Silicone return hose. Help ease my mind.

[F&S reef]

I'm buying the last few bits of equipment that I need for my tank build. I'm looking at hose to go from my return pump, to my UV, and then back to the tank. I really like the idea of the soft silicone hose. I am needing a 1" ID size hose.

I am looking at it on BRS and I see that the wall thickness is 1/8". When I start to poke around the web at hose with the same specs everything I see says this type of hose, in this size, with this wall thickness is rated for 5 psi.

I would have 2 runs of this hose. Each about 2.5' long. The return pump is a vectra m2 and head height is about 5'. I am finding this Jose with a thicker wall and higher pressure rating but it's super expensive. Has anyone used this size hose in any length more than a few inches?

 

[JumboShrimp]

I’m shaking a head-cold, so I’m not following you completely, but I use silicone tubing to and from a Pentair 40W in each of my 150s. No problems to report.

 

[JumboShrimp]

PS: It made the paper towel leak test super-simple, too. Lol.

 

[F&S reef]

What I'm trying to do is run from my return pump, through the UV, and then up to the tank return. I'm just concerned that a 5psi rating is too low.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Its fine. All my non rigid piping is silicone. Buy from McMaster Carr its cheaper.

 

[F&S reef]

Its fine. All my non rigid piping is silicone. Buy from McMaster Carr its cheaper.

I buy tons of stuff from there already. I was looking at this same hose except with a 1/4" wall thickness and a 35 psi rating which would make me feel a heck of a lot safer. It's almost $28 per foot though.

 

[Eric R.]

An 1/8" seems realtively thick to me, a 1/4" seems very thick. I would think those should handle significantly more than 5 psi and 35 psi, respectively. Where are you getting those ratings from, and are you sure they are accurate? Can you cross check to another source?

 

[Eric R.]

I buy tons of stuff from there already. I was looking at this same hose except with a 1/4" wall thickness and a 35 psi rating which would make me feel a heck of a lot safer. It's almost $28 per foot though.

Were you looking at the pressure ratings on the McMaster Carr site?

 

[F&S reef]

I guess its all relative to your perspective. To me a 1/8" thick piece of unreinforced silicone does not seem that thick to me. It does seem adequate if you are just flowing liquid through it with no restrictions or head pressure. I will not have any gates or valves on my return line so there shouldn't be any excessive pressure but this is a safety thing to me. Any time a return line lets go its not gonna be good.

I wouldn't even know how to math this but lets say this hose has to go vertical 5' from the return pump to the tank return itself. With the pump off and the water sitting static in the hose how much pressure is at the the bottom of a 1" ID return line? It just doesn't seem like it would take long to get to 5 psi especially once the pump is on. I also don't want to run right up against its psi limit for years on end. I'd like to have a little safety factor in there somewhere.

As far as specs on the pressure ratings. I'm getting them from McMaster Carr and other online places that are selling the same hose. I've got to just take their word for it as I've got no other source for this info.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I’m not a big ‘science’ guy— so maybe I’m under-thinking things, but I think you are over-thinking it. Not that caution is bad. I think you are worried that it will be like in the cartoons— where the ‘hose’ builds up pressure, forms a bubble and bursts. However, this is NOT a closed system. There is no way (IMHO) that the routine use of a UV sterilizer (either for algae or disease control) would require high pressure of any sort. In fact, if you look at my photo in post #2, you will see that where the tubing is attached to each barb, I don’t even have a clip/clamp! (Not that it would be a bad idea; but nothing leaked in my bathtub during the leak test.)

I hope this helps.

 

[Eric R.]

I guess its all relative to your perspective. To me a 1/8" thick piece of unreinforced silicone does not seem that thick to me. It does seem adequate if you are just flowing liquid through it with no restrictions or head pressure. I will not have any gates or valves on my return line so there shouldn't be any excessive pressure but this is a safety thing to me. Any time a return line lets go its not gonna be good.

I wouldn't even know how to math this but lets say this hose has to go vertical 5' from the return pump to the tank return itself. With the pump off and the water sitting static in the hose how much pressure is at the the bottom of a 1" ID return line? It just doesn't seem like it would take long to get to 5 psi especially once the pump is on. I also don't want to run right up against its psi limit for years on end. I'd like to have a little safety factor in there somewhere.

