Plumbing basement filtration room with flex pvc

[Ironwill723]

Did you end up making a decision.. I bought rigid and the flex, going to do a combo as well.

Sorry for the delayed response...but to answer your question...no I have not made a decision yet. Still working on finishing my diy stand. I will probably end up using some combination of the two especially the part that passes between my first floor and into the basement filtration room.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I picked up some yesterday at Lowe’s. I need to add it for a 2 foot section on my mixing station that needed some work. Super flex, so much so I am going to fix one other section. However, I’m not concerned with my mixing station looking sexy, I just want it to be a well functioning tool. This stuff, when used with other hard PVC, looks like a floppy noodle. Compared to all the other dead straight lines, this creates an eye sore for me. No way I could use it where I have “public” facing plumbing. I would absolutely use it for plumbing work that only I would see.

 

[Pntbll687]

I'll throw another option out there. Heat up and bend the pvc for some nice curves in the piping.

Here's a video on it. This is Thomas from BRS from way before his time at BRS, some really good info.

 

[Dburr1014]

I'll throw another option out there. Heat up and bend the pvc for some nice curves in the piping.

Here's a video on it. This is Thomas from BRS from way before his time at BRS, some really good info.

Good video.
I used a torch to do some bends on my other tank 10 years ago. Just need to move the torch like the video explains.
One thing I noticed at the bends, I was dismantling the old pipe and those bends are brittle after 10 years. Instead of cutting they shattered under the pvc cutters.
Just worth noting.

 

[Solo McReefer]

I'll throw another option out there. Heat up and bend the pvc for some nice curves in the piping.

Here's a video on it. This is Thomas from BRS from way before his time at BRS, some really good info.

Hahaha

Hilarious

 

[GlassMunky]

I'll throw another option out there. Heat up and bend the pvc for some nice curves in the piping.

Here's a video on it. This is Thomas from BRS from way before his time at BRS, some really good info.

This is going to seriously reduce the lifespan of the tubing where it’s bent. It’s not designed to be twisted like that making the walls thinner and therefore able to handle less pressure.
Probably not worth it in the end IMO.

 

[Dburr1014]

There is really no pressure on aquarium plumbing.
I can't think of any dead-heading that would be done, not like house plumbing where you shut off valves in your bathroom/kitchen.

 

[GlassMunky]

There is really no pressure on aquarium plumbing.
I can't think of any dead-heading that would be done, not like house plumbing where you shut off valves in your bathroom/kitchen.

You said it yourself though, when you moved stuff the bends broke meaning they were the weakest points in the system.

I get that we don’t have what most people would call real “pressure” but the point still stands

 

[Dburr1014]

You said it yourself though, when you moved stuff the bends broke meaning they were the weakest points in the system.

I get that we don’t have what most people would call real “pressure” but the point still stands

Well, no, I said *when dismantling* and *cutting* the pipe, it shattered. I was not just moving it. It was still very strong but you cannot cut it with pvc cutters or it might shatter and cut you.
Moving it you cannot tell any difference than regular pvc.

Bottom line; *in my opinion*, if I had to heat pipe to bend it for aquarium plumbing in the future, I would do so again without the worry of longevity of said pvc.

 

[GlassMunky]

I fully understand what you meant and what you were doing.

My opinion is just contrary to yours.
In MY opinion I would never recommend to anyone, that they heat and bend their pvc, because of the many issues that could come from it unless you are a pro. The average hobbyist especially newer reefers looking for plumbing info should stay far away from this as it’s super advanced.
Bend a little too far and now it’s too thin on the outer edge of the bend leading to lesser lifespan or maybe you heated up the area for just a little too long and it got a little too hot and you end up making a tiny hole or something.
So many things to go wrong.

Sure it can be done and sure it’ll work but I really don’t think most people should do this unless you have no other options.

Again just opinions

 

[GlassMunky]

Lightly heating up flex pvc so it bends easier and bending rigid pvc are 2 totally different things in my mind

 

[Solo McReefer]

This is going to seriously reduce the lifespan of the tubing where it’s bent. It’s not designed to be twisted like that making the walls thinner and therefore able to handle less pressure.
Probably not worth it in the end IMO.

How much pressure is there on aquarium plumbing?

 

[Solo McReefer]

unless you are a pro

But,

Thomas is a pro

 

[GlassMunky]

How much pressure is there on aquarium plumbing?

It’s not about the actual amount of pressure

Let’s say the the pressure is whatever rating you want to say, it doesn’t matter.

If most of the tubings wall is say 2mm thick and then you bend it and make that wall 1mm thick due to the stretching that wall can now handle half of what it used to be able to.

Make sense?

 

[Solo McReefer]

Lightly heating up flex pvc so it bends easier and bending rigid pvc are 2 totally different things in my mind

Two different things in the real world too

 

[GlassMunky]

Two different things in the real world too

Hence why I made that statement as the original thread was talking about flex but then transitioned to pending rigid tubing.

 

[Solo McReefer]

Formufit Colored PVC 1" pipe is only 3.38 millimeters thick

I would have thought it were thicker

It's like schedule 30 pipe, 28

 

[GlassMunky]

Formufit Colored PVC 1" pipe is only 3.38 millimeters thick

I would have thought it were thicker

It's like schedule 30 pipe, 28

Yes that colored stuff is real thin which is why bending it concerns me and why I personally wouldn’t do it.

But people are free to do whatever they want to on their systems

 

[Zissou Intern]

I used flex PVC because I wanted to eliminate as many angled fittings as possible. I think it turned out really nice. It is true that the pipe has a natural curve it wants to maintain, but I incorporated that into my design. For your case, I imagine you could use some pipe clamps to keep things under control between floors. I’ll drop a few pics below but there are more in my build thread.

 

[Pntbll687]

Good video.
I used a torch to do some bends on my other tank 10 years ago. Just need to move the torch like the video explains.
One thing I noticed at the bends, I was dismantling the old pipe and those bends are brittle after 10 years. Instead of cutting they shattered under the pvc cutters.
Just worth noting.

I think this has to do more with the saltwater than the bending. I re plumbed my tank and had the same happen to perfectly straight pipe. Also had pvc pipe shatter that had been used for frag rack legs for just over a year.