Plumbing Question

[Dvara78]

I'm plumbing a new system and before I cement all the pipes in place I wanted a quick gut check.

Most tee of their return to make water changes easier "“ flip a couple of valves and the return pump pushes out 10%-15% of old tank water.

I went the other way and tee'd off of my drain from the tank and added valves which will allow me to remove 10%-15% of old tank water using gravity. While water is draining, I'll be adding new salt water back to the sump.

I've read lots of threads and most tee off their return to make removal of old tank water easier. Is there anything wrong with teeing off the drain instead of the return?

 

[billdogg]

As long as it does not restrict the drain to the sump I don't see why not

 

[RocketEngineer]

You want to minimize the restrictions in your drains. The hole through a valve is typically smaller than the rest of the plumbing which means if a snail got into your plumbing it would get stuck in the valve.

Personally, I prefer to use a small pond pump to remove water from the skimmer section of my sump as that's where all the crud collects. I understand why folks connect to the return pump but for me it doesn't provide the same benefits of pumping the sludge off the bottom.

 

[woodnaquanut]

As long as you can gravity feed it should work. If you have to go any distance (my drain is 45 feet from tank) or uphill, gravity feed will be really slow (distance) or not work at all (uphill).

 

[fishgate]

I'm not sure how people even use the pump on the return to do water changes. My system you'd get about 5 gallons out before the return chamber ran dry. I usually change 12 gallons (3 home depot buckets) using a Python water changer. My sump is marked in 5 gallon increments.

 

[woodnaquanut]

In my case, 120g tank, 40B sump, when I shut down the return the drain down puts about 10+ more gallons in the sump. I have a mark on the sump for the correct level and shut the return valve when it hits that mark. Then I open the valve for the tee, attach the long hose and turn on the return pump. Five minutes later the return pump starts to suck air and 12g have been dumped down the drain.

Perhaps you need more drain down?

 

[fishgate]

In my case, 120g tank, 40B sump, when I shut down the return the drain down puts about 10+ more gallons in the sump. I have a mark on the sump for the correct level and shut the return valve when it hits that mark. Then I open the valve for the tee, attach the long hose and turn on the return pump. Five minutes later the return pump starts to suck air and 12g have been dumped down the drain.

Perhaps you need more drain down?

I intentionally made my return chamber very small for anti-flooding reasons. When the water drains down from the return pump being off, there is some overflow into the next compartment but not enough for a water change. Maybe I could plumb something to pump from the middle section of my sump there is plenty of water there. I don't really like using the python since is relies on the faucet water being on to suction tank water out. It is a huge waste of water.