Plumbing for a 12 foot tank, please help

bergman58 · Sep 24, 2017

Hi,
im building a 12 foot by 2.5 foot by 2.5 foot tanks with a 9foot by 2 foot sump.
Im considering having 2 weirs with an drain and return in each.
the problem is i dont quite know how to run the plumbing and the returns.
My previous tank had the return line drilled into the back of the tank but i would like to avoid it if possible.
I will not be having a closed loop.

Can you all share how you did your plumbing?
cheers

Daniel@R2R · Sep 25, 2017

AWESOME! Can't wait to see that build happen! I'll tag the #reefsquad to see about help with the plumbing questions.

Maritimer · Sep 25, 2017

Welcome aboard, Bergman58!

My tank's only half that length, but has a similar layout - one drain, one return in each of two overflows. It works, but would likely be both quieter and easier to tune if there were either two drains/one return ("Herbie") or three drains/one return ("Bean Animal") in each overflow.

I find that with the flow I'm running, one drain/one return per overflow ("Durso") was difficult to tune in without sending a ton of bubbles into the sump. I've got ball-valves, which take some fiddling, but I think that gate-valves in the drain line would make that style much easier to tune for silent, bubble (and salt-creep) free running.

~Bruce

bergman58 · Apr 28, 2018

Maritimer said:
Welcome aboard, Bergman58!

My tank's only half that length, but has a similar layout - one drain, one return in each of two overflows. It works, but would likely be both quieter and easier to tune if there were either two drains/one return ("Herbie") or three drains/one return ("Bean Animal") in each overflow.

I find that with the flow I'm running, one drain/one return per overflow ("Durso") was difficult to tune in without sending a ton of bubbles into the sump. I've got ball-valves, which take some fiddling, but I think that gate-valves in the drain line would make that style much easier to tune for silent, bubble (and salt-creep) free running.

~Bruce

thank you for your response. We are still stuck in the building rut for our has so the tank hasnt progressed any further yet.
I am still considering whether to have internal weirs or 2 ghost overflows.

Hopefully in 4 months time when i have the house i can get the design sorted and start progressing towards having an actual tank