<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6531917#post6531917 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Yankeefan91
NeilPearson-"Plumbing is easy... probably one of the easiest parts of setting up the tank."
Can anyone recommend any good sites for plumbing sumps?
All you do is have the drain from the overflow going into the sump. Then have a pump in the sump pumping the water back into the tank.
You can use PVC and glue it (which is easier than it sounds) or use flexible tubing. You can do a combination of those too if you want.
I'm not very handy and this was my first plumbing attempt. I didn't have a single leak with the PVC. I did have leaks because of schedule 40 bulkheads not holding well but when I changed them, everything was good. Just make sure you use good schedule 80 bulkheads. Here is my closed loop:
The two inner pipes are intakes. Water goes down these to these 2 pumps (one on each side):
Then it pumps it back up to the manifold on top:
This is the water you see coming out of the manifold. The ones with no water coming out are the returns from the sump.
Basically water goes over the overflow and drains down one of the 2 drain pumps down into the sump. Then it is pumped back up through the center pipe. (check out my aweful woodcutting job there - that proves just how unhandy I am - not to mention the sloppy purple glue around the joints on the pvc)
Basically, come up with a design and post it here. People will tell you if there are any issues with it. I probably went through about 4 different designs before I was happy with this. Even after it was build, I changed the plumbing to the pump (all the plumbing under the red valves to the pump) to flexible pvc. Also the plumbing to the sump was changed to clear flexible tubing. I got rid of the valves on the return to the sump too.... I just decided I didn't need them since it is so easy to drain the overflow
Anyways, that was just to give you some ideas. It is best to come up with your own design that fits your needs. There are lots of different sump designs out there.
Here's a good link that explains it:
http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html
It can be as complicated or as simply as you like. It could be just a drain to the sump and pump pumping it back. I would go with 2 drains just in case one gets clogged with something though.
