Innovative Marine 100 EXT plumbing

[150 Gallon Reef]

I have a 100 ext being delivered in July. I am trying to do a little homework on plumbing before it gets here.

I planned on using PVC from the overflow box to the sump, and using flexible hose from the return pump to the return lines. I was planning on using a 45 degree tee coming off the return pump, into the return lines. Do I need a check valve for the return lines? Do I need a ball valve also?

As far as the PVC goes, I have been reading using 45's makes less noise than 90's. I was planning on using unions and a gate valve to control the flow for the siphon line, and just straight plumbing the other 2 lines, into the sump.

I have a bashsea sump with no mounted filter socks. Should I buy sock holders to mount? And as far as the PVC drop going into the sump, does the PVC have to be below the water line in order to keep noise and bubbles down, or can the PVC be a few inches above the water line? Thank you for all the help

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

Bump for plumbing help

 

[kyleinpdx]

I have a 100 ext being delivered in July. I am trying to do a little homework on plumbing before it gets here.

I planned on using PVC from the overflow box to the sump, and using flexible hose from the return pump to the return lines. I was planning on using a 45 degree tee coming off the return pump, into the return lines. Do I need a check valve for the return lines? Do I need a ball valve also?

I have a lagoon 50 ext so maybe I can assist. For the return plumbing, it seems to be more common in European reefs to run full flex tubing, me personally, I ran a section of 2' or so then connected it to hard plumbing. This gives you the best of both worlds, the flexible tubing section will dampen vibrations from your return pump and you can still use hard plumbing for manifolds, etc. Your return pump will determine if its necessary to have a ball valve. Without getting into the weeds, most folks do just fine with an adjustable return pump, some pressure pumps or high flow situations need a valve, but I do not run one.

I do not believe in check valves, your sump should be able to hold all of the back flow from the tank, check valves are just another mechanical component to service and to have fail. I dont know when these sprang up in the hobby, but many many tanks have been run without them in the past.

As far as the PVC goes, I have been reading using 45's makes less noise than 90's. I was planning on using unions and a gate valve to control the flow for the siphon line, and just straight plumbing the other 2 lines, into the sump.

I'm not positive on the noise issue, but I tried to utilize 45* instead of 90's where I could. I know BRS supposedly tested this and with the volume and pressure I'm running I'm sure it doesnt really matter but I just cant come to terms with a 90* bend not being more restrictive than a 45* bend. The rest of your plan sounds right on target.

I have a bashsea sump with no mounted filter socks. Should I buy sock holders to mount? And as far as the PVC drop going into the sump, does the PVC have to be below the water line in order to keep noise and bubbles down, or can the PVC be a few inches above the water line? Thank you for all the help

Yes you will want your piping to terminate below the water line, it will be noisy otherwise. As for the socks, I am in the minority in that I dont run any socks. I have a very large pore sponge to collect any large organic matter that makes its way down to the sump, but otherwise I let the refugium deal with it. However, I will rock a sock for a few hours every so often if I stir things up. I dont understand how people run socks 24/7/365 but I know that more people than not run them.

 

[infinite0180]

I just finished plumbing my ext 50 this week. Im leak testing the tank now, so far so good. In my opinion, keep it simple! Ditch the 45s and go for 90s instead, its half the measuring and glueing! Also, grab spigot 90s and use them wherever you can. Hes some pics of mine, i still have alot of tweaking to do but its dead silent and everything fits together nicely!

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

I just finished plumbing my ext 50 this week. Im leak testing the tank now, so far so good. In my opinion, keep it simple! Ditch the 45s and go for 90s instead, its half the measuring and glueing! Also, grab spigot 90s and use them wherever you can. Hes some pics of mine, i still have alot of tweaking to do but its dead silent and everything fits together nicely!

Are you going to be supporting the PVC with anything? I've been reading a little with people bracing the PVC

 

[infinite0180]

Are you going to be supporting the PVC with anything? I've been reading a little with people bracing the PVC

No need in my application. Everything fits together nice and snug. The 90s combined with the eurobracing on my sump are supporting the pipes beautifully. I could see where having two returns on the ext 100 might cause a need for a few supports but that shouldn't be too difficult for you. My suggestion to you is really think it through and draw it out a few times. I was able to eliminate unnecessary unions and fittings by planning. I also left myself spaces incase i ever wanted a manifold or if i needed to salvage the gate valve if i got a new sump. Another tip is make sure you have the sump placement and supported exactly the way you want it before dry fitting pipes. I ended up doing it after i cut pipes and i had to make adjustments. Same with the bulkheads, if i had to do it again, i would set the bulkheads first and leave them alone. There is a few mm of “play” between the bulkheads and glass holes which can actually throw off angles and lengths a tad. Glue whatever you can outside and then when your ready glue the remain parts to the bulkheads on the tank. I really learned alot about plumbing from doing this tank and next time it will be perfect. This time i had some challenges that I could have avoided by taking things a bit slower than i did. I made sure to mark the depth of each pipe into the fittings with masking tape so that when i glued i knew how far to insert it because the glue really loosens things up.

 

[infinite0180]

These are my new best friend:

Schedule 80 90° Elbow Slip x Spigot (Street)

Slip x Spigot (Street) 90° Elbow. PVC Pipe Elbows for your plumbing needs. Use 90° Elbows where a turn is needed. The spigot or street side of these Schedule 80 elbows slides into other fittings and valves to conserve space. More professional look than white Schedule 40 PVC. The golden rule of...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[kyleinpdx]

Are you going to be supporting the PVC with anything? I've been reading a little with people bracing the PVC

I used the shelf in the APS stand as a mounting point for PVC hangers for my manifold. I also did not want all of the weight on the bulkheads/glass.

 

[Nargard]

I just finished plumbing my ext 50 this week. Im leak testing the tank now, so far so good. In my opinion, keep it simple! Ditch the 45s and go for 90s instead, its half the measuring and glueing! Also, grab spigot 90s and use them wherever you can. Hes some pics of mine, i still have alot of tweaking to do but its dead silent and everything fits together nicely!

Crazy. I'm planning my 1st build and this is basically what I am trying to do.

I just finished plumbing my ext 50 this week. Im leak testing the tank now, so far so good. In my opinion, keep it simple! Ditch the 45s and go for 90s instead, its half the measuring and glueing! Also, grab spigot 90s and use them wherever you can. Hes some pics of mine, i still have alot of tweaking to do but its dead silent and everything fits together nicely!

Crazy. I'm in the middle of planning my 1st build and this is pretty much my exact situation. Can you provide me with a list of your plumbing parts? 90's, unions, etc? I will be using your design. Thanks for the great pictures and any info you can provide!