SCA 120 Gallon PNP: Part 03, Final Plumbing

Bulk Reef Supply bulkreefsupply...
My First Fish Tank myfirstfishtan...
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I have never hard plumbed an aquarium before. Honestly, it just seemed too daunting. But, I decided to take the plunge and do it anyway!
I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but overall, I'm thrilled with how it turned out.
I plumbed a Herbie style overflow using 1" schedule 40 PVC, and a manifold with 3/4" PVC.
I learned more about
-pvc pipe
-schedule 40 vs 80
-true union ball valves
-gate valves
-pvc vs. abs
- PVC primers and cement
- and tons more!
But, if I can do this, a hobbyist with zero plumbing experience, that any of you can too!
Be sure to subscribe and hit the notification button to follow along on our journey!
Members of www.myfirstfis... have access to all of my new videos 1-week before everybody else. If that's something you are interested in, you can sign up at my website!
Enjoy the video and Happy Reefing everybody!
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Intro Music: RSPN by Blank & Kytt
Other music from the KZbin Catalog
DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!
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[@imghaniff]

This looks great Matt! Thank you for documenting this.

[@martinsalmond7943]

Looks good. Im a few yrs behind here lol. But why is the backup drain not flowing into the same section as the primary drain . Its going ineo the return pull section

[@Kevkevkev763]

Looks sick

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Laura smither thanks!!!

[@oropherelf8544]

I'm curious about your main drain inside the weir since it is too deep below water line. How does it go when you stop the return pump?

[@MyFirstFishTank]

So I'm using Herbie Style overflow. So basically the primary drain is placed quite low, and the water height in the weir is controlled by a gate valve located in the sump. The important thing is to have a lot of space between the primary and emergency drain. That way you can use the gate valve to adjust the water height, keeping it in between the top of the primary and the emergency. When the return pump is stopped, all the water in the weir goes down the primary drain, and that's it. The water level in the weir goes down to the top of the primary drain. Does that answer your questions?

[@Nolimitsenju]

Looks good. But I would have made the manifold a little higher.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Luis Martinez yeah, agreed!!!

[@mnelson10000]

It looks good but dang dude, that's a lot of stress directly on the bulkheads (even with your pvc straps). Especially when you go cranking down on one of the unions or valves. I'd think about bracing it to the stand tighter. Good luck

[@MyFirstFishTank]

That’s a good call. Would you recommend just adding several more straps at various locations?

[@mnelson10000]

@@MyFirstFishTank On my builds, I used two hole pipe straps to lock it tight to the wall and remove all stress from the bulkheads. Since you have some space between the back wall and the pvc, you might need to put a block behind the pvc to give the strap something to screw down to. Hope this makes sense!

[@MyFirstFishTank]

mnelson10000 makes tots sense thanks!!

[@illusionist2213]

Thank you so much for this video, I know nothing about plumbing an aquarium sump, and this gave me the visual I needed. Few questions... Why is your main return in the second chamber, and not in the first where your biological and mechanical are? Did you have to glue the drain tubes and return pipe to the bulkheads I the overflow box? Finally why is your emergency in the return chamber? No criticism I truly just want to understand why it's done that way, I have the SCA 112 PNP system and would like to use your same setup in plumbing. Thanks for educating newbies like me.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Hey Dennis, no worries. Glad to help. I've gotten a lot better since this video! So that first chamber is actually just the auto top off chamber, and i was just temporarily storing the filter pads and bioballs in there! No, I did not glue the return pipes into the overflow, and you shouldn't. You need the ability to remove them so just a snug fit is fine. My emergency is in the return chamber just so that I can hear it if it ever triggers. Really, you could put it in any chamber, but i like to have it above the water line so that I can hear the water draining, which lets me know I need to adjust my primary overflow! Good luck and sorry for the late reply!

[@svenpflug1679]

How would you do it with two over flow into a trigger sump

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Not sure your exact question, but it would be similar. Probably less plumbing!

