Officially joined the hobby today!!!

gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/180#post_3364781
Dean the 2 45's done with a small section of pipe wouldn't actually flow as nice as the actual sweep itself.....As Corey mentioned you'll usually find them in the bigger sizes.
FloridaJoe I haven't seen the perforated pipe in ages.
Well how can I make the turn then? The sweeps start at 1 1/2" and I'm using 1" pipe and tees and such for the drain plumbing that I've already purchased.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/180#post_3364725
Cory are the drain pvc pieces in the overflow box
Perforated
If you're refering to the drawing that I made then no, sir, I didn't add those in. I figured we hadn't gotten that far just yet. For the internal plumbing in his overflow boxes I was going to recommend something like the durso system stand pipe for his drains. But the perforated method works as well.
Here's a good example of a duso style system, Dean. http://www.greatlakesaquariums.com/aquarium/overflow-aquarium/built-in-overflow-info.aspx
And I snagged this one, it's kind of the the perforated method that I believe, Joe is talking about. Instead of these screens you can use pvc pipe and cut slits or drill a bunch of holes in them. I don't have any examples to show you though. These are drains for inside the overflows.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Dean, do we know for certain that the bulkeads are 3/4" and 1"?
You can use the 45's if you want to it's just not as efficient. But it's close enough to work fine if that's the way you wish to go.
Got any picks of the material that you picked up?
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/200#post_3364794
Dean, do we know for certain that the bulkeads are 3/4" and 1"?
You can use the 45's if you want to it's just not as efficient. But it's close enough to work fine if that's the way you wish to go.
Got any picks of the material that you picked up?
No pics right now. Camera is out of commission. I know for certain that the drain bulkhead is 1". The guy I bought the tank and stand from had some extra stuff which consisted of an unopened Lifegard bulkhead which read " 1" SLIP B.H W/NT" (basically slip with nut and washer). It was the same size as the drain bulkheads. There are many bulkheads, unfortunately he was adamant about gluing barb fittings in them to connect braided pvc tubing. The overflow system came from ALL-GLASS AQUARIUM company. The pic below is the overflow setup.

Also he gave me the information that came with the setup which clearly states 1" bulkheads for the drain and 3/4" bulkheads for the return.
My purchases at Lowes today included Aquarium Silicone to finish up the sump baffles installment. Also 8ft length of 1" pvc pipe, 2x 1" pvc tees, 2x 1" pvc elbows (for water outlets into sump), 8ft 3/4" braided pvc tubing, as well as pvc cement (I already had the pvc cleaner). Plan was to use the same setup as Corey recommended above. I will be purchasing a barbed wye online which will be connecting to the braided tubing that will run to the return bulkheads. I will be using clamps for the tubing. I will also be ordering a 1" slip bulkhead as well. The biggest obstacle I am facing right now is using the 1" pvc and trying to allow the water to efficiently flow to the sump. I'm being told the 90 degree sweeps are best to use, however the smallest size is 1 1/2". Right now connecting two 45s via a short pipe on each side sounds like my best option. Thanks for all the input guys.

 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by gcgrad http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/200#post_3364860
No pics right now. Camera is out of commission. I know for certain that the drain bulkhead is 1". The guy I bought the tank and stand from had some extra stuff which consisted of an unopened Lifegard bulkhead which read " 1" SLIP B.H W/NT" (basically slip with nut and washer). It was the same size as the drain bulkheads. There are many bulkheads, unfortunately he was adamant about gluing barb fittings in them to connect braided pvc tubing. The overflow system came from ALL-GLASS AQUARIUM company. The pic below is the overflow setup.

Also he gave me the information that came with the setup which clearly states 1" bulkheads for the drain and 3/4" bulkheads for the return.
My purchases at Lowes today included Aquarium Silicone to finish up the sump baffles installment. Also 8ft length of 1" pvc pipe, 2x 1" pvc tees, 2x 1" pvc elbows (for water outlets into sump), 8ft 3/4" braided pvc tubing, as well as pvc cement (I already had the pvc cleaner). Plan was to use the same setup as Corey recommended above. I will be purchasing a barbed wye online which will be connecting to the braided tubing that will run to the return bulkheads. I will be using clamps for the tubing. I will also be ordering a 1" slip bulkhead as well. The biggest obstacle I am facing right now is using the 1" pvc and trying to allow the water to efficiently flow to the sump. I'm being told the 90 degree sweeps are best to use, however the smallest size is 1 1/2". Right now connecting two 45s via a short pipe on each side sounds like my best option. Thanks for all the input guys.


Another option that you could look into is just going with larger pipe and just keep the 1" bulkheads. It may be a little bit overkill but there's nothing wrong with that imo.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by gcgrad http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/200#post_3364889
Hmmm... so 1 1/2" drain plumbing wouldn't be too much coupled with 3/4" return plumbing? Sorry so many questions but once again, this is all new to me. Thanks Corey!
No worries, actually I was just mentioning that even though your drain bulkheads are 1", you could still run 1-1/2" plumbing. The braided hose is fine for the returns. And if you have to use the elbows then so be it. It will all still work in the end. The difference won't be that huge as to lose any sleep over as long as you're not running more than 2 elbows.
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/200#post_3364891
No worries, actually I was just mentioning that even though your drain bulkheads are 1", you could still run 1-1/2" plumbing. The braided hose is fine for the returns. And if you have to use the elbows then so be it. It will all still work in the end. The difference won't be that huge as to lose any sleep over as long as you're not running more than 2 elbows.
I will sleep on it. It would be simple to just use the 2 elbows rather than taking it all back. But I'd like to be satisfied with the final product.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/200#post_3364793
If you're refering to the drawing that I made then no, sir, I didn't add those in. I figured we hadn't gotten that far just yet. For the internal plumbing in his overflow boxes I was going to recommend something like the durso system stand pipe for his drains. But the perforated method works as well.
Here's a good example of a duso style system, Dean. http://www.greatlakesaquariums.com/aquarium/overflow-aquarium/built-in-overflow-info.aspx
And I snagged this one, it's kind of the the perforated method that I believe, Joe is talking about. Instead of these screens you can use pvc pipe and cut slits or drill a bunch of holes in them. I don't have any examples to show you though. These are drains for inside the overflows.

