Manifold Plumbing

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Hey All,

I'm typically pretty handy, but one thing I am not familiar with is plumbing. I'm hoping to run a gfo + carbon reactor, skimmer and possibly UV Sterilizer from my return pump or overflow. What do you recommend and what does your manifold look like? Would be great to see pictures.

Thank you All

Pic for attention and challenge

 

[Super Fly]

for someone not familiar w plumbing that's a pretty impressive pipe work!!!

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

not my setup, just a pic I found for attention and to meet the challenge criteria

 

[Ron Reefman]

I've done more than a few system builds, even multiple tanks with one sump/refugium. The one helpful comment I will make is; as your photo shows, use gate valves rather than ball valves. It's not a huge deal, but if a gate valve gets sticky or even frozen, they are a PITA. Gate valves offer much finer adjustment and are much less likely to get stuck... especially stuck open! This is the manifold on my last system.

P8270002 by Ron Lindensmith, on Flickr

This is the system.

20170223_155902 by Ron Lindensmith, on Flickr

The 120g DT, stand and sump have been sold. So I am now building a new sump and will be plumbing a new manifold for the 50g cube that used to be tied into the 120g DT system. Currently it's running a sump that is a 35g Brute garbage can with a filter sock and a return pump.

20180622_143629 by Ron Lindensmith, on Flickr

I've finished the sump/refugium build and I'm waiting on a second kitchen cabinet to use next to the one the cube is on. The sump will go in the new cabinet (more headroom) and the ATO tank and electrical will go under the cube.

You can follow along in my build thread (see the link in my signature below). Feel free to go there and ask questions if you want.

Good luck, take your time and try to enjoy the process!

 

[lapin]

Some of my early work What not to do ....

 

[Nms2156]

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

b

 

[Billdogg]

Although using a manifold for running your peripheral equipment is a great idea, I'm not a big fan of using the return pump to do so. You should instead think about dedicating a separate pump to the task. The reason is this - As you take various pieces offline for maintenance or just because you don't need to run them, you will affect the flow rate to the DT. If you are using a Herbie or Bean Animal system, that will then change how they work. I would much rather have a return/drain that can be a "set it and forget it" system. Sure, there is the additional cost of purchasing and running another pump, but at least IMO that is more than offset by the convenience factor.

I have used a manifold from the return on several tanks in the past but was never really happy with the results.

 

[lapin]

I have done it both ways. Each has its own pluses and minuses. Currently I have my manifold running off my return pump. This is not my main source of flow in the tank. I have split off the main return pipe into 2 sections, a main return and a manifold section. All with 2" pipe. A ball valve on each. My pump is throttled back to about 3/4. Most of the water goes back to the tank thru 2 sea swirls (main section). The manifold section is opened ended. The water that does not go thru the reactors goes back to the tank thru another swirl. Turning off a reactor for maintenance increases the flow thru the swirl a little more. It does not seem to do more than put a little more water thru my trickle pipe.(Bean) Raising the level a bit in the overflow box. This may or may not work for you. Now if you have an external skimmer or expect to run a lot of reactors maxing out your pump, I would have a separate pump for sure.