Dip tube?

[OldTownSta]

Any suggestions on where I could find old-fashioned dip tubes for sale? Usual
suspects (Foster & Smith, Big Als, etc) don't seem to have them, & I haven't
seen them in LFSs. Seems to me these would be ideal for daily pl*co-poop
patrol without having to hook up python or air pump vacuum.

TIA! -- Jim

[RedForeman ©®]

|| Any suggestions on where I could find old-fashioned dip tubes for
|| sale? Usual suspects (Foster & Smith, Big Als, etc) don't seem to
|| have them, & I haven't seen them in LFSs. Seems to me these would
|| be ideal for daily pl*co-poop patrol without having to hook up
|| python or air pump vacuum.
||
|| TIA! -- Jim

What's a dip tube? a gravel vac? a python? if so, why not just a bucket and
a vacuum?? If not, I'm lost on what you mean by dip tube...

--
RedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike
streetfighter!!! ==========================
2003 TRX450ES
1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
'98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
==========================
ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø


is that better??

[Ben]

RedForeman ©® wrote:
> || Any suggestions on where I could find old-fashioned dip tubes for
> || sale? Usual suspects (Foster & Smith, Big Als, etc) don't seem to
> || have them, & I haven't seen them in LFSs. Seems to me these would
> || be ideal for daily pl*co-poop patrol without having to hook up
> || python or air pump vacuum.
> ||
> || TIA! -- Jim
>
> What's a dip tube? a gravel vac? a python? if so, why not just a bucket and
> a vacuum?? If not, I'm lost on what you mean by dip tube...

I think what he means is an object that looks like a gravel vac but
instead of taking the water out, it goes in a filter bag trapping the
debris and letting the water through back into the tank.

Assuming this is what he means, I found this and more like it when I
searhed for Vacuum at Big Al's.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19093;category_id=2937

-Ben

[NetMax]

"OldTownSta" > wrote in message
...
> Any suggestions on where I could find old-fashioned dip tubes for sale?
Usual
> suspects (Foster & Smith, Big Als, etc) don't seem to have them, & I
haven't
> seen them in LFSs. Seems to me these would be ideal for daily
pl*co-poop
> patrol without having to hook up python or air pump vacuum.
>
> TIA! -- Jim

Might sound stupid, but how about a turkey baster? Just remember not to
use it for turkey after ;~)
--
www.NetMax.tk

[RedForeman ©®]

||||| Any suggestions on where I could find old-fashioned dip tubes for
||||| sale? Usual suspects (Foster & Smith, Big Als, etc) don't seem to
||||| have them, & I haven't seen them in LFSs. Seems to me these would
||||| be ideal for daily pl*co-poop patrol without having to hook up
||||| python or air pump vacuum.
|||||
||||| TIA! -- Jim
|||
||| What's a dip tube? a gravel vac? a python? if so, why not just a
||| bucket and a vacuum?? If not, I'm lost on what you mean by dip
||| tube...
||
|| I think what he means is an object that looks like a gravel vac but
|| instead of taking the water out, it goes in a filter bag trapping the
|| debris and letting the water through back into the tank.
||
|| Assuming this is what he means, I found this and more like it when I
|| searhed for Vacuum at Big Al's.
||
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19093;category_id=2937
||
|| -Ben

Ahhh... Nice... I like it... Makes sense....and only $5.. it's a steal...

--
RedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike
streetfighter!!! ==========================
2003 TRX450ES
1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
'98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
==========================
ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø


is that better??

[Gail Futoran]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
...
> "OldTownSta" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Any suggestions on where I could find old-fashioned dip
tubes for sale?
> Usual
> > suspects (Foster & Smith, Big Als, etc) don't seem to
have them, & I
> haven't
> > seen them in LFSs. Seems to me these would be ideal for
daily
> pl*co-poop
> > patrol without having to hook up python or air pump
vacuum.
> >
> > TIA! -- Jim
>
> Might sound stupid, but how about a turkey baster? Just
remember not to
> use it for turkey after ;~)
> --
> www.NetMax.tk

I'll second NetMax's suggestion. I have two
turkey basters, used strictly for the aquariums.
You can find them in different lengths and you
might want to check a kitchen store for one of
the longer ones. They're not really long just a
few inches longer than the common basters.

Gail

[Dick]

On 12 May 2004 16:37:59 GMT, (OldTownSta) wrote:

>Any suggestions on where I could find old-fashioned dip tubes for sale? Usual
>suspects (Foster & Smith, Big Als, etc) don't seem to have them, & I haven't
>seen them in LFSs. Seems to me these would be ideal for daily pl*co-poop
>patrol without having to hook up python or air pump vacuum.
>
>TIA! -- Jim

I am constantly amazed at the need to remove solids from the bottom.
I have 5 tanks ranging from 10 gallons to 75. I never see solids on
the bottom. I would probably want to remove such if I saw them, but
the fish waste just stay on the bottom.

