plumbing help!
 

Hey all

I am about to buy all my parts for me animal bean over flow. I have 1" slip/slip bulk heads all read and two 3/4 slip/slip for my returns.

So far I am needing a 1" Gate Valve. slip/slip or threaded. Not sure what would be best.

Also I am needing a ball valve or a True double union ball.

Now this is where I am stuck.. Not sure what other major parts I will need.. Maybe check valves?

Any help would be great

Thanks

Here's a pic of the plumbing for my bean animal over flow. Used a knife valve, slip/slip but added unions on both sides. All my overflow piping is 1" bulkheads into 1-1/2" piping. I also added ball valves with unions on each return. My return lines are 1" into a 1" bulkhead then reduced to 3/4" locline. I added a check valve right at the pump on the return and get no back siphon from the DT into the sump.

Awesome, thanks for the pictures!

Did you use slip/slip or threaded?

Are you not concerned with the check valve failing? I didn't use them when I did my plumbing since I had read so much about detritus/sponges/snails/worms getting in and causing the check valve to malfunction. Perhaps check valve technology has changed since I did my research?

Everything outside the tank except for the caps on the top of the down pipes is slip/slip. Inside the tank the elbows are threaded as well as the locline. I used unions to make sure I can disassemble as needed.

The check valve I got has no metal so nothing to rust and fail. I also have a screen on the pump intake which should prevent any critters from getting in there. Plus, I do have room in the sump in case it did fail and the tank siphoned down to the return level. I was maybe a little paranoid and tried to double up safety features where I could.

I use threaded, but slip with unions works too. I just like that I can change my setup later to anything without rebuying a $30 valve. X2 on the not using check valves, even the plastic ones gum up, not worth it IMO.

I am also thinking of running either a Eheim 1262 or 1260 for my return pump.

1" hose from the pump to a ball valve then to a 3/4 hose and into my tank

Thoughts on how this should work? I want to split the pump with a T to return to but returns. (return is 3/4)

"return to but returns" makes no sense. Do you mean "both" not "but"?

You have 2 returns that are 3/4s and you want to go from 1' and split into the 2?

Sorry. It was late haha. Yes I want to use a single pump to return flow to both returns on the tank. The return hole is 3/4 and so is the outlet on the pump. Is it worth switching the pump outlet to 1'' and run a 1'' pipe to a ball valve and then into a smaller 3/4 pipe to connect to my returns. Or would it be better to run 3/4 all the way.

I cant see a noticeable advantage to using 1" if your pump output is only 3/4". but it wouldn't hurt anything

Thanks!

I am also trying to figure out what return pump to buy. I am running a bean animal with a coast/coast over flow. 1" drains.
I am looking at:

Fluval Sea SP2
Quiet One Pro 4000
EHEIM 1260 or 1262


I have all read great stuff about these pumps. The SP2 and Eheim are pretty high cost and then Pro 4000 is a lot cheaper. Any thoughts on these?

Thanks

I havent tried the fluval but my quiet one is awesome. thats my recommendation.
My eheim is good but it makes a weird noise on start up. not a huge deal but thats it really. The quiet one is low power too

I am leaning towards the Q One 4000. The head height GPH is still good. The SP2 loses a lot of GPH even at 4.5 feet.. hmmm

Check out Sicce Syncra... I'm running a 3.0, it's virtually silent, and I bought it for $80 on amazon (bout half price).

I use a transparent true union check valve, so I can easily monitor its condition/performance and maintain it as necessary. I also run an Fluval SP4 wide open, so it would take one determined critter to get down to the check valve. Basic setup before some tuning/modifications.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z...o/IMG_4442.JPG

Forgot to mention, my check valve is also transparent so easy to see if it's getting gummed up.

how do you find tuning the drains with ball valves?

They are precise enough for me. Gate valves would be a nice to have, but not a need.