Manifolds - Are you running one?

[Reef man 89]

Here are a couple older pics of my manifold setup run by a mag12. I drilled thru the side glass and ran it that way for a cleaner look.

Never seen that before. IMO by drilling threw the side and running the reactors that way looks awesome. I really like that idea!!
Thanks for sharing

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I love the idea of using a manifold to run a hose to "blow" stir up detritus in the sump and other areas for cleaning!

 

[wsalazar01]

I Run a 3 outlet Mainfold.

 

[MapleReef]

My geo’s reef sump come’s with two outlets from a manifold for the bio pellet reactor and refugium inlet. Using a vectra m1 on my total water volume system of 120 gallons. Two more manifold outlets were added for water changes and future growth.

 

[JoshH]

Loving all the ideas here, really proves theres a million ways to do things and not one person goes about something the same way as another.

 

[Moo76]

Just an FYI consideration. Each pump has an efficiency loss. So, running multiple devices off of a single pump as opposed to several saves energy and excess heat in the tank.
I am setting up a new tank and plan to run a manifold. You should still ALWAYS have a spare pump in case the main dies. Need only be able to turn the tank over once per hour until the main can be repaired or replaced.

 

[MapleReef]

Just an FYI consideration. Each pump has an efficiency loss. So, running multiple devices off of a single pump as opposed to several saves energy and excess heat in the tank.
I am setting up a new tank and plan to run a manifold. You should still ALWAYS have a spare pump in case the main dies. Need only be able to turn the tank over once per hour until the main can be repaired or replaced.

Oh defiantly! Like In my case I ran a much bigger pump than is required on my system. Display is 80 gallons and very shallow. I went with a single pump design for efficiency reasons. Also have a spare standing by.

 

[Gino]

This is the manifold that I made for my new 90 gal build, on the gluing process
I will run an UV, a carbon reactor, a nitrate reactor, an spare valve for a Calcium reactor or anything that I might need. The horizontal valve is for in case that I need to return the excess flow back in to the sump and to connect a hose to clean the sump Chambers, closing the return valve just to make a close loop in the sump.

 

[IronVulture]

This is the manifold I put together at first I loved it. After using it though I hated it. I used it to control 2 reactors carbon/gfo, 2 returns to main tank, 1 return to Frag tank and 1 to external skimmer. One of the reactors would start to clog and change the flow to everything else. Honestly the main problem was the skimmer very little change in flow would affect the foam head causing it to not skim or worse to skim really wet upping the potential for an overflow. I find that even juggling 2 reactors is a pain to keep the flow perfect in both reactors. That being said I’m not totally against manifolds. I do believe they can be useful for everything that is non crucial. Chiller, UV, regugium, main return, Frag tank, maybe even just 1 reactor.

 

[Behnken]

This is the manifold I put together at first I loved it. After using it though I hated it. I used it to control 2 reactors carbon/gfo, 2 returns to main tank, 1 return to Frag tank and 1 to external skimmer. One of the reactors would start to clog and change the flow to everything else. Honestly the main problem was the skimmer very little change in flow would affect the foam head causing it to not skim or worse to skim really wet upping the potential for an overflow. I find that even juggling 2 reactors is a pain to keep the flow perfect in both reactors. That being said I’m not totally against manifolds. I do believe they can be useful for everything that is non crucial. Chiller, UV, regugium, main return, Frag tank, maybe even just 1 reactor.

It’s hard to tell for sure but those appear to be shut off valves. A gate valve would give you a much greater level of control than a half turn shut off valve.

I could only imagine the frustration with the skimmer though. That would be extremely difficult to have it constantly change based on if a reactor would get clogged.

 

[Diazcm]

I built this manifold when setting up my reefer 525xl, but ended up not needing to run any reactors.

what's the size of the fittings that connects to the factory return pipe?
3/4"?

 

[Diazcm]

Really?... I just don't see the resemblance

IMG_6030 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

@Broadfield did you use starboard to cut out windows for your controllers and monitors?
also what app do you have on your ipad to see the graphs? Thanks

 

[Broadfield]

what's the size of the fittings that connects to the factory return pipe?
3/4"?

It's a 3/4" MPT x SLIP adapter.

@Broadfield did you use starboard to cut out windows for your controllers and monitors?
also what app do you have on your ipad to see the graphs? Thanks

It is 3/4" MDF that is texture coated. I'm using the Neptune app... not Fusion

 

[IronVulture]

It’s hard to tell for sure but those appear to be shut off valves. A gate valve would give you a much greater level of control than a half turn shut off valve.

I could only imagine the frustration with the skimmer though. That would be extremely difficult to have it constantly change based on if a reactor would get clogged.

Those are true union shut off valves. They are very easy to turn. I can adjust how hard they are to turn with a special tool stored in the handle when I completely take them apart for cleaning. They are not the reason for my frustration with the manifold. As a matter of fact if I had 7 gate valves not only would that manifold have cost me over 3-400 bucks but I absolutely would have had to break it down. I still have the manifold installed but I only use the two returns and feed a Frag tank and a fuge.

 

[Dhoggs]

I have 2 Vectra M1 pumps in my sump. 1 for the returns of my DT and FT. 2nd pump is for my manifold which feeds my chiller, CaRx, gfo & carbon reactors, inline heater and old tank water outlet for my auto water change.

 

[Tim Olson]

I have 3 outputs off my manifold, but currently only use 2 of them. The middle one is for GFO & pre-filter and the right one feeds my refugium. I have a Vectra M1 pump, which has plenty of power for everything.

Also, as you can see, I have to use a lot of silicone tubing, since my sump area is very small and I have to move things around for daily/weekly maintenance. Plus, I end up changing things around fairly often, which make me reluctant to hard pipe everything.

 

[Salty1962]

Here are a couple older pics of my manifold setup run by a mag12. I drilled thru the side glass and ran it that way for a cleaner look.

I like the green!!

 

[Slippin]

Here is my plumbing set-up.
This video was taken right after I finished plumbing my tank.

 

[AMPM]

I use a jebao 15000 to run my 75g display up stairs. It also runs my 30g refugium, a 40g breeder frag tank and a 29g water change/dosing tank. It also runs my gfo and carbon reactors

 

[AMPM]

I use a jebao 15000 to run my 75g display up stairs. It also runs my 30g refugium, a 40g breeder frag tank and a 29g water change/dosing tank. It also runs my gfo and carbon reactors