I'm just getting into liquid cooling and want to know some of the does and donts, as well as differences between things like push/pull orientations on radiators. So here goes:

1. Push air through, or Pull air through? Whats the difference? (does pull mean pulling air from outside and through the rad, or from inside the case-then through the rad and out the case?)
2. Is there anything I should know before picking a reservoir? Why is it important? Does size matter?
3. Can the reservoir be placed horizontally in a case, rather than vertically? Are there any dangers to doing that differently?
4. Is it bad to put silver coils in with copper water-blocks?
5. Where should the pump be? Above, below, beside the reservoir/cooled component?
6. What kinds of fittings are the best? Or which ones should I pay attention to? Or what are the benefits of each different type?
7. What kind of maintenance is involved/required with liquid cooling systems. I see people build custom water cooled systems all the time on YouTube, and for all I know they just sit there for years like air cooled machines (minus the occasional dusting/cleaning, I imagine you at least have to dust the radiators).  
8. Last of all, are there things related to any of these other questions that I should STEER CLEAR of? Bad products, bad ideas, common misconceptions? 

Thanks to everyone here in this great community who can help!

dave851
 
1. Which direction the fan is facing. Either pushing air into the rad, or pulling air though the rad. Nothing to do with the case. 
2. Not really, larger reservoirs are easier to bleed the loop with, but for the most part its personal preference. Once the loop is bleed, you rarely have to add more water to it. 
3. You want the port which fluid is flowing out to be the lowest point so that it doesn't suck air into your lines. 
4. I use a silver coil with copper blocks, haven't noticed any real problems. 
5. Pump should be the lowest part of the loop, and should be feed by the reservoir so it doesn't pull in air. Air in the pump can harm the pump. 
6. Fittings are somewhat personal preference, compression fittings are more expensive but less likely to leak and IMHO look better, barbs need something like a zip tie on them to hold the tube tight on them. This does not apply to hard acrylic lines, those you can only use hard acrylic fittings for. 
7. Dusting the rads, and once I year I use this to clean it. Before the final refill I check out the system for any damage/corrosion of the block internals. Some people do this more often but I've never had a problem only doing this once a year, the big thing is the replace the fluid and look for problems. You can also use something like distilled water + vinegar to clean out the loop as well, but I much prefer the kit I linked, it does take time to do.
8. NO ALUMINUM, that is all. 
 
Notes: For tubing, you really do need SHARP scissors or a tube cutter. The cuts need to be clean. When you are putting the tubing on, if you have problems, boil some water, then dip the end of the tube in for a little bit to heat it up, it will go on much easier hot. Also leak test the loop(only pump needs to be on) with the PC off for at least 24h. 

Thank you for the detailed response I appreciate it. A couple more for you :)

1. So when you do your annual cleaning do you disassemble the whole loop to look for corrosion or problems, or is it a visual inspection from the outside only?
2. Does the tubing size matter? How do I know what tubing sizes, adapters, threads to buy?
3. Is there a website where I can just do the kind of... one stop shop for water cooling? I've been to EKWB, swiftech, primochill, alphacooling, etc, but I have a really hard time figuring out what to buy :/ Everything is a different size and requires some adapters here another adapter there, its a freakish nightmare.

What do you mean by special fittings for SLI/Crossfire? Whats different?

Aaah ok got it. Yeah I can see how that block connector would be conveniant in that case, not to mention it looks pretty great. I know some people will add coloring to whatever liquid they're using for asthetic reasons, but I also heard this builds up gunk and causes issues, requiring a more frequent cleaning cycle. Whats your take on additives and colored coolants? Is the a type of coolant and additive that you prefer?

I use both;
Push/Pull into the case taking in cooler air.
Push/Pull out of the case pull out hot air.
And both with two loops front pulling are in and top and rear pulling are out.
When fans are not the same I use the low speed fan for push and the high speed fan as pull.
Even with the old H100/100i H90 and so on I used Push/Pull for more air flow through the Radiator.
With quiet or silent fans that run slow you should use push/pull
 
For Coolants I use only
$14.99  Koolance LIQ-702 Liquid Coolant Bottle, High-Performance, 700mL (UV Blue)   SKU: LIQ-702BU-B
or
$14.99 Koolance LIQ-702 Liquid Coolant Bottle, High-Performance, 700mL (UV Red)   SKU: LIQ-702RD-B
Only because I use only Koolance Products for Water Cooling.
 
