# Bending Clear Perspex Tubing



## bigmatt (23 Mar 2010)

Hi all,
I'm far too cheap to buy glassware for my tank (and a bit too scared of my wife to blow Â£40 on a lily pipe!   ).  Following very helpful links provided on this forum i've found this supplier 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12mm-x-2mm-Clear- ... 45f182f7d4

I've scoured the "Hardware and DIY" section of the forum but i've not found anyone detailing any experiences with bending this tube.  I hope to make a filter inlet and also a spray bar, and the rig it all with clear tubing from here
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Clear-PVC-Tubing- ... 2558e0616f

By my estimation i should be able to fabricate the whole lot for about Â£6 ... if i can bend the tubing successfully.  The only other option would be to simply use clear suction cups and bend the flexible tubing over the edge of the tank and hope it doesn't kink.  

I think bending the perspex tube will provide the most elegant solution, but it depends if i can do it.  
I'd be massively endebted if any members could share any experiences they've had with this, and thoughts in general on this plan.
Many thanks,
Matt


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## Steve Smith (23 Mar 2010)

Have a look at this:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/241954-post15.html


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## JamesM (23 Mar 2010)

Filling it with sand before trying to bend usually helps keep the roundness too.


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## Garuf (23 Mar 2010)

http://www.my-mac.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=11080
Nelson Sent me this so credit should be sent his way, this should help give better form to the lily, I meant to try it but never got round to it.


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## JamesM (23 Mar 2010)

The DIY drop checker is awesome!


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## Garuf (23 Mar 2010)

Lily pipe?


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## ghostsword (23 Mar 2010)

I am for sure trying this one out.. The checker is just perfect.. Let me go to ebay and find some acrylic tubes..


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## bigmatt (23 Mar 2010)

Great stuff chaps!  Many thanks.  Think i'll try packing the tube with Salt, then i can wash out any that stays behind.  
Luis - the first link in the original posting is a company that supplies tubing of various diameters.  They also sell acrylic rod to form the end plugs if needed.  I feel a rash of homemade dropcheckers coming on amidst UKAPS members!  If i have any luck bending (so to speak...) i'll make a batch then knock 'em out (so to speak again...) at about Â£3 (can't imagine posting being expensive) just to cover costs if members would be interested.  Any ideas where i should post them if it works?
Thanks again for your help
Matt


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## Garuf (23 Mar 2010)

To who ever buys them . 
I'll be trying the lilly pipe when I get some money in. Can't be too hard and It means I can custom the inlet. Cheaper than getting my science labs to blow them in glass I'm sure!


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## LondonDragon (23 Mar 2010)

posted by ghostsword on LFKC here is a nice link: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/9 ... -tank.html


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## Steve Smith (23 Mar 2010)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> posted by ghostsword on LFKC here is a nice link: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/9 ... -tank.html



Yeah, that's the writeup that the guy on MAC copied (he links later in the post).  It's ingenius!  I want to have a go a "glass" blowing now


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## ghostsword (23 Mar 2010)

bigmatt said:
			
		

> i'll make a batch then knock 'em out (so to speak again...) at about Â£3 (can't imagine posting being expensive) just to cover costs if members would be interested.  Any ideas where i should post them if it works?
> Thanks again for your help
> Matt



I am sure that many people would buy it.. sell it on Ebay as well, you will get buyers for sure.. 

The fun will be to make one, that will be really cool, and if you get a large enough pipe, then the possibilities are endless..


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## ghostsword (23 Mar 2010)

SteveUK said:
			
		

> LondonDragon said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yes, I posted the original link, to give credit where it is due.. A fantastic idea of acrylic use, and much more resistant than glass.


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## bigmatt (26 Mar 2010)

Done it!   
Tube arrived this morning and i spent a very satisfying afternoon fettling in the garage!
I'm really pleased (and pretty smug about!) the results - look fantastic, less delicate than glass and for about Â£4 and 20 mins of work i've got a custom filter inlet for the height of my tank/substrate and a custom spraybar!  I'll hopefully have chance to post pics over the weekend .
Couple of things 
 - If anyone is going to try the lily pipe you'd be best with piping with a 1mm wall (rather than the 2mm i used).  Tried blowing a bubble in it and i nearly gave myself a hernia!
- The silicon tubing idea works much better than packing the tube with salt.  I actually found some round electrical  cable in the garage and that worked fantastically in maintaining the tube aperture with no probs  
Can't recommend it highly enough.  If anyone would like me to make anything for their tanks i'd be more than happy to do it for the cost of the materials/p&p (and perhaps a small consideration for my time..  ) - just PM me!
Cheers for everyones help - i'll post pictures as soon as i can!
Matt


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## LondonDragon (26 Mar 2010)

Looking forward to those photos


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## Lisa_Perry75 (27 Mar 2010)

How did you heat the tube? Electrical cable would give a nice firmness inside, interesting. I would have thought that electrical cable, presumably coated in plastic, might bond with the acrylic once heated.


