To lily or not to lily?

[Egmel]

I've just been looking at the cheapish lily pipes on ebay and was wondering what people thought of them.

I love the look of the glass so that's a plus.

I am incredibly clumsy, are they as fragile as they look?

Will they fit on a tank with a Juwel standard hood?

Do they really make that much difference or is it just the fact that they look good that makes people go for them?

 

[GreenNeedle]

I wouldn't say I'm clumsy but I'm not patient nor careful and am fairly careless when cleaning mine yet they are still in tact.

In fact the only time I broke one (I had 2 sets seing as they were so cheap) was when I was lazy as usual and while it was in situ was trying to get hold of a trumpet snail that was caught in the intake slit with a pair of bent scissors (was pruning/hacking at the time) and managed to snap the glas at that point.

They are good, look nice and do the job however you need to weigh up what you want from your filter output. If it is to use an inline diffuser like Zigs then I found out they are no good as they push the bubbles straight along the surface etc.

I am sure there are loads of pluses as well as minuses but at the end of the day look at the practicalities before deciding wether you want hem or not.

AC

 

[Egmel]

Ok, well that instils a bit more confidence in their ability to withstand wear and tear.

I don't have an inline diffuser, I have an inline heater but not diffuser so that shouldn't be an issue.

I think the main issue will be if they'll fit. I've still got the Juwel filter in at the moment so that might make life even more awkward.... though I think I could fit the inlet in there. Will have to play with my pipes next time I have a chance.

 

[George Farmer]

I consider glass lily pipes more useful in aquaria up to 90cm. They are fragile and broken easily if you're not careful. I've broken two or three now, but I'm a bit heavy handed (or clumsy, as my wife will tell you!) Cleaning them is a bit of pain and you'll need to do it quite regularly if you have OCD like me...

In larger tanks I'd likely go for a black background and black plastic spray bars etc. so their distraction on the aquascape is limited. This is what I'm doing in my 120cm (370 litre).

The water movement created from lily pipes them is only effective, in my experience, with >=10x rated filter turnover. This is especially useful if you're using CO2 mist type diffusion. Less turnover than that and detritus collects on the substrate/plants and your CO2 won't be distributed effectively. In large tanks multiple lily pipes would be necessary to get good circulation unless you go for an uber-filter i.e. FX5, Tetratec 2400, Eheim 2080 etc.

Lily pipes are designed to be used along the tank lengthways, so I fitted glass lily pipes on my Juwel Rio 125 by cutting slots into the side of my hood with an abrafile.

 

[Egmel]

Thanks for that George, sounds like I'd be best off sticking with my current green spray bar then.... at least until I get a nano up and running