PVC Frame's

[seattlereef]

I'm planning out my build for my tank and am considering building some frames with PVC to help build "bridges" for my aquascaping, lift up my skimmer and a few other things. Obviously if the pipe's aren't filled with any thing they would float. What do people use to fill the pipe's? Or do people just drill a few holes and allow water to fill them up? Any advice especially from people who have done this before would be much appreciated.

 

[sergebmw2]

Drill holes


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.690536,-122.623269

 

[Krish]

Drilling holes is an option as a lot of people do it, but personally for me, I'd only drill holes in PVC that had water being pushed out of the holes regularly. I don't know, but I'm a bit cautious when it comes to detritus and just reading this and thinking about the fact that it floats in the water column and water will be going into those holes, I'd be afraid that the detritus will accumulate in the pipes over time which could cause an issue with water quality lol. May not happen, but I'd probably just pack it with sand and cap it off just to ease my mind. OCD talking

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

 

[Frankie]

Fully agree with you Krish on the holes and detritus. Better to fill the pvc.

Personally I would use something like Acetal Rod. With a little heat you can bend this stuff into any shape you want. Like PVC you will want to wait for it to cool before letting the shape go or it will just go back to it's original shape. once cool it will stay the shape you make it forever.

You can find Acetal Rod at most plastic suppliers. Here's a link.

ACETAL ROD

Delrin® Acetal Rod • Thermoplastic Polymer: TAP Plastics

More about Acetal Rod:
http://www.tapplastics.com/uploads/products/pdf/Tech Data- Delrin.pdf

 

[TJL]

Thanks for the info/links Frank, will have to look into this option for the new tank. Seattlereef I used the pvc method (1") on my current reeftank, worked really well leaving ends open drilled several holes and have a Korailia 1 directing water at one of the openings. I zip-tied several pieces of base rock to the structure before stacking additional LR on top, will dig up some pics to show you. Can't seem to find the pics of assembling the structure, will post later if found.

first attacment of base rock with zip-ties

Here is an old pic showing it a few months later

a little more recent pic, this whole right end is supported on the pvc structure. You can see the zip-tie in this pic before I covered it.

Cheers, Todd

 

[seattlereef]

#TJL: beautiful tank. This was exactly what I was thinking of doing.

#Frankie : That seems like a great idea and I'll have to look into it for the bridge structure. Do you know how you would bond two pieces together?