I have a 10 gallon quarantine tank that has no gravel. When I first
started the tank, crap collected and I syphoned. Once it was cycling,
no more crap on the bottom to syphon.

I remember dip tubes. Haven't seen any since I got back into having
fish 18 months ago.

Is it possible you are over feeding? I just can't understand having
solid waste on the gravel. Is your water moving. Power filters keep
the water churning or air bubblers. I have a thing about moving water
in my tanks.

[Ali Day]

> I am constantly amazed at the need to remove solids from the bottom.
> I have 5 tanks ranging from 10 gallons to 75. I never see solids on
> the bottom. I would probably want to remove such if I saw them, but
> the fish waste just stay on the bottom.
>
> I have a 10 gallon quarantine tank that has no gravel. When I first
> started the tank, crap collected and I syphoned. Once it was cycling,
> no more crap on the bottom to syphon.
>
> I remember dip tubes. Haven't seen any since I got back into having
> fish 18 months ago.
>
> Is it possible you are over feeding?

Are you feeding your fish? ;)

I have just gone upto a 640L tank 120g?? With a few discus and couple of
plec's being the dirtiest in the tank. Now this tank has been going a week
or so, nice sand that the loaches love, and already the bottom of the tank
is getting covered in crap. In the old tank, I hoovered every two weeks
with water changes, but they're like babies only good for eating and messing
up my tank.
I got used to it a couple of years back, but if you have some way I can keep
it clear, I'd appreciate it.

Three power jets keep the water moving, one is used for CO2 injection
though, I did have an eheim wet and dry in the old tank, but I'm waiting to
see how the Rena XP3 settles in.

Advice would be good.

cheers

A

[NetMax]

"Ali Day" > wrote in message
...
> > I am constantly amazed at the need to remove solids from the bottom.
> > I have 5 tanks ranging from 10 gallons to 75. I never see solids on
> > the bottom. I would probably want to remove such if I saw them, but
> > the fish waste just stay on the bottom.
> >
> > I have a 10 gallon quarantine tank that has no gravel. When I first
> > started the tank, crap collected and I syphoned. Once it was
cycling,
> > no more crap on the bottom to syphon.
> >
> > I remember dip tubes. Haven't seen any since I got back into having
> > fish 18 months ago.
> >
> > Is it possible you are over feeding?
>
> Are you feeding your fish? ;)
>
> I have just gone upto a 640L tank 120g?? With a few discus and couple
of
> plec's being the dirtiest in the tank. Now this tank has been going a
week
> or so, nice sand that the loaches love, and already the bottom of the
tank
> is getting covered in crap. In the old tank, I hoovered every two
weeks
> with water changes, but they're like babies only good for eating and
messing
> up my tank.
> I got used to it a couple of years back, but if you have some way I can
keep
> it clear, I'd appreciate it.

Your 640L is 169US gal or 141 imperial gal.

It's a matter of visibility. In a heavily planted tank with coarse
gravel, the detritus disappears until vacuumed, but in a fine sand
bottom, it rolls around. In my last sand substrate tank
http://www.2cah.com/netmax/about/mytanks/120g.jpg , I positioned a
powerfilter and a canister on the right side, forcing the flow across the
top and the back of the tank. This caused a mild but steady flow across
the front bottom of the tank towards the filter intakes which were fairly
deep in the water. The sand was also slightly graded (back to front),
and I had a couple of rocks positioned to also help channel detritus from
anywhere in the tank, to the front glass and then across to the filter
intakes. Worked very well. hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

> Three power jets keep the water moving, one is used for CO2 injection
> though, I did have an eheim wet and dry in the old tank, but I'm
waiting to
> see how the Rena XP3 settles in.
>
> Advice would be good.
>
> cheers
>
> A

[Ali Day]

> It's a matter of visibility. In a heavily planted tank with coarse
> gravel, the detritus disappears until vacuumed, but in a fine sand
> bottom, it rolls around. In my last sand substrate tank
> http://www.2cah.com/netmax/about/mytanks/120g.jpg , I positioned a
> powerfilter and a canister on the right side, forcing the flow across the
> top and the back of the tank. This caused a mild but steady flow across
> the front bottom of the tank towards the filter intakes which were fairly
> deep in the water.

I try and avoid a circulatory effect across the surface because of the CO2,
but have the filter suction in a black-box pre-filter at one end with the
power nozzle of the filter at the other end going towards the suction, at
mid level, and the jet's are at slightly lower level.

There's a fair movement round the tank and that is how I have managed in the
past, because the detritus eddies, forms a small pile and so is easy to
hover up, but I cannot afford too strong a current or I'll stress the
discus.

