Help with plumbing

[haxjester]

Sorry for asking, but I would just like to make sure before I purchase the materials.

I need plumb my 180 (6x2x2) tank. I'm going to make DIY PVC overflows, and use a wet/dry. I know how to make it all, but what I would like some help on is determining the size of the PVC I should use for the overflows, how many overflows, and how many returns if I use a Mag 24. Also would a Mag 24 be overkill for this tank?

The stand (which I still need to make) will be 30" tall. So the head on the pump will be approx 5ft.

Here's what I'm thinking based on the pipe sizing sticky and the pump specs.... The Mag 24 will put out 1700-1850gph @ 5-6' head, so either 3 1" overflows, or 2 1.25" overflows. And to keep the return from being too powerful, split the return at the pump with a Y then again when the return gets to the water. Am I on the right track?

 

[brianhellno]

If I were you I'd probably go with two 1.5" overflows just to be on the safe side. While that may be more than necessary it guarantees that you'll have more than adequate flow. Either that or like you said two 1.25" overflows but make sure there's a ball valve to control the pumps rate of flow just in case they don't keep up us as much as they should. I've built these pvc overflows and one time a leave clogged the intake and it was just barely able to keep up with the pump. With the extra flow abilities from two 1.5" inch overflows even if one becomes partially restricted or maybe slows down due to gas build up the other will more than be able to handle the job.

Also as far as the pump being too much, that thing will move about 30 gallons a minute or half a gallon a second through the tank at 5 feet of head. I'm not sure if that's too much as far as the fish your stocking or maybe even for a tank that size in general but if that turns out to be too much flow a solution without getting another pump would be to split the return with a ball valve so that some of the water runs back to the sump.

As far as the return inside the tank I would probably make a single return using a spray bar with pvc. That's just what I would do personally but to be honest I'm not sure what you had in mind.

You might have to experiment a little to see what works best but that's kind of the fun part of DIY. Anyways that's just my two cents. Good luck.

Also out of curiosity what are you stocking?

 

[haxjester]

Thanks for the input. I think the original DIY PVC overflow sticky that mentioned going too large with the PVC can cause issues. That's why I considered multiple of a smaller size (haven't found that thread yet again, so I'm not 100% sure what size that was).

A spray bar sounds like a good solution to the return issue.

I'm going to stock bichirs (endli, lap, and ornate), a silver arowana, a lima shovelnose, a spotted/florida gar, 2-3 motoros, and possibly a clown knife. I plan on this being a growout tank for the above mentioned for the next 1-2 years.

 

[greengiant]

personally I would go with the set of 1 1/2 inch piping and the spraybar. I would put in a valve as staited above to circulate some of the flow back through the sump. you will lose a bit of flow efficiency with the pump using a spraybar as it does create some backpressure. the bigger lines will help with the flow especiallyif something plugs a line for some reason. some have even gone and put in an "overflow" line that under normal operation would never flow water but it would spare the tank from overfilling in the case of a plugged line but it would be up to you if you felt it was worth its expense.