Cali Kid Corals

Custom Plumbing Help?

MarcosDelgado0

MarcosDelgado0

Supporting Member
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Hello,

I am getting a custom aquarium built and this would be my first tank with a sump and I’m not very familiar with plumbing. I was wondering if anyone could take a look at this draft mock-up and let me know if there’s anything that stands out that could be a potential problem? The display tank would be about 135 Gal with a 200 Gal system volume.

Any advice or input would be appreciated, thank you!
 

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MarcosDelgado0 said:
I’m not sure I can ask thought. @Meshmez do you know what the valve is intended to do?
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The only one needed for functionality is the gate valve. Looking back at the original bean animal writeup the ball valves (he had one on his emergency drain as well) were "for versatility if needing to isolate the lines"

Newer diagrams seem to only have the gate valve
 
Meshmez said:
The only one needed for functionality is the gate valve. Looking back at the original bean animal writeup the ball valves (he had one on his emergency drain as well) were "for versatility if needing to isolate the lines"

Newer diagrams seem to only have the gate valve
Click to expand...
Okay I understand. For this particular setup how would I find out what size return pump I need? I ordered a Vectra M2 but now I’m not sure
 
Figure out total turnover you want for the tank (usually in multiples of tank volume/hour) and get a pump that matches that. Just make sure you factor in manifolds, etc with it.

An M2 is up to 2,000 gph, so that should be sufficient for you.
 
SupraSaltyReefer said:
What company is building your custom tank?
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I’m using a manufacturer from Alibaba so it’s coming directly from China. The company that I’m buying the tank from says they’re the same manufacturer as Waterbox. I found someone on Reef2Reef who purchased from there and they had a good experience so I decided I’d try it out since it’s a good discount compared to Waterbox. If anything goes wrong I made sure the order has TradeAssurance from Alibaba and you can get 3rd party inspection and I also payed via PayPal.
 
Will you have access behind the tank? The check valve on the return line looks to be behind the tank, making it hard to access. They get gunked up and need maintenance. Me personally I don't care to use a check valve and instead make sure the sump can handle the backflow capacity. Also put a small hole in the return nozzle line to break any siphon.
 
CaseyP said:
Will you have access behind the tank? The check valve on the return line looks to be behind the tank, making it hard to access. They get gunked up and need maintenance. Me personally I don't care to use a check valve and instead make sure the sump can handle the backflow capacity. Also put a small hole in the return nozzle line to break any siphon.
Click to expand...
This is how my system runs too. Check valves are a choke point for things to get stuck like a chunk of algae.

I would not glue the downpipe of the overflows as they gunk up with life over time and it is nice to be able to take them out to clean.

I would test fit the flexible line you are planning on using before buying anything else. I tried to design my freshwater with flexible line and it always wants to kink and choke the flow down. Consider hard plumbing the high pressure/pump end too. I get next to no noise from my main pump (Vectra L1) and it is hard plumbed.

Most importantly in my opinion. Consider what and how you are mounting the plumbing to. Many tanks use some sort of metal strap to make sure the weight of the plumbing is held up by a wall or the stand and not by a gasket in the overflow.
 
MarcosDelgado0 said:
I’m using a manufacturer from Alibaba so it’s coming directly from China. The company that I’m buying the tank from says they’re the same manufacturer as Waterbox. I found someone on Reef2Reef who purchased from there and they had a good experience so I decided I’d try it out since it’s a good discount compared to Waterbox. If anything goes wrong I made sure the order has TradeAssurance from Alibaba and you can get 3rd party inspection and I also payed via PayPal.
Click to expand...
Nice, I know a lot of the well known aquarium brands have their tanks manufactured in China and shipped to other countries for distribution. Looking forward to your experience and build. Good luck!
 
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