What is it that you hate most about the hobby??

[melthazor]

wah how did you guys break your lily pipe? i often hear lily pipes breaking from cleaning...

[tetrakid]

changing tanks so often is very heavy on the wallet

i intended to use it to cultivate emersed plants. but somebody threw it away for me..

When one, especially the non-aquatic member of the family, thinks about the devastating water leakage experience, he/she will never entertain the thought of having an aquarium. A bad experience such as a lot of damaged wooden furniture, appliances, personal belongings, books, etc will be difficult to ignore. Thus this is why it is so important to AVOID a tank leak at all costs. Even if it is expensive, it is part and parcel of this hobby. More peace of mind will come with a new tank rather than an old tank. Leaks are only a matter of time.

I agree that an old tank is excellent for keeping hamsters. After keeping hamsters for some time, I changed to keep hamsters in a new tank rather than use hamster cages, because it is so much easier to maintain. and keep clean. When the initial novelty wears off, it is important that maintenance is easy to tackle.

[bennyc]

wah how did you guys break your lily pipe? i often hear lily pipes breaking from cleaning...

Hahah I can be very creative in breaking them. You can break them while cleaning, fixing to the hose, Dropping them while walking from tank to toilet, shift rocks or deco knocking into the lily pipe. I can go on but my fingers are tired.

[tetrakid]

Hahah I can be very creative in breaking them. You can break them while cleaning, fixing to the hose, Dropping them while walking from tank to toilet, shift rocks or deco knocking into the lily pipe. I can go on but my fingers are tired.

Always buy two sets of Lily Pipes. Reason: they are made of glass.

[melthazor]

I hate to sweep up clear class...you cant really see...

[tetrakid]

I hate to sweep up clear class...you cant really see...

Yes, if glass is dropped, make sure to sweep the whole floor area because small bits of it can be flung very far away during the drop impact.

[bennyc]

I hate to sweep up clear class...you cant really see...

so far they break rather "clean" into 2 to 3 piece. Rarely shattered into many pieces. Maybe due to the composition of the glass. I would be happy if it was in the tank. Imagine if it was to shatter into so many pieces inside the tank. Then I will say good luck, mei mei.

[bennyc]

Always buy two sets of Lily Pipes. Reason: they are made of glass.

I have 2 sets. I think a 3rd set is in order due to my clumsy fingers. Hahaha

[qngwn]

No more glass pipes for me.. Moved on to stainless steel pipes..

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[Urban Aquaria]

I broke many glass pipes when i first started using them 2+ years ago (luckily i bought the cheapo ones to practice on)... but once i "mastered" the art of handling glassware though repeated cleaning sessions (ie. don't rush disconnecting them, don't balance them precariously on edges of sinks, use a plastic cutlery tray to carry them around, ensure lots of working space when cleaning them etc), i've not broken anymore since.

Getting better quality glassware with thicker glass helps too.

[bennyc]

I broke many glass pipes when i first started using them 2+ years ago (luckily i bought the cheapo ones to practice on)... but once i "mastered" the art of handling glassware though repeated cleaning sessions (ie. don't rush disconnecting them, don't balance them precariously on edges of sinks, use a plastic cutlery tray to carry them around, ensure lots of working space when cleaning them etc), i've not broken anymore since.

Getting better quality glassware with thicker glass helps too.

Urban, you seems to be answering to my post. hahaa
So in your experience which are the better ones?

[Urban Aquaria]

Urban, you seems to be answering to my post. hahaa
So in your experience which are the better ones?

So far, i've been using the gUSH and VIV ones for more than a year and no breakages yet.

The thicker and more uniform the glass the better... some of the cheaper generic ones i previously ordered online had relatively thin glass walls and inconsistent wall thickness, they would break even when i just do simple cleaning with a soft pipe brush (always at the sections with the thinnest glass), so even if one was very careful, the lower quality pipes will still have a much higher chance of breaking.

Its definitely worth physically checking each glass lily pipe closely to make sure it has thick and uniform glass walls, they are all handmade items so even within the same brand and batch of glassware i still find differences in the individual pieces. Avoid pieces which have uneven glass texture or hairline stress cracks, only get the best ones from the batch on display.

