Custom plumbing idea for 2260

[thacarter546]

So after getting my 2260 I am horribly disgusted with the look of the eheim plumbing. I like the green, but the way they did the intake pipe it either tilts way out into the tank or the pipe has to be 8 inches behind the tank and it's never straight. Also the outflow is overwhelming. The shepherds crook outflow will not stay in the direction I want it making it useless. The spraybar just doesn't fit anywhere.

My proposed solution at the moment is from eshopps. I am using a duckbill outflow from a Rena filter at the moment, but it is awful flimsy. I bought a heavy duty 3/4"-5/8" duckbill outflow. The tubing is all 19mm with a reducing barb on the bottom. I am fairly confident this will solve my outflow issues.

For the intake I ordered a 6" leg siphon u pipe with a 2.5" spacing. The type used in an overflow box. This fits the top of the tank ALOT better and the legs seem to want to stay relatively straight. I want to cut the curve off of the stock intake so I have a straight inlet pipe, and use about 6" of soft tubing to join the inlet pipe and u pipe in the tank, then attach the inlet tubing directly to the u pipe.

My question is I know these are designed to just be set into an overflow box, but would the acrylic be strong enough to support the weight of the hose? Also would the tighter radiused curve slow down flow significantly? the u pipe is 7/8 Id 1" od.

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

Why not just replace it all with PVC? Way cheaper and more sturdy than most aquarium specific stuff.

 

[deeda]

I think the problem with using the standard acrylic J-tube for a siphon box setup would be getting a snug fit on the Eheim intake hose and the difficult clamping to the acrylic tube without crushing it.

I agree that I hated the floppy look over the rim of the Eheim intake connection when I originally set mine up and we ended up using 3/4" PVC pipe to make our own J-tube. We filled a length of PVC pipe with sand, capped both ends, heated it up with a paint stripper heat gun and bent it around a 12oz cat food can to make the J shape. Once cooled, emptied the sand, lightly sanded the PVC and spray painted black with Krylon Fusion for plastics paint. It looks and works great.

 

[tomojsg]

i would just drill the tank and plumb it directly to the tank and call it a day...
looks more cleaner this way anyways... and with in line heaters you wont
have any equipment in the tank unless you have a air stone. if that cant
be dont or you dont want to you can always just make your own intake
and return with pvc pipes. theyre cheap and easy to work with... you can
also use krylon fusion paint to paint which ever color you want.

 

[thacarter546]

I appreciate the pvc suggestions, I however hate everything about working with pvc. Also I am far too impatient. As for drilling I wish. I don't have the room behind the tank and it's not possible to move it. Also don't have the balls to drill a tank with fish. Lastly the tank is all tempered glass.

So I already had a couple 1" u tubes laying around and tried it. Also the previous owner of the filter cut the factory pipe super short. Works fantastic. With a little heat the tubing slides over like a dream. It stays tight to the aquarium. The only thing I'm not happy with is the green tubing.

Gonna order some lees 1" clear rigid thin wall tubing and have a foot of 1" clear pvc soft tubing cut at the hardware store to make the rest clear and I'll be happy.

The return spout I ordered I would be happy with except it has a siphon break pre drilled. That's great and all but I can only backwash the filter 1 gallon at a time. Ordering another brand.

I also plumbed in my Aqua uv sterilizer. I'll have to re run through the rules, but I'd love to reccomend the seller I went through. Gave 50 bucks for a "used" advantage 2000+. Came in the original box with sealed bulb appears to have been taken out and inspected at some point, but it doesn't appear to have ever had water run in it or hoses clamped to the barbs.

I don't remember if it was deeda or Harley k but I got the supplies to put a rubber pad under the pump tomorrow.