Sump and Plumbing for my 535. Need help

[JK47]

Thank you once again JK47 !

I’m going to go with slip x slip bulkheads where I can and go with slip elbows to minimize issues with having to buy male thread x slip connectors and having more potential issues given my immaturity when it comes to plumbing.

I’m going to place union ball valves on the downpipes at the bottom of the tank like you did along with adding unions just underneath the elbows at the top of the downpipes right after the bulkheads. I’ll also do Union Ball Valves on the returns right as the piping redhead behind the tank on its way up to the top.

The under tank plumbing to the sump/ultima, and the plumbing from the filters back to the tank I’m going to worry about later. I was up all night trying to make sense of all this and want to break this down into chunks.

Lastly, I noticed you and pacu mom like to drill your returns from the sump into the ceiling of the tank as opposed to the back. Is that beneficial versus having the returns drilled to the back, high up, with the nozzles pointing to the top?

I have tanks both ways, some with both on the same tank. I do that often because of ease of drilling or making use of a pre existing hole.

I do prefer over the top because I keep rays who mess with everything. You don’t want your loc line or returns capable of being pointed up and outside the tank. That’s would be a disaster. That’s why loc line sells in 6” sections. Most know this as well and the short lengths make it impossible.

 

[JK47]

Thank you once again JK47 !

No worries at all! Happy to help. Love this setup already haha

 

[pacu mom]

Our 300 gallon tank has holes on the top of the tank next to the overflow box. The return pipe comes up through the overflow box, makes 2 bends, and enters the tank through the top of the tank. I believe it was designed this way so all plumbing could be hidden under the canopy with no pipes showing in the tank. Of course, with all the vertical pipes we have for mechanical filtration, we blew the "no pipe showing" thing.

I am glad we drilled holes on the top of the tank, as our big brutes have broken three bulkheads. If our bulkheads were on the back of the tank, we would have had floods each time. With the holes on the top, we just sucked in air.

When the big tank was built, I had them put in eleven holes on the top of the tank for my mechanical filtration.

Our brutes broke off a high uptake in the corner of the tank last year. We replaced by sticking a long piece of PVC pipe through the hole. It actually works better than using bulkheads as there is a little more play in the pipe. I wish I had known this before I made my eleven mechanical pipes to use with slip/slip bulkheads. I put in way too much time making my pipe trees to not use them. I'm sure we'll be breaking a few more bulkheads, and I'll replace them with running the pipe in the hole with no bulkhead.

I think most people do not have brute fish capable of ramming a high uptake and breaking it off For us, placing bulkheads on the back of the tank would probably result in floodwaters WHEN the bulkheads broke. With our big fish, it is not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

 

[nzafi]

I find amusing how one member prefers to have returns connected to bulkheads and another does not. Small example of how many ways there are of doing things

mrrobxc loving this thread because I am not handy at all and you are going a very similar direction as me. You are ahead of me of me though. The way I think I will go is with the following:
- 4 1.5 intakes that are hidden behind 2 corner HMF filters (2 intakes per corner).
- One intake per corner will be used for my auto drip
- One intake per corner will be used as a dry pipe for me to run electrical and air tubing so no one ever sees it. This is tricky because you need to make sure your water level never reaches it and causes a flood (may skip on this)
- 2 1.5in intakes in the middle of the tank bottom connected with low profile strainers. This is to get lots of suction and minimize distance to the filter. Prefer this over running intakes over the back
- 3 3/4 returns. I will probably run these over the top like others proposed. My tank is going up against a wall but I think I will have enough room to run these behind the tank.

One think you should think about is how you want your flow, as that can impact how you do your intakes/returns. My plan is to have outakes push water against the opposite end and down towards that intakes. JK47 had a really nice approach but I won't have that kind of space behind my tank.

 

[mrrobxc]

Thank you everyone. I appreciate the input.

I am still playing around with my cart at Bulk Reef supply. Man those union ball valves in 2” are expensive! I didn’t think the plumbing would run me that much. I was wrong.

I am going to do my sump returns over the top. I’ll get a ball valve from my laguna 2900 connected to a tee that will feed into some soft piping to put two returns on the top of each corner in the tank. I could use some help on pipe diameter for the laguna 2900 return and the hose diameter for the split lines for the returns. Also, how big a hole should I be drilling?

Also, I’m wondering from my intakes if I should put the union ball valves up at the top and put in unions on the bottom. Is there any benefit to where you place the union ball valves? I want to be able to simply screw the pipes out altogether if I have any issues anywhere. Wondering how much this matters.

Also, I razored off most of the silicone. This guy had it everywhere inside and out. I made some scratches with the blade that I can’t buff out with novus 2 or 3. I removed a lot of paint since the silicone wasn’t giving. I figure since I’ll be repainting the back I won’t notice the scratches. I only want my sides and front to be polished. Again, novus 2 and 3 don’t clear the scratches out. If the thin ones. Annoying.

I did some seam repair too that I’ll post on my other general thread for this tank.

Here’s what the back looks like now.

 

[mrrobxc]

So as the night drew to a close I placed a ton of orders. The Holiday weekends always get me. The Presidents Day sale was the excuse I used to bite the bullet and get my equipment. I have a laguna 2900 on order to power my sump. I picked up a reeflo hammerhead super dart/snapper gold for the closed loop with an Ultima II 2000 to pair it with. Also picked up a ton of plumbing bits that I can’t find in the local hardware stores. Had no idea that plumbing pieces are so damn expensive. I haven’t even bought all the pieces and I’m shell shocked.

I’ll run the intakes for both the Ultima and the Sump from the existing holes that will be on the right side of the tank. Returns for my sump will go over the top into the jet adapters and will be placed in the top two corners. The return for my Ultima will go on the far left side to a manifold idea that I completely stole from JK47 . I’ll add a strong power head or two for more flow But that’ll have to wait for a while. Maybe Labor Day if I’m lucky.

Once I get all the plumbing bits, I’ll be back to ask questions as there are still a few question marks I have on where tk position the unions and the ball valves.

Thanks again everyone for the help!

 

[mrrobxc]

Btw, all my proceeds from the sale of all my stuff when I moved from Philly is officially gone. I’m broke!

 

[nzafi]

Very excited for you! Really curious to see how you do the plumbing. Did you go with loclines or something else for your returns?

I am in a bit of a holding pattern for now. I have to wait for some financial investments to clear before I can actually order my stuff. Very frustrating as I am roaring to go but it could take 1 more month or it could be another 4 months

 

[jaws7777]

Btw, all my proceeds from the sale of all my stuff when I moved from Philly is officially gone. I’m broke!

Been following along. Looking forward to seeing this all come together

 

[Woefulrelic]

Not long now. It helps you've already purchased some stock, not cheap to fill a tank that size with wild fish. Driftwood might be another big expense down the line, I can't imagine you want to try stacking it like you've done previously. You know more about driftwood than I though.