As far as specs on the pressure ratings. I'm getting them from McMaster Carr and other online places that are selling the same hose. I've got to just take their word for it as I've got no other source for this info.

I don't know how to calculate operating psi for your system, though I imagine someone on here does. I'd be interested in learning how to do so, so hopefully someone chimes in.

 

[Midrats]

I'm moving my tank into the basement next week and plan to UPGRADE all my stupid colored pipe with silicone hose, main, emergency, and return.

 

[Malcontent]

$33/ft for reinforced tubing with a 75 psi rating.

 

[92Miata]

I guess its all relative to your perspective. To me a 1/8" thick piece of unreinforced silicone does not seem that thick to me. It does seem adequate if you are just flowing liquid through it with no restrictions or head pressure. I will not have any gates or valves on my return line so there shouldn't be any excessive pressure but this is a safety thing to me. Any time a return line lets go its not gonna be good.

I wouldn't even know how to math this but lets say this hose has to go vertical 5' from the return pump to the tank return itself. With the pump off and the water sitting static in the hose how much pressure is at the the bottom of a 1" ID return line? It just doesn't seem like it would take long to get to 5 psi especially once the pump is on. I also don't want to run right up against its psi limit for years on end. I'd like to have a little safety factor in there somewhere.

As far as specs on the pressure ratings. I'm getting them from McMaster Carr and other online places that are selling the same hose. I've got to just take their word for it as I've got no other source for this info.

5 feet of head is about 2 psi.

All of McMaster's silicon tubing says 5psi, regardless of wall thickness - which doesn't make a lot of sense. I'd guess that specific tubing just isn't tested for pressure.


Here's a study done on burst strength for Dow Corning Pharma silicon tubing (IE, you'll be fine) http://www.iptonline.com/articles/public/dcolarticle0204b.pdf


I did notice that its all 50 durometer hardness tubing - I run 65 hardness tubing, and its still softer than I'd ideally like. I have some 50 tubing I use for other stuff and its hard to keep it from kinking. Just flops over on itself.

 

[F&S reef]

Me? Overthink stuff??? There's a 1000% chance that's accurate.

I found online that a very basic calculation for head pressure is to take your height in feet and divide / 2.31. This will give you psi at the lowest spot.

For the example I have above 5 / 2.31 = 2.16 psi. This is best case scenario with no bends, 90's or other restrictions like flow meters etc.... it's said for every 90 degree bend it adds the equivalent of 1 foot of head pressure.

For my real world application I'd be looking at a calculated static head pressure of 3.46 psi. At some point the flow has to add some additional pressure.

As far as the tubing from McMaster, not all of it states the 5 psi. The reinforced stuff has other pressure ratings listed and the 1/4 wall stuff that's not the colored option has a higher rating.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I buy tons of stuff from there already. I was looking at this same hose except with a 1/4" wall thickness and a 35 psi rating which would make me feel a heck of a lot safer. It's almost $28 per foot though.

You don't need 35psi rated hose for a aquarium application. Nothing out there in the hobby grade will even reach that kind of psi rating. Your more than over thinking this.

I've been using the 1/8 inch thick, 5 psi rated stuff for years, never had a line fail or burst. Avoid the 1/16 thick stuff, the hose has a tendency to collapse on its self with negative pressure.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I'm moving my tank into the basement next week and plan to UPGRADE all my stupid colored pipe with silicone hose, main, emergency, and return.

Do it! You'll never go back to vinyl hose or anything else!

 

[F&S reef]

You don't need 35psi rated hose for a aquarium application. Nothing out there in the hobby grade will even reach that kind of psi rating. Your more than over thinking this.

I've been using the 1/8 inch thick, 5 psi rated stuff for years, never had a line fail or burst. Avoid the 1/16 thick stuff, the hose has a tendency to collapse on its self with negative pressure.

Ok, I believe it. What's the longest run you have right now with it and what kind of pump is attached to it

 

[JumboShrimp]

I even have a $200 hunk of it to bring water to my tanks in the other room— I love the stuff. I can pull it off to use in draining a tank quickly, as well, using a submersible (in-tank) pump.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Jebao dcp 8000, running at 75% using a total of about 36" of hose exiting from UV to top of tank for water return.

Edit: total of about 72" of hose, 36" is the longest run.