DIY Spraybar

sploke said:
A spraybar is usually a piece of pipe with a bunch of holes drilled in it along its length. It serves to help diffuse the output of a pump or canister filter.
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to ensure proper water flow/circulation through the tank?
-chris

ps: hope this doesnt double post, i had problems

edit: it sure did double post! sorry.
 
"Best" is whatever method accomplishes what you are trying to. I run spraybars on most of my canister returns and return pump outputs.
 
Ideally, I'd think you'd want the same cross-sectional area of spraybar holes as the supply line. So, if you are running a 1" ID return line, that has a cross-sectional area of .785 sq in. If you are using 1/8" holes, which have a cross sectional area of .012 sq in, you would need 65 or so to match cross-sectional areas. On a basic concept level, this works, but the other thing to take into consideration is that 65 .125" holes are going to have a lot more friction than a single 1" hole, so more or larger holes would be better if you don't want to restrict flow too much.

I've thought about this before, but after actually running the numbers....I think I need to drill some larger holes.
 
I think I would start by using the cross-sectional area only. It is easy to open the holes up a bit if they are too small but it would be dificult trying to make the holes smaller if the flow does not come out forcefully enough.
 
You put spray paint into your aquarium? Wouldn't that be bad though? I like you idea. In fact I have a XP3 and my background of my 55gal. is painted black. An idea like yours would work great in my tank too. If I ever do this what I might do is instead of drilling all the holes the same direction, I may drill one hole pointing downward and then the next pointing towards the middle of the glass and just switch off the angle of the holes. This way maybe you could get a little more diverse water circulation. Just a thought, maybe it wouldn't work good I don't know.

--Matt
 
I did that on my spray bars...I drilled most of them facing forward or slightly down, and a few facing down and back slightly to get as much water exchange as possible.
 
sploke said:
Ideally, I'd think you'd want the same cross-sectional area of spraybar holes as the supply line. So, if you are running a 1" ID return line, that has a cross-sectional area of .785 sq in. If you are using 1/8" holes, which have a cross sectional area of .012 sq in, you would need 65 or so to match cross-sectional areas. On a basic concept level, this works, but the other thing to take into consideration is that 65 .125" holes are going to have a lot more friction than a single 1" hole, so more or larger holes would be better if you don't want to restrict flow too much.

I've thought about this before, but after actually running the numbers....I think I need to drill some larger holes.
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what is the formula used to find this cross sectional area? thanks
 
pi*r^2...basic geometry.
 
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