carlso63
Reefkeeping since 1977
STEP 5 - Plumbing the Overflow and Sump (Part II)
I left off having almost all of the in-tank plumbing completed for the overflow, return and sump. I added my 4 return outlet "nozzles" on Friday. They measure 1/2" in diameter each and only go below the waterline about 1 inch - so there is not much hardware to be seen inside the tank at all (which I think is a good thing)... Here is a shot of a couple of the nozzles; you can barely make them out at the top rear of the tank (sorry about the reflections):
Next, I set up the 2 overflow pipes to flow into the left side of the sump. I put a ball valve on each one so I can control the flow rate of each Durso pipe indivdually. Then I placed the skimmer and return pump in and that's pretty much it - just have to add in a "baffle" to regulate the water level on the skimmer side. I'll get to that sooner or later; probably just use a 2nd smaller Rubbermaid tote to act as a "container" for the skimmer...
Here's a shot of how I hooked up the dual overflow discharges, one to the front and one to the rear of the sump:
The ball valves will control each standpipe individually and I'll throw a filter sock on each of the discharges:
Here's where the return pump is hooked up to the piping:
Here's a full shot of the completed sump and plumbing:
My return is an Ocean runner 3500. Accodring to the Aquamedic site I will still get around 675 - 750 gph out of it even @ 5.5 feet of head (I am running a little over 5 feet) so that would mean around 3X total water volume turnover / hour through the sump - and that's about what I am looking for. My 3 Korallias alone will net me over 10X total volume turnover so I think I am good on flow. I would actually like the display to be a little less "chaotic" in terms of current than my 125g is now so that some of my LPS would open up a bit more than they do now.
I also ordered a float valve setup for auto top-off purposes and a refill for my DI resin cartridge. Right now I have to manually fill up a 5 gal reservior that sits on top of my entertainment center and runs a drip line into the sump of my 125. There have been a couple of times where I turned my RO / DI on to fill the reservior and forgot to shut it off - needless to say the missus was not pleased to find water dripping down the stereo and soggy carpet in the area ... And even though my Ebay RO / DI unit is still giving me output water with a TDS of only 1 - 3 ppm, I figured once I actually go to make the 250+ gallons of SW for this setup it wouldn't hurt to change out the resin as it has been running for a year now...I already have a set of replacement prefilters for the RO / DI unit; I'll change them out at the same time as well. I am also going to run the water line into the basement and then back up behind the tank so that no one has to step over it anymore.
Let me go work on that skimmer tote now...
I left off having almost all of the in-tank plumbing completed for the overflow, return and sump. I added my 4 return outlet "nozzles" on Friday. They measure 1/2" in diameter each and only go below the waterline about 1 inch - so there is not much hardware to be seen inside the tank at all (which I think is a good thing)... Here is a shot of a couple of the nozzles; you can barely make them out at the top rear of the tank (sorry about the reflections):
Next, I set up the 2 overflow pipes to flow into the left side of the sump. I put a ball valve on each one so I can control the flow rate of each Durso pipe indivdually. Then I placed the skimmer and return pump in and that's pretty much it - just have to add in a "baffle" to regulate the water level on the skimmer side. I'll get to that sooner or later; probably just use a 2nd smaller Rubbermaid tote to act as a "container" for the skimmer...
Here's a shot of how I hooked up the dual overflow discharges, one to the front and one to the rear of the sump:
The ball valves will control each standpipe individually and I'll throw a filter sock on each of the discharges:
Here's where the return pump is hooked up to the piping:
Here's a full shot of the completed sump and plumbing:
My return is an Ocean runner 3500. Accodring to the Aquamedic site I will still get around 675 - 750 gph out of it even @ 5.5 feet of head (I am running a little over 5 feet) so that would mean around 3X total water volume turnover / hour through the sump - and that's about what I am looking for. My 3 Korallias alone will net me over 10X total volume turnover so I think I am good on flow. I would actually like the display to be a little less "chaotic" in terms of current than my 125g is now so that some of my LPS would open up a bit more than they do now.
I also ordered a float valve setup for auto top-off purposes and a refill for my DI resin cartridge. Right now I have to manually fill up a 5 gal reservior that sits on top of my entertainment center and runs a drip line into the sump of my 125. There have been a couple of times where I turned my RO / DI on to fill the reservior and forgot to shut it off - needless to say the missus was not pleased to find water dripping down the stereo and soggy carpet in the area ... And even though my Ebay RO / DI unit is still giving me output water with a TDS of only 1 - 3 ppm, I figured once I actually go to make the 250+ gallons of SW for this setup it wouldn't hurt to change out the resin as it has been running for a year now...I already have a set of replacement prefilters for the RO / DI unit; I'll change them out at the same time as well. I am also going to run the water line into the basement and then back up behind the tank so that no one has to step over it anymore.
Let me go work on that skimmer tote now...
... next, I filled the sump about 5 inches and turn on the Oceanrunner... plenty of pressure at each of the 4 discharge stations and no leaks, either 
