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Can't find the right size siphon tube...

HiFidelity

HiFidelity

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Trying to get a spare siphon tube for my overflow box, it seems my lifereef system uses a much longer "u tube" than eshopps and all the other brands, can't figure out where to get one everything on ebay looks too short...

I'm stuck with this stupid overflow because I didn't have the time to drill my tank and I can't empty it :mad: I've even read several threads on drilling a full tank but I don't feel that adventurous with my tank right now so I'm stuck looking for a stupid siphon tube. Any ideas on where I might find one?
 
Tap plastic sells acrylic tube and it's pretty easy to bend it yourself using a butane torch. Frankly, I've bent acrylic using the gas stove in my apartment too...
 
Worst case : Build a square one.
Cut up some small pieces of acrylic, glue up into the right size and shape.
As long as the cross sectional area inside is the same or a bit larger, you are fine.
 
Hhmmm so these are the issues I have so far;

-I could bend a pipe but from my experience with heating & manipulating thin plastic the result is a very brittle piece.
-I could build one, but I need it to be transparent because my overflow box is a tad too big for my tank & micro bubbles from the weir collect in the tube over time so I have to be able to monitor this.
-I could extend the first chamber so that I can use a shorter tube (available on ebay) but I don't have any acrylic scraps to make this :-/ and can't justify buying a piece so I can hack out a 2"x2" patch lol.
-I could buy the short tube same diameter as an old cracked one I have & cut the straight part off the cracked old pipe then weld it to the new one so that it's the right length.

I think that last option may be the easiest/most economical no?

3D printed pipe? ok can I have 3 of those? :p
 
One more thought:
Use a transparent pipe in the middle to monitor air, then standard PVC fittings elbows and pipes
for the rest.

BTW: Tap plastics has a bin of cheap leftover pieces. Usually $1 to $2 for about 1 sq ft chunks.
 
wow that's so cheap I never thought their scraps were that inexpensive....

I'm still leaning towards WELDON & extending a new tube, the old pipe I have is just cracked at the bent part whilst the straight sections are perfect, but then again I have tons of PVC but a smooth curve is always better than 2 ells...
 
Mike, I wish I could but I just set this tank up and of course I was planning to drill it (had a thread posted discussing how I'm going to build the overflow, etc.) but a mishap with the previous tank forced me to set the current one up overnight. I don't want to put my livestock through another tank transfer, I lost some corals in the last process and finally now everything from zoas to the slowest SPS are all healthy and growing, finally parameters are perfect and everything is going absolutely fantastic (except for plumbing) haha am I sounding wimpy? The plan further down the line is to get a frag tank going so I can keep that plumbed into my sump and have enough room to hold all my corals so I could take my sweet time draining the tank & drilling it. I believe that to be the most stress free way to resolve this issue...

Justin, thanks for the offer buddy I'll let you know once I find the time to work on this thing and if I'll need help making a new U-pipe. I've got one too many projects going at the moment.
 
I have an eshopps overflow with some extra tubes if you're interested. Basically brand new - I think it's a PF-1000? Trade for a non-weedy frag or two. Located in SF.

Send a PM if interested as I don't check threads too often
 
Fill the pipe with play sand before bending, use a heat gun, bend against a brace or form and go as slowly as you can reheating as necessary. You'll be fine. :)
 
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