Help w/ PVC

[aquatic mouse]

After tons of anguish, I'm putting together the 180's sump AGAIN. For those of you that don't know what's been going on, the pump pushes the water up faster than it drains into the sump. I was using Eshopps hoses that they don't make short enough. They're ribbed, so you can't cut them. This time I'm using PVC as Justin from AS recommended.

For everyone using PVC to run the water from the tank to the sump, do you
1) just fit the PVC together
2) use silicone around the outside of the joints
3) PVC cement it

What worries me about PVC cement is that once it's connected, I can't take it apart for cleaning.

[marinelife]

Mine are cemented together but with connection points. I use what is pictured, this lets me take the pipes apart if needed. There are some that would still need cut and replaced but I think that would be rare or only need done if moving the tank.

[marinelife]

Also I would recommend for the return side to go with a short flex type tube that connects to the hard plumbing, this cuts down on vibration noise.

[TechGuy40]

PVC is pretty easy to cut if you need to pull it apart for something. You should use unions thats marinelife posted, or couplings to get it back together.

You need to use PVC cement on anything under pressure like your return pump side. But again, as he pointed out, soft tubing is easier to work with, and quiet.

Is this tank predilled? What kind of overflow are you useing?

[Aquatic Specialists]

You can use a Fernco fitting to reduce the noise and still use the majority of hard pipe. Just cut a section of the pipe and insert one of these bad boys...works really well too. Tubing is easy, can can be a pain in the but if you are not getting a good section of it. OH yeah, Eric is right on the money with unions. Unions, Unions, Unions....right Todd? :rolleyes:

[SaltLife]

i used the flexible tubing on my return with a shut off valve so i can control the flow to the tank. this helps slow the flow back from the sump. i used pvc from the tank to the sump, and i also have a shut off valve on it, you can never control water flow too much. i don't know if what i did was wron, but so far it is holding and not killing anything, but i just used reglar pipe cleaner around the edges to make sure there was not dirt or debris and pvc cement. i used 45's off the tank to help with the flow then 90 down to the sump. just remember to pull the plug on the power and test it out to make sure you don't have too much flowing back into your sump if the power goes out, and that it starts the flow process up without interevention when the power is restored.

[TechGuy40]

Another good point, you can always restrict the flow with a ball valve on the return pump. All my return lines have them. Makes it quicker to shut off the flow if I have to since my pumps are in the basement.

[SaltLife]

thanks for putting up with all of my typos, sheesh, what was i drinking...?

[marinelife]

We all do that from time to time.

[mayhem_audio]

:busted2:Jager lol