If anyone has been to Menard's in the water filtration area, you'll know exactly what I am talking about. Anyways, they have these big blue canisters for like $10 each. The filters are 2/$4 for a 5 micron and the carbon are like 2/$11. So I figured plumbing two inline would be an inexpensive way to filter water for my freshwater (I use my RO for marine....just too expensive to replace those filters). My problem is I suck at plumbing.

I want to tap into my copper feed line which runs right below my fish room. It's 1/2" I think. The fittings for the canisters are 3/4" NPT. How would I go about doing this? Just leaves me scratching my head. I don't want to spend $50 on plumbing parts either, which is what the Menard's employee was trying to get me to do.

Thanks all.

with a 3/4" fittings on the filter, it sounds like a whole house filter-- kind of overkill for what you want to use it for.

If you don't feel comfortable doing this, you probably shouldn't...

You will obviously need to shut off your water....

To tap into that 1/2" line, you will need to cut the line and you will need to be able to pull one or both ends about 1/2"-3/4" away from each other.

Easiest way is to use a compression tee of the diameter of the copper pipe--

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You will cut out a small section of the copper pipe-- enough so that if you hold the fitting up next to the pipe, the ends will be about where the inside of the nuts on the fitting will line up with the ends where you cut it...

Slide one end of the pipe out and slide the compression fitting onto the pipe-- you might want to mark the pipe with it slid on so you know it did not move as you tighten-- slide the other end of the pipe into the other end  (and mark this too)Using 2 wrenches tighten the compression nut onto the pipe-- hold the fitting with one wrench and tighten the nut with the other-- what this will do, as you tighen the nut, it will compress a "ferrule" (a brass insert) onto the pipe and this will seal the fitting-- you will have to tighten it pretty good-- tighten the other nut too the same way... if it leaks or drips a little you can go back and re-tighten so it is better to undertighten a bit then to overtighten.

If you need to rotate the tee, you can loosen these nuts to rotate it and then tighten them back up.

If you don't want to run copper all the way to the filter, you can adapt to cpvc (cpvc is "tan" collored and is used for drinking water)--- you probably can't adapt directly--- to adapt-- get a compression to NPT adapter

Compression to NPT Adapter

and a NPT to CPVC adapter

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and then just run pvc to the filter unless you want to run copper all the way to filter

if a smaller diamter then 3/4" for your filter is used, I'd adapt up when I get to the filter... they should sell adapters.

If you don't have a valve near where you tapped in you might want to put a valve right before the filter so you can easily shut it off to change out the filter...

You should support the pipe/tubing every 5 or 6 feet--

Once again, if you don't feel comfortable doing this... I would not try....it might be easier for you to just run some garden hose from your laundry room cold water (get a "Y" valve) and run this to the filter and only use when you are making new water...

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FYI-- I am comfortable doing this as I've done stuff like this on hydraulic systems running up to 3000 psi  -- but sorry I am not a licenced plumber, so can't do this for you.

HTH...

Thanks Bill! That doesn't sound that bad really. My dad and I put in a new garden hose line (the old one was busted and shut off), so I think we can handle that. The garden hose idea is a good one as well. Might just do that now and wait until next year. My aunt is going to help replace all the plumbing in the house to CPVC next summer, so I can plumb it in then.

Yes, it might be a little overkill filtration wise but the water here sucks. It's filthy, really filthy. Right now I get all my water from the fridge, as that is at least filtered a little bit (takes forever!). But the filters are huge, cheap canisters, and super cheap refills. I will also be using this to filter water for my garden and other plants (the chlorine here burns the leaves....).

Hello Burks, there is really no need to pre-filter the city water from Toledo for your freshwater tank unless you are keeping african cichlids (high PH) or some other type of fish that requires a very low PH. The reason being is that Toledo city water for the most part is pretty good, although there is high PH, and Phosphate levels in our water. The only real concern with Toledo water, is that our water is treated with alot of Aluminum sulphate after heavy rains that can not be removed by the type of filters you are talking about. Aluminum Sulphate at extreme PH levels (High or Low) can form a muscus on the gill filiments of fish causeing suffocation. So the best advice is to skip a water change or do a few smaller water changes at those times in question, and forego the filters. They really won't help that much. The carbon will be used up to fast for chlorine removal (just use a good liquid chlorine remover)and 5 micron pre-filters are not necessary for general fish needs. Hope this helps.   Fintastic

Burks isn't in Toledo anymore.  Hey Burks, you need to update your location!  Where do you live now?

Call it Mansfield.

The water here is rather nasty. Just straight out the tap it is always an "off" color. More often than not, it's tan. Not something I think is fish (or even human) friendly.