Plumbing a canister filter

[Planted new]

Good evening all I have a question about upgrading the plumbing on my canister

I have just purchased the fluval fx4 for my 350l deep wide custom tank i am not a fan of the stupid clips and in fact any of the pipe work that comes with the filter my question is can I upgrade the pipework to a hard pvc pipe with a small amount of the Tubing coming off of the canister but everything else plastic pipe?? What pipe would I need what sort of fittings would I need ie pressure or non pressure and would it damage the filterany thanks

 

[PARAGUAY]

Seems like your not happy at all with the filter. Don't know how long you've had it but it might impact the warranty.. Might be better to just put pictures up as one of the competent diys on UKAPS may have advice.

 

[Planted new]

I do like the filter lol its very nice and easy I'm not keen on the hoses or the brackets it comes with as they are just terrible and I'm not a fan of powerheads in general but I have just orderd the spray bar for it so I'm hoping that helps it's the fluval fx4 I've had it 3 days yes I will add pics when I get home

 

[FrankR]

Good evening all I have a question about upgrading the plumbing on my canister

I have just purchased the fluval fx4 for my 350l deep wide custom tank i am not a fan of the stupid clips and in fact any of the pipe work that comes with the filter my question is can I upgrade the pipework to a hard pvc pipe with a small amount of the Tubing coming off of the canister but everything else plastic pipe?? What pipe would I need what sort of fittings would I need ie pressure or non pressure and would it damage the filterany thanks

You can use Schedule 40 PVC pipe (grey, white or clear) or furniture pipe (if you want it coloured). You can find metric or imperial sizes. There are many online shops. Just shop around.
Use the same pipe size as the filter's rigid hose. Especially the inside diameter (ID). Check out some aquarium plumbing designs on the internet.
As for fittings, make sure you buy the correct size. For example, if you buy 1 inch pipe, you should buy 1 inch elbows, 1 inch couplers, etc. Use PVC union fittings. Pretty useful when it's time to clean the pipes.
Last, but not least, buy more than you think you'd need.
You'll find a lot of tutorials on how to plan and glue PVC pipes. Here's one from BRSTV.

Good luck!

 

[Planted new]

Thankyou very much for getting back to me I did call fluval today and the bloke on the other end said it will destroy the canister filter and void my warranty I don't see how it will destroy the filter by changing the pipes from those stupid pipes that come with it they said the pipes will block up more but I can't see this at all as the ribbed hoses are worse for that surely but I will be looking into re plumbing I have had a look online but found nothing yet but thanks for the link I will have a look shortly

 

[FrankR]

Thankyou very much for getting back to me I did call fluval today and the bloke on the other end said it will destroy the canister filter and void my warranty I don't see how it will destroy the filter by changing the pipes from those stupid pipes that come with it they said the pipes will block up more but I can't see this at all as the ribbed hoses are worse for that surely but I will be looking into re plumbing I have had a look online but found nothing yet but thanks for the link I will have a look shortly

Almost every aquarist who owns a Fluval filter on this planet has replaced the ribbed hoses with soft PVC tubes.
I replaced mine from day one. I have a 107 and it works fine.
Here's some links for PVC pipes

PVC Pipe and Fittings | Metric | Inch | Wras PVCU

Aquarium Plumbing, Aquarium Plumbing Systems UK

Aquarium Plumbing supplies PVC-U and PVC aquarium and pond plumbing which is Marine fish, Tropical fish, Invert and Koi safe. It can be used in either fresh, saltwater aquariums or ponds. Aquarium Plumbing stock a large range of both PVC-U Imperial and Metric plumbing systems including PVC hose...

www.aquariumplumbing.co.uk

 

[sparkyweasel]

the bloke on the other end said it will destroy the canister filter and void my warranty

The second part of that is quite believable.

 

[Yugang]

call fluval today and the bloke on the other end said it will destroy the canister filter and void my warranty

That's why AI systems in fully automated call centres are not that bad after all

Just my personal opinion, I really love my ribbed hosing on FX4. Indeed they are easier to bend, and less risk for kinks that obstruct flow. I have been harsh in my earlier post about Fluval's approach, and the frustration from @Planted new only illustrates that, but as an option (besides traditional hosing) I believe ribbed hosing has value.
Here in HK ribbed hosing is really expensive, like 25 GBP, but I still bought a couple over the years when I changed my setup and needed another tube.

