Plumbing advice

[Joe Shelkey]

Hey all, first post here. You all have already helped a lot over the years, really don't know why I didn't sign up here. Anyway, I've had a few tanks over the years. Had a 120 that separated shortly before moving, so I downsized to a 60 cube. Time to upgrade again and moving up to a 210 peninsula.
It is drilled with 4 holes in the overflow box and 2 in the display area for a closed loop. Now, should I use them as they were designed, seal them up, or maybe split the return and have some flow out of 3 standpipes in the tank? I'll attach pictures as well. Have all the bulkheads on the way and trying to decide the best way to go.
Also, it has a sheet of delrin(I'm guessing) glued to the bottom of the tank. Does this mean I can skip the foam between it and the stand?
Thanks all!

 

[jsker]

Welcome to R2R, lets get some eyes on your question #reefsquad some help please.

 

[KrisReef]

I'd seal up the bottom myself, but if you have a filter and pump for the closed loop that would increase flow in the tank.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Welcome! I'm far from an expert on plumbing but those closed loop holes on the bottom terrify me. I'm not sure how you would go about fixing a future leak on them?

 

[Peace River]

One approach would be to seal the two holes in the main tank and use the four holes in the overflow (one for return and three for a bean animal style drain).

Welcome to R2R! If you are comfortable with it and have time, I would also encourage you to introduce yourself in the "Meet and Greet Forum".

 

[JoshH]

As another option similar to what @Peace River mentioned you could do a Herbie drain and have two returns.

As for the closed loop, you can keep it if you wish just make sure you clean the holes well and install the bulkheads, ideally schedule 80 if you can. If not you can seal them up. Personally I'd keep them but I have 5 holes drilled into the bottom of my peninsula lol

I would also add some kind of foam as well, doesn't have to be thick, just there.

 

[Joe Shelkey]

Thanks all for the replies!
I know it's risky, but if I do keep them is there any benefit to having three returns and not using them as a closed loop?
Any insight on the plastic on the bottom of the tank? It's an A.G.E. aquarium.

 

[Goodair]

You could use the holes in the middle for a return. Have the pipes go up to where you want them to stop draining when they are off, and then rockscape around it. There are caps that will filter most of the bigger material/animals like snails from getting in.

Edit: Depends on your return GPH, might be too much flow.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I agree with Josh, if you want to keep the closed loop holes schedule 80 bulkheads would be great

 

[JoshH]

I know it's risky, but if I do keep them is there any benefit to having three returns and not using them as a closed loop?

Unless they were plumbed to the height of the waterline and maybe covered in rock like mentioned above this would not work unfortunately. When you shut your return pump off the water will drain to whatever height the lowest return outlet is, if this happens to be at the bottom of your tank, well your whole tank is going to drain out into your sump.

Before you go and purchase schedule 80 bulkheads if that's what you're planning on doing. Measure the holes in the bottom of the tank and make sure a Schedule 80 bulkhead will fit. A hole drilled for a schedule 40 bulkhead might not be big enough for a schedule 80 bulkhead of the same pipe size.

As for the bottom I would contact A.G.E directly and get there thoughts on what should go under the tank.

 

[Joe Shelkey]

Unless they were plumbed to the height of the waterline and maybe covered in rock like mentioned above this would not work unfortunately. When you shut your return pump off the water will drain to whatever height the lowest return outlet is, if this happens to be at the bottom of your tank, well your whole tank is going to drain out into your sump.

Before you go and purchase schedule 80 bulkheads if that's what you're planning on doing. Measure the holes in the bottom of the tank and make sure a Schedule 80 bulkhead will fit. A hole drilled for a schedule 40 bulkhead might not be big enough for a schedule 80 bulkhead of the same pipe size.

As for the bottom I would contact A.G.E directly and get there thoughts on what should go under the tank.

Oh yeah, I would definitely have to do some crazy rockscaping.
I'll measure the holes and find out!
I've reached out to them, no reply. I'll try the dealer listed on their website and see if they can help

 

[JoshH]

Oh yeah, I would definitely have to do some crazy rockscaping.
I'll measure the holes and find out!
I've reached out to them, no reply. I'll try the dealer listed on their website and see if they can help

Crazy rock scape is only needed if you decide you want to use the two holes as returns. If you used them as Closed loop holes you could put the outlet at whatever height you want.

And I'm sure someone will get back to you at some point..

