Return and Overflow Plumbing

[Hairul Hakim]

Hi All,

Pretty new to diy section and plumbing overall.
Setting up a 3X1.5X1.8 feet tank soon.
However, tank wasn't predrilled and sump is a 2 X 1 X 1 feet DIY as well.
Using a SKIMZ overflow 2500 for overflow method.

So now the question is...

Im thinking of either gg hard plumbing or soft plumb the return and drop lines.

Leaning more towards hard plumbing as it will look a lot neater.

The drop line from the overflow box is a 1inch PVC.

Planning to use a jebao 3000 l/hr for my return piump , or a Jebao 5000l/hr, which will be linked to a chiller then to return line in DT.

Any idea what dimensions PVC piping should I go for?

Should I follow the size of my overflow box, which is 1 inch?

[tunicate]

Hi exxe,

If you plan to "hard plumb" the return over the rim of your DT, it may result in vibration noise of piping against glass.

Your return PVC size should not be smaller than your return pump outlet nozzle size. Otherwise, flow will be restricted.

There should also be an optimum flow rate for chiller for maximum chilling effect. Too fast, & chiller will not have sufficient time to cool down water as it gets pumped out the other end. Check with your equipment guide or seller.

Cheers,

[Hairul Hakim]

Oh, the chiller I'm getting says 1200l/hr.

Does that means I need to run 2 return pumps? 1 for main and 1 for chiller?

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[Hairul Hakim]

CauSe I'm looking at a main flow of 2500-3000/hr for my sump so that my tank will have a 7-9x flow turnover

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[tunicate]

Then you'll probably want to get a separate 1200l/hr pump for the chiller.

What's the distance from return pump to top of your DT?

Below is the table of Jebao SP3000 showing what flow you'll get at different height.

http://www.jebao.com/en/displayproduct.html?proID=100988208

[Hairul Hakim]

Distance is around 3.5 feet

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[Hairul Hakim]

With 4 elbows in the return line

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[tunicate]

Based on below Jebao chart, a model FM8000 will about meet your needs.

[tunicate]

BTW, try to go for as large a sump as possible. This way, your return compartment can be larger & you do not have to top up water so often.

[Hairul Hakim]

My tank and sump is already made. Sump is a 2nd hand as well. So just using what I have

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[tunicate]

All the best then.

[tunicate]

Sorry bro, I misread your reply. Thought it was 3.5m.

For 3.5ft, which is slightly above 1m, A FM3500 model should suffice.

[Hairul Hakim]

Thanks bro. Will look into that model

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[Ken_ng]

How is your overflow box holding up?

Does bubbles accumulate at the top of the first weir?

For me I use an eheim 1260 with a tee off back to my skimmer section.

Rubber hose from pump up to tee and then hard plumb with hose adapter into chiller and out of chiller. Then hard plumb back to DT.

I don't know if you can understand with my lousy description but No vibration problems so far.

Only sound I hear is occasional water slurping from overflow into sump.

[Hairul Hakim]

Yeah my piping is all done up. The only thing that annoys me iss that slurping sound like every 5 mins from my overflow box.

There's air pockets but I'm also using a tom Aqualifter to remove it and that small water pipe goes into my mini fuge for my chaeto so it's actually utilized.

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