Plumbing question

chrisd · #1 02-22-2005, 05:11 PM

Ok I need help. I'm going to be adding a sump and I need help on what plumbing I need to buy. I've already done a search of old posts and I'm keeping the plumbing very basic. Basically it's going to be a hangon overflow with a 1" drain. I was going to have 1" PVC pipe> ball valve> PVC> 45 elbow> draining into the sump. On the return to the display side it'll be a pressure rated pump with a 3/4" return. I was going to do flex tube> PVC> ball valve>PVC >4x 90 elbows> PVC drilled with holes for a vertical spraybar located in the back corner of my 54 gallon corner tank. Now I was wondering if I should leave my return line at 3/4" hose and tubing or make it 1"? Also, how do I connect all of the PVC, hose and valves together?....Is there an insert that goes between them and is glued? I'm not sure if that is what a slip is? Also what glue shoud I use that's aquarium safe? I hope I explained this clearly enough and apoligize for my ignorance but I don't have a clue about plumbing and can't seem to find any clear answers in the old posts. Thanks for any advice.

Chris

monza · #2 02-22-2005, 05:50 PM

Your return line is really dictated by the size of your pump, bigger pump bigger line. 3/4 inch I'm sure will be fine, what kind of pump are you going to use. Maybe an Aquamedic 3500 or something similar.

PVC comes in ... slip or thread, slip being glue in, thread being threaded. So you can do either or both or any combo. The PVC will connect to hose with a threaded section and a barbed section for the hose and a hose clamp.

PVC glue is aquarium safe, once dry.

Hope that helps. Unions are also nice so you can take things apart easy; some ball valves come with a union, which is what I use. (Western Pump)

It's like a puzzle map it out, go get parts, go home, go get more parts.....

Dave

Invigor · #3 02-22-2005, 06:48 PM

i prefer slip pvc, even though once it's glued --that's it. I find with threaded you have to go to fatter pipe to get the same as a small slip fit because the threads take up that much more room.

danny zubot · #4 02-22-2005, 10:21 PM

Hey Chris, What ever you decide to do I'd go bigger with the drain pipe. It makes me nervous just thinking about it. If you are using a pressure rated pump up a 3/4 return line you should have a much larger drain than 1 inch depending on the size of pump you are using. Go to this site and use the drain size calculator to figure it out, for my peace of mind.

http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/drain.php

chrisd · #5 02-23-2005, 03:55 PM

Excellent..thanks a lot guys. Those were the answers that I was looking for. Danny, the overflow I have is a lifereef hangon rated at 700 gph and I am going to buy a rio 14HF for the return pump. It puts out about 640 gph at 4' head. The overflow comes with a 1" drain so how would I attach a larger diameter piece of pvc..say 1.25" to a 1" drain? I take there are adapters? Also is it necessary to go to a larger drain because I thought that the overflow would match the output of the return pump and that a larger drain could also be noisier. If it is necessary would it be easier to make the return line 1" pipe instead of 3/4"or does it have to be the drain that needs to be the larger diameter pvc?

Delphinus · #6 02-23-2005, 04:13 PM

What size tank and what pump do you hope to use?

On my 20g I use a 1" drain with a 3/4" feed using a mag5 as my return. Given the height of the overflow that I'm using, I could in fact step up the pump to a mag7 I think since my water level in the tank can go up a full inch before hitting the tank trim.

chrisd · #7 02-23-2005, 04:36 PM

Tony, it's a 54 gallon corner tank and the pump I'm going to try is a Rio Hyperflow 14 which pumps around 640 gph at 4' head. The overflow is a lifereef hangon that is rated for 700 gph. I have an 18 gallon sump that's going to be sitting in the stand under the tank.