Return Manifold and Center Braces

[kkutac001]

Hey. I am constructing my return manifold. (1" pvc, 1-to-1/2 reducing tees to 1/2" 45 degree ells) Seemed simple in theory: build the loop, drill the plastic tank rim, use cable ties to secure the entire manifold, and voila!

Heh. Problem is: the center brace. Go over or under? If under: a 1" pvc is clearly visible from the front of the tank; even a 1/2" pvc pipe is visible. If I go *over* the brace, there is another (less-wide) piece of glass which extends from rim to rim, and then yet a third really skinny (like a half inch wide) piece of glass on top of that. These little stair-step glass things are of course for people who use those 'bi-fold' glass tank covers, one for each side. I will not (of course) be covering the tank except with a canopy. The point is: going over is like going over a big hill; the manifold would be raised well above the plastic tank rim. Yech.

I thought of using eight 45 degree ells to sort of leap over the brace, while keeping most of the manifold on the rim itself. But heck, I'm already going to use eight 45's in the loop of the manifold itself (in the corners). Wouldn't 8 *more* ells just add that much more head pressure? Yikes! But that is the only idea I have.

So since I'm short of ideas: Does anyone have a better idea? (I hope?) :-)
Thanks for any suggestions, Karl

[Ping]

I cant quite picture all of this. I think I would go over the top. Won't the canopy cover the ugliness of the manifold. Over puts less pvc in the tank. Over may will be easier to remove if you ever need to do any maintenance.

[Bill S]

Karl,

You might try oversizng the return to cut down on the friction loss due to the els.

[kkutac001]

Bill, I'm installing the manifold as all 1" pvc because the pump outlet is 1". Then, I have eight 1"-to-1/2" tees, which I'll put nipples and 45's (1/2" pvc) on, capping the ones I don't need right now. My understanding is that it is best to keep the pvc size the same as the pump outlet all the way around the manifold, and only 'bushing down' at the last second (so to speak) at the outlets. If the pump outlet was 3/4", I'd consider upsizing to 1", but I can't fancy upsizing to (for instance) 1 1/2" manifold loop around the rim of the tank. Seems like it'd be gargantuan for some reason around my 60" long tank.
Ping, the canopy will indeed cover the ugliness. I was (when I was imagining setting up this loop manifold) thinking the piping would be out of the way, hidden by the 1" 'genuine fake wood grain' plastic rim around the top of the tank. No dice, though, when it shows so much -- as you pointed out.
Well, thanks for reading and replying. I just thought I was missing something regarding how people 'normally' do this. Surely they go over the tank brace. Who'd want to see a long pvc pipe at the top of their water? Although, come to think about it, I've not seen any maastard's tanks that used this loop manifold approach. Every one's I've seen -- as far as I can recall -- have a couple of return loc-lines with nozzles blowing water back into their tanks. (Take that with a grain of salt; I've only seen something like six peoples' tanks.)
Thanks again, Karl

[BIGBIRD123]

If your intake on the pump is 1", then I would use 1-1/2" so that the pump gets enough volume of water and this will also help on the friction loss. It will help the pump run more efficient and running the same size pipe until the nozzle is the best way. JMO.

Steve

[Bill S]

Maybe a compromise is 1-1/4". If you have a number of bends/els, the additional diameter will help a LOT. A 1-1/4" gives you over 50% more flow than a 1".

[kkutac001]

Intriguing! It seems that, for related reasons, you would both advocate slightly oversizing both the intake and output sides of the main system pump. I must say, it never occcurred to me to do this. I'll see what I can do with these thoughts... I'll post another reply later today, after more thought. Thanks! ..Karl

[JeremyGlen]

I made the mistake of taking my 1" output and squeezing it out four 1/2" outlets and have drastically reduced the amount of water coming out of the pipes. My 1080gph is pretty much a trickle once it gets out. I would say go bigger on the output tube and bigger on the outlets, but 8 1/2" may be enough to let it all out.