Got another air line off this morning… black silicone this time…

Really disappointed… this is on an air bar, at the bottom of a 2 inch rock slide, flowing into a sand substrate in the rest of my tank… that I built as habitat, and a spot I direct water flow from my RO pump during water changes, so as not to disturb the sand… so I’m going to have to pull out 15-20, 2 inch rocks to get to the air bar, to reattach it… I really tried to make sure it was on good, because of it’s location, and I used the black silicone, because I hadn’t had that blow off like the clear… I’m really starting to wish I had bought a roll of the old fashioned vinyl tube… I’ve never had so many issues, before I switched to the silicone tube

I see air bars as a waste , when for the same air you can have another sponge filter. But silicone hose either grabs on and and has to be cut to be removed, or it stretches and falls off all the time. I see the problem here as the object being attached to rather than the line attaching. They are not all equal.

Yes… I use a plastic 90 elbow, so the air bar can lay flat on the bottom, and not want to kink the tubing but they are all a tight enough fit, that it’s a challenge to get the tube pushed on fully… just frustrated, that I have to pull all those rocks out of a 24 inch deep tank to reattach…
I haven’t shown off this feature before, as it’s pretty new… so this line has only been on for a month or so…

I'm learning the hard way too. I bought a 500' roll of the silicone tube and it seems like 2-3Xs a week I'm reattaching it to one of my moving bed filters. It's annoying

I noticed at one of the stores that some of the airline was sized in metric and some in American fractions. Although the size difference was imperceptible there was a difference. I cannot remember which was ever so slightly larger but I tried both on a fitting and the fit was very different.

Might be worth checking.

There will be no charge for this information on how to fix this issue.

Go to your local hardware store and buy a small bag of 6 inch nylon wire ties. The picture below shows a wire tie and an airline connected to a control valve whose barb is for airlines.



Next, thread the wire tie so it is a loop

\

And then do this and tighten the ties.



Then snip off the long end. Good luck pulling the airline off down the road.

You're welcome

Btw, I have assorted length wire ties for tank use. I use them to attach plants to wood, among other uses, coiling hoses so the extralength is more compact, helping things attach to stand legs etc. However, be aware that over time, in water they, tend to get stiff and can break. But not fast and they are cheap and easy to replace.

edited for spelling and typos as usual

I Like Professional looking installations

I find these are permanent. And will never give-up.

Double Wire Spring Hose Clamp, 304 Stainless Steel 4mm Inner Dia Fit 4.5mm-4.8mm OD Hose Tube Spring Clips

I like professional as well when it is available in the right size.

NACX 82Ft Aquarium Airline Tubing, Soft Air Pump Hose for Fish Tank, 4mm ID, 6mm OD, 25M Long Flexible Clear​

Penn-Plax Standard Airline Tubing for Aquariums – Clear and Flexible – Resists Kinking – Safe for Freshwater and Saltwater Fish Tanks – 25 Feet​

MEASUREMENTS: Length = 25’ / Inner Diameter = 4 mm / Outer Diameter = 6 mm.

The clamp yous how would be too small I think. Maybe not. I have both the plastic clamps from Jehmco and the stainless steel hose clamps that are screwed to tighten or loosen. I use these clamps on all my disttibution airlines but not the final airline hose. I use assoreted size clamps on all canisters and inline heater connections. If these hoses go you can drain a tank onto the floor. But these clamps do not fit the airline, they are too big.

The nice thing about the wire ties that are they are cheap, that they can fix a huge variable if sizes, that they should not be toxic and that the are easy to hide.

One oft the problems I encounter when connecting airline to valves or manifolds outputs is being able to slide them ell onto the barb. The fir is often tight. But I have solutions for that as well so I can attach them securely. One is to run hot water over the end if the airline to softn it. But if that doesn;t do the tricj I use a scissors. I insert the tip (closed) into the airline and then open the scissors some. This cause a bit of a flare in the end ot the airline which lets it slip on t=initially with ease. Then pushing in a ways becomes a lot easier.

At my peaks I had about 26 manifold connections plus a few more small airpumps on tanks not in rooms with central air of any kind. As long as I get the initial connection on solidly I get almost 0 disconnects. Most air bars and discs are crappy and they seem almost designed to not stay attached well to the airline. I have almost never had to use the wire tie trick on air powered things.

Also, who cares how it looks as it is not visuinle when burried? All that matters is does it work. Plus they are a fuel line clamp and may squeeze a bit too hard? If you want the SS clamp get the right size diameter. My wire ties fit a lot of sizes with the same tie And they can be used on more than one application.

I think either solution will work though.