 

[PARAGUAY]

Well when l got my two fluvals l wasn't keen on the ribbed hoses at first but as @Yugang l like the way it's easy to set up and ease of placing the outflow inflo without kinks or usual difficulty

 

[PARAGUAY]

Thankyou very much for getting back to me I did call fluval today and the bloke on the other end said it will destroy the canister filter and void my warranty I don't see how it will destroy the filter by changing the pipes from those stupid pipes that come with it they said the pipes will block up more but I can't see this at all as the ribbed hoses are worse for that surely but I will be looking into re plumbing I have had a look online but found nothing yet but thanks for the link I will have a look shortly

Think that's a usual response from any company, they want you to use the product as designed ,to ,Ok your ideas however competent sort of give permission to alter the product and that can cause problems they well never honour warrantys were alterations to design are made. It could in the long term get them to redesign though

 

[Planted new]

Almost every aquarist who owns a Fluval filter on this planet has replaced the ribbed hoses with soft PVC tubes.
I replaced mine from day one. I have a 107 and it works fine.
[URLunfurl="true"]https://www.aquariumplumbing.co.uk[/URL

Almost every aquarist who owns a Fluval filter on this planet has replaced the ribbed hoses with soft PVC tubes.
I replaced mine from day one. I have a 107 and it works fine.
Here's some links for PVC pipes

PVC Pipe and Fittings | Metric | Inch | Wras PVCU

https://www.aquariumplbing.co.uk

Almost every aquarist who owns a Fluval filter on this planet has replaced the ribbed hoses with soft PVC tubes.
I replaced mine from day one. I have a 107 and it works fine.
Here's some links for PVC pipes

https://www.plasticpipeshop.co.uk/P...]es I have had a sun sun the r1[/SIZE] [/URL

[QUOTE="FrankR, post: 701497, memb...uk/PVC-Pipe-and-Fittings_c_492.html [/QUOTE]

Aquarium Plumbing, Aquarium Plumbing Systems UK

Aquarium Plumbing supplies PVC-U and PVC aquarium and pond plumbing which is Marine fish, Tropical fish, Invert and Koi safe. It can be used in either fresh, saltwater aquariums or ponds. Aquarium Plumbing stock a large range of both PVC-U Imperial and Metric plumbing systems including PVC hose...

www.aquariumplumbing.co.uk

Thanks for that I have had a sunsun 300hw what had the

Almost every aquarist who owns a Fluval filter on this planet has replaced the ribbed hoses with soft PVC tubes.
I replaced mine from day one. I have a 107 and it works fine.
Here's some links for PVC pipes

PVC Pipe and Fittings | Metric | Inch | Wras PVCU

Aquarium Plumbing, Aquarium Plumbing Systems UK

Aquarium Plumbing supplies PVC-U and PVC aquarium and pond plumbing which is Marine fish, Tropical fish, Invert and Koi safe. It can be used in either fresh, saltwater aquariums or ponds. Aquarium Plumbing stock a large range of both PVC-U Imperial and Metric plumbing systems including PVC hose...

www.aquariumplumbing.co.uk

Yes

The second part of that is quite believable.

Yes I did not disbelieve that but the first part is very questionable how does changing ribbed hose to straight pvc cause more blockage I thought it would make it easy also if they did the hard pipework going into the tank like every other filter on the market I can't see the diffrence personally

 

[Planted new]

Well when l got my two fluvals l wasn't keen on the ribbed hoses at first but as @Yugang l like the way it's easy to set up and ease of placing the outflow inflo without kinks or usual difficulty

I do like the hoses altho very thin I do not like the way it goes into the tank at all it makes the flow kick up at a angle and less workable and the return at a angle to the side and it's a lot of effort bending them round and keeping them there plus the hoses hold a lot more gunk being ribbed

 

[Planted new]

Almost every aquarist who owns a Fluval filter on this planet has replaced the ribbed hoses with soft PVC tubes.
I replaced mine from day one. I have a 107 and it works fine.
Here's some links for PVC pipes

PVC Pipe and Fittings | Metric | Inch | Wras PVCU

Aquarium Plumbing, Aquarium Plumbing Systems UK

Aquarium Plumbing supplies PVC-U and PVC aquarium and pond plumbing which is Marine fish, Tropical fish, Invert and Koi safe. It can be used in either fresh, saltwater aquariums or ponds. Aquarium Plumbing stock a large range of both PVC-U Imperial and Metric plumbing systems including PVC hose...

www.aquariumplumbing.co.uk

Sorry for the bombardment phone has a fummy 5 mins while I was trying to type yes I've had a sunsun 300hw with those hoses I don't like how rigid they are and I haven't got a lot of room in my cabinet just about enough for the fx4 tbh height wise so I thought that maybe if I could swap out the hoses going up to the tank 1it woukd give me a bit more play and make matinance easy 2 I woukd only need a bit of Tubing going from the canister to the pipe work and wouldn't have the issue I'm having

 

[Eagle2943]

Did you ever get around to changing the hose? I’ve just bought an FX6 and would love to change them

 

[hypnogogia]

Almost every aquarist who owns a Fluval filter on this planet has replaced the ribbed hoses with soft PVC tubes.

You’d think Fluval might listen to customer feedback…

 

[Aqua sobriquet]

This topic comes up a lot. Has anyone done a flow test comparison. Or is it just the thought of detritus in the hoses that puts folks off?