Ph8's 225 build

pickupman66 · Jun 23, 2011

Personally, I like to have a valve as close to the pump as possible and then a disconnect between it and the pump. this leaves you less water in the pipes to deal with when you remove it. the way you have it now from what I can tell, you will have to remove everything from under you r stand to get that pump out. for mine, I have the disconnects right at the pump. dont rely on that check valve to stop all the water. they can and will fail. just make sure that if it does fail, you have enough drawdown space in your sump. I am guessing the ball valves are for the various reactors and skimmer? you may want to use gate valves. although more expensive, they are much easier to fine tune and turn if you are on your knees reaching all the way to the back of the stand to turn off a stuck valve...

also, I would just run one pipe up to the returns and then split it up there. saves you several elbows and another disconnect.

Aquaph8 · Jun 23, 2011

pickupman66 said:
Personally, I like to have a valve as close to the pump as possible and then a disconnect between it and the pump. this leaves you less water in the pipes to deal with when you remove it. the way you have it now from what I can tell, you will have to remove everything from under you r stand to get that pump out. for mine, I have the disconnects right at the pump. dont rely on that check valve to stop all the water. they can and will fail. just make sure that if it does fail, you have enough drawdown space in your sump. I am guessing the ball valves are for the various reactors and skimmer? you may want to use gate valves. although more expensive, they are much easier to fine tune and turn if you are on your knees reaching all the way to the back of the stand to turn off a stuck valve...

also, I would just run one pipe up to the returns and then split it up there. saves you several elbows and another disconnect.

Thanks for the reply pickupman, its really not that hard to get the pump out, theres a union at the manifold and one at the check valve and the rest just lifts out. I might try to fit one more in to the left of the T just to make it a little easier. I know, everybody keeps telling me about the check valve. I too have had them fail before but the way I see it, its better than no check valve. I think I have enough space to cover it but its gonna be tight. Im trying to find something better than lockline for the returns, any ideas? I wanted gate valves but for now all Im running is one reactor that doesn't even get used all the time and I could't justify spending the money for something I'm not using. I added the manifold just incase I need it in the future its there and the ball valves are threaded in and can easily be swapped out later. I understand what your saying about running one pipe up instead of two, I did it this way cause I was dodging the center pipe in my stand and didn't want to go around it and then try to make everything even to each,this way they come apart seperately if needed and the flow is nice and even.

Aquaph8 · Jun 23, 2011

Here's a shot with the skimmer.

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Deanb · Jun 23, 2011

looking great

pickupman66 · Jun 23, 2011

hey man.. you know the rest of the story, I dont. Put you a pair of seaswirls on there instead of the locline. I have a pair and LOVE LOVE LOVE mine....Sanjay swears by them and they will give you a much more random flow.

Aquaph8 · Jun 23, 2011

Deanb said:
looking great

Thanks, I really appreciate it.

pickupman66 said:
hey man.. you know the rest of the story, I dont. Put you a pair of seaswirls on there instead of the locline. I have a pair and LOVE LOVE LOVE mine....Sanjay swears by them and they will give you a much more random flow.

I really do enjoy the feedback, hope I dont come off as unappreciative. I though about sea swirls. Do you know if theres any way to mount them though my bulkheads in the euro brace or do I have to go over the brace?

Aquaph8 · Jun 25, 2011

OK, plumbing is finally finished. I changed a couple things, added a valve and a union and here it is.

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I was bored so I also set my QT back up to cycle for a while.

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Akwarius · Jun 26, 2011

Smokin sump, Brett. How many beers will it take for you to help me with mine.

Aquaph8 · Jun 26, 2011

Akwarius said:
Smokin sump, Brett. How many beers will it take for you to help me with mine.

Thanks man, just a couple, LOL

Aquaph8 · Jul 5, 2011

Little Update:

The wood guy hurt his leg and dissapeared for a while until today. Heres a little sneak peak of the doors.

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Heres a little update to the returns:

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Note to self: Bangai needs a boyfriend

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SaltWaterDave · Jul 5, 2011

Looking good Brett. Those returns looks pretty cool.

Aquaph8 · Jul 6, 2011

Hiker4twenty said:
Looking good Brett. Those returns looks pretty cool.

Thanks buddy. This build feels like its going so slow, I just need to have the stand finished and I'm there.

Aquaph8 · Jul 7, 2011

Getting closer to the Happy Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have doors!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Aquaph8 · Jul 9, 2011

Started staining today. The hardwood and the 1/4 ply take the stain a lot different. Using two different mixes, here is the panels finished and the hard wood will be done tomorrow.

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Sea Turtle · Jul 9, 2011

love the combination on this! what exactly is the color of the darker one? wenge?

Aquaph8 · Jul 9, 2011

Sea Turtle said:
love the combination on this! what exactly is the color of the darker one? wenge?

It will all be black tomorrow, it does look kinda cool with the contrast though. Its an ebony but he had to mix it two different ways to get the wood to look the same since one is a 1/4" ply and the other is a hard wood. The rest will be stained black tomorrow with a different mix.

Sea Turtle · Jul 10, 2011

i see... i thought you're just going to apply clear coat on the lighter parts and leave it that way.

gimmito · Jul 10, 2011

Looking good ! I think you'll be happy with the Wavy Seas.

Aquaph8 · Jul 10, 2011

gimmito said:
Looking good ! I think you'll be happy with the Wavy Seas.

Thanks man. The wavy Seas are giving me issues already though. Now my top wont fit, any ideas, anyone??????????????

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Aquaph8 · Jul 12, 2011

Alright I moved them back to the holes in the euro brace. Hopefully there no too high now but we'll see. Now my screen top fits nice and it raised the returns up so I dont have to worry about flooding my sump during a power outage so much. Thoughts?

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Heres how I mounted them:

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