How do I plumb this thing?

Diogenes

Diogenes

Members
I guess I should preface this by saying that I am not a handy guy. I'm a nurse on a neuro rehab unit, and while I know all kinds of stuff about brain surgery, I don't know anything about drain surgery if you get my meaning. To me a bulkhead is the incredible headache I get trying to figure out how these pipes go together.

I am begging please someone walk me very slowly and patiently through this process.

The tank is drilled with two holes. I have three pipes. 2 appear to me as drains one appears to be a return. I have two bulkhead fittings not sure about the size. I have an amiracle sump, it's 14x24. It looks like it is missing a drip tray. The section above the bio balls where the drip tray goes is 14wx12Lx1 3/4deep. There is a little shelf there that I assume is to hold the tray. I need suggestions on what to use as a drip tray. I am going to be using a mag 9.5 return pump. I think I am going to order a filter sock to strain out sand. This will be a freshwater tank.

I know there's somebody out there willing to help. I would be forever in your debt.

Here are the pics:

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A

AndyNarwhal

Members
This is going to be hard to explain in a forum thread but I can help a bit.

1. The bulkheads go down through the bottom of the overflow box. The gasket goes on the inside and the nut is on the outside. You will want to tighten them with a large wrench (or you may find a strange looking tool that looks like an X that is designed specifically for tightening bulkhead nuts). The large one is the drain and the small one is the return.

2. Connect the drain hose (1.25" corrugated hose with a nozzle on the end) to the drain bulkhead.

3. Your sump is missing it's lid and has two holes on the side that are not normal for an Amiracle sump. My guess is that there were bulkheads there at one time and horizontal drip pipes for draining the water. Your probably going to have to make these. The overflow hose would connect to fittings on there and then it would drain out on top of your drip tray.

If you get that far let me know and then we can work on your return.

Andy
 
Diogenes

Diogenes

Members
AndyNarwhal said:
This is going to be hard to explain in a forum thread but I can help a bit.

1. The bulkheads go down through the bottom of the overflow box. The gasket goes on the inside and the nut is on the outside. You will want to tighten them with a large wrench (or you may find a strange looking tool that looks like an X that is designed specifically for tightening bulkhead nuts). The large one is the drain and the small one is the return.

2. Connect the drain hose (1.25" corrugated hose with a nozzle on the end) to the drain bulkhead.

3. Your sump is missing it's lid and has two holes on the side that are not normal for an Amiracle sump. My guess is that there were bulkheads there at one time and horizontal drip pipes for draining the water. Your probably going to have to make these. The overflow hose would connect to fittings on there and then it would drain out on top of your drip tray.

If you get that far let me know and then we can work on your return.

Andy
Click to expand...

Alright I'm with you on 1 and 2 I will knock those out today if possible.

Step 3 is a little confusing. I am trying to envision a horizontal drip tray. Any pics? Is this like a spray bar?
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
The holes in the side of the sump are a bit strange to me as well. I am not sure why someone would do this. To me, the force of the drain water coming into the sump horizontally would slosh to the point that it would splash out the other side of the top of the sump.

Personally, I would fashion another top with a piece of acrylic. Drill holes in it and connect the drain lines with bulkheads (so the water is coming in vertically). Cover the holes on the side of the sump with pieces of scrap acrylic. Whichever way you go, you will still have to get bulkheads to connect the drain line to the sump.

I don't think that you have the vertical space to incorporate socks. Instead of them, use a coarse piece of poret foam on top of the bio-balls. This will trap large gunk, soften the splashing action of the drain lines as well as diffuse the water to drip through the bio-balls.

Install a second piece of finer foam underneath the bulkhead between the drip section and the return. Don't make it too fine a foam. Otherwise if you neglect servicing the filter, you can overflow the drip section. To avoid this, I would drill a small hole towards the top of the divider. <---- This is probably me being over cautious though.

