Plumbing question

[pprmntshrmps]

So I am making my plans for my stand and plumbing and a thought came to mind. When connecting PVC for a salt-water tank, do you use the normal PVC cement, or is there something special (IE won’t kill my fish) I should use?

Also, instead of using a power head I was thinking about using a “Y” or “T” connector (or something like it) on my return pipe from my sump and getting a higher GPH pump to send to two out-puts in the tank at different spots. Has anyone down this, or know if this will work?

 

[MERTZ18]

instead of a "t" add a S.W.C.D.
you can also use mod pipe with a "y" that way you can move the way the water comes out

 

[manderx]

regular pvc cement is fine. generally, if it's good enough for us to eat/drink from it's good enough for the fishies.

i don't bother with primer and have never had a problem after hundreds of joints. it's more for 'regular' plumbing where there's actual pressure in the pipes. i use the medium body cement that leaves a nice bead around the joint.


sure you can split the output as many ways as you want, though it will cut the force coming out of each outlet. some people put those 'perimeter manifolds' on their tanks that have 8+ outlets on them, then wonder why it barely feels like anything is coming out of them, then upgrade the pump to a monster to overcome it, and then wonder why their power bill and tank temperature shoot up, and the sump turns into a frothing maelstrom shooting microbubbles back into the tank.

scwds are neat and good for some tanks, but in general they really kill the flow since they use the flow to spin their mechanism. if you put a 500gph pump on one, you might get as little as 250gph through it. if you have the money an oceansmotions works better since it uses a tiny motor to spin the drum and doesn't kill the flow. this lets you use a smaller circulation-rated pump that costs less to run and doesn't heat the water as much.


what size tank are you planning?

 

[pprmntshrmps]

I am doing a 20gL with a 20G sump so the pump does not have to be a monster to get good flow out of 2 outlets. I think in that size tank 2 outlets should be fine.

On the SCWDS, wouldn't this just cost more than a normal T joint? is there an advantage to useing them over a simple T or Y?

 

[manderx]

a 20l is a good candidate for a scwd. get a mag7/eheim1260 ish pump or better yet a panworld 50px (more reliable and practically no heat added to water) and scwd it. the scwd will alternate flow from one side of the tank to the other, giving random currents. it's way cool and the corals love it.

or another option is a penductor on one outlet.


velocity t1 would be another good pump (totally silent) but it might heat the water too much depending on other stuff.

 

[vetdog]

I love my SCWD and so do the corals. Definitely recommend getting one.

 

[pprmntshrmps]

You guys just love spending my money don't you. I probably would have been happy with just a T joint, but now that I've read about them, I really want a SCWD.