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eBay lily pipes

fish fodder

fish fodder

Member
Joined
22 Jun 2008
Messages
262
Location
Harrogate
Hi,
Just had a look for glass lily pipes on eBay and noticed they are pretty cheap compared to others I have seen... Are they inferior? Anyone else use them?
Cheers
 
not had any problems with the lilly pipes i have bought from ebay in the past.
 
Yeah, bought them a few years ago, and do the job
. post the link and others can give feedback on them if purchased.
 
Will these fit an AquaOne Aquis 500? It's a little difficult to measure accurately. I still wouldn't trust my measuring anyway!
 
I have got a set of those pipes fish fodder, nowt wrong with them in terms of quality (although im sure the ada ones would be made of sturdier glass). However I did have a problem with the direction of the outflow. I found it extremely difficult/impossible to set them so I got a decent amount of surface movement. They push the out flow downwards, as opposed to horizontally. Im sure for some tanks/people this would be fine but I wanted some surface agitation. I had to either have no surface movement or lift the pipe about 1 cm above the surface and then I would have an annoying gurgling sound constantly. I went back to a spray bar in the end. Maybe you would want this but unfortunately it didnt suit my tank. For £15 though you cant really go wrong.....
 
OMG! I paid £50 at the 'Show' for a glass lily pipe - I could have one a week for this price!
 
That is really cheap. Used to be more expensive, like 30£ per set 3 years ago and the quality was crap although did the job.
It could all have changed apparently.
 
I've had a set for a couple of years and absolutely no issues with them. I think that most will be manufactured in the far east and many will be branded for sale at higher prices but essentially the same product.

With regards direction of outflow it all comes down to deliberate design, some are meant to direct flow down others across the surface and some in between. So make sure you're buying the pipes that suite your requirements.
 
I've had a few set and they do the job however they have a tendency to be even more fragile than branded ones. So happy to have stainless now as im an oaf at the best of times. Swear ive been seconds from death a few times when removing pipes from lily's :)
 
Manrock said:
OMG! I paid £50 at the 'Show' for a glass lily pipe - I could have one a week for this price!
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Dont worry, my Cal Aqua ones cost £70 each and I have the pair ! Whats worse is that they are not even being used at the moment lol. Those who have the ADA ones will have paid twice that, but hey, they do have ADA engraved on the glass :p
 
BIN578 said:
Dont worry, my Cal Aqua ones cost £70 each and I have the pair ! Whats worse is that they are not even being used at the moment lol. Those who have the ADA ones will have paid twice that, but hey, they do have ADA engraved on the glass :p
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I have a glass etcher :)
 
fish fodder said:
I have a glass etcher :)
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Perfect. Get etching and make yourself a fortune. Cos afaic there is no difference in quality between Cal Aqua and ADA stuff having owned both. (And I bet someone else comes along and disagrees, LOL but hey, I did say afaic ;)
 
I've still got some of the original knock off ones from Aquatic Magic with the glass ball on the end of the intake :) Must've been 2007 and been in continuous use :)
 
Im quite tempted to get some glass ones but i know that ill wind up breaking them sooner rather than later. I haven't seen any steel ones on ebay - not sure where to order them from - sounds quite cool. The only downside i can see with these custom lily pipes is the holes on the inlets aren't really shrimplet compatible.
 
BIN578 said:
Dont worry, my Cal Aqua ones cost £70 each and I have the pair !
Click to expand...

I got the Cal Aqua one too (bargained it down at the Aquatics Live show this year) only to break the end off when trying to attach it to my pi[e! Then had to pay a local 'glassman' £15 to grid it to a smooth enough finish (but a lot shorter) to get it on the pipe! Plus I like my lillypipe to face across my tank on the diagonal and this is hard to achieve with these glass pipes. Why does no one make clear plastic ones?
 
Manrock said:
I got the Cal Aqua one too (bargained it down at the Aquatics Live show this year) only to break the end off when trying to attach it to my pi[e! Then had to pay a local 'glassman' £15 to grid it to a smooth enough finish (but a lot shorter) to get it on the pipe! Plus I like my lillypipe to face across my tank on the diagonal and this is hard to achieve with these glass pipes. Why does no one make clear plastic ones?
Click to expand...
I am seriously debating buying some Perspex tubing and trying to bend my own. Surely it can't be that hard. Fill the tube with sand or salt. Gently heat the desired area and bend. To make the conical opening heat an area and pump air in slowly so it forms a bubble then saw it in half when cooled - tho personally if use a spray bar attachment.
 
There is a Pipe bending gadget I have seen people use, something like a wire spring coil that goes on the spot you want to bend. Think someone on here has used the method
 
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