Filter Flow Control

[dougall]

Doug, I think you and Pinkey are on the same page. Only one thing troubles me... Are you denying the fact that fish live in neon castles in the wild?

Yeah, I just wouldn't use a spraybar, I'd probably attach some coarse foam to the filter's return, and make sure the water goes into that.

and there's no denial here.. I'm quite sure that more than half the fish that live in glass boxes in the wild all live in neon castles. So, you know, the vast majority of them.

 

[wesleydnunder]

If you restrict the intake enough, like with a ball valve on the intake, it will cause cavitation and lots of noise. I use sponges on my filter intakes to keep the snails and sand out. As dougall pointed out, they do have to be rinsed periodically.

In the wild, the neon castles are often located in the same areas where they harvest the plastic plants.

Mark

 

[dougall]

In the wild, the neon castles are often located in the same areas where they harvest the plastic plants.

Jersey?

 

[dougall]

Actually,

how much does a pre-filter actually slow down the flow of water unless it gets clogged? Is it substantial enough that there won't be turbulence in the tank?

 

[wesleydnunder]

The sponges on my 2217s are coarse, about like a sponge from an aquaclear. I only need to rinse them on water change day.
When I set up the manifold for the goby tank, the original sponges on the manifold intakes were a much smaller pore size and clogged within a day. It cut the powerhead flow by half, which tended to heat the water.

Mark

 

[dougall]

That's what I thought... it's more the prefilter getting clogged that will reduce flow/current/turbulence in the tank rather than the filter being there itself. Clogging should be much less of an issue once the water has passed through filter media, so I'm keeping my vote with :-

Diffuse the output.

 

[FreshyFresh]

I'm still curious to see how one puts a spray-bar on an AquaTech 30-60 HOB.

 

[dougall]

I'm still curious to see how one puts a spray-bar on an AquaTech 30-60 HOB.

I'm thinking something gutter-like (not my mind!) with lots of holes in it (Again with the mind-analogy)

 

[wesleydnunder]

I'm thinking something gutter-like (not my mind!) with lots of holes in it (Again with the mind-analogy)

Something like a trough under the spillway. That would completely interrupt the current flow...I think. But then, my mind has holes in it too.

Mark

 

[ZorroNet]

I'm thinking something gutter-like (not my mind!) with lots of holes in it (Again with the mind-analogy)

I was thinking the same thing: more of a half pipe with holes in it than a spray bar. It'd need to be much cleaner than the gutter your mind is in, Doug! Needs more holes than Mark's mind too, I'm guessing.

I am going to do three things...
1. I am going to attach some ladies' stockings to the intake to keep snails and baby shrimps out. This sponge is way too noisy and big looking.
2. I'm going to make a moss curtain from fiberglass window screen and java moss to diffuse the outflow.
3. I am going to plan an expedition to New Jersey to collect neon castles from the wild. I don't really like plastic plants, so I'll leave them undisturbed.