When I broke my expensive Aqua Design Amano Lily pipe intake tube, I went to a local (Eugene, OR) glass blower to see if he could replicate it for cheaper than the costly ADA product. He could. Alejandro Hernandez at Studio West charged me $30. I had paid almost $100 for the ADA version. As you can see from the picture, Hernandez used slightly thicker glass tubing, so hopefully it will stand up to my periodic cleanings better than the ADA version.

And, like the ADA product, once it’s in the aquarium, it virtually disappears.

The only thing Hernandez didn’t do was sand down the intake slits. It could be a problem later for algae growth, and I’ll report on that, but for now, it looks fine. He used borosilicate glass, essentially Pyrex. And he tells me that Eugene’s rather large community of street glass-blowers (they make bongs) specialize in borosilicate glass and could easily have done this for me.

I use 1/2 inch Lees tubing to connect the glass pipes to the filter, and the fit is fine.

Delighted so far.