Where to find 6" OD clear acrylic tubes 0.25" thick for DIY skimmer/CaReactor?

[Lilgrasshopper]

I went to Regal and they only have those thin 6" tubes. They called their distributor and they can't get the 6". They can get the 4.5" but you have to buy the whole 12 feet or so....so we're talking about 200 bucks!! yikes!!! Any other place in the city? Online maybe?

[Don Davis]

E-com Plastics (http://www.ecomplastics.com/actubexcas.html)

Cast tubing costs a lot more then extruded. Extruded .125" wall should be plenty strong enough, unless you are going over a 4 foot tube with extremely HIGH pressure. But, .25" wall will give you more surface area to glue and be more forgiving in construction mistakes.

Cast .25" wall- $44.38
Cast .125" wall- $39.03

extruded .125" wall- $15.82

These prices are per foot.

I have ordered weld-on solvent from them and my only complaint was my package was caught in a train derailment and took a few extra days to arrive. They are a good company to do business with if you can't find it locally.

Don

[Lilgrasshopper]

Hey Don, what have you tried to make? I'm trying to make a Ca Reactor, Geo skimmer, and an acrylic sump. I have already ordered the sump to be cut to my specifications. However, the skimmer..i"m gonna need an outlet for the acrylic...man they are expensive. I think I will go ahead and order 6.0" OD and 4.5" OD in 5 foot increments cuz that's their minimum. That would give me about 3-4 skimmers right there...heehheehe.
Hey if you have experience maybe we can get together or somehing. I live on S.W. 104th and Penn. Trong Le lives right about there too.

[Don Davis]

I have put baffles in sumps and stuff like that, but never tried reactors or skimmers. I am pretty handy though. I am pretty good with wood and electrical, but plumbing is not my thing. I usually leave the plumbing to others. Working with acrylic is not really that hard if your joints are true. If your joints are screwey, you will have a hard time stopping leaks. I would like to get together and make a reactor, I live at SW 134th and Penn. 2 miles from you.

Let me know if you have any tubing left over, or let me know when you plan to order, I'd like to get in on it.

Later,

Don

[Lilgrasshopper]

I plan on ordering from USplastics today. The 6" OD tube is 22.84 per foot (5 foot minimum) and the 4.5" OD are 19.95 per foot. Those are the two sizes that I need. BTW, they are 0.25" thick. This is probably the best prices around. http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=Acrylic&product%5Fid=Clear+Cast+Acrylic+Tubing
Let me know what u need so we can get quantity discount. We can get the black acrylic flanges at Regal. We just cut it to size and buy plastic nylon screws (I like the wing nuts) at Lowes.

[Don Davis]

Well, I'm probably too late to get in on the order. But, I would still like to get together and help\watch you build a reactor or skimmer. Let me know if you have any extra tubing when you are through.

Don

[Lilgrasshopper]

I will let u know Don. I placed an order for 5 foot of each...since they only sell in 5 foot increments. Apparently it's gonna take 2 weeks before it'll get here...so I don't know what I'll be doing in the mean time..I guess I can play around with a Ca Reactor made out of PVC. I wonder, does the Clear PVC Schedule 40 acrylic bond to acrylic sheets? Regal has those 4" OD 0.25" thick clear (actually blue tinted) PVC for about 10 dollars a foot. I was thinking of using that for the CaReactor column.

[Don Davis]

I don't know if PVC will bond to acrylic or not. Regal can tell you if they have a solvent that will work or not. I have some scrap acrylic sheet and pvc along with PVC solvent and weld-on if you want to experiment. I will be home all evening if you want to come get some to play with.

Don