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Spraybar up?

fleabilly

Member
Joined
9 Sep 2012
Messages
147
Location
London
I am planning a new tank,
And was thinking of drilling the bottom to hide the intake and spraybar...
Would this work...(see picture)

qy8yqupa.jpg


I figure that if the spraybar shot up,
And bounced off an 45 degree glass wall siliconed in the rear of the tank,
That it would hopefully circle back round to the intakes...

Hope maybe Clive has any thoughts.

Cheers

R

Sent
 
Have you thought about how you are going to clean the intake / outlet pipe - its not as if you can remove them for cleaning as this would leave three holes for the water to escape through.

Regards
Paul
 
Hi mate,
It's possible, but of course, there is some possibility that some of the flow bounces back towards the uprising flow and cancels some of the energy or that the flow reflects down towards the left front corner. canceling some of the flow headed down the front glass. It's very difficult to predict flow patterns, especially when you try to factor in interference from hardscape and the plants themselves. Sorry...o_O

If you have a strong enough pump then almost any configuration will work.

Another possibility is to turn the holes 90 degrees to the horizontal to force flow across the substrate towards the front. The flow making contact with the front glass will be forced upwards and to the sides. The problem with that is that if it's too close to the substrate it might tend to kick up a lot of debris. If it's too high then it becomes incoherent.

Could you design it to send filter output up a tube hidden in one of the back corners to a bar conventionally mounted? I guess you're trying to eliminate the unsightly bar though, so that might defeat the purpose. Again, if the pump is muscular enough you might be able to get away with a short bar mounted on right or left wall. That way you would mostly see the end on the bar and flow wold go across the length and still be effective.

Cheers,
 
Have you thought about how you are going to clean the intake / outlet pipe - its not as if you can remove them for cleaning as this would leave three holes for the water to escape through.

Regards
Paul

I would think that if the spray bar was removable. It is under the waterline in a closed loop so where would the water go?


Sent
 
Hi mate,
It's possible, but of course, there is some possibility that some of the flow bounces back towards the uprising flow and cancels some of the energy or that the flow reflects down towards the left front corner. canceling some of the flow headed down the front glass. It's very difficult to predict flow patterns, especially when you try to factor in interference from hardscape and the plants themselves. Sorry...o_O

If you have a strong enough pump then almost any configuration will work.

Another possibility is to turn the holes 90 degrees to the horizontal to force flow across the substrate towards the front. The flow making contact with the front glass will be forced upwards and to the sides. The problem with that is that if it's too close to the substrate it might tend to kick up a lot of debris. If it's too high then it becomes incoherent.

Could you design it to send filter output up a tube hidden in one of the back corners to a bar conventionally mounted? I guess you're trying to eliminate the unsightly bar though, so that might defeat the purpose. Again, if the pump is muscular enough you might be able to get away with a short bar mounted on right or left wall. That way you would mostly see the end on the bar and flow wold go across the length and still be effective.

Cheers,

Thanks mate
I think I may drill it, plumb it, fill it, then play around with different arrangements. The scape will be relatively flat. I just want to limit any reason why things won't grow.

R


Sent
 
I would think that if the spray bar was removable. It is under the waterline in a closed loop so where would the water go?

Sent

It did cross my mind that there would be some method of shutting off the flow of water but this was not mentioned in the initial posting - but you'll never be able to clean the "closed loop" system as you call it.

Regards
paul.
 
It did cross my mind that there would be some method of shutting off the flow of water but this was not mentioned in the initial posting - but you'll never be able to clean the "closed loop" system as you call it.

Regards
paul.
Sorry
Just thinking aloud and missing your concern...
If I turn off the canister. Reach in, and unscrew the spray bar or intake from the bulkhead, clean it, then screw it back in, and turn the canister back on... Where would that go wrong? The canister would still be connected from the outside. I could very well be missing something obvious. Maybe the plumbing below the bulkhead? Yes possibly a problem. But if I used a threaded bulkhead, I could just replace the intake / out with threaded caps, then pull the lower pipe off for cleaning.

Another question...
My intake tube ID is 16mm
What if I attached it to a length along the back with 256 1mm holes along that length. (Be my math correct) would that work? Or would it clog? Maybe 2mm holes instead.

Insomniac thoughts..

R


Sent
 
If you try this you won't need the piece of glass at the top. The flow from your spray bar is not going to be that dramatic (unless you have a gigantic pump) and when the water reaches the surface it will only be able to move towards the front so will circulate.

Where are you injecting CO2? If you are putting it inline then I would definitely go for Clive's option of pointing the spray bar across the substrate (if other plants and decor won't stop the flow.

You will be fine disconnecting it for cleaning as long as the bulkheads through the glass are watertight. I would have quality ball valves directly under the tank connectors so you can remove the filter and piping for cleaning, don't just rely on usualy filter taps, they aren't as good as proper PVC ones.

Personally I think it's a lot of work and extra expense that you could just spend on some glass pipes to disguise them.
 
Where are you injecting CO2? If you are putting it inline then I would definitely go for Clive's option of pointing the spray bar across the substrate (if other plants and decor won't stop the flow.

Personally I think it's a lot of work and extra expense that you could just spend on some glass pipes to disguise them.

I have an inline diffuser at the moment,
But I am contemplating a pinwheel diffuser in the loop just before the out of the 2217.
But that might be a long time down the road.

My OCD obsession at the moment is a clean rimless edge. Wiping it down every night... So plumbing it from the bottom as mad as it may be is a treat to myself.

R

Sent
 
In which case I'd personally look at having a larger single inlet and outlet in one corner that you can hide more easily and will allow more water through than two smaller diameter pipes. It'll also mean they will be less likely to block. I'd have an easily detachable inlet strainer on the inlet one. On the outlet I'd fit an adjustable loc line (like this Single Nozzle Loc Line - you can get them from UK sites too) as you can adjust it in every way, it is less likely to block and you can hide it more easily than the spray bar.
 
Initially in my previous tank.
I had a 70cm spraybar across the back and it circulated beautifully.
the intake on the left worked fine, but I had a dead space in the right corner.
Which made me think that splitting the intake to cover both corners would solve that. The 2217 is slightly over what I need so any possible loss in pressure that I may suffer by opening the intake two fold would be minimal.

With this scape I really want to have form follow function.
The scape must lend itself to the circulation.

R


Sent
 
Ah you mean a needle wheel pump, how are you going to incorporate one into your system?
If you are keen on drilling holes, you could use a sump & a NW return pump although you dont really need a NW as most standard return pumps will anatomise the Co2 :)
I used to employ an atomiser just in front of my return pump & tried out numerous designs of NW pumps but after many years of experimenting it just doesn't seem worth it as the difference in bubble size is minimal!
 
I've read that people have had luck with it on the outtake of the canister.
But you need to make sure that both the canister and the pump are of equal LPH.

And yes I have thought of a sump. If I had a sump over the holidays, then the water in my tank would have stayed high enough not to expose my spray bar and piss tank water all on to the carpet. And hence why I am thinking of an alternate spray bar position.

R


Sent
 
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