Chuck's 150 Gallon Reef Project

[phlounder]

Now you are in my world. I have been looking at mine sitting empty in my living room for almost a year now. I actually put tap water in it today to check for leaks again. Kinda nice to just watch it run.

[ChuckG]

And you didn't throw a guppie or two in there just to see how they like it before they died?

[biffthetestdummy]

I love those ocean motions! They are a great product!

[phlounder]

Paul at OM can also hook you up with some gray pvc & fittings, if you want that Euro look. Looks much better than white pvc, IMO - and matches the 4Way body, unions and valves used. Just adds a nice touch, I think. Remember, you ARE a perfectionist!

[ChuckG]

Isn't the grey just regular Sched 80 PVC that can be gotten many places?

I realize the flex pieces you can't get anywhere else though.

[phlounder]

Originally Posted by ChuckG

Isn't the grey just regular Sched 80 PVC that can be gotten many places?

I realize the flex pieces you can't get anywhere else though.

Nope. It's schedule 40. You may be able to get it some places, but I know I can't get it here. Now you can get the schedule 80 fittings at Lowe's or Home Depot, but you wouldn't want to use those. These look just like regular pvc pipe and fittings, except for the color. This stuff is made in Canada. It really wasn't that much different in price. I think I got everything I needed, which was quite a bit of pipe and fittings for under $200 - and that included shipping from Canada. I actually ordered more pipe than I needed to have some extra on hand. There is no difference in functionality, just the color. I was just going for that Euro look.

[ChuckG]

HD told me they don't sell it anymore because of a law suit. Something about when it burns it gives off poisonous gases that can kill you. Seems like they would just sell it with a disclaimer.

I would be afraid of ordering too much (waste) or not enough (and be in trouble).

I'm trying to minimize the amount of pipe used but won't really know exact measurements till I have the major components sitting here. Most of my projects take about a dozen trips to HD because you always need a little piece of something that you didn't think about.

In order to minimize the amount of pipe I've drawn the following diagram:



The dotted lines are where the wall covers the back of the tank. I was thinking about simply extending the plywood base that I'll put on top of the frame and run this through the wall into the fish room. This would create the ledge even with the tank to set the pump for the OM unit. Will it all fit like as in the diagram? Won't know till the tank is actually finalized (i.e. - how big that external overflow ends up being, the exact dimensions of the pump used, etc.....
Worse case scenerio, I simply build a shelf at the right height to accomodate everything but I can't see putting the pump on the floor and running extra pipe that would end up blocking my access to the rear of the sump area.

How about regular Sched 40 PVC so it is easily obtainable and simply using that the spray paint that is for plastic. I've used the stuff on patio furniture and it holds up very well and I obviously wouldn't paint anything that would actually be touching water.

[phlounder]

I am not a chemist, but if I am not mistaken, any PVC that you burn gives off toxic fumes. That sounded like an excuse. Most likely there just isn't a very big demand for gray PVC pipe.

I am not fully understanding your diagram. It's hard to figure out where your plumbing will run until you get your 4Way. You will have to deal with the fact that there are outlets all around it. I would suggest using double male close nipples and threaded unions to connect to the 4Way. That was the easiest combination that I found that allowed easy removal of the 4Way and used the least amount of space.


Use 45s off of the 4Way to square up the plumbing, like this:


If I were you, I wouldn't paint the PVC. Not because you can't, but because it would be a real mess trying to do that after everything is assembled. If you paint it before, you will have a mess when you try to glue everything up. Probably best stick to white. You won't be able to see your plumbing from your viewing area anyway. In my case, you can see a little behind the tank and the gray is just less noticeable.

[ChuckG]

Nice set up.

Hmmm.... I thought my diagram was pretty good. I do realize I'll end up putting in unions, ball valves (which it doesn't look like you did), etc which will all take up space as well. My diagram was as simple as I could do it to show the concept.

Imagine it this way: Set an aquarium on the floor. Set a pump on the floor behind the aquarium. Plumb the 4 way on top of the pump using very little pipe. I'm guessing this would put the outlets of the 4 way about halfway up the back of the tank. Now simply imaging plumbing those outlets to where my "drilled back" holes are in my diagram. The pump would obviously not be able to set directly behind the tank. I will need room to make the appropriate angles, etc. and so the ledge it sets on may have to be about a foot or so.

Maybe this will help you imagine it. This would be a view looking down on things.

[phlounder]

Oh, ok. If I were you, I would try to get the 4Way as close to the tank as you could, before going to your outlets. You would use less pipe and the water would not have as far to travel. Use 45s from the Dart to move the valve closer to the back of the tank. That's what I would do anyway.

I have True-Union valves on the input and output side of the Dart. You don't really want valves on the other side of the 4Way, because it is not good to restrict the flow and put back pressure on the drum. You can throttle the Dart back to around 400 gph with the output valve from the pump, if need be.