 

[jsvand5]

What do you plan to keep in the tank? If sps it might be a bit tough to get good flow to the end of the tank if you seal up the bulkheads (Assuming you don’t want pumps visible on the end of the tank). Might be good to use the closed loop as intended.
I definitely wouldn’t try to use the holes for returns because it would be pretty impossible to hide the pvc and I imagine you wouldn’t want your rock scape the way to the top of the tank

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

Personally I would take square glass pieces and seal them on top of the holes. There are many types of wave makers in the market that are efficient and less costly to run than a closed loop pump. Plus the chance of failure on the bulkhead or plumbing is a disaster waiting to happen. Just my opinion.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Joe, welcome to the R2R family. Glad you finally got herein person!

Personally, I'd keep the closed loop and run a good DC pump with multiply power levels. In fact I just got a return pump that can even do waves or tidal flows. But both lines will need good gate valves so they can be shut off completely so the pump can be removed for cleaning (very rarely needed) or replacement (it happens).

As for the 4 holes in the overflow... good question. I guess I'd do 1 return line, 2 drain lines and 1 emergency drain line. But that's just my personal opinion.

As for the bottom of the tank, even with the extra material under the tank, i'd still do 1 or 2 layers of rubber yoga mat under it. You never know if or when that stand may start to change due to weight, warp, whatever. I had a 6 year old 180g tank set on a rock solid stand with 2 sheets of 3/4" marine plywood and a layer of yoga mat. But it sagged 1/4" in the back and eventually the tank bottom separated from the back glass right in the middle of the tank. Just a 3" gap of silicone blew out and I had a 30gph gusher that was against the wall from the outside and 3 feet from either end... so no getting at it from the outside. Inside the tank had 3" of sand and a wall of rock up the back to nearly the waterline. It made for 5 hours of hell. Lucky for me our house is on a cement slab with a tile floor!

 

[jtl]

Seal the bottom holes and do a Herbie in the overflow and two returns. Add a powerhead on the opposite end and you are ready to reef. From what i see you still need some cushioning on the bottom it doesn't have to be very thick, 1/2" is sufficient. Do a thorough inspection of the seams before you add water.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Sorry for delay, typed earlier but post did not go thru


Welcome to the group.

Everyone gave great options. I always say try to think of the worst thing that can happen and try and prevent it. My worst case thought is if you use the 2 holes in the middle of the bottom glass it is a potential issue. Risk could be very low, but if a seal fails and not home, tank will drain. I hit a drain pipe once, moved just enough to unseat my seal on bulkhead.it started to drain, lucky it was in an overflow.

I would set it up just using the overflow. I would get 2 bulkheads and caps to put in the 2 holes to seal them up. Then like peace mentioned and others, run bean or herbie. My thought herbie to give 2 returns. 2 returns can help with water motion in the tank and will handle extra flow if you crank up the pump.

Either way you can get a build thread going so we can watch progress, and a welcome thread so we can all say hi and throw a bunch of funny GIFs at

 

[JoshH]

I would get 2 bulkheads and caps to put in the 2 holes to seal them up

If you were going to seal up the holes on the bottom of the tank this would not be the most ideal way to do it. The best way to seal it up would be to get a piece of glass the same thickness as the bottom panel and silicone it right over the holes in the bottom (As mentioned above). The bigger the panel the better. Sealing the holes with bulkheads and PVC plugs would essentially be the same as just running it as a closed loop as that is how the holes would be sealed with (bulkheads but no plugs) anyway and pose the same risks, it might be marginally less risky as there is no flow going through the bulkheads so less pressure on them. But I feel the difference is negligible

 

[Joe Shelkey]

If you were going to seal up the holes on the bottom of the tank this would not be the most ideal way to do it. The best way to seal it up would be to get a piece of glass the same thickness as the bottom panel and silicone it right over the holes in the bottom (As mentioned above). The bigger the panel the better. Sealing the holes with bulkheads and PVC plugs would essentially be the same as just running it as a closed loop as that is how the holes would be sealed with (bulkheads but no plugs) anyway and pose the same risks, it might be marginally less risky as there is no flow going through the bulkheads so less pressure on them. But I feel the difference is negligible

So if I seal up the closed loop I need 1” glass? Guess Lowe’s won’t be any help lol

 

[JoshH]

So if I seal up the closed loop I need 1” glass? Guess Lowe’s won’t be any help lol

You might be okay with 1/2" that is a little outside my expertise. The holes aren't huge and there isn't a ton of them which is good. I'll have to yield to someone else to reccomend a more accurate glass thickness.

And the bottom pane is 1" on your tank? Wow. Lol