# eBay lily pipes



## fish fodder (2 Apr 2013)

Hi, 
Just had a look for glass lily pipes on eBay and noticed they are pretty cheap compared to others I have seen... Are they inferior? Anyone else use them? 
Cheers


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## Gill (2 Apr 2013)

not had any problems with the lilly pipes i have bought from ebay in the past.


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## fish fodder (2 Apr 2013)

Gill said:


> not had any problems with the lilly pipes i have bought from ebay in the past.



Are they the set for about £20 from hong kong?


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## Gill (2 Apr 2013)

Yeah, bought them a few years ago, and do the job
. post the link and others can give feedback on them if purchased.


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## fish fodder (2 Apr 2013)

Even cheaper than I thought..... Gotta be worth it

 Aquarium Glass Inflow Outflow Lily Pipe 13mm For 12/16mm Tube + Suction Cups | eBay


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## Gill (2 Apr 2013)

those are fine, have them saved in my watch list. have bought from this seller in the past without problems.


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## Henry (2 Apr 2013)

Will these fit an AquaOne Aquis 500? It's a little difficult to measure accurately. I still wouldn't trust my measuring anyway!


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## bridgey_c (2 Apr 2013)

I have got a set of those pipes fish fodder, nowt wrong with them in terms of quality (although im sure the ada ones would be made of sturdier glass). However I did have a problem with the direction of the outflow. I found it extremely difficult/impossible to set them so I got a decent amount of surface movement. They push the out flow downwards, as opposed to horizontally. Im sure for some tanks/people this would be fine but I wanted some surface agitation. I had to either have no surface movement or lift the pipe about 1 cm above the surface and then I would have an annoying gurgling sound constantly. I went back to a spray bar in the end. Maybe you would want this but unfortunately it didnt suit my tank. For £15 though you cant really go wrong.....


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## Manrock (2 Apr 2013)

OMG! I paid £50 at the 'Show' for a glass lily pipe - I could have one a week for this price!


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## Piece-of-fish (3 Apr 2013)

That is really cheap. Used to be more expensive, like 30£ per set 3 years ago and the quality was crap although did the job.
It could all have changed apparently.


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## Tim Harrison (3 Apr 2013)

I've had a set for a couple of years and absolutely no issues with them. I think that most will be manufactured in the far east and many will be branded for sale at higher prices but essentially the same product.

With regards direction of outflow it all comes down to deliberate design, some are meant to direct flow down others across the surface and some in between. So make sure you're buying the pipes that suite your requirements.


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## Iain Sutherland (3 Apr 2013)

I've had a few set and they do the job however they have a tendency to be even more fragile than branded ones.  So happy to have stainless now as im an oaf at the best of times.   Swear ive been seconds from death a few times when removing pipes from lily's


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## BIN578 (3 Apr 2013)

Manrock said:


> OMG! I paid £50 at the 'Show' for a glass lily pipe - I could have one a week for this price!


 
Dont worry, my Cal Aqua ones cost £70 each and I have the pair !  Whats worse is that they are not even being used at the moment lol.  Those who have the ADA ones will have paid twice that, but hey, they do have ADA engraved on the glass


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## fish fodder (3 Apr 2013)

BIN578 said:


> Dont worry, my Cal Aqua ones cost £70 each and I have the pair !  Whats worse is that they are not even being used at the moment lol.  Those who have the ADA ones will have paid twice that, but hey, they do have ADA engraved on the glass



I have a glass etcher


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## BIN578 (3 Apr 2013)

fish fodder said:


> I have a glass etcher


 
Perfect.  Get etching and make yourself a fortune.  Cos afaic there is no difference in quality between Cal Aqua and ADA stuff having owned both. (And I bet someone else comes along and disagrees, LOL but hey, I did say afaic


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## GreenNeedle (4 Apr 2013)

I've still got some of the original knock off ones from Aquatic Magic with the glass ball on the end of the intake   Must've been 2007 and been in continuous use


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## mafoo (4 Apr 2013)

Im quite tempted to get some glass ones but i know that ill wind up breaking them sooner rather than later. I haven't seen any steel ones on ebay - not sure where to order them from - sounds quite cool. The only downside i can see with these custom lily pipes is the holes on the inlets aren't really shrimplet compatible.


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## Manrock (4 Apr 2013)

BIN578 said:


> Dont worry, my Cal Aqua ones cost £70 each and I have the pair !


 
I got the Cal Aqua one too (bargained it down at the Aquatics Live show this year) only to break the end off when trying to attach it to my pi[e! Then had to pay a local 'glassman' £15 to grid it to a smooth enough finish (but a lot shorter) to get it on the pipe! Plus I like my lillypipe to face across my tank on the diagonal and this is hard to achieve with these glass pipes. Why does no one make clear plastic ones?


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## mafoo (4 Apr 2013)

Manrock said:


> I got the Cal Aqua one too (bargained it down at the Aquatics Live show this year) only to break the end off when trying to attach it to my pi[e! Then had to pay a local 'glassman' £15 to grid it to a smooth enough finish (but a lot shorter) to get it on the pipe! Plus I like my lillypipe to face across my tank on the diagonal and this is hard to achieve with these glass pipes. Why does no one make clear plastic ones?


I am seriously debating buying some Perspex tubing and trying to bend my own. Surely it can't be that hard. Fill the tube with sand or salt. Gently heat the desired area and bend. To make the conical opening heat an area and pump air in slowly so it forms a bubble then saw it in half when cooled - tho personally if use a spray bar attachment.


