Plumbing

[McQ]

When one speaks of PVC pipes and tubing what do you mean exactly? What colour is it? Is it the same as CPVC? What are reef friendly materials? I went looking locally for bulkhead fittings for the tank I want to order. The only fitting I could find was a 1.5" PVC MONSTER that was about 6" in diameter. Are there better reef friendly fittings out there that aren't so massive? Also, the cheapest fittings I found were listed as nylon. They are really sturdy and very cheap. Are these ok to use in a reef tank? What about UV from the lights. Any affect on the fittings/piping material. In all the reasearch I've done thus far on reef tanks this area is the least documented.

What are you using in your tanks?

Any and all comments encouragd!

[Greg Moore]

McQ
CPVC is usually either grey or cream coloured, PVC is pure white and ABS is black.

CPVC is used to houshold plumbing and is usable for hotwater supply line. It has an external dimension matching that of copper pipe but a smaller inside dimension. It is perfectly usable for aquarium use but not practical due to limited size choices.

PVC is thin wall, certified for houshold water only on cold and is usually used for inground sprinkler systems. It is a much thinner wall then CPVC, available in a huge range of sizes and looks nice due to a clean white colour. It is the most common choice for aquarium usage. Check the inground sprinkler section in Home Depot for elbows, thread adapters etc. PVC can be mixed with CPVC, however since pipe sizes are not matches, you end up have to use threaded adapters to do so.

ABS is a thick walled black pipe used typically for household drain systems. It is usable for aquarium uses but only comes in sizes from 1.5" and up. The most commom use in aquariums for this product is stand pipes etc. There is a huge range of male and female threaded adapters for ABS making it possible to act as a bulk head.

All of the above require sufficient cure time on their respective glues, all are toxic to tanks when the glue is not fully cured, ABS is typically the slowest to totally cure.

Copper is of course totally out of the question for reef tanks, poly pipe is not practical (cheap coiled black poly anyway). For small flex connections you can use either clear vynal tubing or rubber hose (always hose clamp, even if not under pressure) and for larger flex connects look to either pool hose (ribbed), boat bilge hose (again ribbed) or pond supply hose. All exceptable when clamped.

Hope that helps!!

Greg Moore

[McQ]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately the closest HD to me is in Dartmouth, about 6 hours away. The only choices I have for a supplier are Crappy Tire and local Kent Building Supply stores. Crappy Tire,...well you know what they have...Kent carry a lot of hose/tubes etc. but do not have a large selection of fittings (mostly what they do have is nylon hose fittings). I think I'll order the bulkheads on-line and try to match the rest of the fittings to whatever I get.

Again, thanks

Mike

[Greg Moore]

McMaster and Carr carry a huge selection of PVC pipe and fittings online. It is US based but most of my orders through them have come in through Toronto duty free..

They are at http://www.mcmaster.com/

Also, our local Pro Hardware carries a decent selection of 3/4" and 1" PVC, try yours if there is one close by, some Home Hardware stores do as well..


Greg Moore

[Ocean Images]

You mentioned Nylon fittings, these are fine for marine applications. Nylon tubing can also be used, however it is not clear it is white (5 other colours as well) but works good for RO's and other small ID plumbing needs.
Be careful when purchasing Nylon fittings made for copper piping, these fittings have a metal sleeve in the retaining nut, keep them out of the tank! Keeping on the subject of DIY plumbing, if you are thinking of putting a "back check" in any of your tank lines, beware MOST (even the plastic ones) have a metal spring and a brass seat (60% copper content)
Should anyone have questions regarding plumbing fittings, I work in that business and have access to chemical charts which do come in handy at times.....feel free to ask
:cheers:

[afss]

the kent beside the regent mall should have similar items as home depot.
Scott

[McQ]

Thanks guys for the input.

I checked kents by the regent mall. all they have is nylon. No PVC. I think nylon will work fine.