Grey PVC
 

Wondering if grey PVC schedule 40 conduit is suitable for plumbing tanks.

The guy in the plumbing section of the local box store says it's perfectly okay for potable water, but I've been burned by their experts before.

I doubt it would leech anything into the water, im sure it would be fine, but I'd wait for someone else to chime in.

White PVC is available at Rona, I know HD doesnt carry it.

Chris

Grey pvc is often used in aquaria - simple reason, it's often a correct fit to powerheads and other components (skimmers etc) making for easier DIY'ing.

My local Home despots carries pvc, flex and cpvc (all in different areas of course).

ive used it before with no problems that i knew about.

Would I use the grey PVC fittings or the white sch40?

go all grey, the biggest reason for sch40 and 80 is pressure aplications.. for all intensive purposes we don't have pressure aplications that require sch 40 or 80.. also the inside diamiter of the Grey should be larger which will reduce the back pressure alowing more flow for the same size pipe.

Steve

where can you get gray pvc pipe?

At Home Depot the grey is in the electrical section (called plastic conduit rather than pipe or tubing).

At my LHD for the white, they have 1" sch 200 (thinner walled than grey). If I don't need the pressure ability of sch 40 should I use that for my 1" runs (output of pumps for both the closed loop and sump)? Can sch40 fittings be used on the 200 pipe?

is that suposed to be sch 20?? to me 200 would be way thicker than 40 as 80 is about twice as thick walled as 40.. but to answer you yes, the difference is on the inside diamiter not the outside.

Steve

The grey electrical PVC is fine for aquarium applications. It is not typically rated for any pressure, but can withstand over 100 psi. The long sweep elbows are nice to reduce pressure loss. I would recomend schedule 80 for any unions you put in your system, they are much more durable and will not crack if alignment is off or overtightening. Terasen sells dark grey PVC pipe, it is schedule 80 pipe and prices have just about doubled in the last couple of weeks.

It is sch. 20...no such thing as sch 200 when referring to wall diameters

The white 1" stuff definitely had the number 200 though it wasn't preceded by the word "schedule". The plumber guy was going back and forth between calling schedule 200 and series 200.

Did a google search on "schedule 200 pvc", appears the pipe Home Depot has is probably "CLASS 200".

Sreies 200 I have heard of before...it is typically thinner like sewer grade PVC. Most aquaria will never even reach 5-10 psi, so anything that is PVC will suffice...the key is the glue and primer, make sure that they are correct for whatever piping you choose...and always give your fittings a quarter turn after gluing in so it spreads in the fitting...guaranteed not to leak then!