Hooking up an external pump

[crashinc25]

I bought a 180g and in the process of hooking it up. I just posted about the standoff pipes and need help with the pump it came with.

The pump is a Reeflo Dart 3600gph external. Apparently, it was hooked up to this tank at one time, but I just got everything disassembled. The pump has 2 built intake/output assemblies; #1 is 3/4" PVC & #2 is 1 1/2" PVC.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ports are 2" FNPT suction and 1.5" FNPT discharge, per manufacturer.
What goes where? Should I rebuild it?
Thanks,
Rob
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[CHOMPERS]

As far as rebuilding, if it ain't broke...

FNPT just means female pipe thread. You will find two types of pipe thread at HD or Lowes; pipe thread and hose thread which is like that on garden hoses. The N stands for National but I don't know why (not like it matters).

The suction port is on the end opposite of the motor and is inline with the shaft of the motor. The output is perpendicular to the shaft of the motor; on most pumps it point up.

A picture is worth a thousand words and in addition to describing what you have, how about posting some pictures. It will help tremendously. I am not sure what you mean by the four different sizes. I understand the pump sizes but don't know what you mean with the other two.

 

[CHOMPERS]

I understand this.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ports are 2" FNPT suction and 1.5" FNPT discharge, per manufacturer.
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I don't know what you mean by this.

The pump has 2 built intake/output assemblies; #1 is 3/4" PVC & #2 is 1 1/2" PVC.[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[crashinc25]

Here are some pics. Hope they help.
Photos of the tank and the pipe assemblies.
The pump is in the picture along with both pipe assemblies as I described. The 1 1/2" PVC is vertical. Both pipe assemblies have the fittings for the pump.
Hope all these give you a better idea

 

[CHOMPERS]

I understand what you mean by "rebuilding it" now. You will find that the plumbing is unsuitable for aquarium use. I'd put money on it that the set up changed hands a few times. Actually, I am at a loss because this plumbing goes over the top of the aquarium when there are bulkheads available. Do you have all four bulkheads, btw? Also, did you get a wet/dry with the deal? What other equipment did you get with it?

To clean up the scale and coral deposits, use muriatic acid and do not scrub it with anything. Acrylic is very soft and scratches easily. If you clean it with a cloth or sponge and some of the scale gets in the cloth or sponge, the scale will scratch the acrylic. Btw, muriatic acid will produce nasty fumes so have a good fan going before you start.

In the last pic, the 1.5 inch plumbing is the suction side and it has the half of the union that is suppose to go in the pressure side of the pump. Put that in the pump and then put the plumbing on the pump. It will give you insight what the last guy was thinking. It appears that the water was drawn over the edge of the tank and then pumped right back over the edge of the tank. If this was only used to supplement the current, then it makes sense. But then you should have gotten another pump (with the wet/dry filter and protien skimmer).

 

[crashinc25]

I have all the bulkhead fittings (4). I actually have 3 Ocean Clear filters I was going to run inline to keep this filtered. OC #1 filled with maybe lava rocks or ceramics or the OC beads, #2 is the pleated filter w/carbon if needed (probably not). I have #3 just in case. I have 2 wet/dry's on their way, but I have no idea what size they are or anything about them (bought them for $20.00 each on craigslist). I was thinking durso's in each overflow connected together and then run through the filters and back in the tank via the overflow inlet? or over the top?
Thanks

 

[CHOMPERS]

I'd put the returns through the overflows to keep everything looking clean. And by keeping all of the plumbing in the tank, you can keep the tank and stand up against the wall. It looks much better against the wall rather than standing away from it because of external plumbing.

The order you should set up the equipment is tank>wet/drys>pump>Ocean Clears>tank.

 

[aropal]

FNPT just means female pipe thread.

Not sure about that. Might be they actually mean: NPTF which is the national pipe tapered thread standard in the US for hydraulic connections. Like y' might find on a pump.

Here's a link with a picture to distinguish the difference:

http://mdmetric.com/tech/thdform3.htm

This is of course only for US standard threads which is fine so long as your equipment is made in the US.

 

[CHOMPERS]

FNPT just means female pipe thread.... ... The N stands for National but I don't know why (not like it matters).

http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/FNPT

Acronym Definition
FNPT Female National Pipe Thread





Btw, I have seen that parallel thread before. Now I know why taping it didn't work I also didn't know that there were three different types of pipe thread. Still, we don't have to worry about any specialty thread showing up at Home Depot

 

[aropal]

http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/FNPT

Acronym Definition
FNPT Female National Pipe Thread

Btw, I have seen that parallel thread before. Now I know why taping it didn't work I also didn't know that there were three different types of pipe thread. Still, we don't have to worry about any specialty thread showing up at Home Depot

Probably correct about department stores in most cases being unreliable but similarly I'd not trust a free dictionary against every engineering site on the web which describes NPT as National Pipe Taper and NPT F (where the F stands for fuel strangely) for all pressure applications like pumping.
http://www.britishmetrics.com/html/abbrev_4.htm

I figure if they can't get the Taper bit right then they probably can't be relied upon for the rest of the acronym. My guess is this site is showing colloquial defintions as well.

My only concern is that this pipe fitting will be the one piece of equipment in the department store with pressure grade NPT F fittings and it will turn out not to connect reliably when the standard NPT fitting is used. Best to do a visual comparison whilst there's the possibility these acronyms are being used colloquially.