Spray bar and positioning

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

Hi all,
Just thought I would see how many people use spray bars and how you position the spray to make it most beneficial to you. Also was looking for some opinions how I have directed my flow and maybe any changes you think I should make.

I have a 58 gallon tank with 2 Fluval canister filters on it on opposite sides of the tank... one sprays towards the glass and provides a nice roll to the water surface which allows for the oxygen exchange while not allowing too much of my compressed CO2 for the plants from escaping. The second is on the other side which I had set up similarly but I recently changed this to a spray bar to provide better water movement in the middle of the tank. The spray bar is comprised of 7 segments that interlock and each segment has its own set of holes which can be angled in any direction once connected. I have positioned the bar with 2 segments straight down from the filter outflow with both spraying forward along the side glass. The elbow is at the bottom of the tank and the remaining 5 segments run along bottom at the back of the tank. The first segment from the elbow streams straight up, the next 2 spray towards the front of the tank across the substrate to blow poop etc to the front of the tank. The next segment sprays up and the last sprays forward again. This basically runs about 2/3 the entire length of the tank to about 6 inches to where the first filters uptake is. The reason I alternated the sprays is because of plants and driftwood blocking portions of the tank bottom. I have already noticed that one of the jets has been bouncing off the bottom of a echinodorus compacta leaf and made a small depression in the sand.

Is it wise to spray along the surface of the substrate? Is the way I alternated the spray directions a smart move? How much benefit will having this spray bar be?

[Northernguy]

I just have the rena spray bar,solid one peice.
I have it set up 4" under the surface shooting up towards the center of the tank.
Weekly vacuuming should take care of most of the crap and stuff but having the current moving it towards the intakes doesn't hurt.
Is there a lot of bottom structure to catch the debris and make it pile up?
Do your fish have a area to rest from the current?

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

Yeah there is quite few chunks of driftwood and lots of plants that would block the flow of the sprays if they were all flowing straight across the bottom of the tank. Where the flow would be blocked is where I spray upwards. I added the spray bar because I kept finding clumps of dead plant material (stem plants) in the back where the flow seemed to be the weakest and I have the hardest time vacuuming around. And I was finding that there was lots of stagnant smelly water around where my giant vals which would allow BGA to grow. It has that distinctive smell. I think there is a decent amount of areas for the fish to rest from the current because I have some sections of the bar pointing straight up.

To help visualize, in the picture below you can see the right canister outflow pointing towards the right side glass. The second filter that I have attached the spray bar to is on the left.. you can just see the bottom of the surface skimmer intake between the large chunk of driftwood and the big echinodorus bleharae. The spraybar is just to the left of that and extends down and to the right to about half way behind the giant val group.

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[Northernguy]

Since it is so adjustable keep experimenting with it until you get the desired current.You don't want dead spaces but the fish still need a place to get away from the strong currents.
You can also adjust the position of the driftwood to get that debris going where you want it.
I tried that in my tank with power heads and the spraybar but gave up.lol
The fish change the scape daily so it was a waste of time.lol Now I just worry about having the top moving well.

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

Thanks... I will keep tinkering... it just gets to be troublesome putting it in and taking it out etc. So far the fish seem to have adjusted well to having the spray bar in there but there are a couple spots where I think I might alter the direction a bit. My water surface has nice movement all around the tank and I can see plant bits and poop swirling slowly around the tank so its having the desired effect.

[Northernguy]

LOL I thought tanks were for tinkering! There is always something to do,move,remove,change,clean....and then we change the tank around. :hmm3grin2orange: :19:

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

This is true.. but some days its not as fun as others. I dont even like trimming the plants most of the time. Stem plants are grow too fast for my tastes(blush)