Budget Closed Loops ?

[brownsugar]

Was wondering if anyone has even tried a closed loop using rubber tubing instead of hard plumbing ?

It may not seem practical as a maintainance issue but im still curious?

The options of flexible tubing as opposed to hard plumbing seems very appealing ?

Anyone got any examples with pics ?

[Fish'InMN]

I would not use any rubber in a saltwater application, but that is just my experience with rubber bands degrading over time.

Otherwise, there is flexible PVC available in most common sizes, commonly called Spa-Flex. I am not sure whether its available in Australia, hopefully you can find some!

[alizarin]

If you mean flexible when you say rubber - it's pretty common to use flexible home-depot vinyl tubing. I use it for the return on my 40 breeder with a SCWD.

[alizarin]

Actually do an images.google.com search for "SCWD" and you'll see some pictures of tubing in use.

[michaeldaly]

I have been using the clear flexable tubing for the past yeat, just replaced it today with rigid pvc when I installed my new return pump.

I would reccomend against using it.

1. After awhile it looks very ugly with slime inside it.
2. The setup does not look as neat
3. It seems to degrade slightly over time in salt water.
4. You will still have to use bends to go around corners as the tube can not bend very much before it begins to kink.
5. The flexible tubing is actually more expesive than rigid pvc.