I thought that check valves worked on a spring.. doesn't that restrict flow as well ? I suppose there are non-springy check valves? I wouldn't know, I haven't used one in a zillion years.. I wonder if fishy will come over and skin my new stand as well.. I have no motivation at all to skin the new stand.. heck, i hear he is doing plumbing these days too. I should just get him to finish my build.

These "fancy clear PVC" check valves, have no metal or spring inside. It works on a rubber flaps that seals shut in the event of back flow. They do affect head pressure slightly.

To each their own I guess. I'm sure if they had failed on me in the past like Tony has experienced, I'd be un-easy to use them as well. But I've got a perfect history with them so I can only advocate them.

The only issue is they've failed for an assload of people lol. But it sounds like a harmless precaution as you can handle the backflow anyways I think. It's basic math but I just skimmed.

The reason these plastic flap ones fail is the seal builds up with crud and then doesnt seal properly....nice thing about them (and I recommend this at shop all the time) is the are true union....so you can swap in a clean on on a regular basis and soak the original to clean it....

I used to have it in my signature that I do custom stands and canopies....If your serious Kien shoot me a PM... I w i l l d o t h e p l u m b i n g f o r y o u r a q u a i u m t o o .(wanted to be really clear in the wording there...with all the pervs around).

Looking really good there Josh....(the tank that is....darn pervs)

True with proper maintenance you can reduce the risk of failure, .... just not completely eliminate the risk of failure because you just never know when a stomatella shell or something is gonna get jammed in it. Sorry, it's just a pet peeve of mine. The spring loaded ones are worse because they put a lot of backpressure on the pump reducing flow, and the springs can rust up (even though they're not supposed to).

Don't get me wrong, tank is top notch ... I sort of question whether you really need it in the first place but I suppose if you already have it you might as well use it. :p

So if the tank below can handle all the backflow why use the check valve? Just curious.

I don't want my sump filling to the rim every time I shut my pump off or the power blips/goes out. Yes, according to my math the sump can handle it, do I want to tempt that every time? No. What's wrong with an added piece of security? Just Curious.:wink:

I had one on my 75G and I had to shut my return pump off 1/week for 7-8months for waterchanges.. Not once did it fail. You guys are talking like they fail every time they get used. Sorry for your bad luck, but I can't argue with success. :mrgreen:

Are you worried that the sump filling that high will cause a break? Wasn't your sump an old display?

If you don't need a check valve then using one certainly isn't bad. Maybe it reduces your flow a tiny bit but not near as much as say...sch 80 pipe.

Has nothing to do with breaking. What if something else fails, say my ATO, and pumps my entire reservoir into my sump (which will be 10G once everything is said and done... Then say the power goes out. I certainly wouldn't have the room for that extra water now, nor do I have the space to plan for that, that's where the Check Valve would save me. If they both fail at the same time, well F-Me!! :lol:

ah.. nothing like a little controversy in a build thread :biggrin: I'm going to put 5 check valves in mine just for fun. :lol::lol:

anyway.. did I read or hear somewhere that you were going to do a closed loop? Did you have holes drilled into the bottom like your 75g? I didn't notice any holes in the pics. Or did I just totally make that up ?