the drain, return or both?
 

Smiley

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
gate valves are easier to fine tune than ball valves, ball valves are easier to find at local stores....

how big is your return pump? can it handle 10 times return plus reactor and scrubber?

1/2 flex should fit with 1/2 pvc. guess it depends on brand.

looks of the pic says to me that he intended to run something else off the return..... not a closed loop for the sump. And..... he lost a lot of flow using the 90 elbows and T. So either his pump is too strong for his drain and needed to tune it down or he had no clue what he was doing when he pieced the plumbing together.


id go slip with unions for easy dismantle for cleaning purposes. Threaded is ok but needs to be taped good or it will leak. But then again, if you dont glue properly, slip will leak too.
 

Cake_Boss

Blue Whale
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
Re: Plumbing Q

Check valves are great, but count on them failing. The more fittings you use, the more resistance your flow will get (does that even make sense, I did eat the whole box of cookies)
 

Munch

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
I never considered the unions, good thing you pointed those out!
 

WatercolorsGuy

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
Re: Plumbing Q

From what I have read many people run a line back to their sump off their return pump in order to take some of the back pressure off of the pump when they can't run the pump wide open. I think the thinking is that it reduces stress on the pump. On my wife's tank, I ran two lines off the return pump, one to the display and one to the first stage of the sump. I did this because the pump I used moved more water than the overflow could handle and I didn't want to stress the pump by restricting the flow.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab2 10.1
 

daverf

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
+1 on what they all said, including samoas. when i'm not running my aquadoser i throw a box in it and put the tube in my mouth. my suggestion would be, if you are able to plumb the return line around the back/top of the tank, you should use the two holes to do a herbie style overflow (one drain full siphon with a valve on it, the other a durso style higher drain). you can google herbie or bean animal to find pictures of how to do this. there's a good chance you'll wish you did this at some point in the future, if you don't do it now.
 

Zooid

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
WatercolorsGuy;222486 said:
From what I have read many people run a line back to their sump off their return pump in order to take some of the back pressure off of the pump when they can't run the pump wide open. I think the thinking is that it reduces stress on the pump. On my wife's tank, I ran two lines off the return pump, one to the display and one to the first stage of the sump. I did this because the pump I used moved more water than the overflow could handle and I didn't want to stress the pump by restricting the flow.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab2 10.1
+1 His pump was probably too big for his overflow.
 

Munch

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
Ok, so I have another Q.

If I want a drain tied into the tank for water changes I have two options:

1. Tie it into the return line, so I can then close the valve feeding the tank, and open the valve to my drain. Therefore the pump is actually going to "pump" off waste water, instead of returning it to the tank.

2. In my overflow, close the valve to my sump, and open a valve that would allow water to flow into my drain. I like this, but a possible concern. I have a 1" return into my sump from the tank. I can drop a T into the 1" going into the sump from the tank, however it would be a 1/2" flex line that would carry the waste water. Could it handle the work, or would I risk the tank filling because the 1/2" flex? I need something I can roll out when using, otherwise, put it up if I go this route. I will not have a hard line to the drain.

This make any sense?
 

MartinsReef

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#14
Re: Plumbing Q

I have the 1st one on my tank and it work great.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
 

Cake_Boss

Blue Whale
M.A.S.C Club Member
#15
Re: Plumbing Q

You can do either, I did the second.

Does this pic make sense? 1" line feeding a 1/2" drain. If I could do it again, is go with a larger diameter drain hose. I used what I had laying around and 1/2" rolls up nicely. My pump is severely underpowered, so this works for me without fear of overflowing
View attachment 11808
 

Munch

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#16
Ok thanks guys. Didn't want to pick one a find out I shoulda done the other :)


I think I'll try option 2, let gravity do the work. I'm only on an 18 gallon tank with another 15 in the sump, so we're talking 3 gallons a week in changes.
 
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