Yeah, another stupid plumbing thread

revnull

Premium Member
First, I would like to thank trmiv for my "new" 90 gallon tank. The tank is equipped with 2 horizontal overflows, each with a 1" bulkhead exiting the back of the tank.

Drainage: I'm thinking of using 1.5" PVC for the drain pipe. Is 1.5" overkill for 2 x 1" bulkheads? Should both drain pipes come together in a "Y" then drain into the sump or should each overflow has its own pipe leading to the sump? I've seen other people use ball valves in their drain plumbing. What is the purpose of this? If you wanted to slow your drainage wouldn't you just slow the return?

Return: This is where I'm most torn.
Option 1, 1"-1.5" perimeter return closed loop manifold with 8-10 x 0.5" T's flowing to 0.5" loc-line spouts. This seems like a relatively inexpensive way to spread flow throughout the tank. There seems to be several debates as to the most effective way to set one up. Any advice/experience would be great.
Option 2, Ocean Motion 4-Way flowing to 0.75" loc-line spouts. Pricy, but worth it from what I've read.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I'll be plumbing through the wall into a 100 gallon stock tub sump. This will free up all of the space under the stand for electrical and plumbing. I would like to limit the amount of holes in the wall. Ideally, one hole for drain and one hole for return. If anyone has good examples (pictures) of through wall plumbing I would be greatly appreciative.

Once again, thanks in advance for your help!
 
Hey Ray....do a search for herbie's method for the drain....it silence the noise pretty well but you would need a backup drain...the 1.5 is not overkill imo....ocean motion is pretty nice to have if you don't intend to use powerheads but would be more inclined to leak and would be harder to clean later down the line
let me know when you are about to set this tank up and if you need a hand
-david
 
I second the suggestion on the noise reduction. BTW, I wrapped my pipe in a DynaMat copy and it made a BIG difference in water noise.

The only thing I'll add, since all plumbing is truly unique, use SCH200 1" pipe. Has almost the same interior volume as 1.5" SCH40 and is easy to work with. Plus, you can bend it A LOT easier than SCH40 so you can minimize hard 90deg bends. When I replumbed my tank with bent SCH200 instead of SCH200 with 90deg bends, I saw a HUGE improvement in water volume.
 
I didn't know you can bend SCH20. I have a bunch of 1" and 3/4" SCH20 pipe. I should test it out :D ..
 
So a durso style tee on the bulk head won't quiet the drain? Since the sump will be on the other side of the wall (in the garage) I don't anticipate very much sump splash noise. I guess I'm more concerned with flushing or slurping noise. There is only about 3" from the edge of the overflow box to the tank wall so extra plumbing in the tank is not an option.

I'm going to use 1.5" for the drain. should I bring them together in the wye before plumbing through the wall or run 2 individual drains through the wall into the sump?

Any other opinions on the return line?
 
Thanks for the info Dave. I may take you up on your offer. Your tank has me thinking of going bare bottom with the new 90.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10187610#post10187610 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by strictlySPS
Hey Ray....do a search for herbie's method for the drain....it silence the noise pretty well but you would need a backup drain...the 1.5 is not overkill imo....ocean motion is pretty nice to have if you don't intend to use powerheads but would be more inclined to leak and would be harder to clean later down the line
let me know when you are about to set this tank up and if you need a hand
-david
 
Hey Phong,

Bending SCH200 is EASY! Just put two endcaps on the pipe and pack it full of playground sand. Make sure you spread the heat out so you stretch a wider section and you'll get nice bends. I'll post some pics on BAR of my before and after for everyone to see. It wasn't hard because I just took my old pipe out and bent the pipe to match. Needed to do a little fine tuning, but in all only took me ~4 hours with gluing time. It helped that I bent it before adding the ball valves because I got a little "play" room with the cutting there.
 
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