Metals: copper, aluminum, brass, lead, stainless steel, steel, nickel

• Plastics: PE, PP, PVC, POM, Acrylic, PPO, PA66, PPS, PPE, PEI, PES, PBT
• Rubber: EPDM, Viton

NOTE: Not recommended for polycarbonate plastics or other PC-based plastics.
Koolance's product warranty does not cover the use of 3rd-party coolants.
I have never see any of my acrylic parts stain from the above.
I do NOT use a Silver Kill Coil.
I flush and Filter my Coolant through a Coffee Filter every 3 or 4 months. See http://forums.evga.com/FindPost/2215936 for my Kit.
 
My Rig listed below so some of my water loop setups.

XrayMan
 
Moving to the Cooling section.
 

Sorry about that XrayMan, I'll pay more attention to the forum headers next time :) thanks for the move.
 

bcavnaugh
 
I flush and Filter my Coolant through a Coffee Filter every 3 or 4 months. See http://forums.evga.com/FindPost/2215936 for my Kit.

When you say "flush" do you mean just take out the old liquid, run distilled water through it to kind of "rinse" the system? And why are you filtering the liquid with a coffee filter? What are you trying to catch with the filter? Could I use a silver kill coil with either of those coolants if I wanted to?

Your tubing looks very complex.  Might to try and simplify.  I had to rework mine a few times before I got it right, or so I think.  I use a clear coolant and use an EK coolant as all my blocks are EK.  I will be draining mine for the first time in about two weeks, once my back get better enough that I can lift my rig to drain it.  I will see if I have any issues, but I may ask for new coolant from EK as the clear seems to yellow over time in the bottle over time and I have like five bottles.  I will use most of this for the two additional builds I am doing over the next month.  I just do not like the colored coolant, as it can be hit or miss.

Oh, good to know. That makes since, if anything just to guarantee that the parts are clean. I like bcavnaugh's idea though, just using colored tubing and led's sounds like the easier more convenient route to take. Not to mention cheaper and easier to clean up in the case of spilling or leaking. 

EVGATech_DaveB
Everything mentioned here in general has been sound advise.
Couple things I want to mention though:
1)  For your fittings concerns, a vast majority of the components on the market use the same thread, G1/4 which is a type of pipe thread.  If this is your first run, avoid mixing these otherwise you have to keep fittings and connectors straight.
2)  Barbs vs compression is strictly aesthetic and cost.  I use a combo of both depending on what is easier t for ME to install in a give location.  As for people who say barbs are more prone to leaking, no they are not, when installed correctly, they don't leak.  It is the same design (smaller of course) that the automotive industry has used for radiator hoses for at least the last 60+ years, it works.  Compression fittings just look better.
3)  Tubing has an inside AND outside diameter measurement.  With barbs this is less important, with compression fittings if you have the wrong outside diameter it will not seal.  I recommend 1/2IDx3/4OD this means trhe path for the water is 1/2 inch in diameter, the thicker outside size means you have a 1/8th inch thick tube wall, the thicker side wall makes the tubes harder to kink.
4)  The SLI fittings.  I know some will vehemently disagree with me on this, and I can say the style shown earlier by Dave851 definitely looks better than what I do, but I have a different approach to it.  Maybe I clock a bit too hard, or maybe I have some bad luck, or maybe I am just a pessimist, but either way, I will ONLY connect cards using tubes, as I want the interconnect between cards to be MALLEABLE.  When I was running my old 1589 cards, I started getting artifacts all over Crysis2, and oddball colors at my desktop.  I was also in one loop across the entire system, so I REALLY did not want to drain to remove a card, refill/bleed test, etc.  I had regular tubing between the cards, so I powered off, removed the SLI bridge, clicked the releases on both cards and slid the out as a pair, bent the bottom one slightly so the bottom cards connector would not go into the PCIE slot, and slid both cards back in, top being plugged in, the bottom being rested on top of the PCIE slot, no dis-assembly needed.  Issue persists, I retested with secondary card plugged in and top card resting on the bus, everything cleared up.  So this way I could do my troubleshooting withOUT having to drain.  Because of this the loop Dave851 made will look better, but incase of issues, I think mine would be easier to test.
5)  And to clarify the pump questions, as long as the res is on the vacuum side of the pump, so it is sucking directly from the res.
 
