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Discussion on pipes

Joined
18 Aug 2017
Messages
120
Location
Hinckley, Leicestershire
I would like to hear peoples ideas on pipes from canister filters. In particular the color. The most common tubing is green. But I ditched this for clear tubing. These look great but very quickly have biofilm buildup making then look unpleasant and needing cleaning far more often than the filter itself needs attention.

Fluval, which I don't have, uses black corrugated tubing. Fluval says to wash these pipes through once a year. You just don't see the gunk in those pipes. Is that OK to leave them once a year?

What do people think about it?
 
Fluval, which I don't have, uses black corrugated tubing. Fluval says to wash these pipes through once a year. You just don't see the gunk in those pipes. Is that OK to leave them once a year?

I have the fluval 25mm ones on some of my setup and they are great for bends but you have no idea what bio film/detritus is building up inside. I clean my FX6 weekly but rarely do the pipes as its a PITA if I could see the bio film/detritus I would clean them more often. How often you clean them will be very tank specific- a high tech tank with loads of light will need it more but a low tech with low light will need it less often it all about finding the right balance. Better to clean them more often than not enough so IMO better to plan the piping/hoses for easy cleaning/maintenance as no one likes a job thats a PITA.
 
Well, so far it seems the black pipes are a winner. But 5 years? Well, I guess if the system is stable why worry. I can see why the Eheim green is used as it doesn't show things up as the clear stuff.
 
I do mine once a month I have clear pipe brought from a garden centre 16/22ml £1.99 a meter perfect fit too
 
Agreed clear pipes are really annoying to clean!

I got some transparent but grey tinted 22mm pipe off Amazon, it’s an acceptable compromise. Need nano bots in the filter cleaning the interior!


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Clear hose/pipe obviously has a lot light penetration, it doesn't only build up biofilm but also green algae, if you wait long enough it will build up Cyano.

My best guess the transparant green hose is the generaly recomended hose type, it's marketing logic, if a clear tube gets brown/green anyway than take green transparant, it has less light penetration and so less algae buildup in the hose. But since it is transparant you still can see that it might be time to clean.

Any other non transparant tubing you obviously wil never see a thing, depending on the turnover it can build up quite some biofilm.. :) I use black tube in the garden, also this can get very dirty inside and spits out a blob of slime sometimes.
 
When I had my 50 gallon tank I had an Ehiem external and used the green pipe. It needed a clean once or twice a year but I never had algae grown in it, only the brown sludge. Fluval at that time used similar pipe but it was brown. I personally would not use corrugated pipe as I’m pretty sure it will cut the flow down. For a minimalist look I’d go with grey pipe if it was available.
 
With clear tube you know when to clean it. Its relatively cheap, if you let green grow inside your pipes you need to do more maintenance;)
Out of sight out of mind approach will work to a point but no point in making things harder than they already are, why put another variable in the equation,
I have used all styles, colours one time or another.
I use green inside the unit and white outside only because ehiem supplied the green and why not use it otherwise clear for the aesthetics especially with glass hardware. Other than more cleaning and aesthetics I dont think it matters.That's just me:thumbup:
Fluval users with black ribbed tube give the tube a good shake and see what comes out.;)
 
Clear which I clean every two months with the ADA spring brushes. Not a big deal I like to do it it keeps the system clean of waste. Hiding waste with a hose you can not see the build of bio flim is just like a ticking time bomb and will cause issues down the road that you will chase your tail about.:)
 
I have the fluval black ribbed hose on my external which in turn is connected to lily pipes.
Personally I would think a slight build up is not going to cause major concerns/ if you are carrying out regular water changes..
I’m going to check / observe build up on my ones after 6 months and take it from there..

My lily pipes are a different matter altogether, I remove and clean once every 4 weeks ;)

Oscar..
 
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