# Glass aqua pipe set help



## Nathanh2150 (27 Dec 2020)

Hi all I’m having a hard time with my aqua glass pipe set the inlet where the skimmer is keeps jumping putting a lot of air into my biomaster thermo 600 I have watched so many videos by George farmer as he has this on his tank and seems to have no issues im completely gutted and thinking of just getting rid of the glass pipe work all together if anyone would help me I would much appreciate it 
Iv started setting up the tank last thursday and the skimmer was tottaly fine but it only happens when I’m doing a daily water change and having to sit for hours to try to sort out the skimmer with no results so leave the skimming part under the water at all times as second photo shows


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## Sammy Islam (27 Dec 2020)

Yeah you're not the only one. I really hate mine too, i have no idea why it bobs up and down randomly. 

It's really annoying and i have tried everything to stop it. I ended up cutting a bit off a plastic pipette at the height i wanted the waterline and wedged it in the gap/ridge. So now if it wants to bob up and down it can't get sucked under the water. It's still problematic every now and again, but most of the time my solution does it's job.


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## Nathanh2150 (27 Dec 2020)

I don’t understand why they didn’t include an rubber o ring to put on the skimmer to hold it in place then can be adjusted to the right hight I shall try that to see if any better if not I’m still in a situation where it’s not working haha


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## Sammy Islam (27 Dec 2020)

Nathanh2150 said:


> I don’t understand why they didn’t include an rubber o ring to put on the skimmer to hold it in place then can be adjusted to the right hight I shall try that to see if any better if not I’m still in a situation where it’s not working haha


Because it's suppose to adapt to water level when floating, but no matter what i do it will randomly bob up and down out of no where. Only way to stop it is wedging something in the gap otherwise you get no peace of mind 🤣


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## Nathanh2150 (27 Dec 2020)

Haha true but it’s so annoying only happens when the tank is having it maintenance specially when I’m currently doing a 50% water change untill Tuesday then gonna be doing once a week water change after that but guess I will have to get use to it and pray to god that it doesn’t affect my heater to cause it to blow due to the amount of air it’s strange as now it seems to have settled it self but tomorrow it will just happen again and again ..


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## Sammy Islam (27 Dec 2020)

Nathanh2150 said:


> Haha true but it’s so annoying only happens when the tank is having it maintenance specially when I’m currently doing a 50% water change untill Tuesday then gonna be doing once a week water change after that but guess I will have to get use to it and pray to god that it doesn’t affect my heater to cause it to blow due to the amount of air it’s strange as now it seems to have settled it self but tomorrow it will just happen again and again ..


Yeah i can't and don't trust it anymore, it's annoying to always worry about it.


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## SRP3006 (27 Dec 2020)

I've had problems with mine too, drives the other half mad. I've managed to wedge a small piece of frogbit between, seems to keep it floating just in the right place, but I agree when it starts bobbing there's just no stopping it.


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## Nuno Gomes (27 Dec 2020)

I usually say skimmers are like the printers of the aquarium world, so much technology but they always suck. The lily pipe skimmers are my favorite ones but it took me a while to figure them out. There's a few things everyone should know -

1 - not all pipes are the same, even from the same manufacturer tolerances will vary and you'll see some pipes that are more straight or perfect than others, I have one set on which the two vertical pipes are not perfectly paralell and it drives me crazy, that one is a backup unit now.
2 - These skimmers don't do well with powerful filters, for example, with my Hydor Pro 600 or any other equivalent filter, I have to open the bottom of the inflow all the way so that there's no air being pulled from the top due to the excessive suction
3 - It's trial and error really, you need to open the bottom all the way and then pick up the floater and let it down on the water surface gently so that all the air inside the "hat" will stay there, this will mostly keep it above water, then if suction from the top is too weak you can either gradually close the bottom or shake the top so that some air gets out.
4 - I've lost fish to one of these skimmers, one of my Centromuchlus Perugiae sadly got sucked in and got stuck in the pipe when the floater got pulled underwater due to the bottom being clogged. I've now found a solution for this problem - a thin rubber ring that I place on the floater tube near the glass to act as a stopper, I adjust it to the lowest possible position the floater should descend to and there is no way it will go down further. It might try pulling air in but it will go nowhere.

