Plumbing questions

[Zack]

Sometime in the next couple of months I plan to add a sump to my 10 gallon and I had a couple of questions

First, is there any benefit or negative side to using flexible tubing over pvc? Is one better than the other?

Second, when I'm looking for a return pump, if the return pump is more powerful than the overflow (200 vs 330) will a ball valve help this? How will I know what to adjust?

Third, when I'm plumbing my return line, I do not want to drill any holes, do the locklines just bend over the top of the tank, or is there a way to secure them to the tank without drilling? I've seen some people use pvc and just have it hanging into the top of their tank but I'd rather use lockline for the look of it.

Thanks for the help!

[hobogato]

First, is there any benefit or negative side to using flexible tubing over pvc? Is one better than the other?

i have used each of these to plumb tanks and they both work fine. i think i prefer using pvc with ball valve unions (so it can be taken apart for cleaning, etc) because it does not rely on metal hose clamps.

Second, when I'm looking for a return pump, if the return pump is more powerful than the overflow (200 vs 330) will a ball valve help this? How will I know what to adjust?

the ball valve would go in the return line and you would adjust it to keep the tank from overflowing. this process will be a little tricky. it seems like a waste of electricity to use a pump that is too much flow though, why not just get a pump that is rated for the correct (or slightly less than) amount of flow?

Third, when I'm plumbing my return line, I do not want to drill any holes, do the locklines just bend over the top of the tank, or is there a way to secure them to the tank without drilling? I've seen some people use pvc and just have it hanging into the top of their tank but I'd rather use lockline for the look of it.

you can use pvc elbows so the return line fits over the top edge of the tank snugly and then put the locline in the pvc in the tank. if you paint the pvc gloss black with spray paint made for plastic, it will look nice - see pic below

Thanks for the help!

[jcnkt_ellis]

Hit the nail on the head Allen, that is exaclty what I did for my non-drilled tank. The only thing I would add is to use pvc and not flex-hose for the piece that goes straight up the back of the tank. Flex-hose has a tendacy to move around too much with the weight of the lockline since there is no easy way to secure the ~12" stretch up the glass. Also, there are conduit or pvc anchors that can secure the line to parts of your stand depending on how the line is ran.

[Zack]

When you paint the PVC is there any curing that you have to do to make sure it's reef safe or is it good to go when it dries? And thanks, that really cleared it up for me!

[hobogato]

you may want to wait about 24 hours just to make sure there is no off-gassing

[350gt]

lowes carries some sch. 80 pvc, which is a dark grey.

think the biggest I saw was 1 1/4" though, but should be enough for the elbows and such...

[JamieP]

If you're really worried about the return pump being oversized you can add a pvc T with the "extra" end heading to the opposite end of the sump from the return. That end would have a ball valve so you could limit the flow to just bleed the extra off. This will reduce the head pressure on your return pump, and possibly extend its life. You can also use that end to make water changes easier if you're not sucking up detritus and you ball valve the end that goes to the return. Oh and most importantly you would have to use flexible pvc (HD and Lowe's both have it). That is how I have my return pump set up because I was a little worried about my pump being a little oversized, but it turned out fine. I usually use this method to do every other water change or if I am just in a hurry. I hope that its a little clearer than mud.

[Zack]

Lots of good advice here guys. I'll keep this in mind when designing my plumbing.

[Zack]

Ok so I'm looking at an E-Shopps nano overflow box with a Hydor L30 Return pump. I've seen a similar setup on youtube and the user seems to enjoy it.

Couple of questions,

From the tank, I'll have a 1'' hose going into my sump, from there, it will exit my return pump through a 1/2'' outlet. With this being said, will I be looking at 1/2'' tubing or 3/4'' tubing coming out of my sump? Can you connect 1/2'' to 1/2'' vinyl tubing?

Next question, when I have the tubing going back into the display, how do I connect the vinyl tubing to the lockline? All the pieces I see seem to be threaded thanks again in advance