Plumbing question

[lhcorals]

Looking for opinions. What is the best PVC to use? Schedule 40, 80 or is there something else. I know i will be using some flex PVC to prevent the use of elbows.

[DaveS]

Flex is good to reduce elbows but for your system where you are probably using 1 1/4"-1 1/2" plumbing it's not as good. The bigger the diameter flex, the harder it is to bend. You can heat it up and maybe get it to hold a bend better that way. Regardless, flex is also good for those times when the pipe needs to jog left/right just a bit. It also helps reduce vibration.

 

Sched 40 is good and cheap for general plumbing. Some people use sched 80 everywhere but I think it's overkill- more expensive and harder to get all the parts you want. I would use Sched 80 for bulkheads and other fittings which may get bumped. Those are places where the beefier sched 80 will withstand the force and would be less likely to break/crack. One guy on WAMAS cracked a non-sched80 bulkhead and thought his whole tank was leaking. Poor guy gave away most of the stuff in his 200+ tank and started draining it before he figured out it was a $5 part that caused the problem.

 

BTW, if you are interested, I have a few sections of 5+ feet 1 1/4 flex pvc left over from my build. I used 1 1/4 and put 1" or 1 1/2" adapters where needed. It was a good compromise in pipe diameter and bend-ability. I can let you have it cheap.

[Chad]

Use sched 40, we (aquarist) never see pressures high enough to justify the use of sched 80, besides the cross sectional area is less which increases flow and reduces head loss. I would also use flex where it can eliminate a hard elbow and turn it into something less than a sweep which ends up being almost negligable from a head loss stand point (increased efficiency in the plumbing design equals "free flow" for your corals.

[zygote2k]

I'd recommend using 2" pipe for drains and 1.5" for pressure. You'll get the best flow characteristics with these sizes regardless if there's a few 90's. You can use a heat gun to get flex to bend around a tight spot. Sched 40 is fine, 80 is way overkill.