Tank Swap

[mch1984]

Now I'm wondering if I should use what I have or get that spa line stuff lol

I’m a hard plumbing guy as well. I agree with above, you can use it just fine but I prefer hard plumbing. My 2cents on using flex now and going hard later. Your just making more work for yourself, if you think you’ll do hard plumbing later I’d say go ahead and do it now.

 

[jaxteller007]

I’m a hard plumbing guy as well. I agree with above, you can use it just fine but I prefer hard plumbing. My 2cents on using flex now and going hard later. Your just making more work for yourself, if you think you’ll do hard plumbing later I’d say go ahead and do it now.

If the tools for flex PVC weren't so dang expensive I'd use it. But I'm not paying that kind of money for tools I may use once

 

[jaxteller007]

Now that I think about it. Plumbing the main drain. should be easy with no bends. Just position the sump underneath. The only thing that I'd need to bend would be emergency drain.

 

[jaxteller007]

So i just realized that I guess with a Herbie setup I can't really use flex pipe with the main drain right? I don't see how I would install a gate valve on a piece of that flex pipe.

 

[mch1984]

I haven't done much with flex pipe so I'm not 100% sure. Couldn't you put the gate valve directly below the overflow and attach the flex hose to the gate valve?

 

[jaxteller007]

I haven't done much with flex pipe so I'm not 100% sure. Couldn't you put the gate valve directly below the overflow and attach the flex hose to the gate valve?

I didn't think of that but mabye? I'll try when I get home.

 

[mch1984]

There might be some clearance issues, but as long as you can turn the knob I can't imagine why it wouldn't be ok. Maybe somebody with flex hose experience can comment.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

If you are using regular spa flex you can glue into a slip valve just as you would with rigid. If you are using those flex hoses you would want to hard plumb the valve below the overflow then the barbed fitting below the valve to attach the hose to

 

[jaxteller007]

If you are using regular spa flex you can glue into a slip valve just as you would with rigid. If you are using those flex hoses you would want to hard plumb the valve below the overflow then the barbed fitting below the valve to attach the hose to

I couldn't find spa line anywhere so right now the flex tube is hooked up to the drains. This is only in case water gets into the overflow right now. The sump is not hooked up as I have to raise the existing return line up to get it into the tank (this 75G is definitely taller than our other one though that may be just a higher lip?).

I may have someone finish the drain plumbing for me, but if not let's see if i have this right. It would go like this.

Bulkhead --> small section of PVC (glue or no glue?) --> slip gate valve (glued) --> barbed fitting (what is this?) --> flex hose into sump drain.

It's possible that if I swap which of the two drilled holes is the main drain I would have an almost perefectly straight shot from the bulkhead into the sump intake hole. If so I could go with hard PVC for that but I'm afraid I'd have to drain a lot of water out of the tank in order to get the PVC into the bulkhead and then into the sump connector. Unless that connector unscrews from the sump (I can't remember if it does or not). If that works than I would just use the flex hose I have now for the emergency drain until one day I get some flex PVC to do it.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I couldn't find spa line anywhere so right now the flex tube is hooked up to the drains. This is only in case water gets into the overflow right now. The sump is not hooked up as I have to raise the existing return line up to get it into the tank (this 75G is definitely taller than our other one though that may be just a higher lip?).

I may have someone finish the drain plumbing for me, but if not let's see if i have this right. It would go like this.

Bulkhead --> small section of PVC (glue or no glue?) --> slip gate valve (glued) --> barbed fitting (what is this?) --> flex hose into sump drain.

It's possible that if I swap which of the two drilled holes is the main drain I would have an almost perefectly straight shot from the bulkhead into the sump intake hole. If so I could go with hard PVC for that but I'm afraid I'd have to drain a lot of water out of the tank in order to get the PVC into the bulkhead and then into the sump connector. Unless that connector unscrews from the sump (I can't remember if it does or not). If that works than I would just use the flex hose I have now for the emergency drain until one day I get some flex PVC to do it.

How is your current hose connected to your bulkhead at the overflow?I'm guessing it's a threaded barb fitting. If so you could remove that then either thread in an adapter or glue a piece of PVC into the bulkhead. Then glue the valve then you would attach the barb fitting into the valve. May need a threaded adapter.

The pipes inside the overflow should just be slip fit into the bulkheads so you can pull that pipe out and let the ground overflow drain out into IF YOUR SUMP CAN HANDLE IT

If not you may need to drain out some water then put it back in.

MAKE SURE THAT OVERFLOW IS EMPTY BEFORE DISCONNECTING ANYTHING UNDERNEATH

Photos would help

 

[jaxteller007]

How is your current hose connected to your bulkhead at the overflow?I'm guessing it's a threaded barb fitting. If so you could remove that then either thread in an adapter or glue a piece of PVC into the bulkhead. Then glue the valve then you would attach the barb fitting into the valve. May need a threaded adapter.

