Plumbing help???

essex_lad

essex_lad

New member
I need a little help with plumbing on my new tank as I want to run my UV and reactor off the return pump and have never done this before.

The display tank will be 360L with a 120L sump and 10l external overflow chamber.

The equipment I want to run off the return pump is a vecton 600 UV at 1000lph and a reef octopus reactor at 600lph as well as the to return heads into the display tank.

Can I please have advice on whether my plumbing idea in the drawing below on whether it is correct or what needs changing.

Also I need help on what sort of lph pump to use, im guessing I should go for a dc pump to stop any throttling and does anyone have any suggestions for one that will be nice and quite?



 
Looks good. I would go with a gate/check valvefor the main return. It will prevent alot of backflow through the return lines shoul pump fail.
 
Think about a gate valve for the main drain, I've seen a bit of argument about the pros and cons of gate vs ball, but having built a couple of these, sometimes they can be finicky to tune. Gate valves made it so much easier.... Get a good quality gate for this though, don't even mess with the cheap ones here.
 
Brian01 said:
Think about a gate valve for the main drain, I've seen a bit of argument about the pros and cons of gate vs ball, but having built a couple of these, sometimes they can be finicky to tune. Gate valves made it so much easier.... Get a good quality gate for this though, don't even mess with the cheap ones here.
Click to expand...

A few people have told me this but I cant seem to find a pvc gate valve anywhere.
 
Brian01 said:
Think about a gate valve for the main drain, I've seen a bit of argument about the pros and cons of gate vs ball, but having built a couple of these, sometimes they can be finicky to tune. Gate valves made it so much easier.... Get a good quality gate for this though, don't even mess with the cheap ones here.
Click to expand...

I just spent last week replacing my ball valve with a gate. So yes, gate.
 
They usually have to be ordered, Be careful with check valves. They clog easily. I fail to see how back flow by return line in pump failure would be an issue. The system should be designed to handle pumps without power.
 
JMorris271 said:
They usually have to be ordered, Be careful with check valves. They clog easily. I fail to see how back flow by return line in pump failure would be an issue. The system should be designed to handle pumps without power.
Click to expand...

All depends on how much air the system has to burp on restart, and like you said the system should be designed correctly to handle the outage without relying on the valve.

But for me I didn't want a tank restart at 2am waking the kids up with the sound of air and water sputtering all over the place.

I think check valves have their place, just not as a safety device.
 
Bent said:
All depends on how much air the system has to burp on restart, and like you said the system should be designed correctly to handle the outage without relying on the valve.

But for me I didn't want a tank restart at 2am waking the kids up with the sound of air and water sputtering all over the place.

I think check valves have their place, just not as a safety device.
Click to expand...

All I really want the check valve for is when I turn the pump off to keep all the water in the display tank while I mess with the sump cleaning equipment etc. I wouldn't use it as a safety device. The sump has been worked to take the water from above the returns without overflowing.
 
Couple of comments - I wouldn't ever run a pressurized take-off outside the confines of a sump (i.e., to feed a reactor). That's just me, but if I have a leak from a reactor, I don't want it emptying my sump and messing up my floors.

Also, it appears from your 3-D mock-up that your pump return section is quite narrow. That considerably reduces the amount of water that is pumped before the pump runs dry. It's more of a convenience than a real issue, but I prefer at least 30 seconds for the pump to empty the chamber and start cavitating. The low volume also means that an ATO will run for a shorter duration more often. May not be all that big of a deal considering how inexpensive ATO pumps are, but cycling = wear = sooner replacement.
 
dkeller_nc said:
Couple of comments - I wouldn't ever run a pressurized take-off outside the confines of a sump (i.e., to feed a reactor). That's just me, but if I have a leak from a reactor, I don't want it emptying my sump and messing up my floors.

Also, it appears from your 3-D mock-up that your pump return section is quite narrow. That considerably reduces the amount of water that is pumped before the pump runs dry. It's more of a convenience than a real issue, but I prefer at least 30 seconds for the pump to empty the chamber and start cavitating. The low volume also means that an ATO will run for a shorter duration more often. May not be all that big of a deal considering how inexpensive ATO pumps are, but cycling = wear = sooner replacement.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the comments. I currently have my reactor in my sump so maybe I should take your advice and do the same thing again, I only took it out as iv noticed a lot of people have it externally. As I am not doing a refugium and just having a couple of chunks of rock and some macro I could make the centre section of the sump narrower increasing the return chamber.
 
If you're building the sump (instead of using an existing one), you might consider making the sump as big as the bottom section of your stand, minus a couple of inches to allow clearance for mounting magnets (for ATO, controller probes, etc...)
 
dkeller_nc said:
If you're building the sump (instead of using an existing one), you might consider making the sump as big as the bottom section of your stand, minus a couple of inches to allow clearance for mounting magnets (for ATO, controller probes, etc...)
Click to expand...
I'm leaving space down the side of my sump so i can fit a 25l container for my ATO as I have no where else to put it.
 
Oh I forgot to say.

Make your return lines 1.5x the size of the pump output. Not the same size.

Eg if the pump has a 3/4" output, run 1.25" pipe.
 
The Entire section from the Pump up is not ideal Solution...

From the pump You need to run a line Straight up with a few Bends and elbows as you can to the tank... Straight up then T off to each of your inlets inside the tank.. Putting a Gate / Ball valve above this T Creating a way to slow water going to tank and diverting to a Manifold. Explained below..



From somewhere in the straight up pipe.. Put a T PIPE.. Run it across Creating a manifold with several T pipe and then Gate/ Ball valves out of it dropping Downward toward your equipment...........

The way you have it drawn there are too many elbows and Complicates running the pipe...
I can draw a diagram if you wish.... Or just check out the Thread by BEND From yesterday...

The Drains look OK...

I WOULD ALSO MAKE it all with 1 1/2 inch or at least the Return to tank lines.. If your pump does not support 1 1/2 outlet just use a adapter... Leaned this the hard way..

Hope this helps.....
 
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No reason to upsize. The pump has the size discharge it has for a reason. You can spend the extra money if you like but the friction loss savings over the out let size will be less than 1 ft. Since you are already splitting the flow you will get a small reduction in losses there.

Looks like the DCT-8000 is 1.25 npt, that is the size you should use. That is a 2000 gph pump.
 
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Wazzel said:
No reason to upsize. The pump has the size discharge it has for a reason. You can spend the extra money if you like but the friction loss savings over the out let size will be less than 1 ft. Since you are already splitting the flow you will get a small reduction in losses there.

Looks like the DCT-8000 is 1.25 npt, that is the size you should use. That is a 2000 gph pump.
Click to expand...

Thanks this makes it a lot easier for me as I have limited space in the cabinet and running 1 1/2 inch would take up a lot of space. I would like to go 1 inch pipe work on the returns. is this enough or could I go less?
 
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