Good evening
I'm looking into upgrading the hoses on my Fluval FX6 from the standard ribbed ones. I have been looking at the black hose that is used for ponds but today at Dobbies I was told that this might not be suitable for the job.
Is this the case and if so what are the other alternatives to use?
I've also been looking at the clear braided hose too for it, is this any good or do I need to look for anti kink hose?
The advantage I thought with the pond hosing was that it offers a smooth in core allowing better water flow as I feel the rubbish standard hosing with the filter isn't too good.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
ps does it need to be kink free and quite flexible too for clipping over the tank?
Scotty
I've read a bunch of other posts on other forums about this same topic. The ribbed hoses make the FX4 / FX6 a tough decision to purchase, if you don't like them. If you have your tank in your living room, like I do, and don't want to have a huge space between your tank and the wall these hoses and brackets don't work. I just bought the FX4 for my 90 gal tank and this is what I have done to make this filter even better.
I hope this helps. I'll update after I have it all connected and running.
Fluval uses an odd size barbed fitting here. You need 7/8" hose but I couldn't find it in shorter lengths in black so I went with 1" (fits slightly loose). I added the O-Ring and I'll clamp over top of the o ring along with a second clamp on the back side of the o-ring.
Another option I just thought of as I'm writing this is to use a 1" x 7/8" barbed fitting reducer instead of the O-Ring. Short piece of 7/8" tubing on the fitting to the reducer then to the 1" black vinyl. The reason for the black vinyl is to reduce the chances of algae growth in the hoses, as I'm sure you're all aware of.
The rubber sleeve fits very snug on the 1" CPVC. No clamping required.
