Spray bar and powerhead placement.

[hage0245]

Quick bio:

Stock-
55g tropical freshwater, moderately planted (swords, wisteria, anarchis, 'moss ball', dwarf sag), 15 platies, 2 neon tetras, 3 albino cory's, 1 BN pleco.

Equipment-
Aqua-Tech 30-60 HOB, Penguin Bio-Wheel 200, Sunsun (Perfect, Jebo, etc.) HW-302 canister filter, Marineland 550 Powerhead.

Anyways, the Sunsun finally arrived a couple days ago and I hooked it up that night (I soaked myself in the process, it's my first canister filter). The next day I decided to get a Marineland 550 Powerhead to act as a CO2 diffuser. Needless to say, the water flow in my tank has increased dramatically. I still have the two HOB filters running at the moment, but I will remove the Aqua-Tech once the Sunsun establishes itself.

My question is, does anyone have recommendations on where I should place these items in my tank for the best water circulation? Right now I have the spray bar on the left-side wall, horizontal, pointing slightly upwards. The powerhead is on the right-side wall, pointing slightly downwards and towards the front glass. I'll post a pic so you can see the hardscape and plants, since I know that those are big factors in spray bar/powerhead placement.




Oh and by the way, does this seem like a really good deal to anyone else?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...10493&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1784wt_1139

 

[zachjohnson65]

nice looking tank. I also have a 55g with a spray bar on the side pointing down the length, which i have not changed since setting up. Do you notice your fish enjoying or shying away from the outputs? I assume you are trying to not blow around sand, so aiming the powerhead toward the front or back is a good idea. I would see if you moved the powerhead over to the left side and kept the HOB on the right. This may allow for an area with less direct current, the delicate plants or resting fish a night. just my thoughts.

 

[zachjohnson65]

good price but i would question the lack of fans, what gauge is the metal enclosure, electrical quality

 

[hage0245]

The platies and neons kind of avoid the outputs, which is not surprising since I had only the two HOB filters running for about two years. They swim through the current without any problems though, and it does not seem to annoy them too much. The cory's seem to like it, and the pleco seems indifferent.

Concerning the plants, do they benefit from a current flowing through them or is that not desirable?

If I moved the powerhead to the left side near my spray bar, should I move the canister filter intake to the left as well so I have a filter intake on each side?

I didn't even realize that light fixture wasn't fan-cooled. I wonder if it would be possible to install one if I buy it....

 

[tanker]

IMO---If you are using CO2, try to get the spray bars, and all filter outputs below the surface.

 

[prober]

Your powerhead placement is fine and generally is used to create current over the sand to keep the poo floating where the filters can pick it up. Yes, the plants like the current since it helps bring nutrients to them. As mentioned above, if you are going to use co2 then you don't want the spraybars or returns to make surface movement, try to have them below the surface so you don't lose too much co2.

Usually you will have a filter intake at each end of the tank and the same for returns, and then use the powerhead to sweep accross the lower portion of the tank to promote sweeping the debris as well as mixing water from both ends.

 

[hage0245]

Thanks everyone. My plan (for now) is to remove the HOB on the left side of the tank in a week or so, move the canister filter input to the left side of the tank, keep the HOB filter currently on the right side of the tank where it is right now, and move the powerhead/CO2 down towards the bottom/middle of the tank to flow over the plants.

I am trying to keep the water level high enough so the HOB filter outputs are below water. I don't know how much evaporation is 'normal', and I haven't directly measured, but in my 55g the water level probably drops by 0.5" or more every day. I try to top it off every few days.

 

[tanker]

I don't know how much evaporation is 'normal', and I haven't directly measured, but in my 55g the water level probably drops by 0.5" or more every day. I try to top it off every few days.

PS--Surface movment also causes more evaporation.