Scienceman Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Since I set up my display tank over 12 months ago I have not had any growth in my inlet / outlet tubing. However recently a fine stringy light brown bacteria or algae has built up significantly reducing flow. I have cleaned this out but within 1 month is it is growing back again. How often do others have to clean out the tubing? Is there any variable which can reduce this (pH, buffer conc., light levels etc)? Is there any simple additive (such as salt) which will retard the growth? It is a real pain to clean out the tubing on a monthly basis so I would really appreciate any feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wui39 Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 I've been having the same thing happen to me as well. Generally I find it grows quickest where there is high levels of light, but I also get a bit in the tubing that is in the cabinet. I beleive that it is a mixture of algae and the fish "crap" that has travelled up the tube. Short of cleaning the tubes often, I haven't found a viable solution. Another small thing, it only happens for me in cycled tanks so I assume that I have nitrates being used as food for the growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mianos Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 This does not save the trouble of pulling the tube out but I found that if I swap the tube and put the tube with the algae in my bristle nose breeding tank it's as clean as new in a day or so. Those BN love that brown stuff inside of the tube. Apple snails really like it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 How often do others have to clean out the tubing? As often as needed. Is there any variable which can reduce this (pH, buffer conc., light levels etc)? not that I have seen, though if the tubing is transparent, algae will be more likely to grow. But there is also a bio-like slime that grows in non-tranparent tubing, so it will still need cleaning. Is there any simple additive (such as salt) which will retard the growth? Not one that I would use, and never use often. It is a real pain to clean out the tubing on a monthly basis so I would really appreciate any feedback. Two truths in aquarium keeping; 1) It's an information hobby 2) Aquarium = maintainance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scienceman Posted January 16, 2006 Author Share Posted January 16, 2006 UPDATE: Today, two weeks after cleaning out the tubing on my Eheim Pro, I noticed the flow had dropped off again. Surely it cannot be growing back that fast...... So I removed all of the tubing, flushed it with high pressure from the hose, then soaked it in sodium hypochlorite (bleach) for 3 hours. Washed the bleach away then added some Prime to the bucket to neutralise. Cleaned really well and when hooked back up, full flow recovered. I decided on a chemical treatment, thinking that maybe when I cleaned it last time with a brush, this still left a coating of bacteria on the tube surface which got it started growing again quickly. This time it should all be dead and take a while to re-establish - here's hoping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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