Closed Loop Plumbing

[nnewhouse]

I am kind of new around here so I hope I am posting this in the correct spot.

I am going to be setting up a new tank soon. I am unsure about my plumbing ideas and need some advice. Do you think that 4 1" holes is to much for a 3/8" thick bottom 40b? The holes will be close to the corners. Thanks for the help!

[OneDummHikk]

Keep any holes at least a diameter of the hole away from any edge or other hole. If you are drilling 1" holes, keep them at least 1" from the edges (preferably 2") and any other holes. And 4 1" holes in the corners of a 40 isn't too many.

[crvz]

Welcome to TRT! That shouldnt be too much, but what are you going to use them for? Sounds like a nice closed loop setup.

[nnewhouse]

I am going to setup an sps dominated tank. I have a dart I am going to be using for the flow. I figured I might have to dial it back a bit, but there should be more if needed.

[nnewhouse]

Oh, thanks for the welcome!

[OneDummHikk]

A Dart on a 40G tank? Thats a wee bit too much flow

[mgloop9656]

i have a cls and i was thinking the other day..what about instead of having the bulkheads in the back of the tank which makes you set the tank further from the wall you have them in the bottom . you could have the returns in the corners of the tank and just plumb upwards using slipxslipxthreaded t's. the threaded portion facing out where you could screw in some loc line fittings. i know it would work, just aesthetically unsure. if they were along the back wall the lr would hide them fairly well i would think.

[nnewhouse]

Yeah, that's a pretty cool idea! I was kind of going for that with the closed loop running through the bottom of the tank. My last set up had power heads and I did not like how it looked.
Do you really think a dart is too much flow? I chose that pump because you could dial it back and it doesn't harm the pump. Then when I setup our 90g again I would already have a closed loop pump for it.

[Hop]

It may not be too much flow, but it might be too much flow for 1" fittings If you dial it down to 1800gph, that is 45x turnover and not too bad. This is probably about where most people are at on larger tanks with a dart and an OM 4-way with 1" returns. The problem with the 40 is it's size and using 1" plumbing will make 1800 gph a bit of a beasts still. With that kind of flow in such a small tank, you may want to look at 1.5" or bigger so you can actually put some corals in the tank somewhere

Or dial it back even further, but IMO your wasting a dart pump at that point

[nnewhouse]

I talked with Reeflo and they stated a dart could be valved back all the way to 400gph without harming the pump. Any more thoughts or ideas on the holes in my 40b?

[mgloop9656]

well honestly the more i think about it i wish the holes for my cls were in the bottom of the tank. it may not be the standard around here but i have to set my tank off of the wall an extra 4-5 inches and my toddlers seem to find a way to squeeze behind there. lol

[nnewhouse]

Ha Ha! That's pretty funny. Kids will always find their way into the most awkward places.

[Jadinop]

Just to avoid some confusion. A 1in hole is not big enough for a bulkead that fits 1in pipe. If you drill 1in holes then only 1/2in bulkheads will fit. Four 1/2 returns will be a total waste of a dart pump.

You will need four 1 3/4 in holes to have 1in bulkheads. Is four 1 3/4 holes too much for the 3/8in bottom of a 40 gallon tank? I honestly don't know. To be on the safe side maybe you could do 2 on the bottom and 2 on the back.

In all of this, I don't see any mention of the supply plumbing for the dart. How is the water going to get to the pump? You are looking at an 1 /12 bulkhead or so with a hole size of about 2 3/8in for the water supply. This is really moving towards the realm of not being feasible on such a small tank.

[nnewhouse]

The bulk heads in the bottom of the tank are going to be 1". I was just assuming that everyone knew the hole is larger than the bulkhead. There was going to be four in the bottom of the tank, one in each corner approximately 2" from the sides. There was going to be 2-1.5" bulkheads in the back of the tank feeding the dart. These holes were going to be about midway up the tank. At the top there is going to be another 1.5" bulkhead for the overflow and 2-3/4" bulkheads for the returns.

[OneDummHikk]

That's a lot of holes in a 40G breeder tank. Try it but be prepared for the possibility that its too many holes and you end up having to replace the tank.