Plumbing

[TikiDan]

Does this plumbing make sense?

My drains are 1.25" and returns are .75"

Using a Mag12 return pump.

This is the only way I can figure out how to do this so I hope it is right.

 

[Elite]

Don't use any ballvalve or gatevalve on your drains. Why do you need checkvalve on the return?? I would use stronger pump for your return too.

 

[CitS]

I would connect the 2 drains, so the excess from the ref. drain
has somewhere to go

 

[nasotang]

I would T off the drain into the refugium. I'd place a valve on the outlet to the refugium and leave the the other drain into the right compartment wide open. The valve would be incase you upgrade your return pump and have too much flow in the refugium.

Are you going to have an insump skimmer? You'll have to make a compartment and baffles if you decide to use an insump skimmer or connect another tank.

 

[Kinetic]

don't use a check valve, just make sure you have an anti siphon for your returns at the top. check valves will fail, clog, and add a ton more head loss.

check valves are good for returns that are low in the tank such that it won't break siphon until damage is done. since your returns are high you can drill a tiny hole somewhere near the top, pointing downwards of course.

 

[CookieJar]

I have a similar setup and for the drain lines I'd keep the ball valves. That way you can do 2 things: 1 adjust the refugium flow and 2, by partially closing 1 valve you can make that overflow area be completely full so there is no 'waterfall'. I found that by eliminating the waterfall closest to the side I viewed the tank it reduced the tank noise.

I agree with the post about skimmer area. I have a smallish sump and woking on the skimmer & skimmer pump in a small sump area is a PIA, I wish I had a portion of the sump larger than 18" x 18" for my skimmer.

Looks good though!

 

[arthurlo]

Consider using some gate valves on the returns so you have better control of the flow back into the tank.

Also, make sure you add a union on the return plumbing for the instances when you want to separate/remove the pump for cleaning.