defigart Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 We maintain a tank at our childrens grade school. Next year the tank is going to be a FOWLR tank. I want to build a "scaffolding" out of PVC to put live rock on and around. There are a few things I feel I need to know before I build this. 1 What diameter PVC to use? 2 What gauge PVC to use? 3 How much weight can it hold 4 How much distance can it span between connections and stay rigid? 5 Probably other things I haven't thought of. Please help. My design is attached conv_2523.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I wouldn't use PVC, I'd use acrylic. I don't like the idea of all those hollow tubes filled with stagnant water. Plus, acrylic rod is thinner, clear, can be tapped and threaded, and easily bent/formed with a heat gun. With a few feet of acrylic rod and some scrap sheet you could build a cool, modular structure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defigart Posted June 13, 2008 Author Share Posted June 13, 2008 Andy, I thought about that too. I was thinking about hooking up a couple power heads or a small submersible pump to the PVC to prevent it from becoming stagnant. I will look into the acrylic idea. Where can you buy it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-ed Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 If you are going to be laying the pipe horizontally, why not just cut it in half (into half circles)? This would cut the material costs in half and prevent the stagnation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 TAP Plastics on Sandy has a good selection of acrylic rods, etc. A great scraps bin too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Another alternative would be threaded nylon rod. It's flexible, and rocks could be drilled and secured with nylon nuts and washers. Parkrose Hardware stocks all that stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Here is my thread for my 30g. It's pretty indepth. http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?showtopic=38415&st=0&start=0 Here are a few shots from my 65g. Spraybars in tank Plumbing on back I have used 3/4" and 1/2" I don't glue it really, just piece it together and push it in well. I have about 1oo lbs of LR in the 65g but position the rock so there is not an extreme amount of weight on any one region. It will hold more then you think though. PVC will bend with a blow torch a slight amount too. I would run the pump externally. When I first made my PVC spraybar/rock support things I used an internal pump, but it is a pain to take out to clean, external is much easier IME and it looks better. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defigart Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 Nice work Pledosophy, I cant get that advanced with it as the tank is glass, and tempered. But you have given me some good ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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