Should I glue or not?

[Anderman]

I am plumbing another big tank(520 gallon). My last 450 gallon is all glued with ball valve unions on each side of the pump so my pump can be serviced. But if I ever have to replace a bulk head gasket on my 450 gallon and sump I would have to basically cut things apart. Even though I used unions I would still have to replace one half of the union and the 90 elbow in order to change the gasket.

Now with my 520 gallon I was wondering if I should go with double threaded bulkheads for everything so I can replace bulkhead gaskets if necessary. Since I haven't done threaded before I was wondering if it would leak easier under pressure compared to gluing? The pump is a gold hammerhead hybrid with 1 1/2" in and out. There is 9- 2" bulkheads(4 on top of my sump,one for the outside pump and 4 for the outside overflows) and my returns are 2- 1 1/2" bulkheads.

Should I just say screw it and glue things again like I did with my 450 or go the double threaded route so I can replace bulkheads and gaskets if necessary.

 

[Anderman]

Here is my 450 gallon when I soft plumbed it. I am doing basically everything the same for my 520 gallon but I have 2" overflows to my sump and 1 1/2" return. My 450 gallon was 1 1/2" for everything. I would like to plumb my 520 with hard PVC but will that be noisier then soft plumbing for this type of setup? Will 90 degree sweeps keep it as quite as soft plumbing?

Would I even have an issue of noise with rigid and 90 degree elbows compared to my 450 gallon spa flex as I have valves on my overflow to adjust the drain flow. People comment on how quite my 450 gallon system is compared to their own.

 

[Michiba54]

I have never used bulkheads before, but I've done my fair share of plumbing with PVC and to glue something with threads would defeat the purpose of having threads, imo.

 

[trick1441]

I have threaded bulkheads and it's great to service. I would recommend them just add Teflon to the threads. I also have my tank plumbed with sch 40 PVC. It makes a little noise at first until the pipes build a little slime coat on them. They do make threaded unions so you could somehow incorporate that into the threaded bulkhead. I also have ball valves on my overflow for servicing my sump. And sometimes I like to make one of my overflows be a full siphon and the other a back up. When I run the one as a full siphon it is dead silent. I'll post pictures in a bit.


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[aldiaz33]

Go with dual threaded bulkhead fittings. Hopefully you never have to replace one because usually that means something is seriously wrong (cracked nut, faulty seal etc), but if you do have to make that change, it will be a whole lot easier if you can just unscrew it. I have four on my tank and haven't had any issues with them.

Like you mentioned, unions also can make things a lot easier.

In regards to flex versus hard plumbing, the downside to flex is that it can sag over time and depending on what kind you use, sometimes there are ridges on the inside of the pipe that can increase friction (reduce flow). I used a combination of rigid and flex on my setup. The place where flex PVC is convenient is on my drains going into the sump...being able to move the flex PVC a little bit makes removing my filter socks for cleaning much easier. I wish I had hard plumbed all the plumbing going back into the tank just because I think it looks cleaner, but I like the flex going into the sump.

 

[trick1441]

The union allows you to disconnect the bottom section of the plumbing. The area above the union can just unscrew leaving the bulkhead by itself. I've never had to replace a gasket but i have taken the plumbing off to change a few things and it was really easy.


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[Oughtsix]

I started with unions to allow for easier changes... now I have more PVC than filtration!

I have found the 1 1/2" threaded PVC fittings at Home Depot and Lowes very limiting! For example they don't have any threaded/threaded 1.5" elbows. The best I can find is threaded/slip fittings. And neither store seem to carry 1.5" stub pipes. A major inconvenience!

 

[Anderman]

I had to glue most of it as there was too many leaks!

 

[Gill Blue]

how many wraps of teflon did you use?