How to clean the inside of canister tubing?

[n7plus1]

Completely new setup has been running for about a month now. 29G, 8 fish - (for now) 2 platty's, 2 cory cats, 2 powder blue dwarf gaurami's and 2 reg. dwarf gourami's. I just started to notice the inside the the tubing is starting to become slightly "slimely" looking. Im sure it's fine at this point but certainly, another time down the road, im assuming they are going to need to be cleaned out. Would just water pressure from an outside hose be sufficient for this or do i need some sort of special pipe cleaners to get it out. How long would you let it go?

Im also using 2 pieces of driftwood in the new tank, both of which have soaked for at least 24 hours before putting them in the tank (1 medium sized, the other larger). I have a brown/gold haze in the water now..which im assuming is from the wood needing to soak longer than what i did. Will this eventually sort itself out after a number of water changes? Should I clean the canister out bi-weekly to clear the water up faster?

 

[elephantnose]

The tannins from the wood will eventually go away. The only thing you can do is WC more often and or adding more carbon/purigen to your filter. As for the tubing I've never cleaned mine. If it comes to it you could always replace the tubing.


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[dalto]

They make a little wire brush on a wire specifically for cleaning tubing.

I find it highly variable how often I have had to do this. Some tanks need it done annually, others I have never had to clean them.

 

[Coyne]

I just cleaned mine with the above mentioned "long wire brush" and I noticed an increase in water flow right away.
I got mine at Pet Supply Plus. I've never seen them at Petsmart or PetCo and my specialty LFS doesn't carry them either.


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[icydeath]

The tube is pretty slick anyways right? Depending on the tube, you could take it out and wash water through it.

This is only if your tube is slick and doesnt have ridges because it wont house much bb anyways.

 

[dalto]

I got mine at Pet Supply Plus. I've never seen them at Petsmart or PetCo and my specialty LFS doesn't carry them either.

I am fairly certain I ordered mine from an internet source.

The tube is pretty slick anyways right? Depending on the tube, you could take it out and wash water through it.

This is only if your tube is slick and doesnt have ridges because it wont house much bb anyways.

The stuff is gunked on there pretty well. I mean, you already have water flowing through there at a pretty good rate. I suppose there is some flow rate that would strip it off but it is certainly higher than the water pressure available at my house.

 

[Luananeko]

I've never cleaned my canister tubes either. The slightly increased water flow rate just isn't worth the time and effort to clean them, especially since you're losing some beneficial bacteria too. If you replace the tubes you can go with black tubing, which tends to avoid the issue of algae growing in the tubes. At that point the only slime you'll tend to get is the bacteria build up, which is a good thing.

 

[PB_Smith]

At that point the only slime you'll tend to get is the bacteria build up, which is a good thing.

not really. it builds up because it is layer on top of layer of dead bacteria that causes it to build up.

that is the entire idea behind fluidized bed filters, to keep the media moving so it can slough off the dead layers of bacteria and allow new, young bacteria to colonize it and it results in much greater efficiency overall because the young bacteria breakdown more organic waste faster as they are growing than do older established bacteria.

So leaving the dead bacteria to build up in the tubes not only restricts flow, but over time actually greatly impedes the ability/effectiveness of any beneficial bacteria in the tube anyway.

best practice is every couple of wc's run the scrubber thing through them.
you should also rinse any bio-media on occasion for the same reasons.

 

[icydeath]

I am fairly certain I ordered mine from an internet source.


The stuff is gunked on there pretty well. I mean, you already have water flowing through there at a pretty good rate. I suppose there is some flow rate that would strip it off but it is certainly higher than the water pressure available at my house.

Do it the other way and it works usually. Pretty much just backflow it.

 

[eddyk]

Is your tubing corrugated or smooth?

Depending on the length of your hose, you can use a long tube brush,which is not always practical. If you have long sections of hose, fill a tub with a 30-50% peroxide ( brown bottle supermarket variety), lay the hose in the solution, ensuring the solution gets throughout the hose and let it sit for a few hours. Rinse with a garden hose.

You can use a mild bleach solution, but you'll need to rinse and soak the daylights out of it.

Peroxide is a safer bet.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I got a 60" snake with two different size brushes for like $5 on Amazon. Shipped directly from China, but my local shops didn't have anything longer than 24"!

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[n7plus1]

the tubing is smooth. The translucent green stuff the Eheim unit came with.

 

[SFAquariums1]

I've used my pressure washer before, just turned the pressure down fairly low so it didn't blow through the tubing and let er rip!


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[n7plus1]

ah, nice...i suppose i could try that too. I do like the idea of black tubing to reduce/completely kill off the amount of sunlight that gets in there.

 

[SFAquariums1]

Yeah black tubing is good, though eventually you will still get build up. Just make sure you turn your pressure down if you go the pressure wash route. Haha


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[n7plus1]

haha, my pressure washer does 2700 max psi...

 

[enrgizerbunny]

This is what I use. 60" long, works fine.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009I...e?ref_=pe_385040_30332190_TE_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

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[ScotJudd]

I have taps on my tubes where they enter the canister. When the canister is removed I open a tap at a time and push the brush up the tubing to the top. As long as your pipe is under the water level at the top then the water syphons down washing all the rubbish into a bucket. The downward water flow also assists in drawing the little brush back out. It's amazing the state if the water after cleaning both tubes. Water flow is hugely increased allowing the filter to perform as designed.
My understanding is that the water flow in tubing is too fast for BB to have any significant effect anyway.


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[reapermedic]

I use a gun cleaning kit


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[n7plus1]

My understanding is that the water flow in tubing is too fast for BB to have any significant effect anyway.

sorry, BB?