First Tank - Please Help

[pzummo]

I bought my first tank. I plan on eventually converting it over to a reef tank but I'm starting out with fish, live rock, and live sand until I get really comfortable with filtration and maintenance. My pump is a CAP 2200 which puts out about 580gph.

Here's my question. I have a sump. And the pump has the hose attachment for the return to the tank. But it does not have anything to curve back into the tank. I realize that this is typically accomplished via a drilled tank but my tank is not drilled and it's tempered glass so I'd rather not drill it.

What's the best practice for returning the water back to the tank without drilling? Obviously bending the hose would be a very bad idea. I thought about rigging it with PVC, but I wasn't sure how well that would work. I don't want to guess, and I also don't want to flood my house. Since I don't have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, I thought I'd look for some advice.

 

[jeep9783]

HOB over flow

 

[jeep9783]

called a utube overvlow...ebay it you can get them cheap for like 20-30 bucks

 

[zavala83]

I was going to say the same thing. You can make one with PVC piping and a couple 90 degree fittings. Good luck! Hope everything comes out well...

 

[myvwrock]

To get water from the sump to the tank just plump with pvc, To get water from the tank to the sump a Hang on the back(HOB) overflow is needed for tanks that are not drilled. What size tank is it.
Chris

 

[pzummo]

<span style="font-family: Calibri">Thanks for the reply, but now I'm confused even more than before. I ordered an overflow box. I thought that was used for getting water out of the tank over to the sump. Am I missing something? I thought the way it works is that water from the tank enters the overflow and gets pulled down to the sump, where it goes through the multiple filters, and then the pump sends the filtered water back up to the tank. So theoretically, if the pump stopped working, the water level in the tank would drop below the overflow box fill line, and more water would stop flowing to the sump keeping you from flooding your house. If I'm off on this please explain because I really don't want to mess this up.</span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri"></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri">P.S. Nice ride, used to have a GSX-R750. Totalled that, now have an R1.
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<span style="font-family: Calibri"></span>

 

[pochaxoo]

I think some of the people are confused, based on your earlier post I assume you have No holes drilled in your tank anywhere and no overflow currently. When people mention HOB overflow they mean Hang on the Back overflow such as these ones from CPR Aquatic - http://www.cpraquatic.com/pdf/csselection.pdf">http://www.cpraquatic.com/pdf/csselection.pdf</a>

So it sounds like you have one on order, that is how you get the water to the sump. Then for you return water supply you get flexible tubing (or PVC pipe) from Home Depot and some tubing clamps (plastic if in the water) and then you buy a hose adaptor you can screw into a 90 degree elbow, then add two more elbows to make and S and you have the means to send water back into the tank. If you want it to be a black colored return fitting you can talk to your local fish store about loc-line fittings. You will also need som purple primer and PVC cement from HD to glue those parts together at the end.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[pzummo]

myVWrock;346616 wrote: To get water from the sump to the tank just plump with pvc, To get water from the tank to the sump a Hang on the back(HOB) overflow is needed for tanks that are not drilled. What size tank is it.
Chris

It's a 60 gallon tank. Ok, so the overflow is for getting from the tank to the sump. If I'm off on how that works, please let me know, a bit nervous and trying not to bite off more than I can chew. Doing my best to understand everything before making it all function. You can only get so much without actually doing it though...

I thought about PVC piping, but I'm still a little lost as to how I would make a good connection between the pump and the PVC piping. Are there any spec's for building that portion anywhere? How deep the PVC should go into the tank? How to connect the pump to the PVC piping? etc...

Again, thanks for the responses, appreciate the help.

 

[cr500_af]

You can make just the "U" out of PVC and use flex tubing (vinyl, flex pvc etc) to connect the pump to the pvc. Just be sure to clamp everything well. Hard plumbing it (pvc end to end) would be better only in the sense that there are no clamps that could someday leak... but if your pump outlet is not threaded you'll have to use tubing and clamps in some way.

 

[Reefplumber13]

maybe someone will post that is a lil closer to you and can come by and help you out.. lol i would do that but thats a bit of a drive

 

[bobz]

I think this is what you may need:
http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=pc_return_nozzle&Category_Code">http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=pc_return_nozzle&Category_Code</a>=

It's a U-Tune Directional Return Nozzle that will fit in to your return tubing. If it does not fit the tube, you can pick up a barbed adapter at lowe's or HD which will connect it to the right size hosing.

Hope that helps!
Bob

 

[bobz]

looks like Andre had the same idea!

 

[jennm]

Just FYI... that CAP 2200 does 582 GPH at 0 feet of head. Once you get that plumbed up, that pump is going to have to push the water about 4'. There is more "head" for each 90-degree elbow - in a typical over the back return line (from pump back to tank), you'll have 2 of those elbows to hang over the back of the tank. Each 90-degree "costs" you about 1 more foot of head. So your total estimated feed of head are about 6 (hopefully I haven't lost you there...)

