Plumbing help please

Swingline77 · Aug 24, 2018

I have a 90 gal tank. For now, I'm just going to run a chiller with the tank. I want to have the option of adding a sump later. I wonder what the best way of doing this is, but for myself and for resale value of the tank (I might have to downsize at some point due to the possibility of moving in a few years).

The chiller can accommodate either 3/4" or tubing. My return pump has 3/4" connections. It's my understanding that 1" exit tubing is typical on aquariums. Since the chiller is not open on top like a sump, my idea for plumbing it is to have a drain below the surface of the water on the tank. The water will flow to the chiller, to a pump on the floor, then back into the tank. I'm thinking that the water will enter the tank below the waterline as well. This way, I'll have minimal noise from water flow.

So far, I'll have an exit bulkhead that can accomodate a 1" tube. I want to drill it to 1" in case I use the aquarium with a sump in the future. After this, I don't know what I should do. I'm thinking that I should have a 3/4" barb on the bulkhead, and then run a 3/4" hose to the chiller. I'd then run a return hose of 3/4" to a barb, then to another 1" bulkhead. I don't think I'd need an emergency overflow, considering the closed nature of the chiller loop. Does this seem reasonable so far?

I wonder if I should drill a third hole right away, so that a "bean animal" setup can be run with this aquarium.

So, the questions:
1. Should I drill 2 or three holes?
2. Should all the holes be for 1" bulkheads?
3. What should the positioning of the holes be, or does it matter? This is probably the question that I'm having the most trouble with.
4. Will my current diamond hole saw work? For a 1" ID tube/pipe, the OD of the bulkhead will be 2.25". This is 57.15 mm. My hole saw is 60 mm in diameter. Will this slight bit of play be an issue?

Thanks.

Retro Reefer · Aug 25, 2018

I wouldn’t worry about resale value of your tank to much.. just pick up a local want add or Craig’s List people practically have to give them away.

laverda · Aug 25, 2018

Depending on your pump you usually want to feed it with larger diameter tubing than the output. Route your 1" drain to your pump then put the chiller on the 3/4" output/return side of the pump. This will keep the pump from cavitating. The seals on most pumps are designed to keep water in, not to keep air out. If the feed side is restricted the pump will suck air past the seals and you will have bubbles in the return and your tank.
I would try fans to cool your tank before going to the trouble. Personally if you bothering to drill it I would just go with a sump. You need at least 3 holes to do a sump safely. If you want an animal drain you need 4 holes unless your going to return over the top.

Swingline77 · Aug 25, 2018

laverda said:
Depending on your pump you usually want to feed it with larger diameter tubing than the output. Route your 1" drain to your pump then put the chiller on the 3/4" output/return side of the pump. This will keep the pump from cavitating. The seals on most pumps are designed to keep water in, not to keep air out. If the feed side is restricted the pump will suck air past the seals and you will have bubbles in the return and your tank.
I would try fans to cool your tank before going to the trouble. Personally if you bothering to drill it I would just go with a sump. You need at least 3 holes to do a sump safely. If you want an animal drain you need 4 holes unless your going to return over the top.

I will need the chiller, since I'm planning to run a cool-water tank. I want to keep things simple for now, and just get it up and running. My thought is to put two holes in (drain and return). I'm inclined to use 1" bulkheads for each, since this would mean not having to get a different hole saw.

I'm thinking of drilling this to the specs of the Eshopps "Eclipse L" overflow (link at end). Both holes will be at the same height. One will be a drain, the other will be a return. This way I can just hook it up to the chiller for now, then add the Bean Animal later if I want to. Does this seem reasonable?

http://eshopps.com/products/overflowboxes/eclipse-l/

laverda · Aug 25, 2018

Two 1” bulkheads will be fine. You can always reduce one. You will want a large enough screen on the intake to not restrict it. Have you check the flow rate your chiller requires for maximum efficiency?

Swingline77 · Aug 25, 2018

Thanks for the info. I'll have to dial the pump back to get it to within spec of the chiller, though I don't see how too much flow could be a problem.

laverda · Aug 26, 2018

Swingline77 said:
Thanks for the info. I'll have to dial the pump back to get it to within spec of the chiller, though I don't see how too much flow could be a problem.

It takes time to transfer heat from the water. Pluss you dont want cold or hot spots. You also do not want your cbiller cycling on and off constantly. That is why they have recommended flow rates.

Swingline77 · Aug 28, 2018

For now, I'm just hooking up a chiller. This will require an "out" and an "in". In the future, if I add a sump, I'll go for the full "Bean Animal" configuration. I'm not too worried about not drilling the third hole right away, since I'm not going to be tipping the DT on its side to drill the first two. I can just lower the water level to drill the third.

As for plumbing this, I was looking at a guide to Bean Animal setups (http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx). From left to right, the standpipes are: emergency, siphon, trickle. Why is a piece of hose used to introduce air into the trickle standpipe? Why not just have a hole in the top? Is the tubing a way to further reduce noise?

What really confuses me are the portions of the standpipe above the bulkhead on the other standpipes. Are these caps easily removed to allow a bottle brush to be put down the standpipe? Is there some other reason? If these caps are removable, would they ideally be threadless caps just resting on top, or threaded caps that can be taken on and off as needed?

Swingline77 · Aug 29, 2018

Disregard the question about the tubing, it was addressed, and I'd overlooked it. It's also mentioned in another thread that "the caps can be removed for cleaning". I don't know if this means that the caps are optional, but they seem like a good feature.