Acrylic Tubes in Plumbing?

[planbtypea]

I sent off an email to ePlasics but figured I would ask here also. Has anyone used colored/transparent tubes in their plumbing? Anyone know if (for example) 1" PVC fitting would work with 1"OD tubes? The sump gets little/no light, so having transparent tubes 1)would look kinda cool and 2)would allow to visually monitor for buildup and any wayward/deviant "critters"....

 

[newtothis]

It would cost you a lot of money and who wants to see algae growth inside the tube. It would probably be Koo for a couple of days, then it'll be ehhhhh...outside thinking, but not economical.

 

[planbtypea]

It would cost you a lot of money and who wants to see algae growth inside the tube. It would probably be Koo for a couple of days, then it'll be ehhhhh...outside thinking, but not economical.

Yeah, I dug into the pricing a little more figuring roughly how many feet I would need and you are right. Would be about 2-3 times the cost as plain pipe even with painting it... I will still post up the answer when I get it from ePlastics though.

 

[planbtypea]

So I finally got an answer back from ePlastics, and am posting the reply as I said I would:

It is unlikely it will fit with PVC fittings. PVC pipe has different specifications than our products. Our items are referred to with actual dimensions. PVC pipe is slightly different and nothing is exactly the size it claims to be.

Best Regards,

General Information Desk
ePlastics.com

 

[xmas_one]

They do make clear PVC, and clear PVC fittings, it's freakishly expensive though.

 

[planbtypea]

They do make clear PVC, and clear PVC fittings, it's freakishly expensive though.

Yeah, I looked into that. My idea was to use that under the tank for a more "invisible" pipe setup with the clear or colored pipe for what they were (drains, return, manifold, emergency...). The thought was that it would make it easier to pull and put back when I go in and pull the plumbing to do a good pipe cleaning, but looks like the pipes are staying plain PVC as they are. At least until I drill my tank, build a new sump, and HAVE to redo the plumbing... My OCD kicks in with wires and plumbing :frusty: