Plumbling pipe size for 180 and 120 gallon to a 90 gallon sump?
- Thread starter kevvang08
- Start date
I like at least 1.5" to 2" PVC lines carrying water to my sumps the best, to have enough space to avoid getting clogged up.
and use either 1/2" or 3/4" for returns, and use ball valves to even out flow between tanks, and control velocity. (I usually have had 4 to 5 tanks on each sump.
Drilled or with overflow boxes i prefer larger pipe where things could actually clog things up.
The PVC cap in the overflow box, helps reduce noise.
and use either 1/2" or 3/4" for returns, and use ball valves to even out flow between tanks, and control velocity. (I usually have had 4 to 5 tanks on each sump.
Drilled or with overflow boxes i prefer larger pipe where things could actually clog things up.
The PVC cap in the overflow box, helps reduce noise.
That's the Herbie on Mushrooms. LOL
Anyhow, drains depend on how much you are gonna pump.
I went with two 1.5" drains for my 125.
But it's still dry. Just had it drilled last week.
I could have gone bigger, but the LFS is just running two 1.5s on it's 150g 500gph SW system. It's been up many years.
On my 55's I have one 1.5 and it's only got a 365gph, so overkill again.
Temporarilly I ran a 250gph system on a single 3/4" drain and it was fine.
I checked it every day too! One mystery snail = wet carpet with that system.
They get through the strainers and grow in the tubing.
I am not addressing head heights or number of fittings here. If they are abnormal everything changes.
Anyhow, drains depend on how much you are gonna pump.
I went with two 1.5" drains for my 125.
But it's still dry. Just had it drilled last week.
I could have gone bigger, but the LFS is just running two 1.5s on it's 150g 500gph SW system. It's been up many years.
On my 55's I have one 1.5 and it's only got a 365gph, so overkill again.
Temporarilly I ran a 250gph system on a single 3/4" drain and it was fine.
I checked it every day too! One mystery snail = wet carpet with that system.
They get through the strainers and grow in the tubing.
I am not addressing head heights or number of fittings here. If they are abnormal everything changes.
I have had this same thing happen with thin PVC, flow to sump plumbing.
It doesn't need to be a Mystery snail. even one rams horn or cone snail, even a small dead fish or plants in the wrong place that gets stuck, debris builds up around it, and the tank(s )over flows.
Even 1.5 " needs regular checking, I had a pair of cichlids start to spawn, and overnight they tore up plants, this was the result, and its a 1.5" drain. Luckily I caught it first this in the morning, luckily the 1.5 allowed enough flow and, saved my a.....
If I wouldn't have noticed, by mid day there may have been a flood.
Oh yeah! That snail egg snot is like Elmer's glue, and it clogs up a small pipe even without the veggies.
I do 1.5 inch durso and a 1 inch stand pipe . The 1 inch standpipe is your fail safe just make it a little taller than the durso. 3/4 inch return.
How many overflows ? Is it an hob overflow or internal ?
Sizing the main drain isnt as important as sizing the emergency drain imo. Also are you planning on doing a full siphon or gravity fed main drain ?
Hey man have you tested the emergency drain ? Depending on how much gph your throwing at the 1.5 durso that emergency may not handle the flow ?
If you plan to use a pump that is 1300gph with no head, you may not need to go any bigger than 1". But as mentioned above, there are benefits with larger diameter, I wouldn't go bigger than 1.5" for your case. What I noticed is that with larger plumbing, and the pump that isn't comparable, you end up closing the primary drain quite a bit and may defeat the purpose of the larger pipe.
Wouldn't you know it? Today for the first time I found a mystery snail in my clear PVC siphon. He wasn't going up and he wasn't going down. He just bobbled there about halfway up the tube to the bend.
Can you imagine a mystery snail flow meter? Or maybe it's a mystery snail barometer?
Anyhow,I flushed him down into the sump and then recovered him.
I decided that I wanted a 1.5 inch ABS drain on my 75 gallon tank to after this. It will make snail extraction easier as I just have to open a one and a half inch valve and they will come out.