J Butler
Member
Apologies in advance if this appears to be a foolish question, I have covertly trawled this most excellent forum for quite some time now and i’m almost ready to start applying some of what I think I have learnt to my own aquarium (I think I may actually miss all the theory, practical application can be a bit more intimidating!)
Now, one underlying message that seems to underpin everything is that flow is of paramount importance. I’ve got myself in a bit of a quandary on how best to achieve this however. At the minute, I’m considering buying a Fluval FX5 on the back of all the praise it has received. Originally, I was planning to add a hydor external heater and inline CO2 diffuser to this but i’m starting to have reservations with the amount of flow restriction this will place on it.
With this in mind, I’m now thinking about adding a second loop run by an external pump such as one of the eheim compact+ range that would have the heater and CO2 attached leaving the filter to do what it does best.
Now for the bit that’s way over my head, plumbing and flow dynamics isn’t exactly my forte... Would it be possible to plumb in both pump outputs into a main spraybar that will hopefully cover the whole length of my tank (DIY jobby methinks), something like the image below (apologies for the simplicity, that’s about the extent of my knowledge though :? )
How detrimental would the back flow be and would there need to some kind of check valve on each side? Just for good measure, do you think it would be worth including some kind of ball valve to isolate things for maintenance if it is at all feasible?
The crazy thing about all this is that the tanks only 180 litres So the FX5 may well be more than enough for everything on its own but I’m going for overkill for future (hopeful) upgrades. Might need to mention that I don't want to hard plumb anything if that makes a difference, just flexible tubing if at all possible.
Thanks in advance,
Joe.
Now, one underlying message that seems to underpin everything is that flow is of paramount importance. I’ve got myself in a bit of a quandary on how best to achieve this however. At the minute, I’m considering buying a Fluval FX5 on the back of all the praise it has received. Originally, I was planning to add a hydor external heater and inline CO2 diffuser to this but i’m starting to have reservations with the amount of flow restriction this will place on it.
With this in mind, I’m now thinking about adding a second loop run by an external pump such as one of the eheim compact+ range that would have the heater and CO2 attached leaving the filter to do what it does best.
Now for the bit that’s way over my head, plumbing and flow dynamics isn’t exactly my forte... Would it be possible to plumb in both pump outputs into a main spraybar that will hopefully cover the whole length of my tank (DIY jobby methinks), something like the image below (apologies for the simplicity, that’s about the extent of my knowledge though :? )
How detrimental would the back flow be and would there need to some kind of check valve on each side? Just for good measure, do you think it would be worth including some kind of ball valve to isolate things for maintenance if it is at all feasible?
The crazy thing about all this is that the tanks only 180 litres So the FX5 may well be more than enough for everything on its own but I’m going for overkill for future (hopeful) upgrades. Might need to mention that I don't want to hard plumb anything if that makes a difference, just flexible tubing if at all possible.
Thanks in advance,
Joe.