Two intakes better than one ???

[dxq]

Environment:

75 gallon freshwater tank
Rena Filstar xP2 canister filter

Question:

Would adding two intakes to this filter be better than one for this size of tank ??

Would this cause complications with the canister ??

 

[Watcher74]

...I'm not sure what you mean. How exactly would you add an additional intake?

But the filter would still pull in the same amount of water, so you would just have less suction on each intake.

Could be practical if you are trying to minimize any small fish or fry from getting sucked up.

But there are easier ways to do that.

 

[Native American]

If you have the outlet properly aimed, one intake should be fine. It all depends on how you have the outlet flow circulating.

Generally, from what I've seen, two intakes usually means two filters...and two outlets. My 100-gal tank has two canisters, one pulling through the UGF's (all linked by a manifold), and one pulling through a sponge prefilter.

I'm finishing up final plumbing on this tank to incorporate a surface skimmer w/ ball valve on the inlet that services the UGF complex, and home-made bubble counters on both inlets (I like my CO2 to mix by running through the filter impeller; it's a cheap way of building a CO2 reactor). On the outlets I'll have a Bio-Wheel 60 off of each one (I've got both Bio-Wheels off of the UGF canister outlet right now) w/ valving to balance flow between each outlet and its respective Bio-Wheel.

In short, you can get pretty crazy with the plumbing to serve your wants or needs.

v/r, N-A