Cleaning Algae From External Filter Hoses

[jamesmacc]

morning all,
i have a brown algae outbreak in my tank which is apparantly as its a new tank and it will fade away as tank matures. my zebra snails do a good job of eating it from the rocks but my external filter spray bars and hoses now look horrid, they are only about 5 months old. is there any brushes you can get or special stuff to flush the lines with?
cheers,
james

 

[balajake]

you can get pipe brushes from your lfs for the spray bar and inlet pipes but i find that for the hoses its good to run very hot tap water though the pipe while massaging it where the gunk is, it comes right off.

yesterday i looked in my tank and it was fine so i looked away, i looked again a minute or so later and my tank looked like a snow globe that had been shook up all the gunk in my hoses had dislodges and shot into the tank. i had to net all of it out and clean my hoses. my filter has been in about 3 weeks from new

 

[micko]

Get a string and tie a nail on the end, wrap a cloth or sponge on the end of the nail and pull it through the tube. Soak the tubes in warm water and do it again.

 

[jamesmacc]

you can get pipe brushes from your lfs for the spray bar and inlet pipes but i find that for the hoses its good to run very hot tap water though the pipe while massaging it where the gunk is, it comes right off.

yesterday i looked in my tank and it was fine so i looked away, i looked again a minute or so later and my tank looked like a snow globe that had been shook up all the gunk in my hoses had dislodges and shot into the tank. i had to net all of it out and clean my hoses. my filter has been in about 3 weeks from new

will give it a try, its a shame i couldnt dip the inlet and outlet in a bucket of hot water but i guess it would destroy the seals

 

[balajake]

you'd be amazed how fast the hoses get gunked up

 

[littlenemo]

i had same problem so bought a massive real of tubing off ebay and just replaced it. not very cost effect but the one i took off i soaked for few days cleaned then i swap them round evey 4 weeks