Home aquarium "pigging" options?

[jelazar]

Public aquariums use "pigs" to scape clean the inside of their large-diameter plumbing. The big orange plug is a pig, used by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Has anyone found a small version that works for 1" and 2" plumbing? My plumbing runs are too long to clean out with a brush, and I'd like to avoid a drain snake if possible.

 

[piranhaman00]

That plumbing is for aquarium? Wow

 

[SilvermistInc]

That plumbing is for aquarium? Wow

I think this is the aquarium with a whale shark

 

[TokenReefer]

Think you want a Y Check valve. We used them in restaurants to clean grease from the pipes

 

[Enderg60]

There is zero reason to even bother thinking about this.

For 99% of home aquariums and most frag farms you simply wait 10-20 years and replace the piping. For industrial sizes like that it is cost effective to use a pig to clean the piping.

Last and most important, by code you cant use a pig on plastic piping, they are using a very specialized one to work on that piping.

I had a big system up for 11 year and when I took it down there was about 0.5mm of buildup inside them.

The random crap that builds up can be blown out by draining your return pipe and then turning the pump back on.

Its not worth caring about.

 

[RedoubtReef]

I've never had to clean out my plumbing. I have pipes that have been in use for over 10 years and they have nothing in them worth the effort.