If you have any questions go ahead, and if you need a picture of the ring I can also take one.


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## Sammy Islam (29 Dec 2020)

Nuno Gomes said:


> I usually say skimmers are like the printers of the aquarium world, so much technology but they always suck. The lily pipe skimmers are my favorite ones but it took me a while to figure them out. There's a few things everyone should know -
> 
> 1 - not all pipes are the same, even from the same manufacturer tolerances will vary and you'll see some pipes that are more straight or perfect than others, I have one set on which the two vertical pipes are not perfectly paralell and it drives me crazy, that one is a backup unit now.
> 2 - These skimmers don't do well with powerful filters, for example, with my Hydor Pro 600 or any other equivalent filter, I have to open the bottom of the inflow all the way so that there's no air being pulled from the top due to the excessive suction
> ...


I'll try the ring thing, maybe test it out with a rubber band until i find a more suitable ring. The bottom intake is fully open, but it still sucks the floating portion down all the time. 

Anyone else have any input? It's driving me crazy. The pipes, glassware and filter is clean, i clean them all every 2 or 3 weeks.


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## SRP3006 (29 Dec 2020)

Hold the floaty skimmer bit in the correct place and use a syringe to inject air under the head, done that a few times and seems to work


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## Sammy Islam (29 Dec 2020)

SRP3006 said:


> Hold the floaty skimmer bit in the correct place and use a syringe to inject air under the head, done that a few times and seems to work


I do that all the time with a turkey baster. Doesn't really help, as once it starts bobbing theres no stopping it. It's the only thing i worry about with my tank 🤣 maybe my pipette mod is making it unbalanced so i think im going to try the rubber band or some sort of o-ring. I almost feel like the floats tube is too long, and need to have the water level higher.


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## Siege (29 Dec 2020)

Silicone spray on the tube bit of the skim head will create just enough friction to stop it being pulled down.

Always worth having a can in your cupboard anyways to help keep the filter seals nice.


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## Sammy Islam (29 Dec 2020)

Siege said:


> Silicone spray on the tube bit of the skim head will create just enough friction to stop it being pulled down.
> 
> Always worth having a can in your cupboard anyways to help keep the filter seals nice.


I usually use the gel type stuff, will that work too?


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## Siege (29 Dec 2020)

Should do, just make sure it’s fish safe.


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## Sammy Islam (29 Dec 2020)

Siege said:


> Should do, just make sure it’s fish safe.


Cool i'll give it a go. It's food safe, been using it on my filter seals etc for a while.


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## Sammy Islam (29 Dec 2020)

Quick update, i have put some silicone on the tube which may help a little. But i also pulled out the little stopper thing at the bottom as far it would go without coming out to unblock the last slit on the intake, hopefully means it pulls less from the top.


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## Nathanh2150 (29 Dec 2020)

I have put a cable tie on mine it seems to be working the trick thanks for all the help 🙂


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## JoelS (25 Jan 2022)

Nuno Gomes said:


> I usually say skimmers are like the printers of the aquarium world, so much technology but they always suck. The lily pipe skimmers are my favorite ones but it took me a while to figure them out. There's a few things everyone should know -


This post is super helpful thank you!


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## lazybones51 (26 Jan 2022)

Sammy Islam said:


> But i also pulled out the little stopper thing at the bottom as far it would go without coming out to unblock the last slit on the intake, hopefully means it pulls less from the top.


This has solved the issue for me. I ended up removing the bottom stopper and fitted a pre-filter in it's place, which allows far more flow through the bottom and stopped the skimmer bouncing issue. The only time since doing this that the skimmer has bounced, is when the pre-filter became very dirty restricting the flow.


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