# DIY Acrylic Lily pipes, Drop checkers, etc - Pic Heavy



## onefang

I want to preface this post by stating that this is not an advertisement for custom pipe sales. Nor is it in any way intended to get PMs for custom work or sales in any way. This is purely for the informational value, and to help others who'd like to give this a shot.

Just wanted to share some of the lily pipes, drop checkers, etc, that I've made. 
I had a video up here a while ago that was a basic walkthrough on how to bend acrylic tubing, but it somehow got deleted. If anyone is still interested in a brief walkthrough on bending acrylic tubing, for making lily pipes, filter hardlines, drop checkers, etc, let me know and I'll do another short video on the matter.

The basic process is mostly a matter of heat control and patience. I've tried fillers from sand, flour, to silicone tubing, and nothing seems to get quite the same results as bending the tube freehand.

I use a 1500watt heatgun that I've modified to sit pointing straight up(like a burner), and bend most of my tubing(6mm, 10mm, 13mm) on it's low setting. Heating about a two inch portion of tubing at a time, I make very minute bends, using my fingers to keep the hot tubing in shape.

For the lily cups, I get the end of the tubing hot and pliable, and then seal it off by pinching it with pliers.
I then heat a 2" section just behind the sealed end. Once very pliable, I blow a bubble in the tubing, and hold pressure until the tubing is cooled. I then cut the bubble diagonally in a hobby miter block, with a very fine toothed razor saw.

Here is some of the things I've made(for myself, and for others):

13mm Lily Pipe









10mm Hang-On-Tank Lily Pipe









13mm Clear Eheim replacements









10mm ADA style nano pipes









Hang-On-Tank Drop Checker









Another H-O-T DC, curved to match the ada style nano pipes









10mm nano pipes, in use on buddy Zeldar's tank:









Crazy 10mm pipe set I made for dxiong5, upturned intake so filter sponge will stay in place
(a design originally devised by msnikkistar)









Aimable spraybar in 13mm for 7.5g cube that I made for beedee









Another aimable spraybar in 13mm for standard 10g, also made for beedee









That's about all the pics I have right now. If anyone has any questions, I would be more than happy to answer!

-Paul


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## doubleott05

pretty cool man


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## jeremy1

Very nice work. Where do you get the tubing from?


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## onefang

I get all my tubing from a place locally, called multicraft plastics. You can get the same stuff from TAP plastics online though.



jeremy1 said:


> Very nice work. Where do you get the tubing from?


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## doubleott05

oh you should make the how to video so we can all give it a go

Thanks
Elliot


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## wabisabi

Yes. Video please!


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## onefang

wabisabi said:


> Yes. Video please!


Ok. I will record a new vid. It might be a day or two, but I'll throw something together for ya.


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## niko

NICE!

I'm paranoid about leaks and although I have no reasons to think that ADA's glassware can suddenly bust into pieces the prospect of having a filter shoot water out of a busted glass outtake makes me stay away from anything glass.

For a long time now I thought that ADA style outtakes would be perfect if made of acrylic. 

You have done it! And without any air bubbles or weird look.

Nice!

Now, do you know if your lily pipe makes the vortex (sucking stuff from the surface when positioned just right)? And Does it increase the flow because of the shape of the "bulb" like ADA's does?

--Nikolay


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## onefang

niko said:


> Now, do you know if your lily pipe makes the vortex (sucking stuff from the surface when positioned just right)? And Does it increase the flow because of the shape of the "bulb" like ADA's does?
> 
> --Nikolay


I haven't tested the them very thoroughly. I am going to make intakes for both of the lily cuped pipes, and have someone test them out for me.


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## demonr6

I am going to have to get some pics of my tank with the pipes you made me so you can show em.  I love those pipes I got from you, great work. Video, walk through and divine intervention could not help me make them as nice as yours. I prefer to leave this kind of thing to the guys that can do it. I would inevitably burn holes in the carpet or worse the house burns down because the heat gun falls on the carpet catching it on fire and then the whole house is in flames. I don't think I can explain that off to my wife as easy as my ruining her vegetable strainer when I separated the soil for my tank. Matter of fact I am still in the doghouse for that stunt.