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## Steve Smith (27 Mar 2010)

It could be silicone coated cable maybe?  That would be OK to use


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## Garuf (27 Mar 2010)

Most cables use polyethane based coatings, silicon ones are available but they tend to be on the high end,high load silver and gold cables. If you're worried about bonding a smudge of vasaline will solve it. 
If bondings your aim to attach suckers etc. then the type of liquid solvent, rather than glue are your best bet as these fuse rather than glue in the sense that there's a sandwhich of materials. If making lillys I think for the sake of something like an extra few pounds its worth making the lily out of the same dimension tube as the filter pipe and using a small shoulder within it to attach the tube so that the restriction of flow is kept to the very minimum. I have a set of drawings I drew for a glass blower that I'll redraw on paint if anyone wants.


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## zig (27 Mar 2010)

Great guides brilliant really, I wonder how it would work with larger diameter acrylic tubing, 15-20 mm sort of range, 12mm is only really good for smaller filters what size tubing did you use Matt, look forward to the pics as well when you get a chance.


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## bigmatt (27 Mar 2010)

End of the spraybar - made so it runs into the tank from the back 



Spraybar and filter intake side by side



Spraybar and filter intake in place in tank (Wot - no Eheim logo!) And also no plants!  I'm halfway through rescaping and waiting for a delivery!

Hope these images come up alright - first time i've posted pics. 
You'll see there are a couple of imperfections - the drilling on the the intake is a bit wonky (much better on the spraybar) and the pinched ends of the tubing aren't perfect.  Future upgrades (tubing already on order!) will use a plug in the end made from acrylic bar glued in place.  The massively reassuring thing is that the imperfections disappear when the kit is in the tank! Hurray!


			
				zig said:
			
		

> Great guides brilliant really, I wonder how it would work with larger diameter acrylic tubing, 15-20 mm sort of range, 12mm is only really good for smaller filters what size tubing did you use Matt, look forward to the pics as well when you get a chance.


Hi zig - the guides are great, aren't they!  I would have had so much trial and error without them! I used 12mm outside diameter (OD) tubing with an internal diameter (ID) of 8mm just for ease to plug into standard filter tubing.  This is largely because these spraybars are made to fit in a 2x1x1 tank with an Eheim 2234 so the filter is WAAAAYYYYY overrated   ! I still get fantastic flow with this lower diameter tubing.   If i was making them for a larger tank i'd use 16mmOD/12mmID tubing for the spraybar and glue in a 12/8 shoulder just to link it with the filter tubing (as per Garuf's suggestion).  Having said that i think the larger diameter tube might be harder to work with as it'll be more difficult to heat evenly (but this is only a guess



			
				Lisa_Perry75 said:
			
		

> How did you heat the tube? Electrical cable would give a nice firmness inside, interesting. I would have thought that electrical cable, presumably coated in plastic, might bond with the acrylic once heated.


).  
Hi Lisa
I heated the tube over a blowtorch - to be honest it was a bit fierce and a hot air gun would probably be better.  Whatever you use it needs to be freestanding so you have both hands free to work the plastic. 
The cable i used came from a pond pump and is coated in either silicon or a really flexible plastic to waterproof it - if you're looking for something similar i think B&Q or the like might stock something similar for garden or aquatic applications.   Had no probs with it sticking at all, even through two bends!

I'm clearly really pleased with the results - it also struck me today (as i took them off the tank to take pics) just how tough they are.  I'm sure i'd be panicking about breaking expensive glassware!
Cheers!
Matt


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## Nelson (27 Mar 2010)

don't know if it's just me,but can't see the pics.


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## JamesM (27 Mar 2010)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48753982@N02/

Not a bad first attempt, but plenty of room for improvement me thinks. Might try a spraybar myself actually...


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## Nelson (27 Mar 2010)

cheers james.


