Plumbing my 180 today. Check valve question

[heelanjeffrey85]

Good morning guys. So I have these check valves they say 150 psi 3-4 on them there 1". Will the work or am I over thinking it . I'm not Shure if it means a mim of 150psi or does it mean max ?

 

[Flyntm08]

150PSI will be its maximum working pressure.

 

[heelanjeffrey85]

Okay I definitely am over thinking this. Would this be okay to use or would you go with a flap valve ?

 

[heelanjeffrey85]

One more dumb question should I run two check valves or 4. ? 2 on the flow and 2 on the return ?

 

[Gill the 3rd]

That's the max pressure rating for the fitting. Just my 2 cents, I would not rely on a check valve. I'm assuming your putting this on your return pump? The check valve will eventually fail no matter what kind you use.

 

[Gill the 3rd]

One more dumb question should I run two check valves or 4. ? 2 on the flow and 2 on the return ?

No dumb questions. You dont use a check valve on your overflow. People use them on their returns to limit the amount of water that siphons back into the sump when the return pump is off. I did that on my first tank until it failed and I overflowed my sump.

I would size your sump to handle the full volume of water that your tank will siphon when the return pump is off, then you never have to worry about it again.

 

[Greybeard]

Nothing wrong with using a check valve, they can make your tank more manageable during maintenance, keep the tank level up during power outages, etc.

The thing to avoid is _relying_ on them. If the tank is going to overflow when one of your check valves fail, you're in trouble. As mentioned above, they _all_ fail, at some point.

 

[heelanjeffrey85]

Yes I was going to run one on each side . I am putting valves to be able to adjust. I'm very new to this on the big side so this is my first sump set up and I'm getting mixed ideas and Imput from YouTube videos. So in all reality I shouldn't even worry about these ?

 

[heelanjeffrey85]

Omg thank you so much for all the info. Now I totally understand. I think my brain just popped

 

[Gill the 3rd]

Yes I was going to run one on each side . I am putting valves to be able to adjust. I'm very new to this on the big side so this is my first sump set up and I'm getting mixed ideas and Imput from YouTube videos. So in all reality I shouldn't even worry about these ?

As long as your sump can handle the volume of water that drains from your display tank, no you don't need them. You can play around with your overflow and return nozzle heights in your display tank to adjust the amount of water that will drain into your display.

 

[heelanjeffrey85]

That Is great. Dude you guys rock .. so the sump is a old eshopps it's 36" x16"x16". Any recommendations?

 

[theMeat]

Check valves on an aquarium are not a good idea. Build up will surely make it so it won’t seal = fail.
Use a siphon brake= small hole drilled just below water level in tank on return line

 

[heelanjeffrey85]

Check valves on an aquarium are not a good idea. Build up will surely make it so it won’t seal = fail.
Use a siphon brake= small hole drilled just below water level in tank on return line

So should I go about 1/4 or 1/2 inch below the water hight ? Thank you so much

 

[Greybeard]

I remember my first overflow system... I was really worried about it. Don't panic, it's simple physics

Plan on power and equipment failures. They happen, tank needs to be safe when they do. Your overflow needs to pull from the surface, so that if the water level drops an inch or so, it stops flowing. Your return lines need a vent, just below water level, so that it doesn't siphon water out if the pump stops. Your sump needs to be big enough to contain whatever water comes down on a power failure. Test it... make certain that it doesn't flood the room.

You say it's a 180g tank? 36x16x16 makes it a 40g sump. Standard 180 is 72x24x24, right? If your tank level drops 2", that's 16 gallons into the sump. Can't see why that would be a problem. Just make sure your overflow and return lines stop flowing before the tank drops more than that.

What sort of overflow are you using? How are your returns run?

 

[theMeat]

So should I go about 1/4 or 1/2 inch below the water hight ? Thank you so much

Somewhere in that range should be fine. The determining factor is how much room you have in sump. Simulate a power outage and see what you got as far as how much water flows down to sump. Obviously you want enough room in sump so that the sump doesn’t overflow. This will determine your max sump water level

 

[heelanjeffrey85]

Somewhere in that range should be fine. The determining factor is how much room you have in sump. Simulate a power outage and see what you got as far as how much water flows down to sump. Obviously you want enough room in sump so that the sump doesn’t overflow. This will determine your max sump water level

Bro thank you so much.

 

[theMeat]

Bro thank you so much.

Yeah Man
If your return outlet is close to surface you may not need a siphon break (hole). Personally I’d put one anyway Incase the outlet gets bumped into when cleaning or whatever