> The sand was also slightly graded (back to front),

Done already, mainly just because of the substrate the plants are in but it
gives the illusion that the tank is bigger.

Just OT a bit here, but ever seen a tank cycle without cycling? I seeded the
new filter with some old filter material, added some extra bacteria
'biodigest' enough for 3000l and put some 'sacrificial' hardy fish in for a
few days, and the three levels haven't even blipped 0's across the board.
The new house has a water softener built into the supply, so GH is showing
up at 4 and KH is around 17. I can't believe it, I had bought all the test
kits again, and was ready for another couple of months of measuring water,
emergency water changes and the panics of forgetting to check one day and
all the fish are gasping the next, but not a peep. <-----touch wood

Cheers

A

[OldTownSta]

Well, I guess they're no longer made. What a shame.

Turkey baster is close & a good suggestion, guess I'll have to resort to that,
but an old timey diptube would work better.

Some specifics:

"Are you overfeeding"? Maybe yes, maybe no, but food is not the problem.
Three or four 10" long strings of Pleco Poop greeting me on the floor of the
tank each morning is the problem. I try to think of it as a festive sort of
decoration, maybe along the lines of crepe paper streamers for a Fishy Prom in
the gym, but I'm having trouble fooling myself.

"Water circulation" -- 120 gal. tank - have two of the biggest size double
chamber Penguin biowheel filters running, plus moderately vigorous bubble bar
in the back of tank -- pretty good circulation, I think, but that Pleco Poop is
Pretty Persistant.

As to "what is a dip tube" -- long plastic tube with a cylindrical chamber on
the bottom and a funnel shaped intake on the very bottom. Thumb over top end
of tube as it goes into tank; position funnel intake over poop; remove thumb &
water pressure forces waste up a short tube (1/2 cyl. height) into the
cylinder. Let waste settle into bottom of cylinder, lift tube from tank
allowing excess water to drain back into the tank, waste remaining in cylinder,
and you're ready to repeat the process. When done, cylinder comes apart in
half to dump.
Simple, easy; don't have to hook up air pump & wash bag as with Big Al type
vacuum; don't have to hook up to sink, replace removed water, and then mop up
the bathroom where the splizzler blew off the faucet as with Python. A dip tube
should be the perfect implement for 60 second morning Pleco Poop Patrol.

Damn progress, anyway.

Thanks for the tips & suggestions, and if anyone knows where I can find an
honest to god dip tube, Please Advise. -- Jim

[johnhuddleston]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
...
> "OldTownSta" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Any suggestions on where I could find old-fashioned dip tubes for sale?
> Usual
> > suspects (Foster & Smith, Big Als, etc) don't seem to have them, & I
> haven't
> > seen them in LFSs. Seems to me these would be ideal for daily
> pl*co-poop
> > patrol without having to hook up python or air pump vacuum.
> >
> > TIA! -- Jim
>
> Might sound stupid, but how about a turkey baster? Just remember not to
> use it for turkey after ;~)

shhhh! my girlfriend doesn`t know i use it for that.. i rinse it in boiling
water but if she knew... I might be walking funny for a couple of days due
to a turkey baster injury.

[Dick]

On Thu, 13 May 2004 14:35:12 +0200, "Ali Day"
> wrote:

>> I am constantly amazed at the need to remove solids from the bottom.
>> I have 5 tanks ranging from 10 gallons to 75. I never see solids on
>> the bottom. I would probably want to remove such if I saw them, but
>> the fish waste just stay on the bottom.
>>
>> I have a 10 gallon quarantine tank that has no gravel. When I first
>> started the tank, crap collected and I syphoned. Once it was cycling,
>> no more crap on the bottom to syphon.
>>
>> I remember dip tubes. Haven't seen any since I got back into having
>> fish 18 months ago.
>>
>> Is it possible you are over feeding?
>
>Are you feeding your fish? ;)
>
>I have just gone upto a 640L tank 120g?? With a few discus and couple of
>plec's being the dirtiest in the tank. Now this tank has been going a week
>or so, nice sand that the loaches love, and already the bottom of the tank
>is getting covered in crap. In the old tank, I hoovered every two weeks
>with water changes, but they're like babies only good for eating and messing
>up my tank.
>I got used to it a couple of years back, but if you have some way I can keep
>it clear, I'd appreciate it.
>
>Three power jets keep the water moving, one is used for CO2 injection
>though, I did have an eheim wet and dry in the old tank, but I'm waiting to
>see how the Rena XP3 settles in.
>
>Advice would be good.
>
>cheers
>
>A
>

