Designing a manifold

[Be102]

I put one of my feeds into my fuge area for circulation. I didn't want to have another pump to mess with. As far as your levels in the fuge, you need to turn off your return pump and see what level you have in your sump. Place a marker of some sort on the water level and never exceed that level so your sump won't over flow if you lose power. Then setup your ATO to keep the levels up where they need to be. You'll really like the sump, it helps out keeping things balanced. LMK if I can help more.

Sorry if this is confusing... but so does your sump go from fuge>return and then it still has a t off of the return itself? So like you said extra circulation?

 

[Be102]

Wow man, sorry. I didn't even noticed the questions. I'm sure they've been answered in some form already, but here are mine. I am currently running a 750 GPH return with a 1" overflow drain and actually have to dial the drain line back. Depends on the size of your return pump rating, but 1" is usually sufficient for an overflow. My return line is 3/4", again usually good for most applications. Right now I have a ball valve on my overflow. Your overflow should be rated at or above what your return pump is rated for. This makes it easier by being able to max out your return and making the adjustments on with your overflow drain valve instead of trying to match the two to eachother. Either way I'd suggest you use a gate valve. I have to resort to knocking on the lever in an attempt to make minor adjustments instead of simply turning the knob on a gate.

One more thing. +1 on the quick disconnects at the beginning of each line. It makes removing them for maintenance a ton easier.

Where exactly do you use the quick disconnects? I guess my problem is I know of 10000 different valves and threads and all that and I basically lose track of what to use first. It makes sense because I would like to just push the quick connect and go from there. I think I'll end up with a 1' return line because the pump I'm looking at (varios6) seems to have a wider output.

 

[Salty1962]

PS chamber, Fuge chamber and return pump chamber. I wouldn't go with push connectors, they leak to easily IMO, I used barb connectors with nylon clamps. Does the pump your getting have any reduction fittings so you won't have to go with 1", 3/4" should be plenty.

 

[TreyC2010]

This is under my 60 cube. Manifold for reactors and water changes.

 

[Scott.h]

Varios 6 is plumbed in 1 1/4" and comes with 2, schedule 80 1 1/4 unions. Pipe size needs to be determined by head loss pressure figured out with a calculator. If you plan on running a manifold, running more then a return pump, and will require multiple elbows and fittings this will have a big impact on total output. Do the math before choosing pipe size.

 

[Be102]

Varios 6 is plumbed in 1 1/4" and comes with 2, schedule 80 1 1/4 unions. Pipe size needs to be determined by head loss pressure figured out with a calculator. If you plan on running a manifold, running more then a return pump, and will require multiple elbows and fittings this will have a big impact on total output. Do the math before choosing pipe size.

Is there a way to measure how much head loss pressure I lose? I guess this is the deciding factor if the varios 6 will be enough to run as my return pump and also the manifold which would probably have atleast 4 ports on it... Not that they would all be in use always.. but still something I should keep in mind. I originally figured 1700gph would be plenty.. but now I am questioning it.

 

[Scott.h]

Is there a way to measure how much head loss pressure I lose? I guess this is the deciding factor if the varios 6 will be enough to run as my return pump and also the manifold which would probably have atleast 4 ports on it... Not that they would all be in use always.. but still something I should keep in mind. I originally figured 1700gph would be plenty.. but now I am questioning it.

Yes you can calculate it. I redid my plumbing several times because I didn't realize the importance of the math on this. There is also the Varios 8 now too. But you really need to know exactly what you are going to run off of it before staring, or you will end up wasting money. You can plug in the numbers here for pipe size etc. When I did the math I used the mag drive pumps for the gph because I know the graph on what those produce and have experience with those. The Mag drive 18 puts out slightly more the the Varios 6 for math purposes on the calculator. With that pump having 5 speeds you can always turn it down. I have something like 6' of head pressure with 2" plumbing, only running the return pump. That gets me 900 gph on level 3 and 10 times the fuge changeover per hour. I can increase or decrease that as needed. My BRS reacor and skimmer have their own pumps and I can do water changes with my apex/dos. There isn't a wrong way, just whatever you want to run you have to plan accordingly

http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/head-loss-calculator

 

[jeffrey holloway]

I would set one up even if u don't need it now, it would be in place if you ever need it. I ran a little extra pvc for addtions if needed. Don't mind the mess I will do wire management after I get the remiander of my apex mods and power bar, or maybe not.