exactly what i was thinking
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Do you have to special order pvc union fittings or will fish stores carry some of those plumbing parts?
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Well guys I'm getting pretty frustrated with this bulkhead deal. Trying to figure out a way to get this plumbing fixed to where I can take it apart if need be. It's honestly giving me a headache. I'm just going to use the bulkheads with the barbed fittings and run braided pvc pipe to them. I'll add tees where needed and ball valves but I can't figure out how to work with the pvc to connect to the bulkhead without the barbed fitting. Thought I could go to Lowes today and find a pvc union that could be threaded on the bulkhead and after an hour realized that it wasn't possible. I think I'm treading in unfamiliar territory and trying to do something I honestly don't know how to do. I think I'm going to just keep it simple and go with something I feel more comfortable with. Sorry guys, I try to implement your techniques but I really just don't have a grasp on it to know what I'm doing. Maybe one day I will, but right now it's very discouraging to get this to work.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Well I put this together for you to try and explain how to set up your drain off your bulkhead. THis is the setup I am using on my 65 reef upgrade. Hope this helps - please ask if you have any more questions.
Edit - Sorry I thought you were connecting to an overflow box like shown, the basic fitting are explained here might help you out a bit.
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Well on a different note I resealed my sump baffles and installed my RO/DI unit. Pretty sweet!

Thanks for the schematic Al, but I swear I was in Lowes for an hour trying to find a slip thread or union that would fit onto the bulkhead. Had no success. It is a 1" bulkhead, but the threaded end is somewhere between 1 1/4" and 1 1/2". I promise I tried every piece I could. While I was there I asked someone in the lighting department where I could find egg crate. They said they didn't have any. Went home and verified that they did, called and talked to the same guy. Described it as plastic egg crate and for light dispersion and he said "oh we have that." Have to try going there again this week and I can start cutting it to use as my canopy for the DT and QT. Again thanks Al but I think I've given up on the pvc. Trying to figure it out has been extremely discouraging so I'm going to resort to using braided pvc with clamps and the bulkheads with the barb fittings. I'm not as hands on as you all so I need to stay within my limits. Thanks again!
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Ok I think this is the problem. You are looking at the threads on the bulkhead as a place to make your connection. This is not right the bulk head has a smooth inner side you make up the bulk head then you can glue a piece of pvc to the bulk head outside or inside the tank by slipping a piece of pvc INSIDE the bulkhead bore then just continue on with fittings and couplings as needed, the threads on the bulkhead are just to make it up to the tank and NOT for a attaching a fitting
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/200#post_3365192
Ok I think this is the problem. You are looking at the threads on the bulkhead as a place to make your connection. This is not right the bulk head has a smooth inner side you make up the bulk head then you can glue a piece of pvc to the bulk head outside or inside the tank by slipping a piece of pvc INSIDE the bulkhead bore then just continue on with fittings and couplings as needed, the threads on the bulkhead are just to make it up to the tank and NOT for a attaching a fitting
Thanks Joe! I realized this once nothing fit the threaded bulkhead. I was speaking on impulse I guess because the more I thought about it the more I wanted to use pvc. After looking at many fittings and unions at Lowes I started seeing how things could come together. I can glue a piece of pipe INSIDE the bulkhead. Then I could proceed with the plumbing. Do they have couplings with 1" inserts and 1 1/2" outlets? Trying to figure out how to use the 1" 8ft length of pvc I purchased along with the 90 degree sweeps that Corey is suggesting in which the smallest size is 1 1/2". Thanks again for your patience guys!
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al&Burke http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/200#post_3365280
Dean, Make sure you buy a slip to female npt adreducing bushing for your bulkhead connection just incase you ever need to take it apart.


Reducing Bushing, 1 1/2" x 1 1/4"

From your schematic I see that you are using a 1 1/2" bulkhead. With myself using a 1" bulkhead I presume that I would need to use a 1" x 3/4" reducing bushing which will fit INSIDE the bulkhead? If so I would need a 3/4" MPT x 1" slip socket to screw into the reducing bushing. Now here is where I'm confused. I can't glue the reducing bushing inside the bulkhead and glue piping into the slip socket. This would prevent me from being able to turn these pieces to allow for easy removal. How do you combat this problem?
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Can you post a picture of your bulkhead. I need to know if the part that is going on the inside of the overflow is threaded and the same on the other side of the bulkhead.
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al&Burke http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/200#post_3365332
Can you post a picture of your bulkhead. I need to know if the part that is going on the inside of the overflow is threaded and the same on the other side of the bulkhead.
I don't believe there is threading on the part which will be on the inside of the overflow. Here is a pic.


Here's an idea I just thought of. Can I just order 1" bulkheads with threads on the INSIDE which I can just screw pvc piping into? I would have had to order another one of the bulkheads shown above anyway. I'm not too familiar with bulkheads but there must be ones to make plumbing rather easy. It can't be this complicated can it? lol
 
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