Before..










After..

The intake is hidden on the left, outlet is in the middle in this pic and you can barely see the d/c in the front right.










I moved it to the right side this morning as much as I could.


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## onefang

wow.. the DC really is almost invisible.


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## onefang

I made a quick, basic video on bending acrylic tube for you. 
Please don't leave comments on youtube, I will not respond.

If you have questions, please post them here, where we all can learn from them


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## Duckweed Hunter

Vary cool stuff!!! what do you use to cap off you intakes and spray bars ?


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## onefang

I buy acrylic solid stock to match the inner diameter of the tubing, and cut little 1/8" plugs. I then use Weld-On #4 in a blunt hypo needle. It's tricky because the Weld-On takes advantage of the capillary action between the plug and the inside of the tube. You have to get just enough in there to fill the gap, but not too much that it runs down the tube. 
I've used little dome ends to cap them too, but they don't stay stuck quite as well.


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## wabisabi

Great vid. Thank you for taking the time to put that together. I really appreciate it!

I gotta try this out. A glass lily pipe is like a time bomb waiting to happen when you have kids playing in the house. But you just can't beat the aesthetics of a clear lily pipe. 

How did you fabricate the adjustable spraybars?


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## Tex Gal

You have done such nice work. I just watched your video. Is there a way to clean the intakes? Does the bottom come off so that you can get a brush in there? I can picture debris getting caught in the holes.


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## onefang

wabisabi said:


> Great vid. Thank you for taking the time to put that together. I really appreciate it!
> 
> I gotta try this out. A glass lily pipe is like a time bomb waiting to happen when you have kids playing in the house. But you just can't beat the aesthetics of a clear lily pipe.
> 
> How did you fabricate the adjustable spraybars?


No problem! I understand about the kids, I have a 5 year old, and my tank is in the living room 

For the adustable spraybars, I bend the general shape of the spraybar, then I cut the tubing after the last bend that goes into the actual "bar" portion. I then take a small piece of 10 mm tubing and tap it into the connection tube. To get the bar to slip over the new little joint piece I just tapped in, I very lightly heat the end of the bar, and push it over the connection. Then I let everything cool in place. If everything is done right, the bar should be tight enough friction wise, to stay on the connection while still being able to rotate with some effort



> You have done such nice work. I just watched your video. Is there a way to clean the intakes? Does the bottom come off so that you can get a brush in there? I can picture debris getting caught in the holes.


The bottom plug on the intake is glued in place, so there isn't really a way to get a brush in there(unless you have one of the bendy ADA brushes for lily pipes). It usually just takes a bleach dip, thorough rinse, and then a dechlor dip to get them looking like new again.
The advantage to holes, is that anyone could easily adjust the diameter. If I make a set of pipes, and they are clogging excessively, you can just use a hand drill, and whatever diameter drill bit, and the holes wide like butter. I've also made several pipe sets with a certain margin of shrimp safety by drilling a large multitude of very small (1mm or smaller) holes, making a sponge on your intake less necessary.


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## baldy1970

like the spray bar was thinking of something like that for my 55g


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## Chea

Hi, i am new in this forum , staying at selayang, batu cave, n interested in doing a diy co2 inline difuser, anyone can tell where to buy this acrylic tube - 50mm and cap ? Thank you.


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## Zapins

I can't see the first 6 pictures, anyone else see a problem with them too? Youtube link was removed by user as well.

By the way, you can embed a youtube link by typing [ youtube ] Link [ / youtube ] if I remember right.


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## niko

The pix and the video are gone. Bummer, because this was one of the most useful DIY threads I've ever seen. The pipes looked great and avoiding the risk of glassware cracking by using acrylic really made this topic useful.