I wish I could give you advice. You are getting lots as it is. I
only have my experience with the 5 tanks and the fish loads and mix
that I have. However, I do have a total of 140 fish and 14 species.
My tanks range from 75 to 10 gallons. Gravel varies from very coarse
to very fine to none. All 3 of the 10 gallon tanks use Whisper Junior
power filters and I change the filters when the flow starts to flow
over the overflow side (if I can't accomplish the same by cleaning the
cartridge, I try that first). I have air bubblers in all but the
quarantine (10 gallon) tank. I feed only Tetra Min Flake food mixed
with algae flakes. All of the tanks are heavy with "low light"
plants. I even keep live plants in the graveless Q tank by attaching
lead weights. I was pleased to find some plants are doing well
without gravel. I do a 20% water change weekly, but the syphon rarely
stays near the bottom and I do not attempt to move it around, I just
stick it in, start the syphon and play solitaire until time to reverse
and fill again.

I am impressed by all of the debris I when I started the Q tank and
how little debris is on the bottom after it cycled. I keep about 10
fish,( mostly mollies), in the tank. One SAE, one large platy, one
small Clown Loach.

[Dick]

On 13 May 2004 17:14:20 GMT, (OldTownSta) wrote:

>Well, I guess they're no longer made. What a shame.
>
>Turkey baster is close & a good suggestion, guess I'll have to resort to that,
>but an old timey diptube would work better.
>
>Some specifics:
>
>"Are you overfeeding"? Maybe yes, maybe no, but food is not the problem.
>Three or four 10" long strings of Pleco Poop greeting me on the floor of the
>tank each morning is the problem. I try to think of it as a festive sort of
>decoration, maybe along the lines of crepe paper streamers for a Fishy Prom in
>the gym, but I'm having trouble fooling myself.
>
>"Water circulation" -- 120 gal. tank - have two of the biggest size double
>chamber Penguin biowheel filters running, plus moderately vigorous bubble bar
>in the back of tank -- pretty good circulation, I think, but that Pleco Poop is
>Pretty Persistant.
>
>As to "what is a dip tube" -- long plastic tube with a cylindrical chamber on
>the bottom and a funnel shaped intake on the very bottom. Thumb over top end
>of tube as it goes into tank; position funnel intake over poop; remove thumb &
>water pressure forces waste up a short tube (1/2 cyl. height) into the
>cylinder. Let waste settle into bottom of cylinder, lift tube from tank
>allowing excess water to drain back into the tank, waste remaining in cylinder,
>and you're ready to repeat the process. When done, cylinder comes apart in
>half to dump.
>Simple, easy; don't have to hook up air pump & wash bag as with Big Al type
>vacuum; don't have to hook up to sink, replace removed water, and then mop up
>the bathroom where the splizzler blew off the faucet as with Python. A dip tube
>should be the perfect implement for 60 second morning Pleco Poop Patrol.
>
>Damn progress, anyway.
>
>Thanks for the tips & suggestions, and if anyone knows where I can find an
>honest to god dip tube, Please Advise. -- Jim


I have 3 four inch plecos in my 75 gallon tank along with 69 other
fish. The plecos eat what they can from the bottom, plants and glass.
I give them no special foods.

Since this thread started I have been more alert for signs of debris.
I was asked if I feed my fish? I do, and the results are 140 fish
that are colorful and active. They seem to be normal lengths. I feel
I need to defend my handling of my fish, but then think I am being
silly. I am glad my tanks are taking care of their contents well
enough that I can spend time looking and not cleaing. My biggest
cleaning problem is small dots of green algae on the glass. I hope I
am not alone in the good fish life.

[NetMax]

"Ali Day" > wrote in message
...
<snip>
> Just OT a bit here, but ever seen a tank cycle without cycling? I
seeded the
> new filter with some old filter material, added some extra bacteria
> 'biodigest' enough for 3000l and put some 'sacrificial' hardy fish in
for a
> few days, and the three levels haven't even blipped 0's across the
board.
> The new house has a water softener built into the supply, so GH is
showing
> up at 4 and KH is around 17. I can't believe it, I had bought all the
test
> kits again, and was ready for another couple of months of measuring
water,
> emergency water changes and the panics of forgetting to check one day
and
> all the fish are gasping the next, but not a peep. <-----touch wood

It might take a week or two for the levels to get high enough to
register. As for cycling without registering ammonia or nitrites,
happens all the time. The levels might be there, but below the threshold
of the test kits. The circumstances for this usually involve lots of
plants and/or seeded filters (which might even have more biological
capacity than needed). Tank 'cycling' (in its tradional PITA form) is
only really needed for the 1st tank in a home. After that, it's just a
matter of cross-seeding or moving mature filters around, and using some
common sense in fish-loading and feeding for the first few months.
--
www.NetMax.tk

> Cheers
>
> A
>
>