- Hey, it's Thomas here.
And today, we are gonna be checking out colored PVC pipe.
Ooh, ah!
And we're gonna find out if there is an advantage
to said colored PVC pipe other than just
making your own technicolor dream tank.
I think it's become pretty obvious that
modern reefers love tricked-out
filtration systems and plumbing
that is as eye-catching as the display tanks themselves.
There is just something so satisfying about
customizing and beautifying what is otherwise
a fairly boring, yet necessary part of our reef tanks,
so we can really double down on that wow factor
when guests come over to the house and see the reef tank.
So this is all real, huh?
Wow.
(chorus singing)
Wow, that's impressive.
I can't even believe, how did you do that?
It's beautiful up there, but also, man, you're talented.
But, there is more to colored PVC than just looks.
But it does look pretty awesome.
PVC plumbing on our reef tanks is usually
all one uniform color, typically white schedule 40
or gray schedule 80, which not only makes it
a bit drab to look at, which is really no big deal,
but also, can make it confusing to
keep track of what is going where,
especially for tank sitters or even yourself
if you have plumbing that is elaborate or convoluted,
which happens sometimes, especially as you add
new gear to your filtration system.
Colored PVC pipes are not only for
making your filtration system look fly,
sick, trick,
lit, cool,
dope, neato, nailed it.
But also a great way to map out your plumbing
and keep track of what goes where by color-coding it.
BRS has a full line of colored schedule 40 PVC,
whether your personal favorite is gray, black,
blue, purple, green, yellow, orange, or red,
and you can get any of those colors in 24 or 48-inch length
in half inch, three-quarter inch, one inch,
one and a quarter inch, one and a half inch,
and two-inch diameters.
These vibrant pipes use standard outer diameters
that fit standard North American fittings.
So whether you want to use that cheaper
white schedule 40 stuff, or the heavy-duty
schedule 80 elbows, valves and adapters, you are covered.
It is also compatible with the exact same PVC
primer and glue as your typical white or gray pipe,
but I highly recommend using clear versions
to keep things looking super clean.
The last thing you want is purple stains
and gray drips down your gorgeous colored pipes.
Now, I have thrown together a couple of
vanity builds myself, and although I did theme them,
I also made it a practical choice by using
my favorite colors to map or color-code my plumbing.
For example, on this tank, I used purple for my main drain,
gray for my auxiliary drain, and orange for my return.
And on my newer setup here in the studio,
I naturally went with blue, gray, and orange
for my drains and return because, well, obviously.
You're gonna make me say it.
BRS, Mr. Chilly.
Eh?
Color-coding your plumbing is really simple.
I like to use three colors or more,
but three colors usually gives me enough to have
one color for my main drains, one for an emergency drain,
and one for the return lines.
You can always add more colors to keep track of
where your plumbing branches off
to a manifold or a UV sterilizer,
and you can separate what plumbing goes to your main tank
versus your frag tank on the same system.
You can use a different color for every single component
on your filtration if you want, along with a legend
so that tank sitters know exactly what does what
and what goes where, which can really help them out
if something is going wrong.
If not so that they can fix it themselves,
it does give them the ability to better communicate to you
what is going on with the tank
so that you can help them fix it,
either on the phone or on a video call.
So, what's the downside?
I suppose, if there's any downside, it's that white PVC pipe
from your local hardware store is likely cheaper,
but it is also nowhere near as awesome
and has all that writing up and down the sides
that looks pretty awful, which isn't actually a problem
unless you want your plumbing to look really, really slick
and not like the plumbing underneath your laundry basin.
Don't get me wrong.
While all that hardware store stuff works just fine,
there is just something so inherently satisfying,
like I said before, about using colored PVC
to customize your reef tank filtration
and creating that wow factor under the tank,
as well as inside the tank.
If you are not super creative, don't worry.
Let's me bestow upon you some color themes,
if you will, to jazz up your tank.
Fire theme.
Abyss theme.
Halloween theme.
Winter holiday theme.
BRS theme, but of course.
Boring theme.
And rainbow theme, the ultimate color-coding set,
all the colors.
(hard rock music)
If customizing your plumbing with colored PVC
matches your reefing mantra, you can go ahead and
pick some up for yourself by clicking right here.
(upbeat music)