Trigger sump drain installation

[125mph]

Just browsing sumps.. saw trigger sumps have nice designs.. however they all seem to have two 1" or three 1" drain inputs.. If I have a single 1.5" drain, do I just split these and reduce to fit the trigger inputs?

Also, curious why all the triggers appear to use the multiple (2 or 3) 4" filter socks rather than a single large 7" sock? Any reason in particular? My current sump has a single 7".

 

[BryanS4]

I've been wondering the same about these sumps. I actually own an emerald 26 and it's installed on my frag tank, but in the process of breaking that down.

I've wanted to move the sump to a 40b that I have set up, but the overflow that I have (glass holes) is a 1.5 drain and their website says not to reduce.

With ya 125, not sure how to proceed. It would be nice if trigger had a 1.5 fitting, as it seems more common than their standard 1".

 

[scooters reef]

I'm in the same situation. I have a Ruby elite 30 and an Emerald 39 which will be tired together. On the 30" the holes are part of the sump and I'll be drilling one out to make it larger. There was another thread somewhere on here of someone doing that.

However, on the larger ones they have an exchangeable plate. I contacted Trigger Systems and they can sell you a blank plate, with the screw holes, but no bulkhead so you can drill it yourself for a single 1 1/2 then. If I recall it was $8 per plate and $6 for shipping but I may be off on that some.

 

[Desert Sea]

The 1 inch bulkheads that come on most sumps can handle quite a bit of flow. A 1 inch pipe can flow about 4700 GPH on gravity. That's enough flow at 5x the tank volume for turnover to handle a 900 gallon tank. The 1 1/2 inch pipe your looking to increase to, handles about 10,500 GPH. Enough for a 2000 gallon tank at 5x turnover rate through the sump. The 1 inch pipe should be plenty large enough for most tanks. The limiting factor will be the sumps capacity to handle the drain down on pump shut down for the size of the aquarium more than the size of the pipe.

 

[125mph]

The 1 inch bulkheads that come on most sumps can handle quite a bit of flow. A 1 inch pipe can flow about 4700 GPH on gravity. That's enough flow at 5x the tank volume for turnover to handle a 900 gallon tank. The 1 1/2 inch pipe your looking to increase to, handles about 10,500 GPH. Enough for a 2000 gallon tank at 5x turnover rate through the sump. The 1 inch pipe should be plenty large enough for most tanks. The limiting factor will be the sumps capacity to handle the drain down on pump shut down for the size of the aquarium more than the size of the pipe.

So do I just reduce from 1.5" to a single 1", or T it into two 1"?



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[Desert Sea]

It would depend on how your tank is setup. Does the tank your working with have a built in overflow or are you trying to connect to an external over flow box?

 

[125mph]

It would depend on how your tank is setup. Does the tank your working with have a built in overflow or are you trying to connect to an external over flow box?

It's a built-in overflow with 1.5" drain..

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[Desert Sea]

You could T the 1 1/2" to 2 - 1" lines with gate valves to regulate the flow. You may also want a way to throttle your return pump either with a valve or use a DC variable speed pump. I don't know what size tank your working with but that 1 1/2" line and an oversized pump could create more flow through your sump than you want/need. Proper sizing of the pump would be important to keep the flow in the range you want.

 

[scooters reef]

The 1 inch bulkheads that come on most sumps can handle quite a bit of flow. A 1 inch pipe can flow about 4700 GPH on gravity. That's enough flow at 5x the tank volume for turnover to handle a 900 gallon tank. The 1 1/2 inch pipe your looking to increase to, handles about 10,500 GPH. Enough for a 2000 gallon tank at 5x turnover rate through the sump. The 1 inch pipe should be plenty large enough for most tanks. The limiting factor will be the sumps capacity to handle the drain down on pump shut down for the size of the aquarium more than the size of the pipe.

Those may be accurate full siphon numbers, depending on the drop, but if he only has a single drain it's not likely to be a full siphon and would be a durso/open channel. Noise becomes a factor besides just flow. I mostly agree though. On my own I'm going with only a 1" for the full siphon to my main sump and will be more than enough. The open channel will feed the second sump with the fuge and I want it quiet. That and the emergency will be 1 1/2". Just reducing it right at the end may not impact noise much though.

 

[soulpatch]

I have 2 drains as one is an emergency I put into the drain area of the sump so I am plumbed for thier expectations there. Had I gone bean I would have been covered as well.

For the socks I love the multiple 4" socks. I put in 2 out of the 3 holes and swap them out as needed. The first one gets cruddy and second one takes over and then when that is nasty the empty slot allows full flow without the water having to go over the spillway and causing more bubbles then needed.

For my system a single 7" sock would still need changed about as quickly as each of my 4" socks so I would need a lot more of them or more frequent changing. Guess it all comes down to personal preference.

And for reference they will do a sump however you like if you contact them. I paid same price for my emerald 39 then a stock one woudl have cost and I moved walls, had holes put in, changed color, and a few other items. So if you want a 7" sock holder instead and only 1 inlet they will do it.

 

[tanzer16]

Good thread as I will actually have the same exact problem as OP. I just ordered a Trigger Sapphire and was wondering what to do with single 1 1/2" drain ....split or reduce. I have a DC pump, so I'm thinking based on numbers that Desert Sea quoted, it will work fine to reduce it, as long as flow from return is throttled down to appropriate amount.

 

[shellsea]

Good thread as I will actually have the same exact problem as OP. I just ordered a Trigger Sapphire and was wondering what to do with single 1 1/2" drain ....split or reduce. I have a DC pump, so I'm thinking based on numbers that Desert Sea quoted, it will work fine to reduce it, as long as flow from return is throttled down to appropriate amount.

I just got the Trigger 39. There is a cover plate by the drain input that you do not have to use allowing a 1 1/2 inch pipe with room to spare.