Photos would help

Old tank is taken down now, but it was hard PVC from the bulkhead to the sump. Only non PVC part was off the return pump. That sicca 4.0 didn't have a PVC connection. So it has a small piece of vinyl tubing clamped on and then a barbed fitting (I think) to connect to a union and then the rest of the return line is PVC.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Old tank is taken down now, but it was hard PVC from the bulkhead to the sump. Only non PVC part was off the return pump. That sicca 4.0 didn't have a PVC connection. So it has a small piece of vinyl tubing clamped on and then a barbed fitting (I think) to connect to a union and then the rest of the return line is PVC.

Gotcha. If you are looking to use flex you will need some sort of barb fitting like what is on your sump

 

[jaxteller007]

This is probably a silly question but here we go. The main drain line, does it have to be glued? I'm using regular PVC (was able to line it up as a straight shot, no bends). And if it has to be glued where? I have a short piece of PVC going from the bulkhead into a union, don't want to glue the PVC to the bulkhead right? Then a short piece connecting the union to the gate valve, don't want to glue those together right? The point of the union is to be able to disconnect the valve for mainteance right? Then a short piece of PVC from the valve to the connector on the sump. Obviously don't want to glue that piece or I'll never get it disconnected to clean or replace if something goes wrong? So with it being straight and no bends, and it's the drain so it's not under much pressure, does it need to be glued at all?

On my HOB i glued where the bends were and that's it.

#reefsquad

 

[mch1984]

This is probably a silly question but here we go. The main drain line, does it have to be glued? I'm using regular PVC (was able to line it up as a straight shot, no bends). And if it has to be glued where? I have a short piece of PVC going from the bulkhead into a union, don't want to glue the PVC to the bulkhead right? Then a short piece connecting the union to the gate valve, don't want to glue those together right? The point of the union is to be able to disconnect the valve for mainteance right? Then a short piece of PVC from the valve to the connector on the sump. Obviously don't want to glue that piece or I'll never get it disconnected to clean or replace if something goes wrong? So with it being straight and no bends, and it's the drain so it's not under much pressure, does it need to be glued at all?

On my HOB i glued where the bends were and that's it.

#reefsquad

I would glue everything except the part that goes into the sump. the idea behind the union is to allow maintenance.

 

[jaxteller007]

I would glue everything except the part that goes into the sump. the idea behind the union is to allow maintenance.

Gotcha

 

[Bayareareefer18]

This is probably a silly question but here we go. The main drain line, does it have to be glued? I'm using regular PVC (was able to line it up as a straight shot, no bends). And if it has to be glued where? I have a short piece of PVC going from the bulkhead into a union, don't want to glue the PVC to the bulkhead right? Then a short piece connecting the union to the gate valve, don't want to glue those together right? The point of the union is to be able to disconnect the valve for mainteance right? Then a short piece of PVC from the valve to the connector on the sump. Obviously don't want to glue that piece or I'll never get it disconnected to clean or replace if something goes wrong? So with it being straight and no bends, and it's the drain so it's not under much pressure, does it need to be glued at all?

On my HOB i glued where the bends were and that's it.

#reefsquad

Absolutely glue

How are you connecting to the sump?

 

[jaxteller007]

Absolutely glue

How are you connecting to the sump?

For right now, the main drain is hard PVC (glued). Bulkhead -> short PVC piece glued to union -> short PVC piece glued to gate valve -> Short PVC piece into the sump connector (glued to the valve but not the sump connector). By swapping which drilled hole was going to be the main drain I was able to make this a straight shot with no bends or curves.

The emergency drain is that flex piping I had bought as that would require some bends and stuff that I just don't have the expertise (or time and patience lol) to make right now. Since it's the emergency drain I figure it will be ok for now.

Eventually I'll probably just try and pay someone to re plumb it all with nice color coded flex PVC.

 

[jaxteller007]

So far so good on the swap. Everything is running well, no leaks, no loss of life other than a couple small snails (may have been dead before)


Have notices something funny the last few mornings. When we wake up in the morning, the sailfin tang is almost completely black and "attacking" the black plastic divider of the overflow. Once some light comes on he goes back to normal (or if you get his attention). So weird but he does act a bit special sometimes lol.

 

[mch1984]

So far so good on the swap. Everything is running well, no leaks, no loss of life other than a couple small snails (may have been dead before)


Have notices something funny the last few mornings. When we wake up in the morning, the sailfin tang is almost completely black and "attacking" the black plastic divider of the overflow. Once some light comes on he goes back to normal (or if you get his attention). So weird but he does act a bit special sometimes lol.

Glad to hear everything turned out good. That's pretty funny about the sail fin, wonder with the lights off if there is some kind of reflection that isn't there with lights on.

 

[jaxteller007]

Glad to hear everything turned out good. That's pretty funny about the sail fin, wonder with the lights off if there is some kind of reflection that isn't there with lights on.

Yea only thing really I want to do I think is redo the return line, it sticks up higher than I want. Must have messed up the measurement somehow. And replace the flex tubing for the emergency drain.

And maybe that's what is going on with the sailfin. He has been a little special ever since the apocalypse we had. Him and an emerald crab are the only originals that survived. He's been known to chase bubbles when he was in the 10G quarantine tank lol. If I could get some bubbles in the main tank that weren't overpowering I bet he would have a blast.