Judge my plumbing!

[Thrawn]

Alright, so I sketched a quick plan on my plumbing for my 90 gallon. It's not the most elegant illustration ever, but hey, it's past 2 am, this is as good as it's going to get right now.

It's a herbie drain. I have a couple questions. - First, wasn't really sure what to do with the backup drain(the second yellow line) right now I just have it running into the return, should be fine, right? - What would be the best way to split the flow on the main drain to the skimmer and fuge? - I have no idea what the best way to plumb the return is to minimize head loss. Right now, I was thinking a 45 degree angle out the back of the stand and to the left so it would come out of the stand right under the return hole. Then another 45 to make it go straight up, and then a 90 degree into the bulkhead. - Is it an okay idea to plumb a T into the return so when it comes to water change time I can just switch a valve and have my pump do the work? Thanks for the help!

 

[mfinn]

Seems way too complicated.I like to keep things simple. (The kiss method)I plumbed both my drains to go into the first compartment where the skimmer is.The second compartment is the refugium and the last compartment is the return area.All the water flows through in a single direction.

 

[Bosco83]

I do mine the same way as mfinn.

 

[dawgwe1]

Maybe move the gate valve or add a second valve below the tee so you can control how much water goes to the fuge. You noted 75% to skim and 25% to fuge but no valve after the tee to make this happen.

 

[pandora32]

Do as stated already. This hobby can get complicated in itself without making it more complicated with plumbing. Just remember, the more fittings you have, the more headloss you WILL have, and the more chances of leaks. I would have it all drain into the skimmer and return on the right.

 

[Thrawn]

I have them separated so that i can have a bigger fuge. This way i can have the fuge wall higher than the baffles separating my skimmer and return.

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[kpiotrowski]

I would run the back up overflow to either skimmer or fuge. I skim before fuge and have amazing water quality, but the downside is no nutrients make it to the fuge so there is very limited pods. your way of directing 25% directly to fuge will provide those nutrients for the pods but again less effective for nitrate and phosphate removal. its really a matter of choice and what your final goal is.

 

[mercenary-grunt]

but you will never have 100% of the water skimmed. I like the first mentioned design by mfinn.

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[IPisces]

Here too, I use the same design as mfinn on all my tanks.
Keep it easy. you may want to incorporate a union fitting on each of the lines about mid tank to make it easy to put together and take apart if you ever need to.

 

[Spinner]

Hello, You could run a overflow to each section with a tee just above gate valve on refugium side to skimmer overflow. This would allow you to control flow to each area up to 100% per overflow outlets. I like high untreated flow to my refugiums as well to skimmer Way to think outside the box!......What a boring hobby this would be if we all had the same set up

 

[kpiotrowski]

spinner, and tell him about color coding too! now THATS cool!

 

[Thrawn]

I have no idea what the best way to plumb the return is to minimize head loss. Right now, I was thinking a 45 degree angle out the back of the stand and to the left so it would come out of the stand right under the return hole. Then another 45 to make it go straight up, and then a 90 degree into the bulkhead. - Is it an okay idea to plumb a T into the return so when it comes to water change time I can just switch a valve and have my pump do the work? Thanks for the help!

Thanks for the feedback guys. So, let's ignore the complexity of it for a minute, that's all subject to change, and we can come back to it later. I still was curious about the questions i just quoted above pertaining to the return line.
Thanks again guys.


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[kpiotrowski]

I plumbed in a T for water changes and termintated it with a plastic garden hose attachement but for as little water changes that I need I usually take the oputunity to vacuum out the sump etc. you will want to consider ordering the gate valves that are designed to hold up in salt water and not the plain home depot pvc ones if you are going to use them alot. if you want to get really serious about elbows you can upsize them ( but its really going too far) go from say your 1 icnch return line and before the elbow put in a 1 inch to 1.5 inch adapter, then use a 1.5 inch elbow, the adapt down to 1 inch again.

 

[Peppie]

You can install a T in the return line for a water change. But remember you will only be able to pump out the amount of water that is in your return chamber. Most sumps only run about 1/3rd the total water volume in their sump in the return area. So if you have a 60gal sump and it is divided into 3 section, you will have less than 20 gals per section. ( This is all approx)

You see where I am going? That return section may not hold enough water to do a decent water change.

