Plumbing Diagram and Questions 180G Display 300g sump

[emabie]

ok, I am now getting real close to bringing my system back up and rebuilding since I lost the whole tank in the dec ice storm. I have replaced my former 40g sump with a 55 fuge, 75 equipment sump and 300g sump for extra water volume.

Please take a look at the diagram and let me know what you think. I am looking for feedback on the connection from the fuge to the 75g sump. I would like to keep the 2 of them on the same level above the 300g sump. I plan to run (2) 2'' connections straight across to connect the tanks but I am not sure if this will be effective to get the water to flow through the system.

I like to keep the plumbing as simple as possible to avoid clogs from snails, growth ect so I am thinking only valves on each side of the return pump.

I am open to any comments or suggestions on this setup.

BTW the return pump is a reeflow hammerhead.

 

[JohnK]

I'm not sure how the water would be draining from the 55 to the 75 if they are on the same level?
I wonder if it would be any easier/better to have one drain from the display feed the 55, and the other drain feed the 75.

Also, are you thinking of using the newer 1" squid? I know the older 3/4" ones were a reliability disaster, have you heard reviews on the 1" style? Just curious really...

 

[Reeferer]

I was always under the impression that the drain line should drain to the skimmer first b/c it will work the most effectively. I currently have have a single drain line branched to both the skimmer sump and fuge where most of the water drains into the skimmer sump.
I also was under the impression that the fuge shouldn't drain into the skimmer b/c the skimmer will skim some "good stuff" that is not filtered out from the fuge.
Maybe try splitting the drain lines so one goes to the fuge and one goes to the skimmer and then have them both drain into the sump.
Good Luck!

 

[emabie]

I'm not sure how the water would be draining from the 55 to the 75 if they are on the same level?
I wonder if it would be any easier/better to have one drain from the display feed the 55, and the other drain feed the 75.

Also, are you thinking of using the newer 1" squid? I know the older 3/4" ones were a reliability disaster, have you heard reviews on the 1" style? Just curious really...

I have had really good luck with the 3/4 SQWD and still have one from my old system but I was going to try the 1'' new one as it's rated up to 3,800 gph or something like that.

After some advice from a friend and rethinking it I am going to change a few things and repost a new diagram.

 

[JohnK]

FWIW I would feel much better about using the 1" squid. I took one apart, it looked to be better built, and you CAN take it apart for cleaning

 

[emabie]

ok, Here is my second attempt after some feedback. I now have the skimmer powered by the drain lines from the main tank. I have also split the 2 drains into a total of 4 drains with valves to allow me to adjust the skimmer and fuge flow separately. I have not been a fan of valves in drain lines but I think here it would work as long as I don't close them all off.

This new design also eliminates the horizontal connection between the fuge and skimmer sump.

Let me know what yah all think!!

 

[emabie]

FWIW I would feel much better about using the 1" squid. I took one apart, it looked to be better built, and you CAN take it apart for cleaning

I am glad to hear you can take it apart!!!!

My 3/4 was going for 2 years with no issue. and the one before that lasted at least 4 years as I bought it used.

I think it's a good way to vary the flow patern without using any extra pumps.

 

[rusty18]

My suggestion would be to add some sort of a water change input and output valves off the system if you can. No that I have it I turn a few valves and can complete a change in a few minutes, no lifting, water level variation, or splashing of water.

I also would consider adding in some unions or ball valve unions. If you need to take a tank/sump off line and move anything, etc. it is much easier to be able to unscrew some of the pvc otherwise you have to cut it and then rebuild. I have done both of these and the later is not fun.

 

[emabie]

My suggestion would be to add some sort of a water change input and output valves off the system if you can. No that I have it I turn a few valves and can complete a change in a few minutes, no lifting, water level variation, or splashing of water.

For water changes I will have a small pump in the 300g to pump water to waste and then I keep my water change salt water in brute barrels and I will just pump that back into the sump. I don't have town sewer so I drain my waste salt into the yard and not a drain.

I can't see a better way to do it that would not really complicate the plumbing but let me know how you have yours setup.

I also would consider adding in some unions or ball valve unions. If you need to take a tank/sump off line and move anything, etc. it is much easier to be able to unscrew some of the pvc otherwise you have to cut it and then rebuild. I have done both of these and the later is not fun.

