Plumbing the sump question.

[ReeferRick]

Greetings NJRC,

Your help in planning the connection of the sump for my 55g RR tank would be appreciated. First I would like to start by sharing my thoughts on pluming. I would like to glue the bottom of the overflow/return pipes in the tank and dry fit the top vs. a complete dry fit as some suggest. This would guard agents a full tank drain if a pipe comes loose and the overflow box doesn't hold back the water in the tank. I would also use a siphon break vs. a check value because I think the break would be less likely to fail. I would also like to use flex hose for the connection to keep down vibration but I am not opposed to using a rigid PVC stand pipe at the pump (mag 5) to hold the flex hose up and out of the way of the sump. I welcome your feedback on these points.

Keeping things as simple as possible is the goal and my thoughts would be a simple hose to sump for the overflow connected to a filter sock holder since I am planning on a 20g DIY sump. The same with a ball value on the return. Is it necessary to have a ball value on both? Does a union at any point make sense?

Parts for overflow connection: hose clamp, filter sock holder. Parts for return connection: hose clamp, ball valve with clamps, female thread (pump) to hose adapter
Thanks for your help and happy reef keeping!

 

[mnat]

If you are going to hard plumb the return pump in, a union is recommended there so you can clean and maintain the pump without tearing all your plumbing apart. I am not a plumbing expert, so I will lets those people chime in, but I don understand that lol.

 

[magic]

Rick

Are you planning on teeing something off your return pump? I was wondering because you mentioned a ball valve on the return. If you don't intend to do so I'd eliminate it. The rule of thumb is to get a pump as close to your overflows rated GPH without exceeding it. This way you will never pump to much water to your display and flood the room. If you have a single 1" overflow the rating is 600 gph. Figure your headloss and size the pump accordingly.

Bob

 

[ReeferRick]

thanks

Thanks for the feedback. I would expect around 300-400 GPH with the MAG-5 at ~4.5' head height. I have heard that high flow in the sump is not necessarily the best option unless you are relaying on the return to be a major source of flow in the tank. The idea being that sump dwell time is improved. I have a MAG-5 to test with and may change out with a different model if more flow is needed.

After more consideration I maybe over thinking this whole thing. I can use a reducing bushing a barb fitting and some flex tubing to get the job done.