Sump Plumbing
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eggplantparrot
Valuable Member
ime vinyl hoses suck, they are hard to bend to begin with and will keep hardening as time goes by.
some people hard plumb with pvc everywhere, but use a silicone hose to connect the last bit between the return pump and the return pipe to reduce vibrations transmitted to the tank.
did I mention I hate vinyl tubing?
some people hard plumb with pvc everywhere, but use a silicone hose to connect the last bit between the return pump and the return pipe to reduce vibrations transmitted to the tank.
did I mention I hate vinyl tubing?
JoshH
Tank Status: Wet...ish, growing things....
I think if you have the space to work with the vinyl it's a decent plumbing option but you need to be aware of its limitations most of which are noted above. Hard PVC plumbing is certainly more work but depending on how picky you are with looks, provides almost limitless colour options and fittings to do just about anything you need to do and have it look nice at the same time.
I'll always hard plumb, and I'll use hard plumbing right up to the pumps. Silicone tubing is great at reducing noise if it needs to be in a super quiet area but if I'm being honest I haven't heard any excessive noise from my hard plumbed endeavours
I'll always hard plumb, and I'll use hard plumbing right up to the pumps. Silicone tubing is great at reducing noise if it needs to be in a super quiet area but if I'm being honest I haven't heard any excessive noise from my hard plumbed endeavours
Pickwun
Active Member
The biggest non-aesthetic difference is that vinyl can be built with smooth curves instead of 90deg elbows. You can google nice charts that show how much flow you lose for each 90. Most people buy pumps with spare capacity anyway so it's not usually a big deal (unless you put in so many 90s that your drains can't keep up - it's possible).
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I can understand the aesthetics of hard plumbing etc. But realistically Is there a huge difference in performance? My thing is it just seems so much more flexible to use vinyl tubing as far as being able to move things around under the tank. Not only that but its cheaper to not have to buy whole PVC kits. I do agree the tubing is pretty hard and tough to straighten out.
burnetb1
Active Member
Also want to add in here
Vinyl is usually clear, which causes algae to build up on them. As they age they become more brittle as well. I used vinyl on my first tanks (like everyone im sure) and regretted it a couple years later. If going the flexible route, I would use flex PVC piping instead.
I prefer to hard plumb with a section of silicone to the return pump. This is for noise and also so I can move my return pump around in the return chamber. Its hard to say if there was a difference performance wise, since when I upgraded to hard plumbing it also increased the size of tubing.
Vinyl is usually clear, which causes algae to build up on them. As they age they become more brittle as well. I used vinyl on my first tanks (like everyone im sure) and regretted it a couple years later. If going the flexible route, I would use flex PVC piping instead.
I prefer to hard plumb with a section of silicone to the return pump. This is for noise and also so I can move my return pump around in the return chamber. Its hard to say if there was a difference performance wise, since when I upgraded to hard plumbing it also increased the size of tubing.
I think Im definitley going to go Vinyl temporarily and slowly work my way around measuring out the right stuff for plumbing. Also my setup isnt concrete as far as skimmer and reactor placement so Im going to wait till my setup is stable. I really appreciate everyone's opinion.
codycolina707
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I think a big reason is algae can grow in the vinyl tubing as where light will never penetrate pvc
NowGlazeIT
Happy to help, Ask away.
That’s good to know. I’m going to hard plumb
codycolina707
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I just plumbed my first one it's not too bad you dont have to make it crazy just some sort of gate valve on the main drain and small house between return pvc and return pump to eliminate noise add a couple unions so you can take apart if you ever need to add or w/e
NowGlazeIT
Happy to help, Ask away.
pvc adds a lot flexibility. Think about a manifold that runs on a large pump.
