Plumbing ID

dtbradly · 09/26/2006, 11:17 AM

Can someone please breakdown teh parts in this closed loop? This is something i would like to do for my return, but i am not sure what everything is.

Thanks

Travis L. Stevens · 09/26/2006, 11:42 AM

Various fittings, bulkheads, Couplings, Ball Valves, and SpaFlex PVC Tubing

dtbradly · 09/26/2006, 12:20 PM

I waas hoping for something a little bit more detailed.

I see the bulkhead, what is on the bulkhead. i know it is an elbow, but slip, street?
Then it goes to a ball valve, but what is the next part?

What is connected to teh return of the pump?

Then i am good from there?

naterealbig · 09/26/2006, 12:22 PM

Hmmm lets see:

The large pipe on right side of the pic that splits before it gets to the sump (the one with the 2 red ball valves on it) is the drain line. As you can see the drain line is attached to the aquarium using a bulkhead fitting. One part of the 'y' goes to the chamber that contains the protein skimmer (the black thing on the right side of the sump) and the other part of the 'y' dumps into the "refugium" area of the sump. The little black thing that is inside the left side of the sump is the return pump (the pump that sends the water that was drained into the sump back to the aquarium). The line attached to the return pump goes up the left side of the picture, over the edge of the main tank and emties the water back into the aquarium. The parts I just described is the plumbing peices for the filter.

The little black thing that is sitting on the wood ledge is the 'closed loop' pump. There is a drain from the aquarium to the suction of this pump (the drain is the large pipe that is attached to the middle of the main aquarium). The water drains from the main tank, goes through the 'closed loop' pump, and is pumped through the 't' fitting back to the aquarium via two lines attached by two bulkhead fittings. This portion of plumbing is not for filtration 'per-se' but, for circulation in the main tank.

This is the best I can do - if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

dtbradly · 09/26/2006, 01:15 PM

I don't believe we were on teh same page there. I only need information on the closed loop. I know teh function and purpose of the closed loop but i am not sure what the exact pieces are. I know what a pump is, but what exactly is that greyish black piece directly connected to the outlet of the pump. Is it a union? If so what is it's function. I got the basics i just was hoping for the specifics and their function.

Randall_James · 09/26/2006, 01:39 PM

Closed loop pump is the upper most with only white plumbing pipes

The BIG Straight pipe to the pump is the inlet, it is schedule 40 PVC and has a ball valve just before the pump (water feed from tank)

It exits straight up to the white "T", hooks to the flexible spaflex pipe, and then goes back in the two 90 degree elbows you see on the back of the tank.

you can add "Spa Eyeball" outlets inside the tank to steer the discharge

Hope this helps (*my photo editor is on another workstation)

The pump you see in the sump is a sump return, the grey piece you see down there I would bet is SCWD hooked to two outlet pipes..

A person could put a second SCWD at the T fitting in the CL

dtbradly · 09/26/2006, 02:09 PM

i guess i am not saying it correctly. Do not worry about the open loop. My only ? involoves the closed loop. Here is a picture of exactly what i am trying to find out since i cant seem to convey it. Also, on the ?'s please tell me what these pieces do.

Thanks

Randall_James · 09/26/2006, 02:12 PM

Those are simple full flow pipe unions

The outside collar unscrews exposing 2 flat surfaces, one has an o-ring the other a receiver groove. In the center of that is just the pipe opening.

They just allow you a simple method to remove the pump in this case for service without having to disassemble a bunch of stuff

This setup is flawed in that the twin returns to the tank do not have a ball valve, no way to remove the pump for service without half draining the tank or plugging the outlets inside the tank

dtbradly · 09/26/2006, 02:27 PM

Thanks Randall.

Randall_James · 09/26/2006, 02:28 PM

No problem, sorry didnt name those earlier, do not forget the extra ball valve on the pump discharge side for your setup

Liquid Hobby · 09/26/2006, 03:41 PM

Hey, that tank looks familiar! It's mine!

The bulkheads are both male threaded and female slip, I got them from the LFS... The 90 elbows are female threaded to the bulkhead and slip to the PVC pipe.

Randell, there is a ball union valve on top of the pump. That's what the "?" is pointing to! Did you think RC would let me get away with that..?? I ditched that setup and went for a pressure rated pump with much larger pipes throughout! Thanks to RC, it's far better.

Here's the updated plumbing:

Which now runs off this pump on the stand floor:

Randall_James · 09/27/2006, 01:08 AM

The larger piping on the inlet is much better... I have never seen a ball valve like that for sure.

Guessing you found the mag drive a bit on the weak side for twin outlets?

And how do you like the SCWD? (assuming that is what I see there)

Liquid Hobby · 09/27/2006, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Randall_James
The larger piping on the inlet is much better... I have never seen a ball valve like that for sure.

Guessing you found the mag drive a bit on the weak side for twin outlets?

And how do you like the SCWD? (assuming that is what I see there)

I got that grey ball valve from the LFS, it is an integrated ball valve with unions on both ends, very gucci. However, it's no longer needed...

The pictures are only about 3 days old... so the tank has yet to see salt water. The mag12 was just not going to cut it, barely perceptable flow from the 4 outlet nozzels inside the thank. I picked up the PanWorld used for far less than the new Mag12. Much, much better flow!

I have done several wet tests and the SCWD throughput with the Mag7 is far better than I excepted! Using a rough estimation on how much time it took to drain my return section dry, I'd say it's pushing at leat 300GPH. I do not like the barb fittings on it though, that's why I have it in the sump for the inevitable hose/ziptie failure.

