# Glass Lily Pipes with Surface Skimmer



## AcidGambit (Aug 30, 2018)

I've had both JARDLI (cheap off of Amazon) and Cal Aqua pipes (expensive). Both were nice and the JARDLI may be more durable (I broke my Cal Aqua inflow the first time I tried to take it out for cleaning). I had the surface skimmer pipe in my previous tank, but I can't fit it in my new one, which isn't as tall. The surface skimmer was very effective, but in my tank I ended up having issues with it pulling air into my canister filter. Keep in mind that's my personal experience, which is likely due to my failure to tune it properly.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

I also buy the cheap ones now. If you buy expensive more than likely you will eventually break it. I usually buy two pair. One against breakage and/or when they get dirty and you might not want to wait to clean them. You can also go with the stainless steel ones if those go with your setup.

I've never had the need for a surface skimmer.


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## PurdueGK (May 16, 2015)

Thanks everyone! 
Does anyone know anything about the dymax set? Pretty reasonable. $75 for both the inlet with a surface skimmer and outlet. I will have to go with the 17mm since the oase biomaster 600 thermo uses larger tubing. 

If there is no really objection to the dymax I will give that a try and if I like it I will buy a second so that I can swap and clean in vinegar during a water change.


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## makeme (May 16, 2019)

AcidGambit said:


> I've had both JARDLI (cheap off of Amazon) and Cal Aqua pipes (expensive). Both were nice and the JARDLI may be more durable (I broke my Cal Aqua inflow the first time I tried to take it out for cleaning). I had the surface skimmer pipe in my previous tank, but I can't fit it in my new one, which isn't as tall. The surface skimmer was very effective, but in my tank I ended up having issues with it pulling air into my canister filter. Keep in mind that's my personal experience, which is likely due to my failure to tune it properly.


This same thing just happened to me yesterday! I noticed that my Cal Aqua Labs intake tube was getting heavily clogged with plant debris, so I turned everything off and went to GENTLY disassemble it from the hose...and the glass tube just snapped in 2, cutting my hand very badly in the process. Now it's unusable, I'm out $80, and have a throbbing bandaged hand for my trouble. :frown2:


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## PurdueGK (May 16, 2015)

makeme said:


> AcidGambit said:
> 
> 
> > I've had both JARDLI (cheap off of Amazon) and Cal Aqua pipes (expensive). Both were nice and the JARDLI may be more durable (I broke my Cal Aqua inflow the first time I tried to take it out for cleaning). I had the surface skimmer pipe in my previous tank, but I can't fit it in my new one, which isn't as tall. The surface skimmer was very effective, but in my tank I ended up having issues with it pulling air into my canister filter. Keep in mind that's my personal experience, which is likely due to my failure to tune it properly.
> ...


That’s awful! I was looking at the Doaqua or the green leaf. 
But i am interested in seeing what people have experienced with dymax.


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## AcidGambit (Aug 30, 2018)

makeme said:


> This same thing just happened to me yesterday! I noticed that my Cal Aqua Labs intake tube was getting heavily clogged with plant debris, so I turned everything off and went to GENTLY disassemble it from the hose...and the glass tube just snapped in 2, cutting my hand very badly in the process. Now it's unusable, I'm out $80, and have a throbbing bandaged hand for my trouble. :frown2:


The same exact thing happened to me.


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## PurdueGK (May 16, 2015)

AcidGambit said:


> makeme said:
> 
> 
> > This same thing just happened to me yesterday! I noticed that my Cal Aqua Labs intake tube was getting heavily clogged with plant debris, so I turned everything off and went to GENTLY disassemble it from the hose...and the glass tube just snapped in 2, cutting my hand very badly in the process. Now it's unusable, I'm out $80, and have a throbbing bandaged hand for my trouble. <a href="http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/images/PlantedTank_net_2015/smilies/tango_face_sad.png" border="0" alt="" title="Frown" ></a>
> ...


Wow sensing a trend.

What does everyone thing think of the dymax lily pipes with surface skimmer


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

Personally if the whole Dymax thing is glass I wouldn't use it. That would increase the chances of it breaking. I would keep it simple. 

Also in case someone doesn't realize. When you remove the lily pipe from the tubing first push in toward the pipe (where the connection with the tubing is) and then put out. It usually breaks the seal and comes off easily. If you twist it your more likely to break it.

