Hard plumbing and manifold ideas. Post your setup

Gdk414 · Dec 20, 2016

I'm starting to design a plumbing system for my new tank. I'm looking for tips or suggestions on designing a manifold. If anyone wants to chime in and post Thier setup and what they would or wouldn't change that would be great. Thanks

seastar · Dec 20, 2016

I really like the red theme you have going. I went blue in my tank, but you can get red plumbing from home depot and BRS.

Gdk414 · Dec 20, 2016

Thank you. Only wish I had the Ruby trigger sump lol. I'm going to paint the white PVC with krylon fusion.

seastar · Dec 20, 2016

Yeah that's a great idea on the PVC. I considered that on my build as well. Are you looking to run any inline reactors on the return or more going with refugium? I think that middle chamber is for a refugium right?

Gdk414 · Dec 20, 2016

Correct. I will be using the middle for a refugium. I will be using one carbon reactor, one gfo reactor, and a calcium reactor. That is as far as I've planned. You should post a pic of your setup

seastar · Dec 20, 2016

Sure thing! I was kind of saving this for my build thread, and I definitely need to tip my hat to @Broadfield for this amazing design, but here goes. I just set this up but the back two will
be GOF and Rox 0.8 carbon and the front middle one will be bio-pellets. This is a RedSea Reefer tank and we can use that mini tank on the right as a refugium or an ATO - Im going to use it as an ATO in the beginning and maybe a refugium later.

Gdk414 · Dec 20, 2016

That's pretty impressive. How do the reactors stay up? Looks like they are floating on water. I love the staggered placement and the gate valves are nice

seastar · Dec 20, 2016

They hang out a few inches above the water. They stay like that just fine with the hard plumbing, but I am adding some PVC holders for a little peace of mind and to relieve any stress on the PVC for the main line (1") and the three reactors lines (.5"). It's hard to tell in that photo but there is a 1" main line running along the back.

Gdk414 · Dec 20, 2016

That's pretty cool I would have never thought of that. Just make sure they are secure and your golden

Broadfield · Dec 20, 2016

Thanks for the mention @seastar!

I'll post up a few, outside of the stand pics, of mine... so you can get a little better look at it. I designed it this way to be ultra space saving and still be able to squeeze in three of the AquaMaxx reactors, which are fairly large diameter.

IMG_7613 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_7618 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_7661 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_7088 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

fernalfer · Dec 20, 2016

Here is mine. Wanted to keep it as simple as possible and get the best flow possible. I used Ultra Flex PVC. It is just a little pliable so you can get slight curves in your piping.

seastar · Dec 20, 2016

Broadfield said:
Thanks for the mention @seastar!

I'll post up a few, outside of the stand pics, of mine... so you can get a little better look at it. I designed it this way to be ultra space saving and still be able to squeeze in three of the AquaMaxx reactors, which are fairly large diameter.

IMG_7613 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_7618 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_7661 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_7088 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

I still drool over this thing, fantastic stuff there.

mcarroll · Dec 20, 2016

Gdk414 said:
I'm starting to design a plumbing system for my new tank. I'm looking for tips or suggestions on designing a manifold. If anyone wants to chime in and post Thier setup and what they would or wouldn't change that would be great.

I try to be a fan of the KISS principle (less-so of the band) so I like to have a straight shot from the sump pump to the tank return. Maximum efficiency, minimum pump size and operating cost.

Return to display is the toughest pumping job we have in the aquarium. Thanks to the usual combination of flow rate, plumbing size and pumping (head) height it takes quite a bit of power to get the job done.

Return to display is also one of the most critical jobs we have – many of us have a display that depends on the sump for aspects of filtration, but some of us go further and put the display at the mercy of the return pump for heat and in some cases even flow. Too many eggs in one basket means too many simultaneous failures when your return pump fails.

Of course you can try and account for all the possibilities and combinations that would amount to a failure and/or compromise of service, but remember they invented the KISS principle for a reason. Don't design those possibilities into the system in the first place if you don't have to. (Apparently the US Navy makes a big deal about it too and they know something about water!

)

I think all of this strongly suggests the use of the smallest, highest quality pump you can afford. It also excludes attaching other applications (i.e. reactors, et al), which would create a need for a larger, more costly, less-efficient pump.

If you need reactors or other water-powered accessories then use an additional pump or pumps....I'd endeavor to use one pump per application, but obviously that depends on your actual needs and I'm being hypothetical.

I've seen some pretty gigantic tanks get by on a single reactor though – and I get by just using the post-filter bag on my Tunze 9410 – so I also kinda don't get the "manifold thing" too. You might just be doing a manifold to do a manifold....and that's cool too.

seastar said:
I am adding some PVC holders for a little peace of mind and to relieve any stress on the PVC

I would be worried about stress on the reactor lids more than the PVC parts. The canisters really need support so there's no stress on the threaded connection from either direction to be "right". Could be fine since the acrylic looks thick, but I'm positive it's not designed to hang from the fittings like that. Long term? What if you bump them by accident – that's potentially a lot of torque. WWAMWS??? (What Would Avast Marine Works Say)

2¢

seastar · Dec 20, 2016

mcarroll said:
I would be worried about stress on the reactor lids more than the PVC parts. The canisters really need support so there's no stress on the threaded connection from either direction to be "right". Could be fine since the acrylic looks thick, but I'm positive it's not designed to hang from the fittings like that. Long term? What if you bump them by accident – that's potentially a lot of torque. WWAMWS??? (What Would Avast Marine Works Say)

All valid points. I actually talked to them about it and they (Avast Marine) pointed me in the direction of the top connectors. I'll have this in my build thread and will share the outcome either way.

Modell · Dec 21, 2016

Where do you guys buy your gate valves from? I can only ever find the ball valves and I think the gates give you better control. Thanks.

mcarroll · Dec 21, 2016

Online.

I don't recall ever seeing a plastic gate valve for sale anywhere local...not even aquarium shops. Too $$$ and too low of volume I suspect.

chefjpaul · Dec 21, 2016

Here is what I'm working on currently. Elos 120.

seastar · Dec 21, 2016

http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com is where I always get mine. Good price and quick delivery. Try to pick up the rest of your fittings at the same time to save on the shipping.