Plumbing Options/variations On Red Sea Reefer 250

Canadianeh

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Sep 20, 2016
Location
T-dot
I am going to set up a brand new Reefer 250 system. I would like to set up the plumbing by adding some on and off valves so that in the future if I NEED to add reactors, I can just "plug" them in and remove them as I wish without re-plumbing the whole system again.

Does anyone out here have these kind of set up on their Reefer 250? Can you please share your plumbing pictures? Also, where do you get your color PVC pipes. I am looking to set up mine super neat and no clutters. I possibly thinking about using an IKEA furniture and mod it to fit all controller and power bar so that they are out of the tank cabinet.

Thank you
 

TORX

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I can not help with the 250 design but I can lend words on the PVC type. I would not suggest Furniture PVC at all. It is not pressure rated and some are even listed as NSF which means it is only rated as sewage or vent piping. They are not for human consumption products and as such not tank rated. As for not pressure rated, our systems rarely hold any pressure, however they might if you start adding ball valves for reactors etc etc. You most likely will not have issues, however a pipe could still burst if any back pressure is created. Even down the road if you add something and not take into consideration the plumbing you have. If you are interested in colored PVC for your tank, I would suggest reefPVC.ca (blue and red IIRC), bigshowfrags.com (red) and/or by far the largest selection at bulkreefsupply.com
 
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Canadianeh

Active Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2016
Location
T-dot
Thank you Torx! I don’t even know what “furniture” PVC is but I will always go with reef rated PVC.

yes I am looking for design example for Reefer 250.
 

Tyler kies

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Joined
May 22, 2019
Location
Waterloo
I can not help with the 250 design but I can lend words on the PVC type. I would not suggest Furniture PVC at all. It is not pressure rated and some are even listed as NSF which means it is only rated as sewage or vent piping. They are not for human consumption products and as such not tank rated. As for not pressure rated, our systems rarely hold any pressure, however they might if you start adding ball valves for reactors etc etc. You most likely will not have issues, however a pipe could still burst if any back pressure is created. Even down the road if you add something and not take into consideration the plumbing you have. If you are interested in colored PVC for your tank, I would suggest reefPVC.ca (blue and red IIRC), bigshowfrags.com (red) and/or by far the largest selection at bulkreefsupply.com

Source out any product that can hold pressure. And just food for thought, if something is rated for DWV, its pressure rated. PVC fails, because people have zero clue what there are doing during their build.
 

Jason Bell

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Apr 3, 2019
Location
l2r4t1
I too wanted to do the nice color pipes and valves etc, but went with spaflex as I had on the last tank, never had an issue and could easily route things the way I wanted. Mind you, I do like seeing the fancy colors and such.
 

Canadianeh

Active Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2016
Location
T-dot
I found this plumbing design on YouTube. What do you guys think? Any experience plumber can chime in? :)

 

Canadianeh

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Joined
Sep 20, 2016
Location
T-dot
Broadfield’s build on reef2reef also uses red pvc but I don’t think he used furniture pvc. There are actually coloured reef PVC out there
 

wtac

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Oct 28, 2018
Location
Calgary and Toronto
Those are furniture grade fittings. The taper/chamfer on the fitting end is a dead giveaway as they are made that way for comfort should one rest upon the pipe and fitting.

Hate to say it but all colored PVC you see is all "furniture grade". Unless they state ASTM, ISO, DIN cert #'s for plumbing, burst pressure, etc, you not guaranteed anything.
 

Canadianeh

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Sep 20, 2016
Location
T-dot
Those are furniture grade fittings. The taper/chamfer on the fitting end is a dead giveaway as they are made that way for comfort should one rest upon the pipe and fitting.

Hate to say it but all colored PVC you see is all "furniture grade". Unless they state ASTM, ISO, DIN cert #'s for plumbing, burst pressure, etc, you not guaranteed anything.

how come no ones make the coloured ones that rated the same as the non-coloured ones? I mean there is market for it. So even the ones being sold by aquarium stores they are “furniture grade”?
 

Winks

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Nov 26, 2016
Location
London
I have coloured (red to be exact) that I bought from a Canadian aquarium store, not far from T-dot, and it is the same thickness as scheduled 40 PVC. It is furniture grade pipe. If it has no printing on it then a plumping inspector can not tell 100% that it has been tested under pressure. If the inspector can’t determine that from looking at the pipe, any pipe as far as that goes, then it is not legal pressure pipe and therefore furniture grade. Check around your house. You won’t find any plumping pipe that doesn’t have printing on it.
 

Canadianeh

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Joined
Sep 20, 2016
Location
T-dot
Ok thanks for all of the advice. I think I am going to go with the non coloured ones. I think I have an idea how to make it look coloured.
 
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