Are all Lily pipes equal?

[5678]

I am trying to decide what glassware to buy for the next project.

As ever, price varies massively for glass inflow and lily pipes.

We have ADA from £70-100 per pipe.
CalAqua around the £50 mark per pipe.
gush @ £30-£40 per pipe
and then no name generic stuff at around £15-20 per pipe.

I appreciate that to an extent, quality will vary with price. But where is the price point where quality really becomes evident? I want well made, strong glass that isn't going to crack if I even look at it in the wrong way!

I've pretty much discounted the cheap stuff, I guess what I'm asking is if the gush/CalAqua stuff is any good or if I need to stump up for the ADA stuff?

 

[Tim Harrison]

I've pretty much discounted the cheap stuff, I guess what I'm asking is if the gush/CalAqua stuff is any good or if I need to stump up for the ADA stuff?

I don't think you need to stump up for ADA stuff. Both gush and CalAqua are amazing value, both functionally and aesthetically. I have the latter.

Although Aquarium HK are supposed to be OK...for cheap stuff.

 

[5678]

Thanks. It was CalAqua that I had been looking at. Aquasabi have them for €50 each.

What's the glass like? By that I mean, more glass sculpture or more Pyrex jug?

 

[Tim Harrison]

I'd say both, glass sculpture with the robustness of a Pyrex jug. The thing that strikes me the most about them is the internal diameter - because they use lab quality glass it 's arguably much larger than cheaper lily pipes, which means flow isn't compromised.

 

[EnderUK]

I have a Chinese plastic lilly pipe I'm quite taken with. The best thing about it is I'm not worried about breaking 30 quids worth of glass every time I clean the filter pipes

 

[5678]

Any link to where you bought them?

 

[Andy D]

I have been taking a look at various pipes online and what I do seem to see are slightly different outflow shapes.

Should this also be a consideration?

 

[5678]

I'm going to talk it through when I call TGM on Tuesday. Will update with what I'm told.

From what I've read online, some seem to direct flow to the lower parts of a tank.

CalAqua have good descriptions here http://www.calaqualabs.com/Fluxus.html

 

[Marvin]

They aren't equal, take a look at this thread http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/lily-pipes.35775/.
Make sure you get an inflow pipe with lots of slits (more slits = better flow rate).

I have the gUSH pipes, the build quality and flow rate is great.
http://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/glassware/aquarium-glassware/gush-aqua-lily-pipes.html

 

[5678]

I bought ADA pipes in the end.