Sump and Plumbing for my 535. Need help

[millerkid519]

Decided I’m going to run a four sock setup with four 7” socks and use seachem matrix as my bio media. I had a few questions for you all.

1. How many liters of matrix should I use for the 535? I’m going to have a decent bio load and want something that can hold up. I have 12 liters being seeded right now in the sump for my 280. Wondering how much more I’ll need. I’ll have some Poret Foam as well but mostly to serve as barriers between sump chambers.

2. Can I run the Laguna 2900 without the big bulky housing? Has anyone done it? It’ll fit way better in the sump area for the pump if I removed the housing but don’t want to compromise the pump.

3. Does anyone have tips on how to drill into acrylic with a diamond edge hole saw?

You don' want to use a diamond whole saw. Just use a regular hole saw that you would use on wood

 

[jaws7777]

Hey bro not sure if you found the black pvc but www.flexpvc.com has some

 

[mrrobxc]

You don' want to use a diamond whole saw. Just use a regular hole saw that you would use on wood

Hey bro not sure if you found the black pvc but www.flexpvc.com has some

Thanks guys. I’m nervous about this. Never did plumbing before in my own.

 

[mrrobxc]

I have never drilled acrylic but have drilled glass. I would highly recommend making a stencil that you lock into place for whatever you are drilling. This way you can focus on drilling and not attempting to keep the drill from sliding everywhere.

Have you started plotting out the plumbing for the ultima yet? Really curious to see some pics of how you do it. I need to start planning this piece but I have several months before my tank comes.

I haven’t yet. I will when I finish doing the back of the tank. Jk47 ha some pics in his new build thread showing his plumbing though.

 

[nzafi]

Thanks guys. I’m nervous about this. Never did plumbing before in my own.

This is why I’m waiting to see how you plumb your filter. I saw jk47s pics but he’s also doing other stuff with his plumbing versus I’ll be going basic.

 

[jaws7777]

Thanks guys. I’m nervous about this. Never did plumbing before in my own.

It's not bad at all man. You dry fit everything and prepare to make mistakes lol.

This site has some useful tips on plumbing. It helped me allot when I didy 1st sump.
Especially those little markings when gluing. Also use lots of unions the more the merrier.
http://www.reefaquarium.com/2012/aquarium-plumbing-basics/

I ordered black fittings from flexpvc.com but forgot to order the black lengths of pipe. Instead of waiting for another delivery I just painted it black. Honestly can't tell the difference.

 

[mrrobxc]

It's not bad at all man. You dry fit everything and prepare to make mistakes lol.

This site has some useful tips on plumbing. It helped me allot when I didy 1st sump.
Especially those little markings when gluing. Also use lots of unions the more the merrier.
http://www.reefaquarium.com/2012/aquarium-plumbing-basics/

I ordered black fittings from flexpvc.com but forgot to order the black lengths of pipe. Instead of waiting for another delivery I just painted it black. Honestly can't tell the difference.

View attachment 1305677

Thank you J jaws7777 !

I did some work on the plumbing today. Finally!

I built the manifold that JK47 designed in his 600. My gluing skills are terrible and I made it look really messy. Oh well.

Where I am really upset and can use some help is with my holes. My drill crapped out on me when I was drilling 1 1/2” holes for my 3/4” bulkheads. When I came back from the hardware store, I used my 1 3/4” hole saw bit and drilled the bottom hole for my manifold bigger than the other top two holes.

Now I’m wondering how I can fix this. The bulkheads are 3/4” bulkheads and the gasket and nut barely cover the 1 3/4” hole. Is this going to work? Or would I need to source a gasket from a 1” bulkhead? It’s the bottom hole of the three in the pic against the far right hand side.

Any advice here is appreciated.

 

[JK47]

Thank you J jaws7777 !

I did some work on the plumbing today. Finally!

I built the manifold that JK47 designed in his 600. My gluing skills are terrible and I made it look really messy. Oh well.

Where I am really upset and can use some help is with my holes. My drill crapped out on me when I was drilling 1 1/2” holes for my 3/4” bulkheads. When I came back from the hardware store, I used my 1 3/4” hole saw bit and drilled the bottom hole for my manifold bigger than the other top two holes.

Now I’m wondering how I can fix this. The bulkheads are 3/4” bulkheads and the gasket and nut barely cover the 1 3/4” hole. Is this going to work? Or would I need to source a gasket from a 1” bulkhead? It’s the bottom hole of the three in the pic against the far right hand side.

Any advice here is appreciated.

View attachment 1306551 View attachment 1306552 View attachment 1306553

I recognize that design haha! Nice work bro. We’ve all been there. I drilled the wrong size whole in all of them in my 600. Get a 1” bulkhead and use that if you want total insurance. A 1” bulkhead will complicate how the manifold fits though, fair warning. If you go that route let’s plan it out first.

Or you can try with larger bulkhead gasket. That’s what I did and have been drop free since day one. I filled the void in the 1” gasket with the 3/4” gasket cut down. It was pretty easy fix honestly.

 

[JK47]

Two more things:
1) If you go the larger gasket route, make sure to support the pipe with straps somewhere. You don’t want lots of pressure on that bulkhead

2) be sure to use a ball valve somewhere prior to where the bottom return is placed. That will be the lowest drain point and it’s at the bottom.

 

[mrrobxc]

I recognize that design haha! Nice work bro. We’ve all been there. I drilled the wrong size whole in all of them in my 600. Get a 1” bulkhead and use that if you want total insurance. A 1” bulkhead will complicate how the manifold fits though, fair warning. If you go that route let’s plan it out first.

Or you can try with larger bulkhead gasket. That’s what I did and have been drop free since day one. I filled the void in the 1” gasket with the 3/4” gasket cut down. It was pretty easy fix honestly.

Thanks Justin. Made too many mistakes so far.

To your point where you said you used a 1” gasket and used the 3/4” gasket to fill the void. What void were you referring to?