I was planning on using unions, esp on each side of the pump. just did not add them to the diagram yet.

 

[MikeG]

To vary water flow, I would rather use a Oceans motions or a sea swirl if you don't want to plumb it the OM. I have used a few SCWD's and none of them lasted more than about 4-5 months and drastically cut down on flow.

 

[Jocko]

My display tank overflow goes into a diverter valve that normally directs water into a sump tank that has nothing in it and simply overflows into my equipment sump. When I want to do a water change, I switch the diverter valve so the water drains directly to the equipment sump.

The nice thing about this is that it isolates the volume of water in that first sump tank. I can then drain it and make up a new batch, all without affecting the water levels in any other part of the system.

 

[MisFit]

What do you mean by closed sump? Does it have a lid on it? If so I would aerate it, thats a very large volume with what looks like not much surface area.

 

[ljr]

My display tank overflow goes into a diverter valve that normally directs water into a sump tank that has nothing in it and simply overflows into my equipment sump. When I want to do a water change, I switch the diverter valve so the water drains directly to the equipment sump.

The nice thing about this is that it isolates the volume of water in that first sump tank. I can then drain it and make up a new batch, all without affecting the water levels in any other part of the system.

I do exactly the same thing in my system...

 

[emabie]

What do you mean by closed sump? Does it have a lid on it? If so I would aerate it, thats a very large volume with what looks like not much surface area.

The closed sump is an opaque plastic water tank. It won't be completely airtight. It will have holes for the drains in it as well as for access.

I think that with the flow from the hammerhead pump it will have enough movement to not need aeration.

 

[rusty18]

For water changes I will have a small pump in the 300g to pump water to waste and then I keep my water change salt water in brute barrels and I will just pump that back into the sump. I don't have town sewer so I drain my waste salt into the yard and not a drain.

I can't see a better way to do it that would not really complicate the plumbing but let me know how you have yours setup.



I don't know the background but is it bad to pump old tank water in to a septic field? (I assume that’s what you have if not on a town system?)
Do you have a drain line in your basement; is it close to or accessible from your sump? You can use gravity if so and set up a t line off your 300 gal sump to drain the water for a wc.

 

[JayM]

Adding salt water to a septic system is supposed to be bad for the beneficial bacteria that live in the system. It is an issue I will be dealing with myself shortly......

 

[emabie]

Adding salt water to a septic system is supposed to be bad for the beneficial bacteria that live in the system. It is an issue I will be dealing with myself shortly......

I have always thought the same thing and figured why risk the whole septic system as it can be quite costly to fix.

The grass does not seem to mind as long as I don't dump it in the same spot all the time.

Also, I generally pull water from the display tank with a siphon to suck as much detritus off the rocks as I can. I think this makes for a much more effective water change than just pulling water from the sump. It is not as easy as just turning a valve but not to hard.

 

[IPWitan]

curious what the benefit is to have so much water NOT in the display. It just seems like extra water you have to heat/cool. I would think a 55 gal for ref and 75 gal for equip would be enough. Even assuming that both of those only about 1/2 full when in use. I have never heard of someone having such a large (300 gal) reserve air (1-2). For what its worth, that 100 bucks of salt mix just for the reserve. Sorry, I am a cheap bastard.

that being said, I am new to the area and not used to having basements for random things, like 450+ gals on water sitting around...

 

[stingythingy45]

curious what the benefit is to have so much water NOT in the display. It just seems like extra water you have to heat/cool. I would think a 55 gal for ref and 75 gal for equip would be enough. Even assuming that both of those only about 1/2 full when in use. I have never heard of someone having such a large (300 gal) reserve air (1-2). For what its worth, that 100 bucks of salt mix just for the reserve. Sorry, I am a cheap bastard.

that being said, I am new to the area and not used to having basements for random things, like 450+ gals on water sitting around...

I have to agree with this.
Yes it's really nice to have a lot of water in a system to help with parameter/temp changes.
But,this is a little overkill for a 180 gallon.
You may be be quite surprised at what it's going to take to heat this much volume of water come winter.

 

[Jocko]

Well it really depends upon where that extra water is going to be housed. In my case, for example, the basement is very warm in the winter (thanks to all of the old (uninsulated radiator pipes) and quite cool in the summer.