--Nikolay


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## wi_blue

onefang has a video on youtube for the lilly pipes, though I understand.


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## farrenator

I found the video on the APE (aquatic plant enthusiast) website. It pretty much consisted of a person using a heat gun mounted on a table to heat a rod he was constantly spinning and bending little by little.


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## wi_blue

That's about all there is to it. I wish I could see the drop checker, though.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk


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## tokyo

farrenator said:


> It pretty much consisted of a person using a heat gun mounted on a table to heat a rod he was constantly spinning and bending little by little.


I haven't seen the video, but believe you fill the tube with fine grain sand to prevent the tube from losing it's shape and volume while bending. At least this is the way I have seen it done before in other applications.

This a great DIY. And just in time for a project I have in the works!

Has anyone tried flaring out the end of the tube to imitate the ADA lily pipes? I may have to try just see how it turns out.

Was the drop checker in the missing photos or am I just not seeing it?


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## farrenator

filling the tube with sand or something is a good idea. As far as the flaring, from what I remember in the video, he heated one end, piched it **** with some pliers and then blew into it to create a bubble. Then he cut part of the bubble away to creat the flared end.



tokyo said:


> I haven't seen the video, but believe you fill the tube with fine grain sand to prevent the tube from losing it's shape and volume while bending. At least this is the way I have seen it done before in other applications.
> 
> This a great DIY. And just in time for a project I have in the works!
> 
> Has anyone tried flaring out the end of the tube to imitate the ADA lily pipes? I may have to try just see how it turns out.
> 
> Was the drop checker in the missing photos or am I just not seeing it?


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## Bchabot

onefang said:


> I want to preface this post by stating that this is not an advertisement for custom pipe sales. Nor is it in any way intended to get PMs for custom work or sales in any way. This is purely for the informational value, and to help others who'd like to give this a shot.
> 
> Just wanted to share some of the lily pipes, drop checkers, etc, that I've made.
> I had a video up here a while ago that was a basic walkthrough on how to bend acrylic tubing, but it somehow got deleted. If anyone is still interested in a brief walkthrough on bending acrylic tubing, for making lily pipes, filter hardlines, drop checkers, etc, let me know and I'll do another short video on the matter.
> 
> The basic process is mostly a matter of heat control and patience. I've tried fillers from sand, flour, to silicone tubing, and nothing seems to get quite the same results as bending the tube freehand.
> 
> I use a 1500watt heatgun that I've modified to sit pointing straight up(like a burner), and bend most of my tubing(6mm, 10mm, 13mm) on it's low setting. Heating about a two inch portion of tubing at a time, I make very minute bends, using my fingers to keep the hot tubing in shape.
> 
> For the lily cups, I get the end of the tubing hot and pliable, and then seal it off by pinching it with pliers.
> I then heat a 2" section just behind the sealed end. Once very pliable, I blow a bubble in the tubing, and hold pressure until the tubing is cooled. I then cut the bubble diagonally in a hobby miter block, with a very fine toothed razor saw.
> 
> Here is some of the things I've made(for myself, and for others):
> 
> 13mm Lily Pipe
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 10mm Hang-On-Tank Lily Pipe
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 13mm Clear Eheim replacements
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 10mm ADA style nano pipes
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hang-On-Tank Drop Checker
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another H-O-T DC, curved to match the ada style nano pipes
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 10mm nano pipes, in use on buddy Zeldar's tank:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Crazy 10mm pipe set I made for dxiong5, upturned intake so filter sponge will stay in place
> (a design originally devised by msnikkistar)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Aimable spraybar in 13mm for 7.5g cube that I made for beedee
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another aimable spraybar in 13mm for standard 10g, also made for beedee
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's about all the pics I have right now. If anyone has any questions, I would be more than happy to answer!
> 
> -Paul


These are absolutely fantastic. I tried looking up the youtube post but it seems like it is no longer available. Could you please message me when you have a chance. I have a few questions.

B.


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## Basic

Can you post another picture of the DC. I can't see it


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