[dubs83]

Has anyone tried this? My tank is on a solid book case with no real room for filter/co2 tank, plus all the goodies that come with it, and I have a storage nook behind the wall. My plan was to install a washing machine outlet box with two valves (out and in) but can't seem to find valves without any restriction. Any opinions or tips?

 

[dubs83]

Just to clarify. I wanted to install the hoses from the tank to the outlet box and place the inline heater > reactor > UV light and filter behind the wall in the storage nook

 

[lochaber]

I'm not terribly familiar with washing machine outlet boxes, but it looks like a lot of them have brass/copper hardware, which wouldn't be good for the tank. I don't see why you couldn't remove the included hardware, and replace it with aquarium safe stuff.

or even just drill a couple holes through the wall and run tubing through it. -it might be better to not have any joints/unions/whatever inside the wall, since you wouldn't be able to detect a leak, and that could lead to water damage, rot, mold, etc.

(assuming the typical american home construction with drywall and 2x4's)

 

[Hoppy]

I have used brass fittings in water plumbing, with no problems noted. I don't see any reason to be concerned, anyway. You would need to have very low pH water to get enough dissolved metal in the water to even be able to detect. (In my opinion)

The basic idea of putting the equipment in an adjacent room or closet has been done before, with great success, so you are on a good track.

 

[Diana]

I would keep the plumbing in the walls free from any valves or fittings if at all possible. Do all the plumbing on the storage room side, and just have clean pipes going through the wall. There are ways to camouflage it so all you see is the aquarium.

 

[PlantedRich]

I would not worry about the metal in the valves we might put in. When you look at most of the water supply in this country, it is metal. From the pump in the ground to the water storage tank, through the pipes and on into your house, it is likely to be metal. You most likely have a metal faucet wherever you get your water for the tank. The water may take a week or more of sitting in metal before it reaches your house so worry about it passing a metal valve is not really worthwhile.

 

[Evilgrin]

I would not worry about the metal in the valves we might put in. When you look at most of the water supply in this country, it is metal. From the pump in the ground to the water storage tank, through the pipes and on into your house, it is likely to be metal. You most likely have a metal faucet wherever you get your water for the tank. The water may take a week or more of sitting in metal before it reaches your house so worry about it passing a metal valve is not really worthwhile.

+1 on the above unless the valve will be siting in the tank it's effects on the water are entirely negligible.

 

[lochaber]

+1 on the above unless the valve will be siting in the tank it's effects on the water are entirely negligible.

I was under the impression that the water going to the filter and heater would be routed through it? If so, then this would probably be even worse then it just sitting in the tank, since all of the water would be continuously passing through it.

I know there tends to be some fearmongering with metals, and that a lot of plumping, etc. is made of copper/brass/etc. But I'm not certain that getting water out of a tap is the same as dropping a piece of metal in the aquarium. Some of the water conditioners can help bind metals, and especially in planted tanks, (or tanks with driftwood or peat filtration) there are compounds that can bind the metals and effectively detoxify them. Apparently most aquariums seem to do fine with whatever comes in the water change, but I'd be concerned that something sitting in the tank (or having water flow through it) would eventually exhaust the aquarium's ability to bind/detoxify those compounds. I'd just rather stick to non-metallic elements if they are available.

And, it probably depends on what you are keeping. I think invertebrates might be more sensitive to copper and zinc.

 

[PlantedRich]

What you are missing when you speak of the water moving though is that the water has been moving through metal all the way from the pump in the ground or lake and all the way to your faucet in many cases. If you look under the sink, you will likely find metal pipes. Whether it is brass, copper or iron, most plumbing is metal because it works so well. The only place one finds plastic is new construction in some locations where they are willing to go plastic due to it being so much cheaper than copper.

If you are even five miles from the water treatment plant, the water is likely to be in that metal for five miles so worry about it running through a valve at the tank is just wasted. Other than a model, I've never seen a plastic water tower or fire hydrant!

 

[lochaber]

PlantedRich>

I get what you are saying, most storage facilities, water mains, pumps, meters, plumping, etc. are all metal of some sort or another. -I'm not arguing that at all.

I also want to acknowledge that people can get overly concerned about the effects of metal (and admittedly, I may do this as well).

Just trying to explain my thought process/concerns a bit. I think the water travelling through metal pipes is going to be somewhat stable- there are limited chemical reactions going on, so the water will hit the saturation point of whatever metal ion/compound, and then likely stay at that level. Before it's added to the tank, it's treated with a conditioner, many of which have chelating compounds that can bind/detoxify those metal ions already present in the water.

If it's in the tank, then there are constantly reactions and biological/chemical processes going on, and as those ions get bound, the water will be able to dissolve more of them if a source is present in the tank environment.

Granted, there is a good chance that as long as semi-frequent water changes are happening, this may be a non-issue.

On a side note, have you ever turned on a faucet that hasn't been used in years? Or seen a sprinkler system go off? that's some of the foulest stuff I've ever observed.