If you have any further questions, I am subbing this thread and I will assist in any way I can.

Thank you Dave! Thats a good idea to use regular tubing between cards, I'd never thought of that. Also, the only reason I asked about having the res sideways is because its the only way I could liquid cool my hardward in the HTPC computer that I'm thinking about building. I would really love to get nice, cold, and quite cooling in there, while still keeping the small form factor. I think I could make it happen... but it might be tough. We'll see.

Good point, I had forgotten about that, very true, im sure there is a res for that orientation as there seems to be one for everything now.
 
@Whiplash
No problem, glad it was helpful, I'm usually around for a question, I watch this area of the forums when I can, and I'm just a PM away if you ever have a question.
 
Now, when this is done, we need pics  :)

A couple points for you that I think wern't covered in detail in the above posts.
 
Fitting types and how they function. Compression fittings you have to manually go in and re-tighten the fittings (all of them) by hand about every 1-3 months, as they gradually loosen over time, and never stay the same tightness. I had compression fittings in older systems for a couple years. With barb and clamp fittings, yes the original set up is a lot of extra time and work.. and a bit more expense buying all of the clamps. But with the benfit of "set it and forget it", my current 775 system has been running the same water loop for about 2 years 3 months with no leaks and it's been clamps and I haven't touched it since I assembled it.
 
And silver "kill coils" and what they do and why you may or may not use it.
Silver kill coils release silver ions in to the water, which makes it toxic to algae and prevents algae growth naturally without having to use biocides/additives.
 
If you use a coolant that has built in anti-corrosion and anti-algae built in to it, then you do not need silver coils. But those coolants are rather expensive, and to that point so are additives.
 
If you follow basic chemistry and metal composition and get similar metal families in your loop, you will never have corrosion issues because there is nothing to interact with each other to generate corrosion in the first place. By similar metals I mean brass, and copper. To that end, nickel-plated is extremely low on the galvanic corrosion table in relation to copper and brass that it is negligible and not worth corrosion inhibitors. 
 
my 775 loop for 2 years.. I just use copper waterblocks, brass radiator, and nickel fittings and a kill coil. So far 2 years and no corrosion, and I haven't drained the loop and all I use is distilled water (which is $0.88 for a gallon of the stuff from walmart). And no additives. Once every 2 weeks I stick a squeeze bulb with a straw on it down the fill tube I've created to pull a sample from the tubing down in the loop and bring it out and do a PH test on it, and inspect for corrosion. Still clean, still neutral PH and still stable. No algae, no issues, and no problems. I don't use a reservoir either, just a Tee fitting that the loop runs through and a tube that runs up to a bulkhead fitting I put on the top of my tower. I just open the fill cap and top it off once or twice a week. Very low maintenance, and no issues. Temps are just the same as when I built the water loop 2 years ago and I use this system 10-14 hours a day every day for work and gaming.
 
If you do it right water cooling isn't a headache and can be simple and easy to use and worry free.
 
Edit: Lordy.. I just realized my sig is horribly out of date.

bcavnaugh

kithylin
"Edit: Lordy.. I just realized my sig is horribly out of date."

 Is it ever!
 
After 3 Years of use I have never had to re-tighten any of my fittings.

Sig updated and is correct now.  Also I had compression fittings before, and after about 6 months of install I would go around and check them all and they would require about 1/2 turn or full turn to re-tighten again and some how work loose on their own. I suspect vibration from lots of fans possibly, not sure but the did not stay tight on their own. Not enough to start leaking, but.. it's just something that had to be checked and kept an eye on occasionally. Barbs and clamps though set it and never touch it.