Sump plumbing

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nihoa

Guest
i have a sump/fuge built but im having trouble figuring out where to put my return pump. the first diagram is the sump/fuge side on and i am trying to decide between placing the return pump at position a or b. the second diagram shows it from above. im wanting to make a small overflow to protect the powerhead from getting clogged w/ algae and crud.
i think position b makes more sense as it would pull water across the refugium but it makes the return plumbing longer. postion a seems like a 'slicker' spot but im worried that water from the overflow coming from the skimmer will get sucked straight into the return without much flow around the refugium. thoughts?

 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
i would have my influent from my tank go to my refug, then feed into my sump and put my return pump in my sump
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Looks like you have the best for information here in Joe.
He has spent most of his life in damp dark places and knows sumps as well as he knows, ah, wiskey!!!
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2953969
Looks like you have the best for information here in Joe.
He has spent most of his life in damp dark places and knows sumps as well as he knows, ah, wiskey!!!
From the depths of Hell I strike at thee Henry
Thanks Khann
 
N

nihoa

Guest
yeah ill post pics. another quick question tho ~ i bought a couple ball valves to control flow to and from the tank and what i bought are made of brass for the housing and the valve inside is made of stainless steel. is the brass alright in saltwater?
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Nihoa
http:///forum/post/2954013
yeah ill post pics. another quick question tho ~ i bought a couple ball valves to control flow to and from the tank and what i bought are made of brass for the housing and the valve inside is made of stainless steel. is the brass alright in saltwater?
umm How are you going to connect them are they threaded valves, I would go totally PVC and save a lot of money
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2953969
Looks like you have the best for information here in Joe.
He has spent most of his life in damp dark places and knows sumps as well as he knows, ah, wiskey!!!
Actually my good friend Henry its Gray Goose vodka, Hendricks gin or Martin Miller gin
 
N

nihoa

Guest
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/2954346
umm How are you going to connect them are they threaded valves, I would go totally PVC and save a lot of money
i didnt buy the threaded, they are smooth. i went with the brass cus they didnt have any pvc which was what i was hoping for.
 
N

nihoa

Guest
i have no idea what you mean. i put some silicon on the pvc before i pushed and slammed it into the brass ball valves. i actually had to dremel the pvc a little bit to get it to fit and then i sealed it all up with silicon.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc.
Melt copper, melt less zinc .
Bring them together. Stir and let it cool down.
You get nice brass.
However not good for saltwater tanks. Get your brass out of there.
 
N

nihoa

Guest
alright, i found a guy in town that had pvc ball valves so im switching them out. i will post pics when i get it back together.
 
N

nihoa

Guest
k, got some photos. i replaced the brass with pvc ball valves and ran it and it worked. but ive realised i made a couple errors and i need to improve my design. first, i stupidly put the return pump on the bottom of the sump to make the plumbing a bit easier but of course this would give me serious overflow issues in a power outage. i also didnt realise that your return acts as a syphon when the pump turns off! hahah. so the return needs to not go into the tank so deep. and on my syphon i need to add some supports to help with the weight.

the other thing we are noticing is that the hang on skimmer on the end of a sump means the return water has quite the drop and it makes a bit of noise. for now i kinda like the sound of trickling water but i have the feeling its gonna get old.

these are my pipes. i love my syphon. i dremelled out the inside of the top so i could fit an old powerhead cover on it. i also dremelled out the inside of a 3/4in coupling that allows me to slide it down and elongate the syphon in the tank if the water level gets low. kinda thought that was cool too.

so is there more to be done to pimp this out?
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Nihoa
http:///forum/post/2955431
k, got some photos. i replaced the brass with pvc ball valves and ran it and it worked. but ive realised i made a couple errors and i need to improve my design. first, i stupidly put the return pump on the bottom of the sump to make the plumbing a bit easier but of course this would give me serious overflow issues in a power outage. i also didnt realise that your return acts as a syphon when the pump turns off! hahah. so the return needs to not go into the tank so deep. and on my syphon i need to add some supports to help with the weight.

the other thing we are noticing is that the hang on skimmer on the end of a sump means the return water has quite the drop and it makes a bit of noise. for now i kinda like the sound of trickling water but i have the feeling its gonna get old.

these are my pipes. i love my syphon. i dremelled out the inside of the top so i could fit an old powerhead cover on it. i also dremelled out the inside of a 3/4in coupling that allows me to slide it down and elongate the syphon in the tank if the water level gets low. kinda thought that was cool too.

so is there more to be done to pimp this out?
I am a little confused about the divider in the sump/refug
 
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