Check out the plumbing

[fish_who?]

I just finished the test fit on all the pieces, here are some pics. Any help or suggestions would be aprecieated. I plan on using the solvent tomorrow evening, then Testing the tank on Sunday afternoon. I will be moving the tank next Friday to it's new home (and mine).

Oh, the skimmer is temp, I will start out running both an Aqua C and a CPR skimmer, just til I can afford something better.

If they do not work check out my pics page.

 

[SPC]

Hi Fish, just a couple of suggestions;
1. I would extend your drain further down, I think you will get alot of spashing the way it is set up now.
2. I notice that you don't have your hoses very far up on your hose barbs. What I do is to boil some water, stick 2" of hose in the water for about 30 seconds, and then feed onto the barb. This procedure makes the hose more malleable and therefore easier to work with. Also I rub a tiny amount of vasoline on the end of the barb.
3. Use clamps of some kind on your hose to barb connection. I have not had much luck with supposed stainless steel hose clamps (they eventually rust for me) but instead use either the plastic clamps sold by Two Little Fishies or just a plastic cable tie or two and cinching this up tight.
Steve

 

[fish_who?]

Any more input? I don't want to glue it all together, and have too many problems.

Thanks

 

[Hal1]

This is the first time I've heard someone describe an Aqua C skimmer as a temporary remedy, until they can do something better. I had heard from several threads that Aqua C built good stuff. Is this not the case?

I ask because I was considering an Aqua C EV-180 for my 150gal.

 

[davelin315]

Get rid of the RIO pump - it's bound to fail eventually.

From your sump to your pump, the less hose you have the better (also, the barbs will reduce your flow), as the hose will eventually lose it's round form and reduce flow to the pump. If you can, try and have a rigid connection (usually not very feasible, but if you can do it, do it) as you will not restrict the flow this way. I would rely on the steel clamps, as long as you tighten them enough, you won't have any corrosion, unless they're in a splash area.

I agree with the suggestion on your overflow outlet. However, I would add that you should install 45 degree elbows instead of the 90 degree elbows to aid the flow, and I would just put an extension tube on the overflow to make it level off.

I would also ditch the check valve. Again, it is nothing more than a flow restrictor, and check valves (especially when installed at an angle like yours versus vertically) are rarely if ever foolproof. You can break the siphon in your line (and add a little surface agitation, too) by drilling a small hole just below the water line on your return, and this will prevent your tank from draining down to the return outlet itself.

One final comment, you may want to remove all of your valves that you have inline. Although the overflow one will not restrict your flow (not sure why you would want to do this anyway), the other one will restrict flow and unless you have the pumps T'd off to multiple returns or need to restrict the flow of your pump, there's no reason to use a valve on the line.

 

[fish_who?]

Thanks for the help. Just to answer a few questions.

Hal, The skimmer I currently have is an Aqua C Remora. It is good up to 75 gallon. I also have a CPR backpack that I will use to skim with until I get an EV180. That was my thought at least.

Davelin315, Which pump should I get to replace the RIO, a Sen? I plan on moving this tank next weekend to my new house, so changes are fine now. The Rio actually pumps water to my Refugium which is the blue SeaClear tank on the shelf. Then the Refugium flows back into the sump.
From my sump to my QuietOne pump, there is very little hose. At least to allow the return to come back. Thanks though.
I agree on the 90 degree elbow, but when I put the 45 degree in the begining it would not work. I would have to add a 90 anyway. I think if I have a problem with the GPH passed through, I will get a LG pump or something.
I don't quite understand the hole in the return line. My tank is set up to have the return run back up the overflow, and I have it running to a 2" flat spray.
Overall I think I will probably loose some head, but maybe a bigger pump would take care of it. I will wait to see.

I currently house mostly softies, so the current does not have to be as strong as Stonies.

Thanks for all your input. When the tank is up and runnin' I will post pics.

 

[SPC]

Dave, you must have a source for metal clamps that don't eventually rust? Being in an enclosed area they dont need to come into direct contact with water in order to corrode. There is a true solid stainless that is made that will not corrode, but you have to know what you are looking for to purchase this kind.
Steve

 

[davelin315]

Actually, on the clamps, I just use whatever is handy (I have quite a few lying around, don't know if they're stainless or not) but I've never had one rust in years and years of use (perhaps this is because I have never had my sumps totally enclosed, there is always good air exchange through the open back of my stand and I leave enough room for air to get in and out easily).

As far as a replacement pump, refugiums require very little flow, so you could probably even use a powerhead, but the main problem with RIOs is that the larger pumps tend to burn out quickly and I've even heard of some leaching chemicals into the water (I've never had this happen, but I've always pulled them out as soon as they stopped working) - the smaller ones don't seem to have this problem. I would recommend a mag drive if you're using a submersible, or you could even add a T off your main pump and run it to your refugium. Another possibility that I have never experimented with or used is you could probably pipe some of your overflow into your refugium and use a complete gravity fed system. Logistically, this would probably require you to put your refugium on the other side of your sump, but since nothing is glued yet, this may be feasible. Post pictures when you're all done and let us see what you decided!

 

[MarkS]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by davelin315:
<STRONG>From your sump to your pump, the less hose you have the better (also, the barbs will reduce your flow), as the hose will eventually lose it's round form and reduce flow to the pump. If you can, try and have a rigid connection (usually not very feasible, but if you can do it, do it) as you will not restrict the flow this way. I would rely on the steel clamps, as long as you tighten them enough, you won't have any corrosion, unless they're in a splash area.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have to disagree on a couple of points here:
<OL TYPE=1>
<LI> Flex tubing is far better than rigid PVC. ESPECIALLY at the return pump. It dampens the vibrations from the pump and makes it less noisy. This is the first time I have heard of flex losing it's shape.

I would assume that it would lose it's shape if it was very thin. I am personally using spa flex or more commonly known as white flex PVC. This stuff is just as thick as rigid PVC and I have stood on a piece and it did not even dent. The vinyl that is being used here looks pretty thick and I seriously doubt that it will ever deform.
<LI> I would never put any metal, other than titanium, anywhere near my tank. I would be too worried about then rusting, corroding and poisoning my tank.
</OL>

JMO,
Mark

 

[cat23]

You'd better put some plastic clamps on the hose on those barb fittings and on the pumps!

 

[davelin315]

You make a good point Mark- spa flex is different than vinyl tubing and is designed to stay somewhat rigid and avoid bending too much and losing its shape thereby reducing its flow capacity. It also does not use barb fittings, and is glued directly into the pvc fittings. However, vinyl tubing is definitely not the same, and will lose its shape over time. I have a good example of this in my tank, and if I had thought more about the plumbing before I did it years and years ago, I would not have used the vinyl tubing. It is restricting the flow to my return pump (although this is not such a bad thing since my oveflow just handles the flow as is). If you can switch to spa flex, I would do so, it has a much longer life and is designed to allow unimpeded flow.

As far as the metal clamps, if it's not in the water, it can't leach toxins into the water. I use all external pumps, so the hose clamps I have do not have any chance of polluting my water, as they are nowhere near it. In the pictures, I don't see any opportunity for any of the hose to cause any problems as they are all connected to external in line pumps (with the exception of the one to the refugium, but a small leak there doesn't matter anyway).