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2.9K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  yacn  
#1 ·
Ok so i got to do some adjustements to my plumbing on my freshwater stingray tank.I cannot remove the plumbing that i half to add too.So i must add and glue it up on the tank.My question is how safe or how long do i half to wait to be able to run the tank again.Its the drain line to the sump so i half to shut tank off to do it.Thanks!
 
#8 ·
I guess I'm paranoid than most people. I have extra tubing and a pump just incase I have an emergency so I can have a siphon overflow and a pump with tubing to return my water. I've seen far too many fail. Just dont wanna to risk it.

And it does make sense that there is no psi on the drain line so that can be used sooner.
 
#13 ·
I thought your question was about cure time of PVC glue. My can says 15 minutes for holding strength and 2 hours before pressure testing. If you just glued it and waited for it to cure when this was posted, you would have had well over 24 hrs. If you aren't in a hurry, then wait if it makes you feel more comfortable. if you are in a hurry, no one can deny that 30 mins is plenty of time to glue a DRAIN TUBE that is not under pressure. What is the worse that can happen? Water is going to spill into your sump? As far as toxicity, as you know, after a couple of minutes, you couldn't get that glue or primer off if you wanted. The can lists all kinds of nasty side effects but I don't believe it's water soluble or it would be poisoning our fish slowly even after full cure time. After it evaporates and drys, it should be fine. BTW, do you have unions installed so you can make any changes outside your stand and wash out any possible toxic residue?
 
#16 ·
I've had to cut, add, modify and glue PVC many times on both the intake lines and return lines (under pressure).

I've waited 10 minutes, half hour, hour, hours depending on the project before turning on my pumps. . I've never encountered a problem with anything being hurt in my reef tank nor my plumbing leaking.

A couple of times after only minutes of glueing the PVC, and turning on my pump, I had to scoop PVC glue out of my tank (looked like whiteish snot floating thru the water). The glue was still wet on the inside of the PVC piping and couldn't reach it with rag to clean it up like you can on the outside of pipe joint....I tend to use generous amounts of PVC glue. Again, never hurt a thing...although the glue never landed on any corals, etc. before I scooped it out with paper towel.

Just my 2 cents. You have those that are overly cautious and those that throw caution to the wind....I do both at times.