General tank Maintenance and cleaning supply lines…

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Had to replace the supply lines to my Fluval 207 when I put the new tank in.

Just wanted to put out some feelers to some other people here and find out how often you clean the supply lines in and out of the filter (canister).

I cleaned the media in tank water this past Sunday. I think the time to clean the lines out is coming up soon. Fluval has those corrugated supply lines, and I can only imagine how much stuff builds up in them.

Does anyone else use these filter supply lines and how often do you clean them? I’d like to clean them without causing too much bacteria loss…

I also don’t like to clean too many parts of the tank at once… What do you guys do for a hose cleaning schedule?
 
I have an unbranded Sunsun HW 304B on my 110g stock tank. I probably 'ream' out the tubes about every 6 months as I notice a flow reduction. (I attached a brush to what was once a driveway marker post and brush both ends and rinse with the hose outside). :)
 
I have an unbranded Sunsun HW 304B on my 110g stock tank. I probably 'ream' out the tubes about every 6 months as I notice a flow reduction. (I attached a brush to what was once a driveway marker post and brush both ends and rinse with the hose outside). :)

I have a generic Amazon “pipe” cleaner that’s probably good for 24”.

My initial thought was to do the same, I just want to knock loose any particulate that’s building up and get some better flow, but I don’t want to scrub clean the bacteria cultures that are in there.

At this point it’s probably a very small portion of the total bacteria population, but when it comes to cleaning aquariums, less is more as long as it’s spaced out, that’s kind of my general philosophy…I’ve talked to some serious enthusiasts who warn against over cleaning
 
I just hosed out the intake and return hoses when I cleaned the filter.

Washing out the hoses will have no effect on the filter bacteria.

The corrugated hoses are stupid and collect more gunk. If you want to replace them just use clear plastic hose from a hardware store.
 
I think stores sell these corrugated lines, anti kink / knot and more for pond use I think is why but no real need for those for internal aquariums.

I tend to use 16/22 clear hose as makes much easier to see what is happening regarding water flow and air blockages etc.

As for cleaning the hoses themselves, rarely do I clean those but when needs must, take the hoses off the filter and away from the tank, then I use a bit of old sponge media and a clean cloth that is slightly tight fitting inside the hose and attach the hose to the outside tap using hozelock hose connectors and simply use the pressure of water from tap to push and flush the sponge and cloth through the hose, repeat several times until hose is clean enough to satisfaction.

I don’t worry about bacteria inside the hose, the bacterias inside tank itself and filter will be perfectly adequate and will be fine as have never had any effect like bacterial blooms or anything of the sort to be fair after doing hose cleaning, must admit I only do this maybe once a year if needed.
 
At this point it’s probably a very small portion of the total bacteria population, but when it comes to cleaning aquariums, less is more as long as it’s spaced out, that’s kind of my general philosophy…I’ve talked to some serious enthusiasts who warn against over cleaning
Eons ago I felt that we should keep filters clean to get the crud out of the system. But I learned that much like the substrate, beneficial bacteria and microbes develop and mature in the undisturbed filter so I only 'clean' when flow is noticeably and significantly reduced. And then the 'cleaning' is merely enough to restore flow. (again, all my filters are completely filled with sponge material and several (grow out) tanks merely have large sponge filters).

Now my green canister hoses remain untouched for even longer than the filter sponges, but eventually I can see that the biology in the tubes is restricting flow so right or wrong, they'll get a cleaning. I feel that there's plenty of biology elsewhere so as not to upset the ecology too much. :)
 
I had those ribbed hoses on my old tank for years and only realised how bad they were when I took the tank apart. I don’t think I’d use them again and would look for an alternative. I think fluval are worst at making it look like the tubes can’t be replaced but they can pretty easily.

Now when I clean the pipes I leave them in situ before a water change and let the filter flush them through as I syphon.

Wills
 
Good stuff everyone, thanks for the input. I think I’ll leave them for now then and start looking at replacements, I’d rather get rid of those corrugated lines to be honest.
 
Good stuff everyone, thanks for the input. I think I’ll leave them for now then and start looking at replacements, I’d rather get rid of those corrugated lines to be honest.
Get some nice steel Lilly pipes too I think the fx inlet and outlet are ugly
 
Get some nice steel Lilly pipes too I think the fx inlet and outlet are ugly
A lot of external filter inlets and outlets, no matter the make, are ugly to be fair, the one I used a lot in the past were the eheim bended hook type, but only available in green! :lol:
 

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