 

[pandora32]

Why would you upsize the fitting size? All that would do is add a little more water to the fittings and it would all get bottled up on exiting the fitting. You will still have the same head loss as if you just used the same size fitting as you are pipe, say 1"or pipe going into a 45° elbow and exiting the fitting into 1" pipe.

 

[kpiotrowski]

if PI is 3.14159265359 and E=mc2 then a larger 45.............................ummmm Iv'e had too much to drink right now but, ummm, yeah, trust me.

 

[Thrawn]

Hello, You could run a overflow to each section with a tee just above gate valve on refugium side to skimmer overflow. This would allow you to control flow to each area up to 100% per overflow outlets. I like high untreated flow to my refugiums as well to skimmer Way to think outside the box!......What a boring hobby this would be if we all had the same set up

So basically, once it splits off, one pipe going to the fuge and one going to the skimmer, just put a gate valve on the one going to the fuge and then tune it however I want?

You can install a T in the return line for a water change. But remember you will only be able to pump out the amount of water that is in your return chamber. Most sumps only run about 1/3rd the total water volume in their sump in the return area. So if you have a 60gal sump and it is divided into 3 section, you will have less than 20 gals per section. ( This is all approx)

You see where I am going? That return section may not hold enough water to do a decent water change.

Hmm, I actually hadn't really thought of that, thanks for pointing it out. The way I have it all divided up right now(which may very well change) is only a 6 gallon return. But, correct me if I'm wrong, as I drain the return, won't in drain the tank down to the lowest output? So, say I have a drain that's 2 inches below the water level in the DT, as I drain the return, that excess water will flow into the sump and end up in the return to be siphoned out.
So, if that does work, I'd have the 6 gallons in the return(minus the water displaced by my pump) plus the 2 inches or so of water from the display tank which comes out to be about 7.5, it should do a water change of aprox. 13.5 gallons. Which is over 10% of my total water volume. I wouldn't always do it this way, but it just seemed like it would be really convenient as a way to do weekly water changes or so.

 

[dnjan]

I prefer using spaflex instead of elbos/45's for return lines as much as possible.
And when I actually do need a 45 or a 90, I use the (grey) plastic electrical conduit elbos. Much more gradual bends to reduce headloss.

 

[Peppie]

So basically, once it splits off, one pipe going to the fuge and one going to the skimmer, just put a gate valve on the one going to the fuge and then tune it however I want?




Hmm, I actually hadn't really thought of that, thanks for pointing it out. The way I have it all divided up right now(which may very well change) is only a 6 gallon return. But, correct me if I'm wrong, as I drain the return, won't in drain the tank down to the lowest output? So, say I have a drain that's 2 inches below the water level in the DT, as I drain the return, that excess water will flow into the sump and end up in the return to be siphoned out.
So, if that does work, I'd have the 6 gallons in the return(minus the water displaced by my pump) plus the 2 inches or so of water from the display tank which comes out to be about 7.5, it should do a water change of aprox. 13.5 gallons. Which is over 10% of my total water volume. I wouldn't always do it this way, but it just seemed like it would be really convenient as a way to do weekly water changes or so.

That will work. Just wanted to make sure you have done your math.

 

[dnjan]

The way I have it all divided up right now(which may very well change) is only a 6 gallon return. But, correct me if I'm wrong, as I drain the return, won't in drain the tank down to the lowest output? So, say I have a drain that's 2 inches below the water level in the DT, as I drain the return, that excess water will flow into the sump and end up in the return to be siphoned out.
So, if that does work, I'd have the 6 gallons in the return(minus the water displaced by my pump) plus the 2 inches or so of water from the display tank which comes out to be about 7.5, it should do a water change of aprox. 13.5 gallons. Which is over 10% of my total water volume. I wouldn't always do it this way, but it just seemed like it would be really convenient as a way to do weekly water changes or so.

What is the total excess volume of your refugium, skimmer area and return area? By excess volume, I mean unfilled space above the normal, operating water level.
I hope it is a bit more than 7.5 gallons, in case of a power outage ...