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Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar "UP DATE"

Joined
26 Oct 2008
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1,649
Location
Cheshire
Gang@ukaps

Any thoughts of which is the best - I am currently using an Eheim sprinkle bar with my 2080 with is forcing my tall plants towards the front of the tank and my rummies have to swim with the heads pointing upwards @ approx. 70 degrees, obviously to beat the flow, if I fitting lily pipe would this reduce the amount of pressure that the water is being returned into the tank ie less force.

Paul.
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

Hi,
i would go with lily pipes if you can afford them,the best place to put then is on one end of your aquarium to the flow is more circular around the tank.
regards john.
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

Guy

Thx for the replies, the problems I have are with my hood. I have to cut additional slots to allow the pipe into the tank. I have moved my outlet pipe to the middle minus the sprinkle bar, now the water flow seems better and I have not lost any pressure. Pics attached so you can see the issues I have.

The hood in not in the correct position because if I go down the line of lily pipes I need to cut another slot with the hood.

PositionsofWaterPipe.jpg


AquaHood.jpg


Regards
paul.
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

hi paul,
why don't you take the old filter off,if you're not using it still.i thought you got different lights :?: .
neil
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

Having used both I prefer spray bars now, diameter of the holes on the bars is important though, I've got a spray bar where the holes are too wide and nothing is comes out of the end of the bar.
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

Neale

I had thought of changing my lighting system which would remove all the articles on the tank top. After careful consideration I decided against the change due to the tank being open to the elements ie dust particles, air bourne dirt and espically in our house - dog hairs as we have Rough Collie "Lassie collie" and those hairs are very long.


The box that I have cut held aqua one wet and dry filter system of which I do not use. The housing infront of that contains all my lights. The two outer pipes are my water inlets and the middle one which was at the end of the tank until yesterday was next to an inlet and the outlet with sprinkle bar attached. Now I have move the inlet pipe to the middle, removed the sprinkle bar and twisted the elbow around so the water now flows to the front of the tank in one big steam rather than x amount of streams my plants are now standing straight upish. I cannot fit lily pipes at the sides due to the housing so my only option is at the back and in the middle as the pic dictates.

I would like to know other peoples experiences with these pipes as I do not want the expense of buy pipes then finding out that they are no good.

Regards
Paul
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

hi paul,
i have the same tank and see your point.i get dog and cat hairs in mine :!: .cats walk across the luminaire :!: .my light hood caught fire a while back,my dodgey wiring probably with t5 upgrade :oops: .can't help with glassware as i'm just to clumsy and would break it :lol:
neil
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

Neil

Thx for the reply - the tanks great and I would not swap it, panaramic view is superb, but the problems are trying to improve it / getting it how you want it.

Usally with the positioning of lily pipes allows the flow goes the fully lenght of the tank ie left to right or vice versa with mine if i fitted lily pipes the flow would go from back to front. The other way to have the water inlet pipe in the middle add a piece of solid tubing supported by a clip / suction cup which would be supported by the centre support bar, drill some hole in the tubing - straight through hole. Lets say the tubing fitted was 12" long - only drill half the length of the tubing - 6", doing this would reduce the flow at the back of the back allowing the plants to remain straight ish - but maximise the flow at the front. The only issue with this is that when you looked at the tank you would see a piece of pipe 13mm in diametre approx. 1 - 2" below the surface water - which would make it an eyesore.

This why i need peoples thought about lily pipes fores / against.
Regards

Paul.
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

Thx for the info - after reviewing your article regarding water flow (directional) and positioning on drop checkers I am think of buying a piece of ehiem pipe and drilling my own holes - hopefully I can buy a piece twice as long as the pipe supplied (approx. 12") and the holes will be larger. I think I need to maximise the length of the sprinkle bar - so my aim is to have the pipe as long as possible, coupled with bigger hole will reduce the amount of pressurised water being emitted from the pipe - what do you think.

Regards
Paul.
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

Well, the higher the velocity the better the conservation of energy. Not sure why you'd have to by Eheim piping when any PVC will do (and will be cheaper - and won't be green :twisted: ) but experiment starting with the stock hole sizes. More holes also reduce the velocity so a long pipe with more holes of the same size automatically reduces the exit velocity. One needs to experiment with various lengths and holes, so I'd buy cheap piping first until I figured out the configuration I wanted.

Cheers,
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

hi,
just added an extension to my spraybar today.now 50% longer and not a whirlpool anymore.reckon this will sort your problem Paul,though my filters not as powerful as yours.
neil
 
Re: Lily Pipes V Sprinkle Bar

Thx guys - plumbing job @ the weekend.

Neil you have hit the nail on top the its head by saying "WHIRLPOOL". My initial thoughts were by lengthening the spray bar would reduce the amount of pressure required to emit the returning water through small holes. By increasing the hole sizes and lengthening the bar would not reduce the water flow but would reduce back pressure, allowing a smoother flow of water back into the tank rather than squirting the water back into there.

Its the same principle as a big bore exhaust pipe on your car, by increasing the diameter of the tail pipes reduces back pressure and allows the exhaust gases to flow more freely which inturn can slightly increase BHP.

Hope this make sense.


Regards
Paul.
 
Gang@ukaps

I have just increase the overall length of my spary bar was 16" now 30" and the has dramically reduced the whirlpool effect I was seeing, the tank is more settled and the flow seems to less severe

IS THIS GOOD OR BAD any thoughts

Regards

Paul
 
Neil

Thx for the reply - but I don't know whether I am doing right or wrong by having a steady flow instead of a torrent.

Regards

Paul.
 
Things should be ok, as what you have done is evenly spread the flow around the tank, instead of one small area.

Where is your spray bar placed in the tank, and which direction are the holes facing?

Cheers Gordon.
 
Hi Paul,
Good or bad depends on whether you are able to get flow down to the substrate and whether you have achieved a nice circular current. Do the majority of the plants gently wave in the current? Can you see flow across the carpet plants? Have you positioned the spray pattern as I demonstrated in earlier threads such that the exit flow direction is horizontal? Have you placed the bar near the surface to generate a nice surface ripple? If you reduce the exit flow velocity too much so that the answers to most of these questions is "no" then you've defeated the purpose and utility of the spraybar.

Cheers,
 
i am cleaning @ the moment, once I have it up and running again I will repost with pic attached - me old "sorry" mate never lets me down.

Paul
 
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