Reef Tank :: Plumbing in the Sump

Now that I had selected the correct equipment and completed the construction of my sump it was time to figure out how to put it all together in the system.  How do I get water from the display tank down to the sump and back up to the main tank?   The answer became go to home depot and look around at things.  This was actually a really fun part of the project because you have something in mind and the challenge becomes to find out if the part exists.  If it exists, what is it called and where do I find it.

For the overflow, I decided to use rigid 1" PVC pipe.  I wanted to make sure that I could remove sections of it as necessary and  stop the flow to the sump if I needed to.




To ensure that I could stop the flow from the overflow at my convienence I used a gate valve. 

In order to make it modular so that I could take it apart for maintenance and changing filter socks I used a union valve

For the return pump I used flexible tubing with hose clamps and did install one gate valve to be sure that I could shut it off, and limit the flow up to the tank if necessary.  Luckily I did my math correctly and I do not have to restrict the flow out of the Mag7 pump at all.