# What the heck is a Lily Pipe?



## cblwry

Happy New Year everyone! Here's the first dumb question of the new year. What the heck is a Lily Pipe and how do you use it? It looks like it is something for a canister filter. I have a large piece of driftwood in my 20g high and the current is not as good as I would like. I was thinking about trying to find a way to put the outflow of my canister at the end of the tank instead of on the back to increase the flow. Would these work?? Or do you have other ideas? (short of taking out the driftwood). :icon_conf


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## jkan0228

A lily pipe doest increase your flow. In order to increase your flow you would need a whole new canister. Or a Powerhead. But placing the outflow blowing toward the length ofthe tank is best to get the most flow out of your filter. A lily pipe is a glass or acrylic pipe used for inflow and outflow on a canister filter.


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## fusiongt

A quick youtube video will show it in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVyQyPngkqU

Basically the lily pipe is ADA's glass (also metal) inflow and outflow for a canister filter. It comes in different sizes and styles. There is the standard ADA lily pipe which is like the original then there are ADA's other brand "Do! Aqua" that has other variations. If you're into the ADA style these are great additions to it. They market the lily pipe and their tanks as basically saying that anything other than the fish/plants are distractions and so the clear glass lily pipes and rimless tanks are trying to make it minimal so the focus is on the tank itself. But of course we see the glass pipes and they are cool in itself so are a good addition.

Your idea would work but I think ADA has some layouts on where to put the pipe and one would be to have it on the front left and the intake would be in the back left.


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## Higher Thinking




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## kevmo911

Folks with lily pipes, please correct me if I'm wrong. But my understanding is that running lily pipes serves the same purpose as having an ADA tank - because they're pretty.

A lily pipe will redirect your outflow towards wherever you aim it. It won't increase or decrease it.

If you want to aim your flow somewhere else, move your spraybar. Or make your own with Home Depot tubing (or garden hose - not that I've EVER done anything like that) and PVC. Increase the diameter of the holes in the spraybar to decrease the current. Or decrease them to increase current.

And you can always add a powerhead, with or without a spraybar, to send current elsewhere.


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## Centromochlus

They're mainly for aesthetics, but they also redirect the water flow really nicely. Before i got my lily pipes i couldn't have my eheim 2217 on full blast on my 60-P, but with the lily pipes i can and it seems to create the perfect amount of water current while maximizing the water turnover rate.


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## jkan0228

It's like a koralia, doesn't give you as much jetstream flow.


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## fusiongt

jkan0228 said:


> It's like a koralia, doesn't give you as much jetstream flow.


That's true for the original ada lily pipe, but there's a one (I think do aqua but could be ada) that shoots the water out like a cannon:


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## samamorgan

fusiongt said:


> That's true for the original ada lily pipe, but there's a one (I think do aqua but could be ada) that shoots the water out like a cannon:


I believe that one is more for the mini tanks, not nearly as much flow rate going through them


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## Centromochlus

To my knowledge the only pipes made by ADA that are intended to "shoot water out like a canon" are the metal ones. The smaller glass ones without the rim are intended for nano tanks.


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## cblwry

Thanks for all the info guys. This really helps. I felt like a dummy asking but now I have a better understanding. I don't have a technical bone in my body but I do love my tanks. Now it looks like I will be doing a little reconfiguring to my tank. I just don't feel like the current is strong enough especially with a big piece of driftwood in the middle. Moving the outflow around might help before I invest in a powerhead.


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## leaa

To my understanding (disclaimer, never owned one but read reviews), the wider diameter outlet helps to widen the angle that water is returned to the tank, so increasing the flow around the tank and making it gentler at the same time. So like a wide cone vs a small tube outlet, a cone will deliver flow and circulation to more of the tank in a gentler fashion than the same force as a small diameter piece of tube, which would force water out a narrow hole and create a large force at that area.

And of course, aesthetics .


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## cblwry

That makes sense. I might want to look into getting some in the future. Maybe I can ask for some for my birthday. Of course a nice new fancy lily pipe might look strange on my old tank...but you never know.


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## samamorgan

You can get knock offs from eBay for about 40 bucks shipped, or I'm sure you can find a supplier on the seller forums here. I came see spending 100 bucks from ADA for a couple small pieces of glass.


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## jkan0228

Or you can get acrylic ones from theshrimplab.com, they aren't AS clear as glass but pretty much the same. And they don't break that easy


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## bruinhd

I have a hob filter and it disrupts my ADA soil because it directs water more or less with a strong stream. I am switching to canister and I hope it is less disruptive because I can manipulate the angle of the outflow. So I can see where amano originally saw the need for lily outlets.


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## sundragon

The $40 on Ebay work really well - They shipped one broken and when I notified them with a pic, they got the replacement to be ASAP. I'm a brute and they haven't broken on me. For the price I bought two sets, incase I break one.


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## Ssath003

Hi folks, I believe the lily pipes are designed to encourage surface agitation. They create a little vortex in front of the mouth than encourages surface oxygen to mix with the water. This is particularly useful for CO2 injected tanks where extra oxygen is need in the water to keep the fish happy. Heaps of videos on this on YouTube.


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## MCFC

Brought back from the dead. Nice first post! 

Also - How does this thread have 27,000+ views??


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## houseofcards

MCFC said:


> Brought back from the dead. Nice first post!
> 
> Also - How does this thread have 27,000+ views??


Views add up over 6 years. :surprise:


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## Ssath003

houseofcards said:


> Views add up over 6 years. :surprise:


For sure. 
This was the first page that popped up in my search, so I thought i'd add some info for others...


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## MCFC

houseofcards said:


> Views add up over 6 years. :surprise:


But 27,000+ for "What the heck is a Lily Pipe"???? That's insanity!!


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## houseofcards

MCFC said:


> But 27,000+ for "What the heck is a Lily Pipe"???? That's insanity!!


I know it sounds crazy, but in 2012 the Lily Pipe wasn't as common place as it is today. You figure it's 6 years or 2190 days. so 27,000 / 2190 = 12.3 views per day. I guess that sounds plausible.


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## dukydaf

Page views = advertising money
Now this thread can begin its cycle of gathering 2000 views per year again


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