Cheap box from The Very Useful Box Company that is large enough to fit your glassware, without being excessive:
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Bigger box, bigger running costs. This one is between A4 and A3 paper size and shallow. Fits all the glassware from all the tanks in one go. You want all your glassware to fit laying down flat.
Fill with water first, you need to shake all the air out of the lily pipes whilst it’s submerged in water only.
Then add bleach. 80/20 water to bleach will do it. Using 15% sodium hypochlorite here (obviously add in somewhere sensible like a kitchen or utility room, box on the carpet just has water in it on the picture above). Don’t breathe in the bleach fumes!! Window open, do it outside or under a cooking ventilator hood that is turned on. Put the lid on the box and leave to soak.
Your lily pipes will probably be done in about 15 minutes. Remove with gloves, place in the sink and under running water clean with a pipe brush like this one from Hobby for a fiver:
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Rinse thoroughly and your glassware is done. If you run purigen and want to recharge it, leave it in the box of water/bleach mix for 24 hours. Two for one from the bleach. Purigen also requires rinsing thoroughly then leaving to soak in fresh water with Seachem Prime afterwards, as per Seachems instructions.
Your pipes on your filter can be cleaned with the Hobby pipe brush in the sink with warm water whilst your glassware is soaking. I emphasise warm water as you want the pipework to be slightly supple when you go to put it back on the filter, cold water will make the piping rigid.
Glassware, pipework and purigen sorted in one hit. Once a month is the usual for this task so find it is best to do the lot in one go to save time and cost. Obviously if you can afford it, duplicate glassware and spare purigen bags mean you can rotate them so it is never a rush job.
