overflow hose

[Fuegofish777]

I am using braided pvc hose to drain the water to my sump but its not flexible enough for me so i just bought some "bilge pump hose". i got it from lowes, its a very flexible, light weight, white plastic. the guy couldnt tell me if it was ok for saltwater though. you guys think its ok? it has a sort of ribbed outside wall.

 

[gprovo]

Mine became very brittle after a few years and then cracked.
Fortunately I was home when it happened. M2C

 

[Fuegofish777]

what do you use now?

 

[gprovo]

Actually I am using braided pvc hose now, but since my sump is at least 8 feet down in the basement kinking is not a problem.

 

[spineshank385]

Why not just plumb some PVC?

 

[gprovo]

That is the plan when the sump and refugium have been running for a time longer and everything will stay where it is. Also limited on how many holes I can put in floor.

 

[spineshank385]

I just switched from 1" hose like fuego was talking about to 3/4" PVC.....difference is night and day. The hose was too long before, so a portion of it would sag below the fitting on the sump. This caused the water to slow down drastically, reducing the capability of my overflow.

With the PVC, i plumbed a much more direct line, and the difference is night and day. Much more water flow through it.

Changing from a mag 5 to a mag 9.5 helps too (even with the output of the mag divided 2 ways now) :smokin:

 

[MJAnderson]

How do you attach PVC to a threaded bulkhead? Do you have to glue?

 

[BigJPDC]

Howdy -

I am on this task now, and find the braided and even clear plastic tubing from HD to be very rigid and kinked. There is no way that I could even get the hose to stay in the sump it was so crooked. Even the 1" tubing I use for my return has the return pump wedged pretty well in its section.

What I have rigged up right now is a 3" piece of tubing as an adapter between the MegaFlow hosebarb and another 1.25 hosebarb, then to 1.25 PVC down into the sump.

I would be interested to hear what other folks have used to plumb from the MegaFlow to the sump, or if there is some magic to straightening that tubing.

jp

 

[spineshank385]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7793210#post7793210 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MJAnderson
How do you attach PVC to a threaded bulkhead? Do you have to glue?

you can buy threaded PVC fittings from any lowes or home depot. If you dont want to glue to the bulkhead, you can use teflon tape on the threads. You will need to glue the rest of the PVC together though.

 

[BigJPDC]

Here's what I have in mind - let me know what you think. I am probably about a month away from the new house and water in this thing, so now is the time to find out if I'm doing something wrong. I know there are no hose clamps on it, this is a dry fit.

jp

 

[spineshank385]

that would work too. I'm not a fan of the clear tubing, algae growth and such can slow down flow, but with that short length it shouldnt be too much of a problem

 

[MJAnderson]

Big,

That's what mine looks like now. I added the short vinyl tube because I was told it would help reduce vibrations/noise, but I'm worried that hose and clamps are my weak link in my plumping as far as leaks/disaster is concerned.

btw, mine works just fine, but I bought black hose. No light, no algae growth.

 

[BigJPDC]

Nice - thank you!

jp

 

[Fuegofish777]

ya i use the same set up to plumb my return pump to the sump and tank. i found that a short length of vinyl tubing gives the set up a bit of flexibility.

 

[dngspot]

At HD or Lowes, you can find pvc hose. This stuff is located near the vinyl hose. You can glue pvc slip fittings to it also. I use it on my overflow. It is 1.5 hose and is somewhat rigid. To get it to bend into my sump I added a coupler and used the hose's natural bend to angle it into the sump. It comes in several sizes

 

[Fuegofish777]

ya i did see that, but they didnt have it in the size i needed.

 

[humbugy]

is that a hose barb threaded inside the bulkhead?
why not go bigger and thread a pvc pipe adapter on the outside of the bulkhead and run a thicker pipe? or pvc flex hose, or what not.

 

[BigJPDC]

Hey humbugy - the MegaFlow comes with hose barb fittings. I redid the return using 1" PVC but am going to termintate that inside the stand to a barb as well.

jp