Cali Kid Corals

Let's talk plumbing.....again

FreahSaltyGuy

FreahSaltyGuy

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Ok all, have another question before I really start gluing things together. I was reading the below on reefcentral because it I think describes what I'm looking to do. My 180 gallon reef tank has dual overflows with 2 x 1.5" holes in each overflow for a total of 4. I'm doing something some will call crazy but working with Arvin I'm confident a dual Herbie overflow will work. My question is this, since I'll have 2 emergency overflows, is there ANY benefit going from the bulkhead at the bottom of the overflow that after adding the bulkhead it is a 1" pipe, instead of going 1" can I stepup say to a 1.25 or even 1.5" pipe inside the overflow as well underneath the tank into the sump? I realize the 1" bulkhead width will be my bottleneck but from what I read in the forum below from user: jcolley.

On the return pump I was looking at doing 1" or 1.25" plumbing all the way to the Tee and then from there split to 3/4" or 1" plumbing. I'm trying to not restrict flow from either end the return or the drains.
Any help would be appreciated.

My tank has 2 1" bulkheads, should I step up the drain pipe to 1.5" - Reef Central Online Community

My tank has 2 1" bulkheads, should I step up the drain pipe to 1.5" Do It Yourself
www.reefcentral.com

Thanks!

Mike
 
So having a DC pump do I need a Gate valve or any valve on my return pipe? Also, I bought gate valves for my 2 Herbie drains that I will have, I will not be putting any valves on the emergency drains. Does all this sound correct?

Thank you!
 
FreahSaltyGuy said:
So having a DC pump do I need a Gate valve or any valve on my return pipe? Also, I bought gate valves for my 2 Herbie drains that I will have, I will not be putting any valves on the emergency drains. Does all this sound correct?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
I like having the ball valves on my return so that I can shut off my pump and keep the water in my tank and not fill my sump up completely.

Edit, said gate, meant ball
 
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IMO. ball valves are for open or closed. Gate valves are more for dialing in. If you choose to use a valve in general. Use a good valve. Not the Home Depot ones. Especially if you’re not going to use them often. They tend to freeze up in time and leak.
 
phc567 said:
IMO. ball valves are for open or closed. Gate valves are more for dialing in. If you choose to use a valve in general. Use a good valve. Not the Home Depot ones. Especially if you’re not going to use them often. They tend to freeze up in time and leak.
Click to expand...
Agree. But for the return would you use Gate or Ball if it's just to turn off so all the water doesn't flow back in for cleaning or such? I would imagine Ball correct since I'm using a DC motor to adjust flow speeds. Thanks!
 
I have ball valves on mine. I used the Home Depot ones. They leaked when closed. Then frozen now. I drilled a small hole at right under the water line for a water break. In hindsight valves are useless if your sump is sized correctly and your returns are drilled properly.
 
FreahSaltyGuy said:
So having a DC pump do I need a Gate valve or any valve on my return pipe? Also, I bought gate valves for my 2 Herbie drains that I will have, I will not be putting any valves on the emergency drains. Does all this sound correct?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
In my experience DC pumps aren't controllable to fine enough granularity that you can get complete silence with just them. I believe it takes a bit of tuning between the two.

Additionally, I doubt you'd have your pipes running fully open, at full siphon, all the time. Especially if you're going to run multiple drains. The amount of water volume you'd need your return pump pushing out would be insane for that to work.
 
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