Soft or Hard Plumb?

[Dying for Discus]

Hello everyone!

SOOO...I went out one day and found a 135 gallon pre-drilled (2- 1.5 inch overflow on side) with a built-in overflow box. The sump is a 55 gallon. It also came with a 2000 GPH pump (submersible). It's used and was an old saltwater tank.

I re-sealed the overflow box with silicone, and also replaced the rubber gaskets at the bulkheads. I had some problems with a leak from one of the bulk heads, but some silicone, epoxy and a quick tighten took care of that.

I used PVC coming out of the bulkheads and about 1/3 way down, I used a vinyl fitting (a barb?) to connect 1.5 inch vinyl tubing to deliver water to the sump. I also used two clamps on each vinyl-barb connection (total 4 clamps).

For the return, I have 1 90-degree elbow that leads into vinyl tubing, into a custom spray bar with 5 outlets.

As a first time sump owner, I'm super-paranoid of leaks. I used TONS of teflon tape and lots of silicone for the bulkheads. I also used the two clamps instead of one.

Are soft-plumbed tanks more prone to failure?? Does anyone have any tips to make sure the vinyl doesn't just pop off or spring a leak? Also...is there anything else I can do to make sure the bulkheads don't leak?

One thing I've noticed that in one of my PVC joints, there's a *tiny tiny* bit of water that collects in the seam. It's so little that it doesn't drip and it evaporates. Will this tiny leak get bigger over time?? I can't find the culprit and it seems neglible right now...could I maybe silicone the seam to make sure??

Any tips or tricks are welcome!! The last thing I want to do is come home and find a big pond in my house...

[nesser]

Would you be able to put up pics

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

I use flex PVC (trade name Spa-Flex) and not worry about it.....good mix of both. Able to glue it into normal PVC fittings, while having similar flexibility of vinyl tubing. Makes life much easier.

-Ryan

[redhat]

The supply and return lines need cleaned fairly regularly, which is often difficult with glued hard-line.

[Ed13]

The less joints, the less possibility for leaks. The more corners, unions etc. the more flow is reduced, this is where flexible tubing shines. The more flexible tubing, the more possibilty of kinks in the tubing and if its clear algea growth.
Spa-flex and or a hybrid Vinyl-PVC setup is the ticket for me. Unless you only need a point to point, then Vinyl only is my answer.

The supply and return lines need cleaned fairly regularly, which is often difficult with glued hard-line.

Just install true union valves in the in and out location or where needed. You'll be able to easily close a valve,remove a piece of plumbing to clean, and have it back up and running in a few minutes

[Larry208]

All right I have a question for you guys and I do not want to sound dumb but how are you glueing the PVC pipe togeather. Are we able to use regular PVC glue or is there a special glue for aquarium use. I am going to do a project and am wondering.
Thanks
Larry

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

All right I have a question for you guys and I do not want to sound dumb but how are you glueing the PVC pipe togeather. Are we able to use regular PVC glue or is there a special glue for aquarium use. I am going to do a project and am wondering.
Thanks
Larry

Yes, regular PVC glue is fine to use. The exact type of PVC glue however depends on what you are gluing....Biggest mistake that a lot of people make is to use normal PVC glue on a typical plastic bulkhead fitting, which 9 times out of 10 is made of ABS plastic, not PVC. Using regular PVC glue on ABS plastic will melt it too much. This can result in a bad fitting. I use the All Purpose PVC glue that can be found in a red can if you go to Lowe's or Home Depot. It is designed to be used on PVC, ABS, and a few other types of plastic. When you are gluing PVC to PVC, normal glue works fine. Most of the time all you need is a medium bodied glue (gold can)....the heavy bodied glue (green can) is meant for the large pipes.

-Ryan

[Larry208]

Thank You Ryan for the information, I was not sure if the regular glue could be used without it hurting the fish.

Larry

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Thank You Ryan for the information, I was not sure if the regular glue could be used without it hurting the fish.

Larry

Once it dries/cures it is perfectly safe.

-Ryan

[KDodds]

Yes, barb fittings have a higher likelihood of catastrophic failure than hard plumbed lines (both being installed properly, of course). The tubes will naturally accumulate slime/bacteria in any system and do NOT "need to be cleaned regularly". This slime will never accumulate enough, assuming the use of appropriately size tubing (hard or soft) to become obstructive. More worrisome is the feed into the pipes sucking in snail shells, things of that nature. So any intakes should not allow for the entry of larger objects that might obstruct flow. On the bulkheads... do not use silicone on the inside where the gasket goes. Although some report it's fine, I've heard too many other reports of its degrading the gaskets prematurely. What I do is place a nice thick bead of silicone on the flat, tank side of the nut (that goes outside the tank). The gasket should seal on the inside, but if it doesn't, the outside will then be sealed with silicone AND still allow for the removal/replacment of the bulkhead. I've actually used this method on round garbage cans, believe it or not, with no problems. On the current leak... it can get better over time as solids (typically CaCO3) form a sealing crust at the leak point. But, it can get worse as well. Silicone or a little extra PVC cement on the outside of the joint sometimes works, but not nearly always. The only real solution, IME, is to redo the joint.