Plumbing questions
 

Im planning out a 25 gallon sump at 300 gph flow for a 33 gallon display tank.
The layout will be intake/skimmer - fuge - return. I haven't measured everything exactly, but have a rough estimate. Hight from sump to tank 5' with 6 90's. Roughly 1.5' horizontal. 1 ball valve for exess flow back to fuge. 1 union for dissassembling.

1: What kind of pvc glue does everyone use?

2: The mag drive pumps have 1/2" outlets and I wanna use 1" pipe. Will reducing the 1" to the 1/2" create a bottleneck and still create the same head pressure as 1/2" pipe?

3: Should I go with the Mag 7, or is there a better option?

Thanks

1) I have always used Weldon 705 PVC glue along with Weldon primer.

2) 1 inch pipe might be a little bit overkill for a pump that size however the head loss would be governed by the 1 inch pipe and not the 1/2 inch. If you want to crunch the numbers you can use Reef Centrals head loss calculator found here: http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php

3) As far as what size pump to use I would suggest doing some research on how much flow you want to have through your sump. I do like the mag drive pumps though. You cant really beat them for the price although some people find them noisy. I prefer to have a relatively low flow through my sump and create additional flow in the tank with a closed loop but you could also use power heads in your tank to create additional flow. Make sure you use baffles between chambers in your sump to avoid having your return pump pick up micro bubbles and return them to the tank

1. Use clear pvc primer and clear pvc cement. Avoid the fast setting cement unless you are fast.

with that many 90's and what not you will have to go with a Mag 7 and run 3/4" pipe which will leave you with about 340 gph....if you run it with 1" pipe you will get about 390 gph

One thing to think about when you're making that sump/fuge is the flow in the fuge. I only recently did a 20g setup and after getting it critiqued on about 4 forums, everyone arrived at roughly the same conclusion suggesting that i go intake/skimmer - return - fuge. I've attached a picture of what I ended up doing. It required an extra small power head pumping water up and over into the fuge but it let me completely control the flow and it allows me to "roll" my alge well.

Instead of the powerhead couldnt I have a t in the return line with a ball valve and return some of the flow to the fuge?

Need that many to get out of the stand. and over to the corner or the display tank, then down into the water and out so it doesnt dig holes in my sand bed.

I T'd off from my return to the fuge.
Worked fine and you can adjust the flow with the ball valve.
http://members.shaw.ca/kabong/PPs07.jpg

I totally agree with the T off of the return. I was using spa flex so I chose not to do that but it was the preferred way to go.

ummmm isn't your water level a little high in that sump.....what happense when you turn your pump off??