 

[Scott.h]

I would set one up even if u don't need it now, it would be in place if you ever need it. I ran a little extra pvc for addtions if needed. Don't mind the mess I will do wire management after I get the remiander of my apex mods and power bar, or maybe not.

shoot, and I thought I had a wiring mess. Lol. That's awesome

 

[Ian bergevin]

 

[MichaelsReef]

This is the manifold I came up with for my 300 gallon upgrade. This manifold will be fed by (1) echotech M1 which will go to my mechanical closet 2 feet to the right of my tank and will return back to the sump. It will feed my CA reactor, Carbon Reactor..then go to my UV to Chiller and back to the sump. Then (1) echotech L1 will feed direct from the sump right to the 4 inputs on my tank with a gate valve in between to feed my small frag tank which will be under the tank.

 

[Be102]

Clear PVC cleaner, Clear PVC cement.
Sketch out what you want, basic layout, how many valves and so forth. Plan for the future possibilities.
Measure once, twice, three times the charm.
Make a dry fit mock up of the plumbing and see if it fits. Adjust plan as necessary.

My first effort was my current tank. It took me 2 tries to get what I wanted.
I ended up with 3 gate valves 1/2 x 1/2 inch slip fit.
I used reducing Ts 3/4 x 3/4 x 1/2.

I used clear silicone tubing from the pump to the manifold.
I put a true union ball valve last so I could shut off back flow and remove the whole thing if needed.

Finished effort was this:



I'm still working on the refugium parts, so one gate valve will be used for that.
The other 2 are for Spyglass reactors, but I don't need to run them right now.
There's a million ways to do this.
Search the intarwebs and you'll get lots of ideas.

Just going over your pictures.. I was curious how/why your return pump section is so high yet the others aren't? Also How does water get from the output of the filter sock > the return pump? Cant seem to figure it out..

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Just going over your pictures.. I was curious how/why your return pump section is so high yet the others aren't? Also How does water get from the output of the filter sock > the return pump? Cant seem to figure it out..

My guess is water change!

 

[Be102]

My guess is water change!

I just don't see how the water would go from flowing out of the tank into the filter socks, and then all the way to the return.. but like I said I am probably missing something.. But you are probably right about the water height

 

[Salty1962]

I would set one up even if u don't need it now, it would be in place if you ever need it. I ran a little extra pvc for addtions if needed. Don't mind the mess I will do wire management after I get the remiander of my apex mods and power bar, or maybe not.

+1 on having for future needs. You never know....

 

[rerana]

I am looking to put in a manifold on my redsea reefer tank and was looking at some designs. I had planed on putting in a Check valve on the return line, but noticed that a lot, if not most, designs i have seen do not use one.

Is this something that is not necessary, or do people not include it because it is hard to fit in?

 

[Be102]

I am looking to put in a manifold on my redsea reefer tank and was looking at some designs. I had planed on putting in a Check valve on the return line, but noticed that a lot, if not most, designs i have seen do not use one.

Is this something that is not necessary, or do people not include it because it is hard to fit in?

I think people don't use them cause they can get clogged. Not sure though. Also was wondering this, thanks for posting it

 

[Ty Hamatake]

I am looking to put in a manifold on my redsea reefer tank and was looking at some designs. I had planed on putting in a Check valve on the return line, but noticed that a lot, if not most, designs i have seen do not use one.

Is this something that is not necessary, or do people not include it because it is hard to fit in?

A check valve serves one purpose (it sounds like you know this), to stop water from siphoning back into the sump when the return pump is turned off. They do require maintenance and are only necessary in a few cases. My return line siphons, but only until the water level in the tank drops below the return outputs. If you adjust them close to the surface, and aren't running you sump near max capacity, this little bit of siphoning is ok. My return pulls in about five gallons of water back into the sump before it starts sucking air, and there is still about eight gallons of space before it's in danger of overflowing.
Hope this helps!

 

[JBradford]

I don't run check valves either for having 1 less things to deal with. My tank is also set up for very minimal water level increase in the sump with some room to spare for a bad day.

 

[rerana]

A check valve serves one purpose (it sounds like you know this), to stop water from siphoning back into the sump when the return pump is turned off. They do require maintenance and are only necessary in a few cases. My return line siphons, but only until the water level in the tank drops below the return outputs. If you adjust them close to the surface, and aren't running you sump near max capacity, this little bit of siphoning is ok. My return pulls in about five gallons of water back into the sump before it starts sucking air, and there is still about eight gallons of space before it's in danger of overflowing.
Hope this helps!

Hi Ty, this is very helpful and makes perfect sense. No need for the valve if the sump can handle the extra water. I am assuming this will also be the case for me, so no valve it is!