Black PVC pipe

[Ichthys]

Anyone know of a local place in Tacoma to Seattle Area where you can buy 2 or 3" BLACK PVC pipe? I do not want ABS and i do not want to use Krylon to spray paint regular PVC black. I am making an intake strainer type thing for a closed loop. I dont want to drill my tank and i want a closed loop like this one Melevsreef.com - Closed Loop only MUCH bigger. Any engineers out there that can figure out how many 1/4 inch holes i need to drill in a 12 inch piece of 3 inch inch PVC to allow sufficient draw for a Reeflo Dart (approx 4000 gph) the return will be divided between 4 loclines with penductors. I am planning my new 150 and want to get rid of Koralias and MP40's forever. Oh and i dont know if the back glass is tempered thats why I am going over the top with the drain fir the CL. The two overflows drain out the bottom. It is an Oceanic 150 RR Starphire. Bought it used, but it is in pristine condition and I believe only the front is Starphire glass, so im afraid to drill the back. Actually afraid to drill anything on this tank, its too beautiful a tank to screw up.
Thanks reefers..

 

[pandora32]

Feel the same way about drilling my tank. I have a 3 sided starfire oceanic 215g rr. I dont know about the pvc pipe and am definitely not an engineer. I wouldnt think the back pane is tempered though. If you do away with your koralias and mp40s, im interested.

 

[mfinn]

I am using a similar over the top closed loop. The only problem I had was getting the pump primed the first time or any time I have to pull the pump and drain the lines.
I used my miter saw to cut slots in the suction side pipe about a 1/4" apart. Then I turned the cut side towards the tank wall to make them less visable.
Not sure where you would find regular pvc pipe that is black.
Why don't you want to use abs or paint?

 

[Ichthys]

... The only problem I had was getting the pump primed the first time or any time I have to pull the pump and drain the lines.
..

Have been giving thought to this and I see it a few ways. First, the only time you will have to reprime is when air enters the piping. If you have unions and ball valaves on each side of the pump then this isnt an issue during pump maintenance. Second, depending on where your strainer is in the DT, when you do water changes if the water level in the DT drops below the holes in the strainer then it will purge water and fill with air. On my 90 the existing strainer has the first hole less than 2 inches below water surface. You learn from experience, so the new one will be at least 5 inches below water surface.
So back to the problem. Lets say for whatever reason air is in the piping and we have lost suction. If you place a fitting on the pipe above the pump which you can unscrew and pour water into the piping then you are set. That is MelvReefs solution. I was thinking to instal a fitting with a connection for a Aqu Lifter so you turn on the aqua lifter and suck out all the air, either one would work,,

.... Why don't you want to use abs or paint? Paint flakes off in time, ABS has issues, it is not listed as "potable" fit for human water supply, I have read debated both ways on both paint and abs, but would just rather not. THis build is going to be all out, no comprimises, top notch.

 

[mfinn]

Have you tried Graingers?

 

[Peppie]

You can dye the pvc any color you wish.
I cant find the link to the product.
There was a post here at RF not to long ago about it.

Anyone else remember what it is, please chime in!!

 

[fulkerl]

You can dye the pvc any color you wish.
I cant find the link to the product.
There was a post here at RF not to long ago about it.

Anyone else remember what it is, please chime in!!

Here is a link I found online Stain PVC Any Color You Like

 

[Peppie]

Thanks fulkert,
That is the one I was suggesting.

 

[Ichthys]

Fulkerl and Peppie. Have either of you tried this dying process? In the post it doesn't mention salt water applications. Do you think the dye is 100% reef safe?

I am thinking of something like one of the following, does the open ended 1" pipe provide as much drain area as the 2 inch pipe with holes drilled in it? I am guessing that would depend on the diameter and number of drilled holes?

 

[fulkerl]

Sorry I have not tryed it. I found a post here about useing dye, http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f12/diy-flow-enductor-65752/ and its said to be reef safe.

 

[Peppie]

I too have not tried the dye. Although it seems to me that the dye would chemically bind to the PVC.

As for your drain. A 1'' pipe will only carry so much water no matter what is attached to it. The step up to the 2'' will reduce the suction where the water enters.
You could also put a T fitting on the 1"" then you could have 2 inlets to help reduce the suction.
What size pump are you going to run on the closed loop? Is the hole already drilled for the CL drain?

 

[Ichthys]

OK, I am going to hijack my own thread, similar but different question. So for the closed loop I have a Dolphin Amp Master 3000/4000. It is 2 inch plumbing. On the return I need to go from 2" pipe to 3/4" locline. Someone at the BM Frag (think it was Mojo) was telling me to go 2 inch, then into a 2x1 reducer bushing, use 1" pipe for the piece that will go all the way around the top of the tank, and then reduce to 3/4 locline at the tees that come off this piece. Here let me include a pic. This is plan 1

 

[Ichthys]

OK, so plan "B" would be going from the 2" line into a manifold like this one

and then to however many locline returns i want. This way, i could valve each line and control how much flow each output has. Another way of doing the same thing would be using a oceanmotion instead of a manifold

 

[Ichthys]

Wow,, didn't mean for those pics to be so huge.. so here is a question. The first method with the continuous pipe around the rim with tees and loclines seems easiest, but you give up some control. Also not sure which will flow more. Could you all weigh in with your thoughts and opinions please. Oh and drilling tank for returns is not an option, unless I can pay you to drill my tank and you will cover cost of new tank if something goes wrong lol.

 

[Peppie]

WOW thats a lot of ports coming in from the top.

 

[Ichthys]

true, those arent my pics, mine hasnt been built yet, but those were pics i was looking at for ideas. I think i want 6 outlets, I will probably go with the continuous pipe around rim style.

WOW thats a lot of ports coming in from the top.

 

[Ichthys]

OK Peppie, here are the pics of the back so you can see how much space is available to run both the drain and return lines, the only space i think it is feasable is in the corners, a 2 inch pipe in each corner maybe? one for a drain and one going to a loop on the bottom.

 

[N1Husker]

Have you tried Pacific Plumbing Supply, they have places all over the Puget Sound. Just a suggestion. By the way, the leather I got from you awhile back is doing great, Thanks.

 

[Spinner]

You can drill your drain out the back of your overflows it doesn't have to go to the bottom if you didn't want to.

 

[Ichthys]

OK Peppie, this looks incredibly crude but wife is waiting on me to go to store and i wanted you to look at this before i ran out. So the problem was no place to put the 2" drain and return over the top for closed loops due to the wide glass cross brace, the overflows, and the return loclines.
I figured i can come out of the return withh a 90 then reroute the sump return loclines as in pic and that would give me room for my 2" pipe right between the glass cross brace and overflow.
In pic the red is a new 90 the yellow is locline and the green is 2". Duplicate this on other side and badda bing badda bang,