DIY Lily Pipe for Nano tank

[AquaDean]

Brohawk,
That's a great idea!!!!!
I've got to give that a try today!
A great use for all the scrape pieces of tube I have laying around.

Do you get a good color reading? Thinking outside the box I'd say take it one small step further and lightly scuff an area on the back side of the viewing area. This should give you a nice opaque white background to see the color against. You could tape off (with masking tape) a rectangle area so that you had clean lines for the scuffed area. I wonder if white paint would stick as that could be another way.

Now I just have to figure out how to try this out on Valentines Day.

[brohawk]

Good luck w/ that (as I sit here hiding in the bathroom while typing on my phone).

I'm sure frosting that would help determine the color better, especially considering differnt amts of light in the room throughout the day. It's a nice lime green color this a.m. but who knows how long it took last night to get there. Maybe blowing a couple bubbles in strategic spots would help increase the surface area / speed up the readings.

[jreich]

Originally Posted by brohawk

good luck w/ that (as i sit here hiding in the bathroom while typing on my phone).

lmao!!

[AquaDean]

I told my better half that I'd cook a great breakfast but really wanted to use the stove so I could bend a tube to try this out. Breakfast was good though

[AquaDean]

I made one of these drop checkers out of 3/8 inch O.D. tubing and set it up in a tank with an in tank drop checker. Took a couple hours but it is working great! I was wondering if being external to the tank would make any difference. I've got one other idea that I want to try and then I'll put a few images up.

Great idea Brohawk! So cheap and no big suction cup in the tank.

[brohawk]

Thanks! Probably gonna play w/ a couple more ideas this week myself. Keep ya posted.

[AquaDean]

Okay here is what I came up with after several attempts and a few leaky ones from being in a hurry.



I still used 3/8 inch O.D. tube and made the bend tight enough so that I don't need any suction cups at all. the Drop checker just hangs on the tank and stays in place. While the bend was still hot and a little workable I pushed it down on the tank edge so that it would sit really well.

Behind the color indicator solution I just put a small piece of white peel and stick label. White vinyl tape would work good also. The bottom two images show when it was first put into the tank (blue indicator solution) and about 2 hours later (green indicator solution). Seems to be working just fine.

Thank again for the idea Brohawk

[g33tar]

Neat design.

[gogreen]

OK seriously, you guys need to make a easy to follow step by step video! haha i really like the drop checker and does lily pipes are niceee so how much have you spent all in all in those lily pipes? ive been saving money to get a couple set of lily pipes for myself but if its really that easy(and cheaper) id start making my own crazy shapped pipes! haha

PS it would be awesome if you can show how to make holes on intake tubes or spraybars

[Robotguy]

Thanks for the tutorial! You rock! Thanks to you I now plan to run all "hardline" in my desktop nano.

I got inspired after reading this post and picked up some acrylic tubing at TAP Plastics. I think the 6 foot section of tubing I used was about $1.95. I got a decent looking pipe on my second try (blew a hole in the first one), then bent and sliced up an inflow:


I'm new to the whole hobby and was amazed at how the funnel affected the water flow. I got impatient and bent the inflow without packing it with salt. That's why it didn't turn out as smooth on the corners.

I've even tried making an inline diffuser:

I haven't tried it out yet, still building the pump/filter...

I don't want to jack your thread, just demonstrate a little "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

[gogreen]

inline diffusor! would love to see that! i just ordered from TAP platics...i have something to play with next weekend haha

[AquaDean]

g33tar, Brohawk gets credit for the drop checker design, I just took his idea and ran with it.

gogreen, I've spent about $15 on all the tube that I've played with. I'd say that half of that was wasted just figuring out that it could be done. Now there is very little waste. In fact I bought a used set of glass lily pipes for $30 just so I had a real live comparison. For that amount of acrylic tube you could make 15 sets of pipes.

Robotguy, nice job, but remember I said patients. A thought if you want to cut the slots on the inflow before bending you can still fill it with salt. Just tape over the slots then fill it up. I've thought of the inline diffuser also but have a some that I've bought before I decided to get creative. Let us know how it works once you get it all set up.

[Green024]

I must try this..... These drop checkers are a great way to keep more equipment out of the aquarium. Nice write up and thank you for sharing!

[accordztech]

dude bravo! its nice that you can save ALOT of money but its acrylic! It wont crack and break!

You gave me an idea for my tank with my ugly spraybar!

good freaken job!

[accordztech]

Originally Posted by Robotguy

Thanks for the tutorial! You rock! Thanks to you I now plan to run all "hardline" in my desktop nano.

I got inspired after reading this post and picked up some acrylic tubing at TAP Plastics. I think the 6 foot section of tubing I used was about $1.95. I got a decent looking pipe on my second try (blew a hole in the first one), then bent and sliced up an inflow:


I'm new to the whole hobby and was amazed at how the funnel affected the water flow. I got impatient and bent the inflow without packing it with salt. That's why it didn't turn out as smooth on the corners.

I've even tried making an inline diffuser:

I haven't tried it out yet, still building the pump/filter...

I don't want to jack your thread, just demonstrate a little "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

hah we are in the same area in sacramento, dont go buying all the stuff I want to buy as well lol