Sump Plumbing

[kzziboy]

Okay...
Got my 20 gallon long sump done...
Now to plumb it.
I've got an overflow box ready to go with a threaded bulkhead attachment.
Do I come directly off the overflow with PVC then into a ball valve? Do I put any flexible or vinyl hose in there at all?
On the return should I put a check valve in?
I'm guessing I should put in a ball valve there to right?
Probably some vinyl tubing of the pump for vibration??
I'm using a Rio 1700 pump for the return.

Any responses will help greatly!! First time doing this so pardon the dumb questions!

[der_wille_zur_macht]

A fair amount of this is personal preference and/or depends on info you didn't give us.

For the drain line. Assuming it's a single drain (i.e. not a Herbie or Beananimal style) then there's no need to have a valve on it - you should NOT be valving it back at all! As far as what material to use, that's really up to you. On simple setups it's typical to use flexible hose for the drain line because it's cheap, easy, doesn't require many fittings, and is flexible. You'd simply get hose that was at least the diameter of the bulkhead in your overflow, plus a hose barb (nipple) to screw into the overflow.

For the return line. A valve here is a good idea, to let you fine-tune the flow. A gate valve is best for fine tuning, but ball valves are generally cheaper. You also want some way to remove the plumbing from the pump in order to service the pump. This can be done with a union, if you use PVC from the pump straight to the tank. Or, if you include a short section of soft hose immediately after the pump, your disconnect method can be to simply pull the hose off the pump.

A check valve in the drain line is not strictly required and can lead to issues - check valves generally are not reliable in a reef environment. If you are relying on a check valve to stop the siphon of water in the event that the return pump shuts down (i.e. during a power outage) you might be disappointed when it jams some day and you get water on your floor. A better technique for stopping sihpons is to position the return opening near the surface of your display tank, and/or use siphon break holes in the return line.

So a typical return line from that pump might be: pump with hose barb threaded into it. Soft vinyl from hose barb for a foot or so, connected to another hose barb, threaded into a ball valve, threaded in to hard PVC, which runs up into your tank.

[kzziboy]

Great! Thanks for your advice!