Also many times I don't even remove it from the tubing. With the eheim I detach it from the double tabs and then clean the lily pipe with a long thin brush. You can also can the tubing from the other end with the same brush.


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## evil8 (Aug 7, 2018)

I have a two sets of Jardi glass. One regular and one "nano". Neither has the surface skimmer. I do have a set of stainless steel with the skimmer though and all of them were purchased off Amazon. I've had that first set of regular glass pipes since Christmas (a gift from my gf) and have cleaned them several times without issue. The nano pipes are less than a month old and not dirty yet. The stainless steel pipes are nice, but the skimmer does occasionally suck in some air when the tank level gets lower from evaporation.


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## Molacon (Jul 28, 2019)

The glass fixtures do look really nice, but I have been worried about the breakage risk as well. Cutting yourself and/or having broken glass in your aquarium plus having to replace the fixture is not particularly desirable. I just got the OASE 600 for my 75g that I am re-doing, and I'm really happy with the performance so far. The standard plastic fixtures are not eyesores at the present. We'll see if that remains true once I get some serious plant growth. Right now I just have a lonely clump of wisteria from the old set up.


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## PurdueGK (May 16, 2015)

Thanks for all of your replies. I am considering going with stainless steel pipes. I feel that if I go with clear glass lily pipes then I go with a Eheim skimmer, then I’m not really gaining anything.


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## harris611 (Sep 5, 2018)

*Glass vs steel*

I had the same thought as you and went with stainless steel outflow and skimmer inflow. I feel like if you had those really expensive ADA canisters to match I might like it, but it really dominated the tank aesthetically. I have a 24" rimless cube, so maybe it was worse because of the tight length, but I hated how it looked. So I switched to Jardli glass and love it. So much nicer looking and does not demand my attention when trying to visually take in the whole scape. 

Good luck either way!


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## varanidguy (Sep 8, 2017)

All the stories of glass pipes breaking and causing cuts is exactly why I went with stainless steel. Also Jardli.


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## harris611 (Sep 5, 2018)

I will say, even tho I didn't love the look of the steel on my tank, there are certainly some advantages. I have already had to clean my glass pipes a couple times as it cycled. Once for gunk, once for algae build up because light gets in, obviously. They are certainly more of a hassle than the steel pipes. Unless you really like the look of the glass pipes better, steel will be much easier to maintain.


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## mgeorges (Feb 1, 2017)

I've been using JARDLI glass intake+skimmer on two of my tanks, plus their lily pipe outlet. I've actually been fairly rough with them on a few occasions, unintentionally of course, and the intakes have all survived. I did break an outlet once, but it was completely my fault. Dropped it, caught it with my foot before it hit the ground, thought it was fine until it gently tapped on something and shattered at the U. So...don't drop your pipes...lol. Otherwise, with some tuning, the JARDLI intake+skimmer works wonderfully and I highly recommend it and their outlet pipes. I ran an Eheim surface skimmer before switching to this method on my display tanks. It just means you'll likely need to maintain your canister a little more frequently to remove plant matter. 

I've never used SS pipes, but I prefer the aesthetic of glass. It's really what you personally find more appealing.


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## PurdueGK (May 16, 2015)

Thanks for the replies. I am leaning towards glass. If I absolutely have a tough time with breaking the glass, I may go to stainless in the future. I am leaning towards the dymax or the Jarldi


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## cl3537 (Jan 28, 2019)

Buy cheap ones on AliExpress and buy a backup. I don't see them as more/less durable than the expensive ones. Its not a matter of if they will break its a matter of when.

My tank is small 17g so I don't want to use the glass surface skimmer version, I have a smaller acrylic one for the inlet also available on aliexpress.

In my opinion, the risk isn't of it breaking in your tank its when you are removing the tubing or cleaning it with a wire brush and that should happen out of the tank.


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## PurdueGK (May 16, 2015)

cl3537 said:


> Buy cheap ones on AliExpress and buy a backup. I don't see them as more/less durable than the expensive ones. Its not a matter of if they will break its a matter of when.
> 
> My tank is small 17g so I don't want to use the glass surface skimmer version, I have a smaller acrylic one for the inlet also available on aliexpress.
> 
> In my opinion, the risk isn't of it breaking in your tank its when you are removing the tubing or cleaning it with a wire brush and that should happen out of the tank.


10-4. 
That makes the most sense. I will purchase a set of the jarldi and see how it goes. If I am somewhat impressed I will purchase another set. 

Thanks everyone! Really nice group of people on this forum.


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