Plumbing question for new reef tank

[Indigoblue12]

Hi all,

Setting up my reef tank plumbing this weekend
I have a marine land tank with the side
Overflow box.
Have my sump set up directly under and looking good

I bought some flexible tuning from marine depot
And I was wondering if I GLUE with pipe cement
My plastic tubing inside the bulkhead for the
Return and sump.. I know I have too.. What happened
If I needed to change something then .. I would
Have to buy new bulkheads because I would have
Plastic tubing glued in it ..

For my return can I run plastic tubing all the way to the
Return ??

Any tips??

 

[Yodeling]

You mean like vinyl tubing? If so, then no, you don't want to glue that to the bulkhead. You'll need to use PVC cement to glue the PVC pipe to the bulkheads, then use a barb connector and a hose clamp to connect the vinyl tubing. And yes, the only way to remove it is to cut the pipe, so leave enough pipe. If you have enough pipe left for another connection, you don't have to buy new bulkheads.

 

[criticalencore]

If you are using spa tubing you could glue in bukkhead just cut enough off to put a union if you ever have to change it

 

[Hjuan]

I am also doing my plumbing as well and so far all the designs I have seen from the return have been hard plumbed with pvc and recommended more good luck with your build

 

[Indigoblue12]

It's called ultra flex PVC piping ..


So I have to glue PVC to the bulkhead and
Then use a hose clamp for my piping ? Is that right?


A union?? A union unscrews right?? So you
Can glue to union then just unscrew if you need to
Change the flex pipe out?

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

you should never have to replace the pipes…

you only need one union if you are doing a basic plumb job…the union will either screw right to the top of the pump or into a fitting on top of the pump…

other then that you want as few connections and restrictions in your lines as possible…

that pipe you have linked is simply flexible PVC, so yes it will glue directly into your fittings and such…i assume your tank is plumbed from the bottom, in this case the pipe will go directly into the bulkheads…if you wanted to you could put a short piece of rigid pipe in the bulkheads and then put unions below the bulkheads too,, but that is once again more restrictions and possible points of failure/ leak…

you would be best to look at using a herbie style overflow system for your tank….and plumb your return pipe up the back side of your tank rather then waisting a bulkhead for it...

 

[Indigoblue12]

Got a union I'll put it on top if my pump..

Here is a question..

Let's say I forget the flexible tube and
Use PVC ... Even if I use the union
If I ever replace the return pump I have
To re-plumb my return .. Because what happens
If the new pump is a different height/size?

I'm assuming the union is placed on top of
The pump so you can remove the pump right ?

 

[uncleof6]

Pump installation: First, the pipe size should be one size over the size of the actual pump outlet. (if external, you cannot up size the outlet piping over the size of the intake pipe size, so you increase the intake pipe size as needed.) Problems involving increasing the pump size, can be avoided by installing the correct size pump in the first place, which is usually going to be at least one step above the pump you are planning to intall, and more often than not, two steps + over the pump you are planning to install. Dealing with pump failure in relation to not rebuilding your plumbing. Buy correct size pump, then buy a replacement of the same type, make, model year color, etc. at the same time. I you can't afford two, wait until you can... If you blow through both pumps in your lifetime, you are abusing, and not taking care of your pumps... I have a 30 year old little giant pump TE-5MDHC that is still going strong.... (I intentionally replaced the pressure biased volute 1/2" outlet to a flow biased volute 1" outlet)... (Ignore the ridiculous gate valve on the pump intake, only valve I had laying around on that day...the pump is a reeflo...)

 

[Indigoblue12]

My pump has a threaded 3/4" male
I only was able to run a 3/4" pipe
Up to the 90 elbow where then I was
Able to go one inch ..

I think I need to buy a new pump..
The one that cAme with my used tank
Was a Rio 3100 (900gph)

I'm not sure if these pumps are noisy or not.
Can't believe I bought a used tank and sump
And already spent over 1,800.00

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

My pump has a threaded 3/4" male
I only was able to run a 3/4" pipe
Up to the 90 elbow where then I was
Able to go one inch ..

I think I need to buy a new pump..
The one that cAme with my used tank
Was a Rio 3100 (900gph)

I'm not sure if these pumps are noisy or not.
Can't believe I bought a used tank and sump
And already spent over 1,800.00

what do you mean you can only run 3/4" from the pump"¦rio3100 is a submersible pump"¦you should be bale to buy a 3/4 to 1" threaded bushing"¦if not you can buy a 3/4" female adapter, a short piece (1.5") of pipe, then a 3/4" to 1" slip fitting then a 1" coupling to a short piece of 1" pipe to a union or dual union valve.

how big is your tank? 900gph is not very much turn over for anything over a 40g tank.

 

[Indigoblue12]

what do you mean you can only run 3/4" from the pump"¦rio3100 is a submersible pump"¦you should be bale to buy a 3/4 to 1" threaded bushing"¦if not you can buy a 3/4" female adapter, a short piece (1.5") of pipe, then a 3/4" to 1" slip fitting then a 1" coupling to a short piece of 1" pipe to a union or dual union valve.

how big is your tank? 900gph is not very much turn over for anything over a 40g tank.

I guess Home Depot has a crap selection ...
I went through all the plumbing ... I'll look online
Or try lowes
It's a 90 gallon tank... Is the rio ok? Or do I need a different
Pump .... When I ran a flow rate calculator it was
540Gph I have 4 feet vertical 3 feet horizontal

I will look for a pipe fitting that goes
3/4 inch threaded female to 1 inch PVC
Pipe

 

[uncleof6]

The rio is not enough pump for this tank at all. You are going to need something in the range of 1400 gph or so @ 0' which will drop down a bunch when the dynamic head is totalled up. The Rio is a bargain basement pump anyway. Good pumps cost money, and I am not talking about Eheim and Danner either...

 

[Indigoblue12]

More than 1200 GPH? On a 90g tank?

 

[uncleof6]

More than 1200 GPH? On a 90g tank?

After friction losses you won't have that much...but you will have enough overhead to run auxilliary equipment without having to figure out which 'drain' to run it from...becasue you don't want to get another, or larger, pump...