My husband and I are starting to build our 92 gallon corner tank which we bought used. In the back the previous owner had hard plumbed the drain and return. The drain plumbing was broken and we are replacing it. I went to lowes yest and the gentlemen there were very helpful with finding all the parts. I had mentioned that the previous owner had a plastic ball valve that was quite difficult to turn so they suggested a brass gate valve. I questioned if it was ok fir a salt aqarium and they said it was ok to use. I went home and built it last night. Today however, one of my friends said that a brass gate valve wouldn't be good on a salt tank. Do any of you have brass valves? Do I need to go back and rebuild the hole thing? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!
Drain plumbing
- Thread starter t_nix
- Start date
Brass is not a good idea. Avoid most any metal as a rule of thumb.
Brass alloys contain copper. Take that sucker back and tell the clerk to say "I don't know" rather than make crap up.
Edit: Just in case you weren't aware, copper in small amounts will kill invertebrates.
Brass alloys contain copper. Take that sucker back and tell the clerk to say "I don't know" rather than make crap up.
Edit: Just in case you weren't aware, copper in small amounts will kill invertebrates.
Thanks for the help. Luckily it wasnt too hard to replace the brass valve for a pvc one. My next problem is that it might be too long. I made it the same length as the old one but I am guessing the previous owner had the pvc pipe drain dierctly into the sump without the grey flex tubing. I have purchased a reef master sump/refugium and need to connect my drain to the sump with the grey flex tubing. However the length of the new drain makes the flex tubing "sag" down behind the sump before turning up to the elbow joint that is the entrance into the sump. (I hope this makes some kind of sense to you all) Do you think this is going to create a problem with the drain water not flowing well from the tank to the sump? I guess we could always just cut the flex tubing, but I am terrified of leaking 92 gallons of water into my living room. Again, thanks for helping a newbie out!! 
Here are the pics of my first and second attempt at a new drain.
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You shouldn't have any kind of valve on the drain. The drain is fed by gravity, it cannot possibly drain 'too fast' and you need to make sure it's fast enough. Any impediment or obstruction can be a bad thing.
You *may* need a valve on your return; water flowing back UP to the tank from the return pump, but a drain, particularly a simple drain from a tank to a sump directly below, should never have any sort of constricting device.
If power shuts off, the bit of water in the plumbing drains to the sump, and that's that. If you are using a Durso style drain pipe, that amount of water is minimal and your sump should be able to handle that without any issue provided you don't over-fill the sump beyond it's proper capacity.
If you do need a valve on the return, then yes, plastic is in order. Metal valves will kill off your inverts. Same goes for metal hose clamps - they are a no-no, particularly below the water line. I've seem folks use them above the water line, but typically they will corrode and fall apart eventually - plastic clamps are the best way to go.
Jenn
You *may* need a valve on your return; water flowing back UP to the tank from the return pump, but a drain, particularly a simple drain from a tank to a sump directly below, should never have any sort of constricting device.
If power shuts off, the bit of water in the plumbing drains to the sump, and that's that. If you are using a Durso style drain pipe, that amount of water is minimal and your sump should be able to handle that without any issue provided you don't over-fill the sump beyond it's proper capacity.
If you do need a valve on the return, then yes, plastic is in order. Metal valves will kill off your inverts. Same goes for metal hose clamps - they are a no-no, particularly below the water line. I've seem folks use them above the water line, but typically they will corrode and fall apart eventually - plastic clamps are the best way to go.
Jenn
I would take the sag out and plumb it with flex PVC glued in so no worry about leaks. You would never want to close the valve on the overflow while normally running, but I always plumb them into my set ups so I can close it off if I need to work on the sump and don't want to worry about totally draining the overflow or having it slow drip.
The reason we were installing the valve on the drain is so that when we need to work on the sump or if we need to install something under the tank we can shut off the drain and the return so that we can pull the sump out and not worry about the tank draining. We are just getting into this hobby and still have a lot to learn. I really appreciate everyones help!!
Actually I use a ball valve to restrict flow in to my fuge, but i had done this long before melev was at the meeting and suggested it.
Here is an outdated picture, added a different light and a bigger skimmer.
NOTE: I don't use the hydrometer, that is just a memento from my first tank that caused me hell by using it
I can see installing a valve if the sump is on the next floor under (ie basement) because the plumbing can hold a lot of water over a long distance. If you need to slow the flow through a sump, put the valve on the pump. The drain cannot work any faster than what it's fed - simple law of gravity. And even in the scenario I just mentioned, if the power shuts off and there's nobody home to shut the valve, if sump isn't sized properly and maintained at the right level, there's going to be an overflow no matter what.
If the overflow box is correctly installed and not leaking, with a proper standpipe, there's only a small amount of water in the plumbing if the power shuts off or is shut off, and that should drain in a few seconds. So I really don't see the need or the logic in putting a valve on the drain. And if you're hard plumbing - valve or no valve, better put a union in there so you can take the thing apart without having to cut pipes.
When the system is running, IMO it's dangerous to partially close a valve on a drain (hence I think it's not a smart thing to do)... all it takes is to choke that drain just a leeeetle too much, and your main display will overflow because the drain cannot keep up with what the return pump is pushing back topside.
I've seen displays overflow from hang-on siphon boxes that get a bit hung up because of an air bubble or whatnot, slowing the flow downward, *just enough* so that the tank over-fills, and then overflows. Same logic applies to a gravity fed overflow drain.
That's why the drain pipes are always wider than the return pipes - more allowance.
Jenn
If the overflow box is correctly installed and not leaking, with a proper standpipe, there's only a small amount of water in the plumbing if the power shuts off or is shut off, and that should drain in a few seconds. So I really don't see the need or the logic in putting a valve on the drain. And if you're hard plumbing - valve or no valve, better put a union in there so you can take the thing apart without having to cut pipes.
When the system is running, IMO it's dangerous to partially close a valve on a drain (hence I think it's not a smart thing to do)... all it takes is to choke that drain just a leeeetle too much, and your main display will overflow because the drain cannot keep up with what the return pump is pushing back topside.
I've seen displays overflow from hang-on siphon boxes that get a bit hung up because of an air bubble or whatnot, slowing the flow downward, *just enough* so that the tank over-fills, and then overflows. Same logic applies to a gravity fed overflow drain.
That's why the drain pipes are always wider than the return pipes - more allowance.
Jenn
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