Do I need a valve on sump plumbing?????

[windcoast reefs]

Hey everyone,

I am just putting a sump in for my tank and I am wondering if I should be putting a valve in either the drain line or the return line?

Also I am wondering if a 1 inch drain line will be enough for my 50 gallon tank. I am planning on running around 700 gph.

Any advice will help!

[bignose]

I would recommend having valves on both. Ball valves on return lines and a gate valve on the drain. Controlling both helps for water changes and controlling water flow rates. I close my returns so the tank doesn't drain and I can keep the power heads on while I do water changes.

How is your tank plumbed?

[windcoast reefs]

Im not fully sure what type of system it is called. But I have elbows facing up that attach to the bulk head for the drain and the return. For the Drain it leads into a t joint with a cap on one side with a small hole to stop the gurgling and then drains down to the sump on the other side.

Thanks for the advice, I will put a valve on both the lines.

[Funky_Fish14]

I think putting valves on overflow/drain lines is insane myself. The amount of water that would drain down any one that is properly designed should be miniscule, and obviously a sump should be able to handle it (in the case of a power-outage, etc...). I've seen people make the mistake of closing drain lines and having tanks overflow, or a partly-closed valve just allows opportunity for stuff to clog it. Risky IMO. The only exception is something like a herbie or beananimal overflow... but in those cases you have unobstructed back-up drains.

Just my 2 cents,

Cheers,

Chris

[windcoast reefs]

Okay, well thats a consideration. I can always add the valve later if I need to i guess.

[sphelps]

A valve on the return line for sure but not the drain unless you have two drain pipes in a herbie configuration.

Your drain size is fine

[mark]

with an external return pump handy a valve/union on both sides for servicing

[monocus]

i would probably go with a bigger drain.i'm using a stockman with a 2" drain

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by monocus

i would probably go with a bigger drain.i'm using a stockman with a 2" drain

I'm not sure how easy it would be to change out a 1" bulkhead to a 2" bulkhead, you would have to redrill the hole and even then there will not likely be enough clearance for a 2" bulkhead in the overflow box of a 50 gallon tank. a 1" drain will run up to 700 gph without an issue, and more than likely this is not the actual flow rate it will receive.

windcoast, what pump are you using or plan on using?

[lorenz0]

I have a gate on my drain, nothing on my emergency just it gets plugged. On the return I am running a check valve, which I reccomend. In 3 years I have not had anything overflow with this set up.

On my cube I had ball valves on the return and drain... no check valve. Now this set up I Had a spill once which fried a powerbar. everytime I did a water change I had to close the return line, there were a few times I almost forgot.