what type of glue

[james]

what type of glue would one use when plumbing a central filtration system? some thing fish safe and holds pvc together under pressure.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: what type of glue

PVC glue

Try asking over on MarshReef.com, those guys build closed-loop systems all the time and can probably give you better details but I think it's just regular plumping adhesive cause your house uses similar and you drink it.

[mrairportjunke]

Re: what type of glue

yeah. id think that too cause the stuff for the house has to be safe for fish cause if it wasnt youd know it everytime you filled your fish tank from the faucet. lol

[james]

Re: what type of glue

i guess with the proper curing time it would be safe, but i'm sure you would not want to throw fish into a system that had just been plumbed. that glue is highly toxic and if you glue pvc together you can smell the glue in the pipe for days afterward. would you put fish in a tank that smelled like toxic chemicals? not me my fish are to expensive to test what highly toxic chemical may or may not kill them.

[mrairportjunke]

Re: what type of glue

id definetly let it cure for 2 or 3 times what the recommended is on the glue,  id be carefull not to get the glue in the pipe.  dont get messy, and if i was still worried after flushin it out.  id test the water with some guppies or something.

[wvgdiscus]

Re: what type of glue

When i plumbed my 180 & 30 in the same wet/dry. I used regular PVC sealant & had water flowing in it with in 4 hours. The orange & purple stuff.
I forgot to add I had 3000 gph of water flow in the pipe to.

[Spot86t]

Re: what type of glue

I used regular pvc primer/adhesive.  Ran it for a week empty, then drained, flushed lines, refilled and added old filter media along with some fish.  Everyone did just fine.  In the overflow box, I didn't use sealant on the lines coming from the pump to the tank, I put a layer of food-grade silicone grease on the fittings.  Any leaks will go into the overflow box, and I'll be able to take it apart to some degree if necessary without cutting the pipes.  Food grade silicone grease can usually be found in dive shops.

[james]

Re: what type of glue

i guess the best way to go would be pex pipe then all the fittings are quick disconnects. you would be able to take it apart at every joint if necessary and there would be no glue involved.

[Spot86t]

Re: what type of glue

Keep in mind though, the more connections, joints, elbows and size changes you have, the more turbid the water.  More turbidity = more resistance = less flow.

[james]

Re: what type of glue

well you would not need no more joints then you would need if you used regular pvc with regular pvc glue. only difference is the type of pipe and how it couples.

[PhishPhreek]

Re: what type of glue

I use

Glass - silicone
PVC - PVC cement
ACRYLIC - IPS Weld-On 16 Cement  
metal and mixed material joints - superglue
When in doubt - silicone

[Spot86t]

Re: what type of glue

well you would not need no more joints then you would need if you used regular pvc with regular pvc glue. only difference is the type of pipe and how it couples.

I was only making that comment about flow reduction as something to keep in mind when designing plumbing.  I didn't mean to imply that there were more or less connections when using a different type of pipe.

With that said, I'll also throw in that if one plans to use elbows in their setup, to try and use 2 45's rather than 2 90's.  
Again, reason being better flow.

Guess I've spent too much time designing automotive intake/exhaust setups for improving performance  :).  Funny how 2 diverse hobbies can benefit from this fact.