Habitat - Indoor :: FUSTRATED!!!! NEED TO VENT

[squirtles mom]

I COULD JUST SCREAM RIGHT NOW

I'M IN THE PROCESS OF PUTTING MY RENA XP3 TOGETHER AND EITHER I AM VERY WEAK OR I AM DOING SOMETHING WRONG, BUT ATTACHING THAT FLEXIBLE HOSING TO THOSE PIPES IS A PAIN IN THE YOU KNOW WHAT.................


I HAVEN'T FINISHED THE FIRST ONE AND THE THOUGHT OF HAVING TO DO THIS 4 MORE TIMES IS MAKING ME CRAZZZZZY


THANK FOR LETTING ME VENT

[scripta_elegans]

They are really difficult to shove on there, I totally agree. But at least once you do it, you only have to do it maybe once a year or so afterward.

[marisa]

I experienced the same problem when initially setting up the XP3 (and wound up calling Rena for advice).

Squirtles mom, what I did was to get the end of the tubing warm by running it under really warm/hot water to make the plastic more flexible, then push it on to the filter pieces. Do this for each end. You may still have to inch them on by increments, but it should be easier while the tubing is still warm. You don't, btw, have to get the tubing on exactly as far as they say. Use the clips to secure the tubing.

Once I had the tubing on, I never once removed the ends that attached to the part that attached to the canister end. For cleaning, I only removed the ends that were on the intake and outlet pieces. (The other ends stayed nice and tight.)

Good luck.

[SpotsMama]

Yeah, the one really hard thing was getting those pieces of hose on. Once you get past it, it will all be downhill.

[squirtles mom]

Thank you all for you advice, my hands are so sore right now, but I finally got it up an running, that was the hardest part, the rest was easy.

[SpotsMama]

For squirtle's mom and anyone else who is a new XP owner: I just took the intake and outflow flexible hoses apart fo the first time and cleaned them. It was much easier than I had expected. I used a long stick (a tomato plant stake) to push pieces of paper towel through the hoses and it worked just fine.

Best of all, it was much much easier to re-attach the hoses to the plastic parts this time. I remember attaching the hoses the first time around was really hard - I had abrasions on my hands afterwards. This time they went on easily - almost too easily. If there's any leaking (because they are not fitting tightly enough) I'll let you know.

Whew!

[squirtles mom]

That's good to know, I woke up so sore the next morning I don't want to have to go through that again.

[SpotsMama]

Never again!

The re-attached hoses are working fine by the way - no leaks.

[camee1991]

Just some info! We have an XP3 also and the tubes that they come with are AWEFUL (in my opinion) They are toooo hard to get on and when you get them on within a couple months they will get so much gunk and algae in them that you may lose pressure.

So...my hubby measured the tubes and bought at Lowes thick plastic hose for it, and it attached easier (he put clamps on for extra tightness at the base) as well as we have had the new hose for over 3 months now and still NO GREEN! They are as clean as the day we bought em!

If they DO end up getting green and icky we can always get more very very CHEAP!!!


Cam

[iac637]

I made my Boyfriend do it so I wouldn't hurt my hands

[kiwigerman]

I had the problem of attaching the hoses to my canister filter. Then I realised that the screw bits should be screwed on, then the hose attached, then unscrew them to hold the hose in place. I don't know if that makes sense but it does in my head, lol!