I guess that's one of the pitfalls when ordering glassware online, you cannot inspect it beforehand so its all about luck that you get a good one.

[bennyc]

So far, i've been using the gUSH and VIV ones for more than a year and no breakages yet.

The thicker and more uniform the glass the better... some of the cheaper generic ones i previously ordered online had relatively thin glass walls and inconsistent wall thickness, they would break even when i just do simple cleaning with a soft pipe brush (always at the sections with the thinnest glass), so even if one was very careful, the lower quality pipes will still have a much higher chance of breaking.

Its definitely worth physically checking each glass lily pipe closely to make sure it has thick and uniform glass walls, they are all handmade items so even within the same brand and batch of glassware i still find differences in the individual pieces. Avoid pieces which have uneven glass texture or hairline stress cracks, only get the best ones from the batch on display.

I guess that's one of the pitfalls when ordering glassware online, you cannot inspect it beforehand so its all about luck that you get a good one.

Thats valuable infomation! I shall scruntise my next set until the LFS boss chase me out. hahaha.

[tetrakid]

So far, i've been using the gUSH and VIV ones for more than a year and no breakages yet.

The thicker and more uniform the glass the better... some of the cheaper generic ones i previously ordered online had relatively thin glass walls and inconsistent wall thickness, they would break even when i just do simple cleaning with a soft pipe brush (always at the sections with the thinnest glass), so even if one was very careful, the lower quality pipes will still have a much higher chance of breaking....

Yes, the thickness of the glass is very important. I remember I once dropped a huge glass water jug on the floor while handling it at a Tang department store. To my pleasant surprise, it didn't break, as luckily for me, the glass was quite thick. There were only two of those big jugs left, so I was very lucky as I had wanted to buy two of them, since that size jugs are very very hard to find anywhere. It helped solve my problem of having enough boiled but cooled drinking water all the time. I notice many people neglect drinking enough water as a bad habit and in the long term risk creating serious health problems for themselves. Sorry for the digress....

[qngwn]

Thickness of the glass affects the strength of the glass by a large amount.

Coking back on track, I don't like to see the glass of my aquarium tank warping. Thus I usually go for thicker glass walls. Same reason and same concept. Every single millimeter counts when it comes to thickness..

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[Ingen]

I hate it when one tank is never enough...
I hate it when tubs of branded plant tissues culture "vanished" from the tank after planting it two days ago...
I hate it when a cute little snail from months ago became a colony of thousands...
I hate it when fishes decided to take a "walk" outside water
I hate it when the clear hose turn brownish within a week when those in the youtube video are always clear!
I hate it when I spent days surfing tao bao and grabbing cheap deals that are now packed nicely in my storeroom...

I will hate it more if I do not have a tank at home to drown my hatred on lol

[bennyc]

I will hate it more if I do not have a tank at home to drown my hatred on lol

Ingen, I totally agree with you on the last line. Looking back, it seems like i am finding "extra" job for myself to do. But i would super miss not having a planted tank if i ever decom and give up. Life will be very empty. hahaha

[Ingen]

it seems like i am finding "extra" job for myself to do.

That's the line my wife likes to remind me of hahah.

[melthazor]

Ingen, I totally agree with you on the last line. Looking back, it seems like i am finding "extra" job for myself to do. But i would super miss not having a planted tank if i ever decom and give up. Life will be very empty. hahaha

You know when I was younger I have always loved fish keeping. My dad was an amazing man...he bought me fish tanks and fish and all sorts of pets. My mom was the "anti-christ" when it came to animals in the house. Haha! When I was older I started buying fish tanks and keeping fish in my room, even bred fighting fish which my mom happily killed all my fries by forgetting to feed them when I was away at a school camp. Heck I even tried my hand at marine fishes for a while, until I made a bad move to shift the tank from my room to the porch downstairs (couldn't stand the sticky parquet floor in my room from salt water evaporation)...I forgot to put an airline in for the marine livestock waiting in a pail. Setup everything and walked over to discover a pail full of dead livestock. Wah that was my ultimate low man! So I got fed up and got rid of everything. Never had another tank until I got married and moved into my new place...then the fish keeping bug bit me again...miss the sound of water splashing from the rain bar of a canister filter. So I literally begged my husband to let me keep a simple 2 ft tank of gold fishes...haha! And after that, more and more tanks started coming in the house without his permission! Quite like the Trojan war, my Trojan horse took the form of an innocent, harmless and simple 2ft goldfish setup...which eventually led to the influx of tanks in the house. He must have felt like this , now I think he is immune already.

