Connecting to house water pipes and drain?

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RussR

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 6, 2014
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2
Hello all,
New to the forum, just moved into a new house and starting to get my 55 gallon freshwater tank set back up after a few years of having no fish! I searched for an answer to my question but didn't see one, but please point me to it if it's been answered before.

On the other side of the wall behind my aquarium is the laundry room. Which means that there is both a hot and cold water pipe, as well as a drain just inches away through the drywall.

How can I best use this to my advantage? I'm thinking having a drain right next to the tank would be great both for water changes and possibly leak protection. The water source could be useful to not have to carry buckets of water around.

Anybody done anything like this? Have any pointers about what type of fittings and such to install?

Obviously, I am willing to cut a hole in the wall and do general plumbing and drywall work as needed. I am fairly handy at that sort of thing.

The aquarium is currently empty, so now's the time to do any work like this!

Thanks for any help,
Russ
 
Without seeing it, I can only offer speculation. You could of course plumb a supply to fill or to off with (though your choice of purification system). Very helpful, especially with larger tanks. You could also branch off the drain to have a drain line to pump into. To do this safely, got need an anti reversion device (check valve) that will only allow water to travel away from your system, or your run the risk of backflow into your system or onto your flooring. Personally, I'd love a laundry room behind the wall to my tank, I could hide almost all hardware that way. Hope this helps some. Best of luck

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Good info in that video, thanks.

I went ahead and sawed into the wall. For some reason, this worries my wife... :)

See attached pic. Of course, the hard-to-reach pipe on the left is the cold water one! But the drain should be easily accessible with a little PVC work.
 

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Good info in that video, thanks.

I went ahead and sawed into the wall. For some reason, this worries my wife... :)

See attached pic. Of course, the hard-to-reach pipe on the left is the cold water one! But the drain should be easily accessible with a little PVC work.

I'd recommend installing one of those washer hook up boxes like in the picture below. Just tee of your hot and cold supplies and tie into your drain up above the bend. You could even install an inspection panel and house a filter system. If you aren't the greatest at cutting pvc to the right length PEX tubing and Shark Bite fittings are a lifesaver

autowasherbox.jpg
 
I hope you're familiar with working with copper pipe.. Little more involved than PVC.. I think it would make your wife happy happy if you dropped the $200 and had a plumber set the washer hook up box as pictures in previous post.. Those pipes are already stretched and bent..
 
I'd recommend installing one of those washer hook up boxes like in the picture below. Just tee of your hot and cold supplies and tie into your drain up above the bend. You could even install an inspection panel and house a filter system. If you aren't the greatest at cutting pvc to the right length PEX tubing and Shark Bite fittings are a lifesaver
those pex specialty tools are a small fortune..
 
With shark bite fittings, you eliminate the need for specialty pex tooling. They are as easy as push and click lock.

Sent from my Z750C using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
And are compatible with pvc, cpvc, and copper, as well as pex fittings

Sent from my Z750C using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
With shark bite fittings, you eliminate the need for specialty pex tooling. They are as easy as push and click lock.

Sent from my Z750C using Aquarium Advice mobile app

And are compatible with pvc, cpvc, and copper, as well as pex fittings

Sent from my Z750C using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Yup^ I can't say enough things about how awesome shark bite fittings and pex are together. I've installed dishwashers, sinks, ro units bath tubs and it made short work out of it all.

Copper is easy to work with as well you can pick up tubing and pvc cutters cheap from Harbor freight.
 
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