09/26/2006, 11:17 AM	#1
dtbradly Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 143	Plumbing ID Can someone please breakdown teh parts in this closed loop? This is something i would like to do for my return, but i am not sure what everything is. Thanks

09/26/2006, 11:42 AM	#2
Travis L. Stevens Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Perry, OK Posts: 13,946	Various fittings, bulkheads, Couplings, Ball Valves, and SpaFlex PVC Tubing __________________ Travis Stevens Current Tank Info: Restarting 28g Bowfront

09/26/2006, 12:22 PM	#4
naterealbig Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,252	Hmmm lets see: The large pipe on right side of the pic that splits before it gets to the sump (the one with the 2 red ball valves on it) is the drain line. As you can see the drain line is attached to the aquarium using a bulkhead fitting. One part of the 'y' goes to the chamber that contains the protein skimmer (the black thing on the right side of the sump) and the other part of the 'y' dumps into the "refugium" area of the sump. The little black thing that is inside the left side of the sump is the return pump (the pump that sends the water that was drained into the sump back to the aquarium). The line attached to the return pump goes up the left side of the picture, over the edge of the main tank and emties the water back into the aquarium. The parts I just described is the plumbing peices for the filter. The little black thing that is sitting on the wood ledge is the 'closed loop' pump. There is a drain from the aquarium to the suction of this pump (the drain is the large pipe that is attached to the middle of the main aquarium). The water drains from the main tank, goes through the 'closed loop' pump, and is pumped through the 't' fitting back to the aquarium via two lines attached by two bulkhead fittings. This portion of plumbing is not for filtration 'per-se' but, for circulation in the main tank. This is the best I can do - if you have any other questions feel free to ask. __________________ My skimmate has notes of saffron, and a hint of lilac.

09/26/2006, 01:39 PM	#6
Randall_James Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,727	Closed loop pump is the upper most with only white plumbing pipes The BIG Straight pipe to the pump is the inlet, it is schedule 40 PVC and has a ball valve just before the pump (water feed from tank) It exits straight up to the white "T", hooks to the flexible spaflex pipe, and then goes back in the two 90 degree elbows you see on the back of the tank. you can add "Spa Eyeball" outlets inside the tank to steer the discharge Hope this helps (*my photo editor is on another workstation) The pump you see in the sump is a sump return, the grey piece you see down there I would bet is SCWD hooked to two outlet pipes.. A person could put a second SCWD at the T fitting in the CL __________________ "It's a dog eat dog world and I feel like I am wearing milkbone underwear"

09/26/2006, 02:12 PM	#8
Randall_James Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,727	Those are simple full flow pipe unions The outside collar unscrews exposing 2 flat surfaces, one has an o-ring the other a receiver groove. In the center of that is just the pipe opening. They just allow you a simple method to remove the pump in this case for service without having to disassemble a bunch of stuff This setup is flawed in that the twin returns to the tank do not have a ball valve, no way to remove the pump for service without half draining the tank or plugging the outlets inside the tank __________________ "It's a dog eat dog world and I feel like I am wearing milkbone underwear"

09/26/2006, 12:20 PM	#3
dtbradly Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 143	I waas hoping for something a little bit more detailed. I see the bulkhead, what is on the bulkhead. i know it is an elbow, but slip, street? Then it goes to a ball valve, but what is the next part? What is connected to teh return of the pump? Then i am good from there?

09/26/2006, 01:15 PM	#5
dtbradly Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 143	I don't believe we were on teh same page there. I only need information on the closed loop. I know teh function and purpose of the closed loop but i am not sure what the exact pieces are. I know what a pump is, but what exactly is that greyish black piece directly connected to the outlet of the pump. Is it a union? If so what is it's function. I got the basics i just was hoping for the specifics and their function.

09/26/2006, 02:09 PM	#7
dtbradly Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 143	i guess i am not saying it correctly. Do not worry about the open loop. My only ? involoves the closed loop. Here is a picture of exactly what i am trying to find out since i cant seem to convey it. Also, on the ?'s please tell me what these pieces do. Thanks

09/26/2006, 02:27 PM	#9
dtbradly Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 143	Thanks Randall.

09/26/2006, 02:28 PM	#10
Randall_James Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,727	No problem, sorry didnt name those earlier, do not forget the extra ball valve on the pump discharge side for your setup __________________ "It's a dog eat dog world and I feel like I am wearing milkbone underwear"

09/26/2006, 03:41 PM	#11
Liquid Hobby Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 810	Hey, that tank looks familiar! It's mine! The bulkheads are both male threaded and female slip, I got them from the LFS... The 90 elbows are female threaded to the bulkhead and slip to the PVC pipe. Randell, there is a ball union valve on top of the pump. That's what the "?" is pointing to! Did you think RC would let me get away with that..?? I ditched that setup and went for a pressure rated pump with much larger pipes throughout! Thanks to RC, it's far better. Here's the updated plumbing: Which now runs off this pump on the stand floor: __________________ 120 DT/200 G mixed reef: birthed on Dec 1, 2010 * Neptune Systems controller * 40G Sump + 40G Fuge which gravity feeds into DT * Huge Reef Octopus Skimmer * Calc, GFO and Carbon RXs * 2x250W 20K Radium MH with VHO supplement * 3600 GPH closed loop with OM 4 way * 1700 GPH return

09/27/2006, 01:08 AM	#12
Randall_James Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,727	The larger piping on the inlet is much better... I have never seen a ball valve like that for sure. Guessing you found the mag drive a bit on the weak side for twin outlets? And how do you like the SCWD? (assuming that is what I see there) __________________ "It's a dog eat dog world and I feel like I am wearing milkbone underwear"