so far they break rather "clean" into 2 to 3 piece. Rarely shattered into many pieces. Maybe due to the composition of the glass. I would be happy if it was in the tank. Imagine if it was to shatter into so many pieces inside the tank. Then I will say good luck, mei mei.

Haha that sentence is funny "Then I will say good luck, mei mei." And if a lily pipe ever breaks in my tank...one that I spent time planting the plants and all...I'll just turn off all the power running the tank, crawl into bed and cry!

So far, i've been using the gUSH and VIV ones for more than a year and no breakages yet.

The thicker and more uniform the glass the better... some of the cheaper generic ones i previously ordered online had relatively thin glass walls and inconsistent wall thickness, they would break even when i just do simple cleaning with a soft pipe brush (always at the sections with the thinnest glass), so even if one was very careful, the lower quality pipes will still have a much higher chance of breaking.

Its definitely worth physically checking each glass lily pipe closely to make sure it has thick and uniform glass walls, they are all handmade items so even within the same brand and batch of glassware i still find differences in the individual pieces. Avoid pieces which have uneven glass texture or hairline stress cracks, only get the best ones from the batch on display.

I guess that's one of the pitfalls when ordering glassware online, you cannot inspect it beforehand so its all about luck that you get a good one.

I agree with selecting quality. And never be tempted to buy the ones off ebay. I actually have a set I got for my 18" cube, the quality is bad! The inlet cuts are jagged and the flow area seems to have either a kink in it or a manufacturing defect. Luckily for me, when I ordered it off ebay it never reached me after a month so I asked for a refund. And after getting the refund, the item only came 2 months later.

I hate it when one tank is never enough...
I hate it when tubs of branded plant tissues culture "vanished" from the tank after planting it two days ago...
I hate it when a cute little snail from months ago became a colony of thousands...
I hate it when fishes decided to take a "walk" outside water
I hate it when the clear hose turn brownish within a week when those in the youtube video are always clear!
I hate it when I spent days surfing tao bao and grabbing cheap deals that are now packed nicely in my storeroom...
I will hate it more if I do not have a tank at home to drown my hatred on lol

That's my nano now...a growing population of cute tiny snails...which first started with one...then two...then....

I tell you...there is definitely an aquarium "syndicate" on youtube...hahaha...clean tubes clean tanks...like nothing ever bad happens to their tanks...

Eh...I'm quite a hoarder for aquarium equipment and parts too. I have them stored under my living room table that has a skirting (I actually put the skirting on the table so i can hoard stuff under it), some in the already over crowded storeroom and under my 3ft tank stand.

That's the line my wife likes to remind me of hahah.

Total opposite...this is what my husband says to me...and funny I have never seen a guy not into aquariums! Even my eldest brother and the brother before me used to keep fishes. Imagine if I married a man who was into aquariums, we would convert one of the extra rooms into a fish room! Imagine rows of custom made stands and tanks after tanks of plants, fish and heck even shrimps! Too bad...I married a teacher! Haha!

[tetrakid]

I tell you...there is definitely an aquarium "syndicate" on youtube...hahaha...clean tubes clean tanks...like nothing ever bad happens to their tanks...

Eh...I'm quite a hoarder for aquarium equipment and parts too. I have them stored under my living room table that has a skirting (I actually put the skirting on the table so i can hoard stuff under it), some in the already over crowded storeroom and under my 3ft tank stand......

The worst that can happen is a leaking tank, especialy 3ft or bigger, next to fish dying, of course. Those who have not experienced a leaking fish tank will never understand.

But all in all, fish-keeping can definitely build character, apart from the indescribable joy that the hobby can bring.