Spa flex

[levon15]

Can you glue spax flex to pvc like it was regular pvc?

just checking I have never used spaflex and am a little cautous, any words of wisdom?

Would it be ok to place a small pump into the sump and pump to a smaller tank above for a fuge and have it just overflow back into the sump? Dont want two returns and I cannot really plumb them together as my main tank is not very far above them to allow the overflow to got to both at the same time. unless they are on the same level.

I think I will need to take pictures for people to understand what I am talking about.

 

[latazyo]

yes you need to show a pic...

but pumping up is a good idea, and it will definitely work...you'll want a bulkhead or something, I dont think you want it to just flow over the sides, unless its sort of sitting semi-inside the sump

did you see the diagram I showed in my tank build thread? so you're saying that you dont quite have room for a set up like I planned...is that right?

 

[scbadiver]

In answer to your first question, yes. Glue spaflex the same way but I have found you have to hold it in place for a little longer while it sets or it squeezes back out of the fitting. Be sure to use primer first and plenty of glue, shove it together tightly and hold it for a minute or so. Thats it.

 

[levon15]

I know what your plans looked like and here they are again

I do not have room for the fuge to be above the sump. Te overflow with the tank will be just high enough for the sump. I think i will have the fube above the sump and simply throw a maxi-jet in there maybe a 1200 to pump water out of the sump and through the fuge. This will allow for no spills or anything. The overflow of the fuge will be a 3/4 inch bulkhead that drains back down into the sump.

Sound complicated and I need to build a "shelf" for the fuge to sit on above the sump but this shouldn't be too bad.

Again any reasons why this will not work please let me know.

Any suggestions on the flow through the sump where the skimmer will be when dealing with about 70 gallons of water in the main tank?

I have read a lot about high flow/low flow and which produces better skimming. I think I might go with a MAG 7 and add some powerheads into the main tank to increase flow and help keep the bad stuff from settling down. Settling crap is the main problem in my current setup so I would rather kick it up and slow the water in the sump down to allow for better skimming.

Does any of this make sense?

 

[latazyo]

that makes perfect sense, I dont know the dimensions of your sump, but I am thinking about scrapping the "above sump fuge" and going with something like this for my own setup....could you do this?

the reason to do it this way is
1. you dont want to skim after a refugium
2. if you do skim first, then fuge, then pump, you end up getting too much flow through the fuge, you want the flow through the fuge to be very slow so you can cut that flow down big time with the ball, as shown

 

[rams]

spa flex or flex PVC, is awesome stuff and great to use instead of 90s or 45s which kill flow. :thumbsup:

once you use the glue it slips right in, bad note: once its in, its in forever!

 

[levon15]

latazyo,

I am not usre if that plan will work very well. In my mind it seems that you really have no way of knowing if water is simply passing the pump and going to sit in the fuge after the sump. It seems flawed and very hard to judge.

Someone please correct as I must be wrong

 

[latazyo]

oops, levon you're right, I just drew it wrong

you would always have the fuge "higher" so that water couldn't flow the wrong direction

that is what I meant, but not how I drew it, just a quick draw mistake

if the fuge's over baffles were higher than the skimmer's over baffles it would be impossible for it to flow from the pump to the fuge and it would work

I just drew it too quickly without thinking about that

 

[latazyo]

ok, I modified the image to be correct now

if you're wondering why I space the baffles that way its because the more distance there is between baffles the slower the water flows, so since bubbles can only escape when water is moving down, you make it wider on under baffles and narrower when it goes back up