Help hard plumbing a 120 gallon tank?

[Kaimana969]

Is there anyone local to San Ramon who would be willing to help hard plumb a tank? My husband and I are newbies, and trying to decide whether to pay big bucks to have the LFS to plumb the tank or if we could do it ourselves. If we get the LFS to do it, we have to buy everything from them, including tank and stand for them to touch it.

 

[Sandy Cheeks]

I'm sure there are people around that can help.
If you can upload images, we can give you ideas whether the tank has one or two overflows, internal or external.

 

[D-Nak]

I'm sure there are people around that can help.
If you can upload images, we can give you ideas whether the tank has one or two overflows, internal or external.

I agree. I have a 120 gallon tank, as many of us here do, and there are various ways to plumb it.

We'd also need to know what you'd like the set up to do. Do you want to equip it for easier water changes? Are you using the return pump to feed other items, such as a reactor?

 

[africangrey]

This video will give a better idea of what you want to do, it can be either super easy and super hard.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/week-5-plumbing-overflows-return-pumps/

 

[fishmonger007]

Buy an all in one. The Red Sea reefer systems are quite popular right now.

 

[roostertech]

+1 for Red Sea Reefer 525xl if you haven't bought your tank yet. Pretty much plug and play plumbing.

My 525xl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEZwfYqdRw0

 

[marioensf]

Check out BAR www.bareefers.org
There's an event this Saturday; a frag swap for members only but a good chance to meet local reefers.
If you already bought the tank, upload a picture of it. Describe what equipment you have or want to plan on buying.
Lurk around BAR's website, check the member's tank journals http://www.bareefers.org/forum/forums/tank-journals/ you can get really good ideas

 

[Kaimana969]

+1 for Red Sea Reefer 525xl if you haven't bought your tank yet. Pretty much plug and play plumbing.

My 525xl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEZwfYqdRw0

I'm not sure about the sturdiness of the Red Sea tanks plumbing. I've heard bad things about cracks and poor customer service. Plus I really want to hard plumb my tank. How good is the included protein skimmer?

 

[Kaimana969]

Check out BAR www.bareefers.org
There's an event this Saturday; a frag swap for members only but a good chance to meet local reefers.
If you already bought the tank, upload a picture of it. Describe what equipment you have or want to plan on buying.
Lurk around BAR's website, check the member's tank journals http://www.bareefers.org/forum/forums/tank-journals/ you can get really good ideas

Thanks very much for letting me know about this. It's not too far from my house.

 

[roostertech]

I'm not sure about the sturdiness of the Red Sea tanks plumbing. I've heard bad things about cracks and poor customer service. Plus I really want to hard plumb my tank. How good is the included protein skimmer?

There were some reports of plumbing issue a while back but I think that is the minority. There are quite a few Red Sea Reefer owners in BAR and none of us have any complain. You can check out our journals in BAR forum.

You can still hard plumb the return portion yourself to build return manifold.

The Reefer series does not include skimmer. Only tank, stand, sump, ato, plumbing. You would get own own light, pump, skimmer.

 

[JUNBUG361]

have you come up with a design on how you want your plumbing to look? Are you planning on adding reactor(s) for future? 120 dual corner overflow?

 

[Kaimana969]

have you come up with a design on how you want your plumbing to look? Are you planning on adding reactor(s) for future? 120 dual corner overflow?

I was hoping to go with a ghost overflow with a Bean Animal drain. I'm planning on including a manifold for future use (Calcium reactor, GFO, Carbon). I've watched a bunch of videos on YouTube and I think I've got it down. Except I still feel intimidated to do it myself. As long as I buy the tank from Neptune Aquatics in San Jose, they will do all the hard plumbing for me and walk me through the entire tank set up and care. I think it's worth the piece of mind to go that way, although I'll definitely be paying more $$$.

 

[scuzy]

Do it yourself it's not hard asked definitely fun project. Cutting PVC is a fun project.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[D-Nak]

While I agree that it's not difficult, for a first time tank owner the whole concept of plumbing can be a bit overwhelming, especially when adding a manifold and anything other than a simple drain and return.

The plumbing that Neptune does is top notch. It's definitely worth paying a premium because they not only plumb it correctly, but they'll also make it look very presentable--clean joints, proper and even spacing between pipes, and the addition of unions where needed. One nice touch that Robert does is that he adds 45-degree adapters after the unions so that the pipe sits closer to the tank. It's not needed but definitely adds to the clean look of the plumbing.

Also, IIRC if you buy a complete set up from Neptune, they will give you a discount card good for future purchases. I don't remember the minimum size, but a 120 will definitely count.

 

[Kaimana969]

While I agree that it's not difficult, for a first time tank owner the whole concept of plumbing can be a bit overwhelming, especially when adding a manifold and anything other than a simple drain and return.

The plumbing that Neptune does is top notch. It's definitely worth paying a premium because they not only plumb it correctly, but they'll also make it look very presentable--clean joints, proper and even spacing between pipes, and the addition of unions where needed. One nice touch that Robert does is that he adds 45-degree adapters after the unions so that the pipe sits closer to the tank. It's not needed but definitely adds to the clean look of the plumbing.

Also, IIRC if you buy a complete set up from Neptune, they will give you a discount card good for future purchases. I don't remember the minimum size, but a 120 will definitely count.

Thanks for that. I'd pretty much decided to go with Neptune, but your recommendation sealed the deal. I want it to look neat, but most of all, be excellent quality. This is a big purchase for us, and something we've wanted for a long time.