I am plumbing my first tank...

...and I am absolutely clueless. I think I want to use flexible tubing, but I am not sure what kind I need. I am also not ure of the best way to affix the tube to the bulkhead and the pump. I have a perfecot Corverflow and it has threaded bulkheads. I think they are 1.5". I have a Mag 7 return pump which has a 3/4" threaded output. Can someone help me put togeather a partslist? Thanks in advance.

 

Anyone? Sorry for such a noob question.

 

What size tank? The bulkheads are probably 1." Are they slip or thread?

 

They are threaded and it is a 65g. The holes in the bottom of the tank looked about 1.5".

 

I tried flexible, and ended up going with standard PVC tubing. Both for fewer kinks, and more quiet With that said, you'll have to be a tad more specific with the question... Are you plumbing for a sump?

I got a CPR style overflow box, and used plumbers blueglue (Home depot, 4$ a can) to affix the PVC tubing to the bulkheads. Downside is it can't be removed, plus side is I have NEVER had a leak (And in 2 years never had a desire to remove them, so....)

I'd suggest either plumbing the pump EXTERNALLY (Mags have a horrible heat issue. Don't believe me? Put it in a 5 gallon bucket overnight and let it spin the water... feel it the next morning) Either that, or invest now in a dedicated external pump such as a Little Giant or Iwaki. Yes, they are more expensive, BUT, IMO, well worth it. More space in your sump for skimmer/chaeto, no heat issues (The Mag 12 I had combined with halide lighting was forcing me to get a chiller, and RUN it)

If you do plumb externally, make sure you add a union coupling and ball valve on BOTH SIDES of the pump, so you can turn off the water and easily remove it for maintenance...

beyond those very general tips, I'd personally need a bit more information

 

I'm not sure I'm using the correct names for all of the fittings, but this is how I plumbed my simple set up:

I used plumber's epoxy to attach 3 or 4" of 1" PVC pipe to the slip bulkhead fitting. Then, to the PVC end still sticking out of the bulkhead, I glued in a 1" slip to thread adapter so that I could reuse the bulkhead fitting, if need be. Doing that eliminates the downside of SinCityReef's suggestion, above my post (it makes the overflow removable). I then screwed in a male thread-slip adapter into it (and wrapped the male thread with teflon). After that, it was pretty straight forward, I just used elbows/45s/etc and directed the flow into my sump.

I have a submersible Mag5 pump with a 1/2" outflow. I screwed a female thread-slip adapter onto the pump, and then just glued in the pipe needed to get the outflow to my tank. I kind of regret plumbing my pump like this, since it is hard to remove the pump. This could be avoided by using various types of flex pipe, attached to the pump using removable crimps. My mag5 pump doesn't seem to influence temperature much (if it does, its less than 1 degree C).

Its hard to make a parts list, but you'll probably need all of this:
- PVC glue and primer
- PVC cutters
- Any elbows/45s/adapters that you decide to use.
- 1.5" PVC pipe (for outflow tank-sump)
- 3/4" PVC pipe (for inflow sump-tank)

 

Jake,
What size tank do you have? I have an All-Glass 75 Gal reef ready that I'm trying to determine the size of the bulkheads and the needed PVC to fit the bulkheads.