Acrylic Filter Overflows (no lilies!)

[tazcrash69]

Originally Posted by dschmeh

Why suck the air out just drill a hole in the top bend and put in a checkvalve hook a airline tube to the airator input on a power head and you will never lose prime . All the overflow boxes on my reeftanks come with this option. (no secret)

Or for those afraid to drill, combine the 2 methods, put the airline hose into the tube @ the bend, then put the other end into the powerhead venturi.
(that was how my HOB overflow worked.

[Wasserpest]

Originally Posted by unirdna

I found a way to clean my lily pipes (post #29), and thought you might be interested. This, because the brush I use isn't made of metal. The very tip is, actually, but the long handle is made of soft, flexible plastic. I thought this would be worth noting, since scratching the acrylic is an obvious worry. I bought two different size brushes, the 7/8" and the 1". Strangely enough, they have very different bristles. The 7/8" is much stiffer. The 1" is considerably softer. For your purposes, I would recommend the 1" (if you were interested). If you'd like better photos than the ones on the website, I could snap a few shots.

http://www.justmanbrush.com/catalog/...electCatalog=2

Hey Ted, thanks for the link. Something like that is great, I guess you could just remove the hose at the filter, and then feed the whole snake through the tubing and clean it. (I am afraid to place an order... usually ends up $2 for the brush, $9 for S+H ).

BTW I noticed your glassware gunked up kinda fast... maybe I never noticed that on mine, since it was opaque plastic, but there seemed to be quite a gunky layer on yours after only a few weeks. I will see how long mine stay clean. Maybe contract an Oto to clean them once a week? (Yeah I AM just kidding!).

[Curare]

How do you tell the oto to go up the pipe to clean the inside?

How do you teach him to swim backwards?

hehehe

[Wasserpest]

You'd have too put in a loop where if he takes a right turn he's redirected to the outlet. Also don't forget to put up a sign: "Danger! You are only 5 inches from the impeller!"

[Vinlo]

What is the wall thickness of the tube? I found a place locally that can get me 3/4" OD (with 1/16" wall thickness) by 6' long for $9. I am thinking even if I screw up it's only $10.

[Wasserpest]

The acrylic I am using is 1/16" wall thickness as well.

[Curare]

Most acrylic tube you get is 1/16" thick, even the 1/4" stuff!

hehe

[Vinlo]

SO i got my 6 foot length today. SPent some time over the stove (electric) and all I can say is my results are piss poor.. at best. I got a decent bend once but the tube I used so it wouldn't collapse got stuck inside. Some bends collapsed. What a fiasco. I even tried rocksalt in there.. whew.. that work but it looked just about as bad as it could look. Man alive.

So what am I doing wrong?? I have 3/4" 1/16"wall acrylic tube. I was using a 1/2" OD flexible tube for the inside. The tube I used ended up melting a little but and sticking to the inside and broke when I removed it. Should I be used a smaller diameter tube for the inside? Something a little more rigid? I have a small length of .600" braided PVC, the fit was SO tight I though for sure I wouldn't be able to get it out. Maybe my radius is too tight that I am trying to bend?

I am at a loss. I have enough tube left to attempt to make an outflow tube.. if I can get that to look ok, I will buy another length of acrylic to try my hand at it.

Any tips, suggestions, help is greatly appreciated.

[Wasserpest]

Bending acrylic pipe - an artform that has been developed and studied for centuries... don't give up yet.

Some ideas...

You said electric stove... I don't imagine that working too well. I think you need to buy a gas stove. Saves electricity too!

The key to success is the part that you stick in there. I used something called Fuel Line, I think 3/8" (that's ID), I think because I rubbed off the letters so I can't tell for sure. It's available in hardware store, made out of thick rubber, and it doesn't flatten when you bend it.

The next thing is to find the right degree of viscosity when heating up the acrylic. You want to heat an area, not a spot, for a smooth radius.

Finally, I used a 3/4" plastic elbow to bend the acrylic around... I guess you need something to create a round shape, you can't just bend it in the air.

Good luck!

[Vinlo]

Gas stove eh? Hmm, seems to blow the DIY budget out of the water! I do have access to one though.

After reading your message I think I had 3 problems. 1. Not heating up enough of the tube.. I think I need to heat up atleast 6" of that thing. 2. I didn't really use a from, I tried.. but got frustrated. 3. Crappy tubing for the inside.

I have thick walled braided PVC that isn't going to kink. So the fuel line barely fits into the acrylic pipe? Or is there a little wiggle room in there? Sorry for so many questions, I want to try not to screw up the last piece.

[Wasserpest]

6 inches might be overkill, but that depends on how tight the bend is going to be. Using this 3/4 elbow worked perfectly for me, just so fits over my 100 gal tank brace. I heated maybe a 4in area of the pipe, until I could shape it to an S-form without effort.

The fuel line fits loosely into the acrylic pipe. Not sure how to describe it... It is the most difficult part to remove it after bending, I broke one pipe, and another one almost, and I thought I was going to rip the hose.

There might be a way to make that easier with some sort of lubricant. I used flour! You know like talcum powder, to make it smoother? That worked a little better, especially since I had some residual moisture in some pipe which blocked the fuel line even more.

[jimjim]

Just FYI you can also heat plastic tubing using a tea kettle. Hold the tube over the steam coming from the spout. I found it also seems to heat the tubing more evanly (is that a word?)....Jim

[Mori]

W., any reason you used flour instead of talcum? Is it because you were already in the kitchen? I have my tubes (but not my tank) and now I'm all scared to try it!

[Wasserpest]

Well I don't have talcum sitting around, while unbleached wheat flour... Plus talcum is carcinogenic, while flour isn't.

It was just a hunch... after realizing that the moist fuel line was difficult to pull out. However, rubbing that thing with vaseline/silicone lubricant might be another possibility.

No dirty jokes, please

[fredyk]

with my gas stove, I hate spending $10 monthly on service/connectivity fees and $2 month on actual gas. that's $120 year to the gas company for the use of their infrastructure. But I figure turning off the gas to protest is a slight inconvenice as I use the gas stove a few times a week.

How about boiling water to heat up the acrylic or is it too little heat? I am trying to do this unsuccessfully with polyethylene plastic tubing. Acrylic must be quite a lot stronger material.

Mark