[@svenpflug1679]

So my tank has two over flows and I’m trying to decide if returns and to sump should be two to one plumb meaning the return to sump gets a t junction into one line to sump and the. Return line to tank gets two lines off a t junction

[@MyFirstFishTank]

@@svenpflug1679 Send me some pictures, I'm having a hard time visualizing it. [e-mail]

[@kashandrahall9844]

Really good video. I'm going to try my hand at dry plumbing my system next month. I know I'm going to f$%# it up! Smh lol. FYI, we all sucked our first time ;-)

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Haha, we all sucked indeed!!! Excited for you to dry plumb your system! If I can do it, you can do it for sure! If you have any questions along the way, let me know. The best way to reach me is DM me @myfirstfishtank!

[@tonykistoo8355]

Hi, so I have a 240 Gallon tank and it has 4 holes on the bottom of the tank. I installed 4 bulk heads, however, I do not know how to setup the rest of the pipes in the bottom of the tank.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Hi Tony, it sounds like it was built for a Bean Animal style setup. Basically you have one line for the return pump, and then three lines for the drain. Here's a helpful blog from Marine Depot to help! www.marinedepot.com/partners/idevaffiliate.php?id=102&url=3836

[@Moonfruit777]

Looking fancy :D What throws me off is the amount of extra unions since all the valves basically are unions themselves. But I guess there is nothing wrong with that. (I was just very budget oriented on my build, that's why I mention it) Also the return line pipe diameter - don't you lose pressure in the middle part of the return line , between the pump/green hose and the loc-line, when you use a wider diameter pipe? But I'm not 100% sure as I am by no means a plumbing expert! I only ever plumbed my own tank ;) I'm sure someone else will comment if that would be the case :) PS. I used 40mm pipe for the overflow and 25mm pipe for the return.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Moonfruit777 Thanks for the comment and those are some very good insights! This is my first time too so I’m sure I made plenty of mistakes! All I know is that I put in tons of extra unions because all the videos I watch the one regret people had was not putting in enough unions! And your comment about losing pressure I truly have no idea! I do know that I will be upgrading my pump to a high powered DC pump eventually. But my return to being is 1 inch in the lock line goes all the way down to a half inch so I can’t use the full flow anyways! Oh well it should be enough I hope. Do you have a picture of your plumbing job?

[@Moonfruit777]

@@MyFirstFishTank I made enough mistakes too... minor mistakes but annoying non the less! I actually have a list of things I will change on my next build when I move... haha I can send you a photo on IG if you want (nothing special though ;) )

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Moonfruit777 please do send me a pic on IG!!

[@kashandrahall9844]

How long did this all take? Several hours I'm sure.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Phew, good question. If you exclude the like 10 trips to the hardware store!..... It took two days because the paint and cement needed to dry. Total hours? Maybe 15ish?

[@michaelrosario7425]

Hey Matt!! Love your videos!!! Very informative! Quick question did you get your pvc gate valves from the same website because I can’t find them on there!??

[@michaelrosario7425]

And did you glue all your PVC to the unions and ball valves?

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Hey Michael, and thanks! I did get all of the gate valves from the same place. I think they call them double union? If you still can’t find them, let me know and I’ll send you the direct link!

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Michael Rosario and yes, I did glue all pvc to the unions and valves!!

[@michaelrosario7425]

Thanks for replying Matt!! Appreciate it. I see the true union ball valves but nothing on the Gate valve. If you can please forward link that would be awesome!!

[@michaelrosario7425]

So I’m guessing the spears gate valve you mentioned in this video

[@richardshimenas3544]

Do u have a video on diy sump

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Hey there Richard. I have a video on my plumbing, but nothing on the sump. The sump is from a company called Acrylic Habitats. It's their Leviathan 40 Sump. Here is the plumbing vid! Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6CWgIulpch_isk

[@quangvo8308]

❤️👍!