Connected Tank Idea- Feedback please

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
hey is PVC cement safe for fish? there wouldn't really be much in contact with the water but i'm sure there would be at elast a little bit somewhere.
 
I would imagine so as long as it's cured. I think it's just PVC dissolved in a strong solvent, but I'm not entirely sure. People use it all the time when they plumb their tanks and I've never heard of it being blamed for any problems.
 
Hot diggity i just got me TWO 4ft sections of 3" diameter clear PVC from visipak for free (asked for a sample)

Unfortunately they do not fit into or onto the 3" PVC elbows that i've just bought a couple days ago. So now i have to figure out how i'm going to bend or elbow this clear stuff.
I suppose i COULD use my white PVC elbows and just use rubber bands and extra pvc cement to fill in the small gap that is there when i put the clear pvc around the male end of the white pvc street elbow.
Or i could cut the clear pvc at a 45deg angle and line it up with the other 45deg angle to make a 90deg angle, but i'm not confident hot glue or whatever would hold that joint.
 
To make continous bends in PVC, I tape one end closed with masking tape, then pack the tube FULL with sand. Make sure to tap it regularly to fill it as full as possible. When you cant get anymore sand in, tape up the other end with masking tape. Then slowly heat the section you want to bend over a low gas flame. Roll and move the length of pipe over the flame uniformly and slowly since sand takes a while to heat up. Heat SLOWLY or the plastic will simply burn/melt. With care, you will see the pipe start to get bendy but heat a little longer. I recommend you heat a much longer length than you need for your bend if your new to this. When your confident the pipe is really bendable then use a glass bottle or round post or something of suitable diameter to bend your pipe around. Once bent, you can dip it into a bucket of water to harden or allow it to air cool. Then untape and empty.

I recommend you practice on some cheap plastic PVC before trying your expensive clear stuff. I now use special plumbers springs to heat and bend PVC pipe because I do this a lot but the sand method is reliable too.

Oh yeah - make the legs long too so you dont lose siphon suction when doing water changes.
 
cool, thanks for the advice. i'll see what i can do.
btw, like i said, it was free, and i got 8feet of this stuff. i have a little extra to experiment on.
 
Let us know how the heat bending turns out. And post any failures you have, too, so that those of us who want to try this can learn from your mistakes. ;)
 
i've done mandrel bends before for car parts, and i can't imagine this being much different. however, metal is a little more forgiving i suppose. we'll see.
 
not gonna work. theres a saying, "water finds it's own level". the water in the tube will empty in the two tanks. maybe it might work if you connected from the bottom.
you could have the pipe raise higher than the water level as long as the entry and exit for water is below the tank as i believe[ that the pressure of the water above will keep it in the pipe
 
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