With this second piece of foam in place, feel free to remove the tray under the bio-balls and fill the whole section with media. Some will be constantly submerged, but they will still be beneficial to your system. Generally, ceramic rings are the preferred media for constantly-submerged applications, but it really doesn't make all that much a difference.
 
A

AndyNarwhal

Members
Yes it is a spray bar. My guess is that the original sump owner had limited height in their cabinet and could not fit the standard top mounted inlet and lid for the filter. So they removed the lid and drilled out the side to put in two spray bars. These would drain down onto a drip tray to distribute the water flow or more likely just sprayed onto a filter pad.

Andy
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Poor man's drip tray = Dollar store plastic basin (the approx size of your media area) with a bunch of small holes drilled in the bottom.

Another plastic tray or trays (in the basin) can hold a layer or two of filter fluff to act as a pre-filter for your bio material (bio balls, poret foam, plastic army men, plastic scrubbies, etc.)...

In a nutshell, you want water dripping / flowing over as much of your bio material as possible..

Matt
 
Diogenes

Diogenes

Members
in case anyone else is technically deficient and following this thread. I found this. Helps a lot:

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maddog10

maddog10

Members
Pretty sure that is for a different piece you do not have. I think that is a cover for a hang on tank overflow/prefilter box.
 
Diogenes

Diogenes

Members
this may sound crazy, but is there anyway I could just plumb the drains to a large shower head and use that in lieu of a drip plate?

Also where would you guys add union ball valves to the drainage plumbing?
 
Diogenes

Diogenes

Members
DSC01670.jpg


Is it possible that my sump was drilled for a setup like this and if so, what is the purpose and can it be replicated?
 
Diogenes

Diogenes

Members
So I went to HD last night. They didn't have 1 1/4" non-kink corrugated tubing. They didn't have anything I could use as a drip plate either. I am going to scour dollar stores today, and visit the lowes in New Carrolton.

Question:

The non kink tube that runs from the drain pipes to the sump, does it slip onto the bulkheads or do I need to use some sort of adhesive? Is it a specific size or just whatever fits the end of the bulkhead?
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Diogenes said:
this may sound crazy, but is there anyway I could just plumb the drains to a large shower head and use that in lieu of a drip plate?
Click to expand...

A shower head/canister filter spray bar/PVC with holes drilled in it will all collect gunk in them and get clogged over time. Reduced flow on your drains is not a good thing. It will lead to your tank overflowing.

Diogenes said:
Also where would you guys add union ball valves to the drainage plumbing?
Click to expand...

If you want to add a ball valve to adjust flow, it should be on the outflow side of the return pump. Like the clogged drain line scenario above, a ball valve on the drain line will cause your tank to overflow and sump to run dry.

It is impossible for the drain lines to flow faster than the return lines as only so much water is being pumped into the tank above. On the flip side, when the return lines out-flow the drains... well that's when you have problems.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
You're goona want to use hose clips to keep it secured.

A drip plate = a piece of plastic or plexi with a bunch of 1/4" holes in it. The meticulous among us use a drill press, mark out a regular pattern and spend hours on it. The less meticulous use a dolar store plastic basin and an electric drill (about 10 mins)...

Matt
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
For a drip plate, I would use eggcrate with poret filter sitting on top.

The bulkheads should have a barbed-nipple piece that slides into the bulkhead itself. These should be glued into the bulkhead. The tubing will slip over the nipple and you should use a hose clamp to secure.

(EDIT - posted the same time as Matt)
 
Diogenes

Diogenes

Members
Tony said:
A shower head/canister filter spray bar/PVC with holes drilled in it will all collect gunk in them and get clogged over time. Reduced flow on your drains is not a good thing. It will lead to your tank overflowing.



If you want to add a ball valve to adjust flow, it should be on the outflow side of the return pump. Like the clogged drain line scenario above, a ball valve on the drain line will cause your tank to overflow and sump to run dry.

It is impossible for the drain lines to flow faster than the return lines as only so much water is being pumped into the tank above. On the flip side, when the return lines out-flow the drains... well that's when you have problems.
Click to expand...

makes sense
 
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