Cleaning

[Confish]

hey i have tetratec ex1200 on 55g and its doing a good job but i was just wondering how do you clean the pipes out as ive notice algae building up in them cheers and what is the best position for the spray bar?

 

[Realtree]

hey i have tetratec ex1200 on 55g and its doing a good job but i was just wondering how do you clean the pipes out as ive notice algae building up in them cheers and what is the best position for the spray bar?

Don't bother cleaning the pipes they are full of bacteria which you need
the spray bar position depends on what you want it to do ie do you want surface agitation or do you want it to make sure that waste items will not collect in dead spots in your tank (behind rockwork etc)

 

[Confish]

hey i have tetratec ex1200 on 55g and its doing a good job but i was just wondering how do you clean the pipes out as ive notice algae building up in them cheers and what is the best position for the spray bar?

Don't bother cleaning the pipes they are full of bacteria which you need
the spray bar position depends on what you want it to do ie do you want surface agitation or do you want it to make sure that waste items will not collect in dead spots in your tank (behind rockwork etc)

but wont the pipes slow down the flow rate? and i want it the spray bar to not let waste collect cheers ?

 

[Realtree]

hey i have tetratec ex1200 on 55g and its doing a good job but i was just wondering how do you clean the pipes out as ive notice algae building up in them cheers and what is the best position for the spray bar?

Don't bother cleaning the pipes they are full of bacteria which you need
the spray bar position depends on what you want it to do ie do you want surface agitation or do you want it to make sure that waste items will not collect in dead spots in your tank (behind rockwork etc)

but wont the pipes slow down the flow rate? and i want it the spray bar to not let waste collect cheers ?

Flow rate will not really alter - you will find if you switch off the filter and then back on again it will blow alot of debris out of the inlet which I guess in a way is cleaning the pies.
Place the spray bar near to your deadspots to allieviate the problem

 

[OldMan47]

You are correct Confish. As the buildup in the piping becomes significant, it can and does slow the flow. Realtree has correctly observed that some of the material gets flushed from the tubing when you stop and start the flow but that hardly cleans it out.
Some of the suggested methods include a long handled bottle brush that can reach at least half way through the tube or a shotgun cleaning rod, the kind you would push or pull through a gun barrel, to give you the reach that you want to get all the way through a long tube. Another way to get something clean that you can't reach through is to tie a small weight to the end of a cord and drop the cord through, then tie the cleaning patch to one end and a handle to the other end and pull the patch through. It is even more convenient to use if the handle is the weight you drop through. It depends on what you have available but a thin bolt could act as the handle.

 

[Confish]

You are correct Confish. As the buildup in the piping becomes significant, it can and does slow the flow. Realtree has correctly observed that some of the material gets flushed from the tubing when you stop and start the flow but that hardly cleans it out.
Some of the suggested methods include a long handled bottle brush that can reach at least half way through the tube or a shotgun cleaning rod, the kind you would push or pull through a gun barrel, to give you the reach that you want to get all the way through a long tube. Another way to get something clean that you can't reach through is to tie a small weight to the end of a cord and drop the cord through, then tie the cleaning patch to one end and a handle to the other end and pull the patch through. It is even more convenient to use if the handle is the weight you drop through. It depends on what you have available but a thin bolt could act as the handle.

hey thanks alot for the different ideas was just wondering my tank is up against the wall and it was a real pain getting the pipes down the back whats the best way to clean them aka how to remove them for cleaning like whats the best process thanks alot again

 

[waterdrop]

Personally I have found the long bottle brush approach to be much easier than the weighted string approach. Once you find the right bottle brushes with enough length they are just so quick and easy.

The procedure can be fairly simple. Close the shut-off valves so the water will stay in the tubing and disconnect the quick-disconnect from the external cannister filter. What I do is have a towel ready and simply lift the entire contraption off the tank and take it to the tub. I'm then careful not to immediately disconnect everything because I want to remember which hose segments go where and keep the ends the same. One by one I clean out the hoses and reconnect them to the contraption (my contraption is a little more complicated because the external heater is part of the hose system.)

Its quite important to clean out hoses as the flow rate can decrease dramatically from build-up and the overall decrease in tank circulation can help to encourage algae, since pockets of slight ammonia will be more in evidence.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Confish]

Personally I have found the long bottle brush approach to be much easier than the weighted string approach. Once you find the right bottle brushes with enough length they are just so quick and easy.

The procedure can be fairly simple. Close the shut-off valves so the water will stay in the tubing and disconnect the quick-disconnect from the external cannister filter. What I do is have a towel ready and simply lift the entire contraption off the tank and take it to the tub. I'm then careful not to immediately disconnect everything because I want to remember which hose segments go where and keep the ends the same. One by one I clean out the hoses and reconnect them to the contraption (my contraption is a little more complicated because the external heater is part of the hose system.)

Its quite important to clean out hoses as the flow rate can decrease dramatically from build-up and the overall decrease in tank circulation can help to encourage algae, since pockets of slight ammonia will be more in evidence.

~~waterdrop~~

cheers for the ideas but my only problem is when i set up the tank i didnt think about an external so there is just enough room for the pipes to fit down the back so i cant bring the valve piece up the back of the tank so im wondering whats the best way of going about it? cheers

 

[Confish]

bump my tank is close to the wall so just enough room for the pipes how would i go about getting the piping system off the tank to clean it?

 

[OldMan47]

If I had a really hard to reach piping system, I would be tempted to clean it in place. Shut off the filter and close whatever taps you have. Remove the canister itself and place a bucket into its place under the tank. Break any siphon effect the tubes might still have and then you can clean to your heart's content. Once everything is clean, return the clean filter to its place under the tank, prime the filter as if it was a new filter setup and start everything running again. It will not be as convenient as an easily reached set of tubes but should get the job done.

 

[Confish]

If I had a really hard to reach piping system, I would be tempted to clean it in place. Shut off the filter and close whatever taps you have. Remove the canister itself and place a bucket into its place under the tank. Break any siphon effect the tubes might still have and then you can clean to your heart's content. Once everything is clean, return the clean filter to its place under the tank, prime the filter as if it was a new filter setup and start everything running again. It will not be as convenient as an easily reached set of tubes but should get the job done.

cheers for the info mate will give it a try next time i have some spare time