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## Gill (4 Apr 2013)

There is a Pipe bending gadget I have seen people use, something like a wire spring coil that goes on the spot you want to bend. Think someone on here has used the method


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## greenink (4 Apr 2013)

Pipe bending spring + paint stripper gun. How to guide somewhere in my 259 journal pretty early on. Ridiculously easy.


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## cookie3985 (4 Apr 2013)

I bought some from Hong Kong and they were useless. They completely reduced the flow from the filter to a dribble so don't get the cheapest pair available. Had to revert back to the green Eheim pipes


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## Dorian (5 Apr 2013)

Or get some acrylic one from eBay.


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## mafoo (5 Apr 2013)

mikeappleby said:


> Pipe bending spring + paint stripper gun. How to guide somewhere in my 259 journal pretty early on. Ridiculously easy.


Awesome, Ive ordered myself a spring.

Im not sure what wall thickness eheim use on their 12mm diameter pipework to fit 12/16 hose. Ive trie measuring it with the crappy pastic ruler i have and it seems to be thicker than 1mm but the internal diameter seems closer to 10mm  I've found a plastics place near here that im gona give a call tomorrow. The prospect of being rid of ugly green pipes is so exciting. <squeal>

If anyone wants, here's a link to Mike's post on making custom acrylic pipework:

259L bookcase - 'LED light switchover' | Page 3 | UK Aquatic Plant Society


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## Dorian (5 Apr 2013)

There is some acrylic inflow outflow and spray bar pipes on eBay they look really good quality and cost only £6 + postage. I already order one inflow so will let u know how good they are. And i will add link to auction on eBay when i will back from work.


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## Dorian (5 Apr 2013)

DIY Aquarium Acrylics Filter Pipe outflow/inflow connect 12/16mm or 16/22mm pipe | eBay


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## mafoo (5 Apr 2013)

Dorian said:


> DIY Aquarium Acrylics Filter Pipe outflow/inflow connect 12/16mm or 16/22mm pipe | eBay


Cool, but thats per pipe. Plus HMCR are pretty zealous now about intercepting packages at customs now. And for some reason Royal Mail think its OK to add £8 on top of the vat for delivering your mail.  You can ask they send it with gift on the customs form - but it doesn't always work.

Also, where's the fun!


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## NattyAntlers (5 Apr 2013)

Should be ok as less than £15.00, the RM £8.00 charge if you have to pay duty is a joke.
I have successfully claimed a charge back from HMRC when a seller in the US declared the retail price on the customs declaration and not the ebay price I paid so he could cover himself had the item got lost, unfortunately couldn't get the RM charge back


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## greenink (5 Apr 2013)

mafoo said:


> Im not sure what wall thickness eheim use on their 12mm diameter pipework to fit 12/16 hose.



Just order some with at least 12mm internal diameter - the hose will stretch loads so wall thickness not that much of an issue if slightly out.


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## mafoo (5 Apr 2013)

mikeappleby said:


> Just order some with at least 12mm internal diameter - the hose will stretch loads so wall thickness not that much of an issue if slightly out.


After looking arround a bit, i think the eheim ones use 13mm with a 1.5mm wall. Ive ordered an 8mm bending spring. Finding the acrylic is proving harder then i thought :'(

I don't really want to pay £10 postage for a £3 item  Its tempting to order 10m of it and make a load and try and sell em on ebay


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## weasel (6 Apr 2013)

items in The Wholesale POS Co 2009 store on eBay!

Try them,they do any thing..


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## Vanish (7 Apr 2013)

Pricey for a bit of clear tube. You've really gotta want it to pay that.


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## weasel (7 Apr 2013)

Depends if you know anywhere cheaper.


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## mafoo (7 Apr 2013)

weasel said:


> Depends if you know anywhere cheaper.


These people are the cheapest I've found:

Clear Plastic Acrylic Perspex Tube

£10 delivery but about £1.50 a meter. So its almost worth just ordering 8 meters of it to justify the delivery costs


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## greenink (7 Apr 2013)

That's where I get it too. Would use a 12mm spring as bends to the diameter of the spring...


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## mafoo (7 Apr 2013)

I've got a 8mm spring, i think I'd get a 14mm pipe with a 10mm ID. That shouldn't be too much of a difference between pipe and spring should it?


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## greenink (7 Apr 2013)

The narrowest point of your whole loop is what restricts the flow. 

The bend around the spring will narrow to the diameter of the spring, so you're effectively risking cutting your flow massively if you go from 12mm to 8mm diameter. 

I've always used pipe with an internal diameter of 12 for 16/12 Eheim and 16 for 22/16 Eheim.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (7 Apr 2013)

> only downside i can see with these custom lily pipes is the holes on the inlets aren't really shrimplet compatible.


You can get stainless mesh filters that slip over the end of the intake to prevent sucking out live stock. Work well on mine, no longer finding shrimp in my canister. Wouldn't mind having acrylic spray bar and pipes in my 30 gall. Two items that would be  massive sellers in this game is a lily pipe with a 90 turn on the outlets neck so you can fetch them in from the back but point across the tank and an in line heater that isn't the size of a bungalow. My credit card is waiting. 
I also found using soft tubing is a big help just dip the join in hot water and they come off no problem.


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