Plumbing question

[Ab129]

So I am ready to plumb my first tank. 75 gal reef ready with a ruby 30 sump. Based on research from you good folks here I am doing a herbie drain setup which will mean I have to run my return externally out the back of the stand and upover the rim of the tank.

I (hopefully) uploaded a pic of me holding a piece of the return line pretty much where I plan to run it. I plan to use ametal strap to attach the line to the side panel of the stand and drill out a 1 1/2 " round hole in the stand's back pillar so the line will run right through it and immediately straight up to the tank.
The pic kinda sucks (sorry). The left side of pic is where the line will go through the back pillar and the top of the pic is the side panel of the stand that the line will be attached to.


My concerns are 1- will drilling that hole in the pillar compromise the stands integrity and 2- will attaching the line to the stand like this cause a lot of noise from vibrations?
3- anything else you can see that I haven't thought of?



Thanks for any input!

 

[thegrun]

I can't tell from the picture exactly what drilling will do to the structure of your stand, perhaps you can post a few more pictures from different angles so we can give better advice. You can minimize pump transfer noise by putting the return pump on a piece of silicone hot pad that you can get at Target or any housewares store. Then use a 6" or longer piece is silicone tubeing to attach your pump to your hard pvc plumbing. Lastly you can purchase a thick felt in any plumbing store that you wrap around the pipe where you clamp it to the stand. Doing those three things will dramatically reduce vibration transfer noise.

 

[Ab129]

Thanks for the reply!
Took another pic from a different angle. I placed a yellow post it where I plan to drill. Using flex pvc throughout. No hard plumbing.

 

[thegrun]

I would definatly add another 2x4 along side the one you are drilling through. Even though you are using flex pipe the silicone flex pipe is softer and will transmit less noise. You could initially run it in all flex and then cut out a section and add silicone if there is still noise.

 

[jpitch]

I wouldn't use a metal strap. I'd use plastic. I prefer non-rusting parts. Anything and everything will eventually get wet some day.

 

[Ab129]

Good point! Will swap for non metal option.
Thank you!

 

[fishgate]

Does your tank sit on that ledge? So one ledge on each end and one across the middle? Most of our stands here are very over-built but that one is a little scary!

 

[Ab129]

It's a brand new stand, marineland.
Goes with the tank.

 

[tazdvl]

Why drill a hole at all? I might be missing something here but why don't you just go out the big open area next to the wood you are going to drill?

 

[Ab129]

The reason I was going to drill through was because that would enable me to minimize the space between the back of the stand and the wall. It would probably only save me an inch or two but I am concerned because I have cats and don't want to encourage them to try and squeeze back there. They don't need a heck of a lot of room!
I also thought running the return along that inner side wall of the stand would give me a good place to secure it to the structure.

 

[tazdvl]

You might be giving up some structural integrity for a few inches. As to securing it to the frame when you do make sure you have nice vibration adsorbing mats to isolate your straps from frame, believe me pumps can be louder then you think if you don't buffer them somehow. I have found moving to a cheap Chinese DC pump to be actually much quieter then my AC pump and you can get 4 for the price of a top end AC flavor return pump. I know alot of folks will cringe when reading the next part but I have a 3 foot run of spaflex from my sump return to my display tank with no "support" attachment at all. the weight of it all is about 30% hanging on bulkhead and 70% resting on pump on foam rubber knee protection mat I cut into a small 3x5 square sitting under pump.This rig has been running vibration/trouble free for 3 years. will send pictures if you are interested.

 

[Ab129]

Thanks for the advice. I've decided not to drill through and take any chances.
My pump is DC reef octopus various 6. Would like to see pics of your setup if not too much trouble particularly how you have insulated the straps to minimize vibration.

 

[SaguaroSteve]

I think you'd be completely fine as long as you drill the hole correctly, it's not like you're taking 50% chunk out of the side of the 2x4. I have a Jebao DC pump using braided nylon running straight to my hard plumbing, secured to both barbs with stainless steel hose clamps and there's zero noise from vibration, only a slight hum from the pump motor.

 

[Stolireef]

I've become a true believer in using all hard plumbing as opposed to hoses. I'm running a Sicce Syncra 4.0 return pump and it is dead silent although it's hard plumbed and sits directly on the base of the stand. Adding a couple of true unions and ball valves makes pump removal and maintenance a breeze. No hose clamps to deal with.