FLUVAL 405 SMOOTH TUBING * PLEASE HELP *

[steeve725]

Hello,

I once again cleaned my fluval 405. I am overly satisfied with the filter itself, however I very much dislike the ribbed tubing.

Junk builds up inside the ribbed tubing.

Has anyone replaced there ribbed tubing with standard vinyl tubing found at Lowes or homedepot?

If so, could you still use the same connections or did you need to modify it to make the new vinyl hose work?

This would really help.

Thank You and hope to hear from some people and their ideas.

Have a good day!!

 

[DarthMaul]

I have a couple of Rena xp3's. I used the black vinyl tubing from Home Depot. It looks great and I don't see any gunk in them cause there black. I think as long as you get the right size hose and use some hose clamps you shouldn't have much of a problem.

 

[steeve725]

I looked @ the black tubing from home depot, however the problem I have is it kinks pretty easy, and that would restrict the flow and I am trying to avoid that.

I was thinking maybe a local pond store.

Also a person told me to decrease the size of the tubing from 5/8 (Inside diameter) to 1/2 should increase the flow to a higher flow rate. As anyone tried that and had success?

Thanks.

 

[vr6fan]

i bought home depot tubing for my 305 and it works great...fit perfectly and has been going strong for months now..youll be fine

 

[steeve725]

Was the tubing you got @ home depot the same size as the tubing you replaced?

I am still curious about the smaller hose to increase flow.

Thanks

 

[mbunabum]

Also a person told me to decrease the size of the tubing from 5/8 (Inside diameter) to 1/2 should increase the flow to a higher flow rate. As anyone tried that and had success?

Thanks.

What you were told is not totally correct. Reducing the id of the tubing WILL increase velocity which would help keep the inside of the tubing clean through a scouring effect (or is it affect)... AND that is assuming the filter's pump is capable of over coming the added friction or pressure required to push the water through the smaller tubing. In reality the only way to increase flow by reducing tubing size is increase pump size.

The water horsepower formula for water pumps illustrates this -
WHP = gpm X head or pressure divided by 3960

so assuming you want to keep the same flow, with an increase in head, water horsepower would increase.

 

[steeve725]

Thank you for clearing it up. I am going to go get some vinyl tubing to replace the ribbed tubing that originally came with my fluval.

I still want to increase the flow.

I have heard many times that the flow rate that these filters come with is not always true.

Has anyone heard about the power head mod for a canister filter?

You run the output tubing into the bottom of the powerhead to increase the flow. I have heard of it, but have never tried it nor know of anyone that has?

I have at least decided on the tubing being vinyl and since I was told incorrectly about the smaller tubing, I will probably stay with the original 5/8" size.

Thank You guys for the help you have given me.