I surfed around looking for a flow rating on these pumps with increasing distance, but couldn't find one.

My concern is that the CAP may not be powerful enough to push enough water volume through the system quickly enough.

I haven't even seen a CAP pump around in a while - but they were mainly used on skimmers where they weren't having to push too far.

Jenn

 

[zavala83]

Hey man...Just wanted to check to see if you got everything you need? I will bein alphretta on Sun. if you need some help. LMK

 

[cr500_af]

By the way, go ahead and be honest with yourself now... I also said when I joined the ARC that I was doing a FOWLR tank. That lasted about 4 days. Just go ahead and plan on a reef. Admitting it is the first step to feeding oops I mean dealing with addiction...

 

[pzummo]

JennM;346949 wrote: Just FYI... that CAP 2200 does 582 GPH at 0 feet of head. Once you get that plumbed up, that pump is going to have to push the water about 4'. There is more "head" for each 90-degree elbow - in a typical over the back return line (from pump back to tank), you'll have 2 of those elbows to hang over the back of the tank. Each 90-degree "costs" you about 1 more foot of head. So your total estimated feed of head are about 6 (hopefully I haven't lost you there...)

I surfed around looking for a flow rating on these pumps with increasing distance, but couldn't find one.

My concern is that the CAP may not be powerful enough to push enough water volume through the system quickly enough.

I haven't even seen a CAP pump around in a while - but they were mainly used on skimmers where they weren't having to push too far.

Jenn

I followed up with the manufacturer. You are correct, I had things a bit wrong. That is not a return pump. My sump has a built in skimmer, and the pump is for that skimmer. The good news is I don't have to buy a skimmer! The bad news is I need to buy a return pump. No setting up my tank this weekend.

But I did receive my fiji liverock yesterday. I went ahead and set it up in a tub to cure while I try to figure out which return pump I'm going to get. Suggestions?

By the way, for the curing process I set the salinity level at 1.24 and the temperature is at 78 right now, trying to get it to 80. I put a powerhead to keep water flowing and a heater with all lights off. Has anybody done this before? Any tips on when I test for ammonia, change water, etc...? I have read a bunch about doing it, nobody says when to do it. Also, how long does it take for those dechlorinator's to work? On the bottle it says how much to add but doesn't say how long to wait.

You all are awesome, thanks for the help!

 

[lees]

The other good news is you can get a good return pump for less than a skimmer. Oh welcome to the ARC.

 

[Reefplumber13]

a mag 5 or a mag 7 will be a good one for you.

 

[jennm]

*Cough* I can match the good doctor's (cough cough) pricing on a Mag Drive. Only snag is, I don't have a 7 right now but will likely have one next Friday. I encourage you to shop local if you can... we local sponsors value your business! I do have a Mag 5 in stock but I'd favor the 7 because at 4' of head the Mag 5 pushes only about 350 GPH. The Mag 7 pushes about 475 GPH.

Mag Specs here: http://www.dannermfg.com/instructionsheets/ZG120.PDF">http://www.dannermfg.com/instructionsheets/ZG120.PDF</a> They make larger pumps too but the next size up is a 9.5 (950 GPH at 0 head and that would be too much, IMO).

Your sump with the built-in skimmer... is it a Sealife or ProClear (or AquaClear)? If so, those skimmers are, well, umm... so-so. They can work... but they aren't in the same ball park as a stand-alone in-sump skimmer. It's better than no skimmer, but not my first recommendation.

It would stand to reason that the CAP pump is for the skimmer though - the last time I saw one it was on a ProClear skimmer. The Sealife and ProClear (AquaClear - they changed their name to ProClear a few years ago) stand alone skimmers are better than their built-in ones, and for the money they aren't bad, but there are much better skimmers out there.

Sorry - not trying to rain on your parade... just "FYI".

ProClear and Sealife products look almost identical. Both are made in Jacksonville FL. Separate companies but I *think* at one time both companies (owners?) worked together, and as such, their products are very similar.

Jenn

 

[pzummo]

cr500_af;347032 wrote: By the way, go ahead and be honest with yourself now... I also said when I joined the ARC that I was doing a FOWLR tank. That lasted about 4 days. Just go ahead and plan on a reef. Admitting it is the first step to feeding oops I mean dealing with addiction...

Lol! I'm going to reward myself with a reef tank if I can keep this tank healthy for at least 6 months. :yes:

P.S. That timetable is changing by the day. I already upgraded my lighting to support coral. I realize this will promote a lot of undersireable growth in a non-reef tank, but I figure I need to learn how to control that type of stuff before I'm ready for a reef tank anyhow...