Inlet \ Outlet postition

[johnb]

This may be obvious but if I don’t ask ?

The tank is a:

Rena Aqualife 200 x 50
Dimensions: 201cm W x 51cm x D 70,5 cm H

And I have two FLUVAL FX5 Canister Filters

I currently have 1 setup at each end of the tank, in an identical way ?

The inlet filter is at the bottom about 1 inch above the substrate and in the corner

The outlet is about two thirds up, the outlet is split into two directional jets

So one jet is angled up at about 45 deg and pointing toward the centre of the tank and the other angled 45 deg down and pointing towards the glass.

I can see flow all around the tank and see no dead spots (does not mean there are not ?)

However after some heavy pruning the odd bits and bobs floating round never seem to make it to the inlets ?

Am I worrying to much about nothing or is there a suggested optimum positioning ?

Regards
John B

 

[ceg4048]

Hi John,
I tend not to worry too much about the inlet flow visualization. As you view the plants can you see most or all leaves swaying in the "breeze"? If yes then mission accomplished. If you have a hair dryer and you point it in the direction of dust or powder you can easily see where the dust blows far and wide, but if you put a vacuum cleaner in exactly the same location where you had the blower you'll never see those same dust particles sucked in from far and wide. Suffice to say that the mass flow into the tank must exactly equal the mass flow out of the tank. The path of the migration of the detritus into the filter inlet will always be different that the path of the effluent into the tank because as water flows into the tank there is a domino effect pushing far away water into the inlet. If you open up that FX5 you'll see plenty of detritus so you know it's vacuuming up dirt. The particular particle you are watching may take a while to find it's way into the filter.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,