| Hello. I'm new here and have been enjoying the wealth of information contained in these forums. I am getting back in to the hobby after about 15 years so I am relearning a lot! I will make this as short as possible but my situation is a bit unique and I could use some guidance. I am building a cabinet for our living room and have decided that a reef tank is something that would great on top of it. Our house is a split level so it can be tricky to run plumbing and electric, but I am willing to take on the work. The tank will be viewable from 4 sides, even though one side will be about 8 inches from a wall. The front, back, and 1 side will be in full view. The cabinet I am building will only have about 18" internal height so I will need to plumb to the basement. The tank will be 90 gallon and it measures 48wx18Dx25H. It is drilled in 1 corner with an internal overflow. 2 holes, 1 for return and 1 for drain. Being that the tank will be over the garage due to the set up of my home, it will be a little tricky to get the plumbing to where I need it in the basement, thus requiring a pump that can handle some decent head pressure. I will try to explain the layout as best I can. As stated my sump will be in the basement and an external pump will be necessary. The route the plumbing will travel is as follows: -from pump up the wall 6' -90 degree turn and run 8 feet horizontally above laundry room -45 degree turn and run 2 feet horizontally (actually at a 45 degree angle) -45 degree turn and run 7 feet vertically to the top of the tank My plan is as follows and I am looking for suggestions on how to alter my plan if needed. -40 gallon breeder as sump connected to Iwaki MD70RLT external pump. -Running 1" PVC return to tank, with appropriate gate valves and unions etc to facilitate cleaning and maintenance. I plan to use flexible at the 90 and 45 degree turns. -Running 1" PVC drain from tank to sump using same method as return, probably splitting drain near sump to run through 2 filter socks or something similar. I calculate this to have approx 25' head height in total. Looking at the pump rating it seems to me that I will get approx 680ish GPH through the sump which is about 6 times turnover per hour. Depending on performance I may install a gate valve to slow it down a little or install a manifold of some sort to run other equipment. The tank is used from a friend and currently has no stand pipes in it, just the standard 1" drain and 3/4" return bulkheads I believe. My questions are as follows: 1) will the pipe diameter I am using be adequate or should I increase it to 1 1/4"? 2) will the pump I choose be sufficient? 3) what style drain should I install in the tank? Durso? My wife won't be happy if the drain is loud. I don't want to drill any new holes and I am unsure if tank is tempered. I am sure I'll have more questions, and any help is greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to be as accurate as I could so people can get a good idea about what I am trying to accomplish and where. | |
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Plumbing for new 90G Reef Tank
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rfgonzo
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You could run a Herbie overflow, (silent for your wife) instead of one return and one drain. Have both drain and run your return over the back of the tank with no need to drill.
For return size PVC you can now go with 1-1/2 and use a valve to restrict flow if needed. I would also skip the 90's and use two 45's for less head pressure.
For return size PVC you can now go with 1-1/2 and use a valve to restrict flow if needed. I would also skip the 90's and use two 45's for less head pressure.
Thank you. I thought about a Herbie but I can't have any plumbing going up over the tank. All has to come from underneath. I was going to do either flex PVC for the angles or 45's. I will definitely eliminate any hard 90's
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