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## bigmatt (27 Mar 2010)

nelson said:
			
		

> don't know if it's just me,but can't see the pics.


Not just you - i am apparently an idiot!    I've edited the post with photbucket links (rather than Flickr) and they seem to be working now
Cheers
Matt


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## Nelson (27 Mar 2010)

they look great when in the tank  .


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## Garuf (27 Mar 2010)

I wouldn't say your filter is over rated, I used a ex1200 on the same size tank 
I'd say that for the difference in dimensions it wouldn't be too difficult to step up, really it'd be the thickness that's an issue rather than the over all dimensions of the pipe, there'd be a couple of issues but not too much.


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## Lisa_Perry75 (27 Mar 2010)

Awesome bigmatt, thanks for testing this out for us!


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## zig (28 Mar 2010)

Very good effort Matt I can see this catching on, lots of new custom combinations of inlets outlets and spraybar lily pipe arrangements etc, trial and error at first but Im sure some new techniques will surface to advance this side of the hobby. I will have to dig out my heatgun and see what I can come up with. Thanks for doing the roadtest Matt.


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## samc (28 Mar 2010)

i made a spraybar for my emersed setup which came out very neat. i heated a pin and pushed it straight through the pipe which made a neat hole. it didnt push the tube in when you push which i thought it might.

only problem is that spraybars are very hard to clean


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## bigmatt (28 Mar 2010)

I clean all my tubing (so to speak...) with one of those bendy brushes.  I've tried it on this setup and it seems to work well. 
I just drilled all the holes with a drill bit meant for metal.  I can see that the hot pin method would be great for an emersed setup where you need a lot of fine sprays to saturate the plans.  Yet another reason why custom building rocks!
Matt


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## bigmatt (10 May 2010)

QUick update - now really reaping the rewards of home fabrication as i rescaped my tank with a much greater slope to the back of the tank, meaning my old filter intake was too long.  Five minutes in the garage and i now have a new filter intake that sits exactly where i want it.  Also made a drop checker that works brilliantly!
Cheers
MAtt


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## Garuf (10 May 2010)

Sounds brilliant, Matt. Where did you get your tubing from out of interest?


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## bigmatt (11 May 2010)

I get mine from Clear Plastic Supplies on eBay - the link's earlier in the thread somewhere.  
On a different note i also found that piece of perspex tubing with a 6mm hole drilled in it and a piece of CO2 tubing secured in it makes a very useful inline CO2 delivery device when fitted just below the filter intake!  Getting complete dissolution of CO2 in the water column!


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## ghostsword (11 May 2010)

So the CO2 would go straight into the filter and then from it into the water collumn on the outake?


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## bigmatt (11 May 2010)

That's the one!
Seems to work brilliantly!
Matt


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## ghostsword (11 May 2010)

I will try this out today, will place the difuser close to the intake.


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## Garuf (11 May 2010)

Having a mist is actually better than totally desolved co2. it sounds like a good idea though, very tidy too if outsied the tank.


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## Aeropars (9 Mar 2011)

I'm curious. How have you attached the filter tubing to this without any leaks?


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## bigmatt (9 Mar 2011)

Glued the CO2 pipe into the perspex tubing with cyanoacrylate superglue then waterproof electical insulation tape over the top of that as extra security.  Now running it on the outtake pipe to create a venturi effect to create bubbles in the water column which seems to work well
Matt


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## Aeropars (9 Mar 2011)

Sorry, I meant the filter tube onto the pvc pipe. I don't understand how its being held on with no water escaping.


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## bigmatt (9 Mar 2011)

Just a push fit - same as lily pipe/intake
M


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## Aeropars (10 Mar 2011)

Excellent! I'm going to have a go at doing this myself. I'm just a little worried about the bending. What should I use to put inside the tube before ebnding and where can I get it?


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## Bobtastic (10 Mar 2011)

A very, very interesting thread!

Would a paint stripper "gun" be good enough to heat the tubing up with? I would also be a little concerned with the bending, I would probably go with the table salt method as I don't think I'd have anything suitable to place in the tube...

Has anyone tried a wider ID yet?


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## ghostsword (10 Mar 2011)

Aeropars said:
			
		

> Excellent! I'm going to have a go at doing this myself. I'm just a little worried about the bending. What should I use to put inside the tube before ebnding and where can I get it?



Copper pipe bending springs, they are good for this.


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## tyrophagus (10 Mar 2011)

http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=14128

see my post on using copper tube bending springs.


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