Gargoyle

Well I have to be honest and say that I have my very first canister style filter. Its a Magnum 350 and seems to be working awesome on my little 55 gallon tank..

The question is... Is there anything I should do with the output?

Should I add a spray bar? Change the output nozzle to something different? Or whatever... Not sure but it seems like I have a bunch of cool options with this lil unit. Like C02 injection, 02 injection, and so on and so forth..

Thanks for any input, ideas, suggestions, experience, or just plain stories..

SereneReyn

i use a spray bar on my canister, i just think it helps improve overall circulation.

Gargoyle

I've got a mini whirlpool thing going on now. I actually changed the output position to point more toward the glass to lighten the current after I saw all the fish huddling in the one place with lower current.

I also have a powerhead. I believe its a Hagen style 210 with a filter attached to it. I currently use it for my aeration but I will also be using it for C02 injection later. It points in a similar direction to the Magnums output but lacks the power to create the same intense current.

I have seen a lot of spray bar set ups and this is the first setup I have had without a "waterfall" type of filter. It's pretty quite without the waterfall and I was wondering about the level of aeration I would get with all of the output being under the surface as opposed to a cascading style of output.

Tavel

you get like NO aeration, lol. I've got my power head aerating though, good times.

I like spraybars because it spreads the flow out. Your fish won't be avoiding heavy currents. The only thing you have to decide is how to mount your spraybar, horizontal or vertical...

Gargoyle

I was under the impression that bubbles do not aerate the water but the movement of the surface is what does this. I have plenty of surface movement so I naturally thought that I would have aeration of some sort.

Now the spray bar I would like to mount behind the tank length wise. Would this require an additional pick up tube to be installed?

Sorry I'm just not very "spray bar" educated. Nor do I fully understand the idea behind their usage.

outlaw

From what a lot of people say, the ceramic aerators do the most (i assume because of the finer bubbles made) not 100% on that though. For the spray bar, you just hook up the "exhaust" of the filter (obviously with the correct size/type tubing) to one end of the spray bar (make sure the other end is capped) and place where you want it. I have mine below the surface of the water but pointed up. Keeps the noise down while creating plenty of surface movement. Our HOB makes more noise.

Gargoyle

Under water and pointed up sounds like a viable option.. I'll have to do some math to see how many holes to drill to get the correct flow out of it but I like that idea. I run my tank at around 98 to 99% covered to reduce evaporation.

The only "fresh air" the tank gets is at night when the moon glows and air pump get turned on. Other than that the plants are responsible for providing the fish with 02 which seems to be working well but my new lights are coming tomorrow which will lead to the need of a C02 system which will lead to a timer system that with run the 02 injection at night and C02 injection during the day...

Oh so much fun!! So I like the idea of the bar being under water and creating a ripple effect instead of actually "breaking" the waters surface.

Thanks!!

outlaw

With Cichlids, from what i've heard, its almost pointless and a waste to get live plants.

Here is a picture from my tank, if you look at the water surface, you can see it spraying to the top.


Good Luck and make sure you post pics.

Gargoyle

Oh I will put up some pics when it's done..

I made an observation yesterday with one of my pineapple swords. She was next to one of the filters a little sideways and not moving.. She was like that all evening while the other fish seemed fine. But at night when the lights went dim and the air started up she was moving around and by morning she was great.

So today I asked my wife to keep an eye on her... Sure enough around noon or so she did the same thing. But this time 3 other fish joined in with her (I currently have 16 or so).. After about 2 hours like that my wife turned on the air pump and within an hour she was back to normal. So now our air pump runs non-stop until I get this spray bar set-up for some good aeration. Thats the only thing I can think off is lack of air for the fish and she is just more sensitive than the others...

Tavel

great observation. My only indication of poor aeration has been foul smelling water. It's nice that you can correct it before anything gross happens, lol.

Gargoyle

I did try the smelling water idea... But the tank is so new I had no smell. I tested all of the water params, KH GH PH Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate Temp etc... All were fine so I dropped in a C02 checker... It turned green quickly so I thought I had an 02 issue.. Talked with my wife about it and she took corrective action the next day.

I'm a little serious about my fish... LOL!!


Thanks for the kudos though..