Central Filtration

[Danger_Chicken]

I answered in your quote

EDIT: Looked around, and got yet another great idea:

What if i put a valve before each of the tanks, except the 240, to control the flow rate? That way i could fine tune each tank, with the extra running into the 240? That way i can adjust each tank to its exact needs, circulation wise

That's what I was thinkging about doing. It's also the same idea as using a manifold. There is still the problem of tanks with different water parameters like PH and Temp.

You'll lose gph from head pressure too, also every T and elbow creates resistance and restricts and slows down the flow. I use two of these on my tank a 2400 and 950 (sump is far from tank, lots of plumbing, twists, turns, and hills to climb)
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/11736/product.web

 

[badisbadis101]

Okay. So lets say i use the 1800 GPH model you used above. I will probably be pumping it 4 feet up from the sump, more or less, which would give me around 1300 GPH according to the chart at the site you linked to. The 240 will only have 2 - 3 feet of head height, so more water would go there, i would think. My sump will be no more than 5 - 6 feet from any of the tanks, so there shouldnt be too much loss. I have 2 NEW layouts in mind, and i have illustrated both below. Both diagrams only show the return pipes, and the red boxes are valves. Which one looks to be the best arrangement? Or is there an even better one?

 

[WyldFya]

I answered in your quote

EDIT: Looked around, and got yet another great idea:

What if i put a valve before each of the tanks, except the 240, to control the flow rate? That way i could fine tune each tank, with the extra running into the 240? That way i can adjust each tank to its exact needs, circulation wise

One big problem with using ball valves is that they clog, and when they clog, they are a pain to clean. For some reason ball valves clog much easier than T unions.

 

[badisbadis101]

If only clean water from the sump is pumped through them, are they as likely to clog? If they need cleaned once or twice a year, that is fine with me.

Also, is there any other option for regulating valves than ball valves?

 

[Danger_Chicken]

Here's a pic of my plumbing (not to scale). The return has a total of 13 direction changes for the water. I'm guessimating that the 2400 is only getting 1000-1200 back to the tank, it's 1.5" pvc. Its a 5 foot head. All of those turns were to snake its way around things I couldn't move like the furnace and water heater. I'm only running a 220gal.

 

[WyldFya]

If only clean water from the sump is pumped through them, are they as likely to clog? If they need cleaned once or twice a year, that is fine with me.

Also, is there any other option for regulating valves than ball valves?

Running all the returns with T's will help regulate the water flow. Of course you would need a larger pump to run it this way. Ball valves can need cleaning quite often, and even though the water looks clean, that doesn't mean it won't still clog the ball valves. Mineral deposits can cause quite the problem around the ball valve (big problem here).

 

[badisbadis101]

Okay - so T's are probably a better way to go. Is there a way to calculate how much flow will go each direction in a T, given the pipe length, diameter, etc?

 

[Pharaoh]

Crazy though here. Since you are not going to be running too many tanks, you could put couplings in the pvc right before the ball valves. If they clog, you can take them right off to clean. You could even have an extra ball valve on a coupling to swap them out. Just a thought.

 

[fishdance]

PVC Ball valves are made the same diameter as the fitting so there is no constriction. If they block then just open them up a few seconds to flush them out. Keep them on an open loop so there is equal pressure on the main line to all valves. Similar to a central airpump.

 

[badisbadis101]

Okay - so ball valves it is then. One questions though - what do you mean by an open loop?