# External filter & spraybar



## krazypara3165 (29 Oct 2012)

howdy, ive just recieved delivery of my 2000lph aps external filter. ive also bought a second hand hydor 300, but i can now see the pipe supplied with my filter is too large. does anyone know where i can get a reducer/pipe? as i cant seem to find them anywhere!

...... also the spraybar supplied is crap which i knew when i was purchasing it. does anyone know of a good replacement?


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## GHNelson (29 Oct 2012)

Hi
Some Maidenhead Aquatics have a pond section they may have the larger reducers there.
hoggie


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## foxfish (29 Oct 2012)

You will however, lose flow if you reduce the pipe ID


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## krazypara3165 (29 Oct 2012)

cheers, its the only way i can think of fitting my hydor....... unless i just go for an internal heater......hmm. but cheers for that ill have a look in maidenhead tomorrow!


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## foxfish (29 Oct 2012)

You could split the flow....


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## Antipofish (29 Oct 2012)

Craig, You CAN buy those Hydors with 16mm pipe connections. It sounds however, that you have the one for 12mm pipework.  Somewhat frustrating, but there are a multitude of 16mm ones on Ebay at present and you would have no trouble picking one up and reselling yours.  Just a thought.  Im sure in the meantime your LFS might lend you a normal heater if you need one.


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## Matt1988 (29 Oct 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*

What I did was to put mine in with 2 T's and it works fine and shouldn't reduce the flow as the 22/25 is going through the T's with the 16/20 going from T to heater back to T I can take a pic tomorrow evening if needed 

Matt


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## krazypara3165 (30 Oct 2012)

Matt, a pic would be great thanks!


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## mvasingh (30 Oct 2012)

Hi
I'm having the same issue with my APS 2000 and considering the 16mm Hydor hose fittings. Just put a thread up on it as well.
Matt a picture will speak a thousand words!


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## Matt1988 (30 Oct 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*

Just on my way home from work then ill stick one up 

Matt


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## Matt1988 (30 Oct 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*




 

Here's a bad phone pic the water is going in at the top out at the bottom hope that helps 

Matt


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (30 Oct 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*

Can you please post a couple of shots of your cabinet up please Mat? Will be making my own oak one soon! 

Cheers,


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## foxfish (30 Oct 2012)

Matt how do you know there is water going through the heater!!! I doubt if there is much flow going through the loop..


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## Matt1988 (30 Oct 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*

Because the tank is at the right temp and the only 16/20 pipe I had was dirty and its now clean so there's defiantly flow going  through it 

Matt


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## Brian Murphy (30 Oct 2012)

Im trying to do something similar with my Co2 inline diffuser mixer but ordered these 20/15 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/INLINE-HO...terFeatures_UK&var&hash=item27c708e384&_uhb=1 .... maybe the T's might work better, where did you get them?


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## Matt1988 (30 Oct 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*



			
				Whitey89 said:
			
		

> Can you please post a couple of shots of your cabinet up please Mat? Will be making my own oak one soon!
> 
> Cheers,










All the living room furniture matches the tank 




Matt


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## Matt1988 (30 Oct 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*

I got the T's from maidenhead aquatics they were £4 something and cut them with a saw to the right size they go from 12mm up to 30mm at a guess and just used boiling water and cable ties make sure they stay put 

Matt


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (30 Oct 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*

Thanks mate, my bedroom furniture is all oak. Priorities right about having he furniture matching the tank


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## foxfish (1 Nov 2012)

Matt1988 said:
			
		

> Because the tank is at the right temp and the only 16/20 pipe I had was dirty and its now clean so there's defiantly flow going  through it
> 
> Matt
> 
> ...


Hi Matt, that is great if your heater works well although I still think the water would be very biased & run straight through the T rather than equally flow though the heater.
If you could fit a *Y* reducer the flow would be more even but I guess it doest matter anyway! 
One like this
http://www.coleparmer.co.uk/Product/Bar ... ed_id=3482


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## Matt1988 (1 Nov 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*

The flow will never be even as you say as the pipes are different diameter so one will have less of a flow but the way it's set up works for me  so I thought I'd share 

Matt


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## krazypara3165 (1 Nov 2012)

ive ended up getting a copper reducer pipe from b&q, it fits my 22mm aps tubing and reduces it to 15mm, the tubing is really tight but to be on the safe side ive thrown on jubilee clips. and i have purchased a new 16mm spraybar and tubing to attach to the other side of the heater. i am aware this will reduce my flow rate a little but because of the large diameter of the aps spraybar circulation in the tank was poor. im hoping that because ive reduced the diameter of the pipe i will have increased pressure, thus increasing circulation albeit at the cost of a little flowrate.


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## ceg4048 (1 Nov 2012)

So sorry, this is incorrect. Pressure will be decreased substantially and mass flow rate will fall by a whopping 53.512%. Velocity will increase, but the flow penalty cannot be compensated for by this. If your filter output has a 22mm ID you should keep it that way throughout. It's the mass flow rate that does the job, not the velocity.

Cheers,


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## krazypara3165 (1 Nov 2012)

thanks, its nice to have the technical bits. i appear to be back at square 1 then. but even if i use the original spraybar, the outcome would still be the same as if i used the 16mm one as at one point the flow would need to be reduced to 16mm to fit through the hydor. am i correct in believing that? ........


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (1 Nov 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*

Yes, but by splitting them off into 2 x 16mm pipes with a Y splitter and running one through the Hydor and the other just pipe, and back to a Y splitter and back to your original hose size mate


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (1 Nov 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*






Hope this helps.


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## foxfish (1 Nov 2012)

I thought I had already explained that & even linked the Y product required!


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (1 Nov 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*

Sorry FF, didn't see it. My tapatalk scrolls to last comment mate.


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## foxfish (1 Nov 2012)

No, no mate your diagram is really helpful its just that I explained it without the diagram   
This issue comes up all the time, I guess I should  produce a few after market accessories to help these guys with the big filters out...


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (1 Nov 2012)

*Re: External filter & spraybar*

Good idea mate, I imagine there's an even better alternative that we haven't thought of yet.


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## krazypara3165 (1 Nov 2012)

ahhhh that looks like the more viable option, anyone seen where to get the y connecters from? as id need 22-16 which i would imagine are tricky to get hold of. i was im maidenhead today but they did not have any.


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## krazypara3165 (1 Nov 2012)

i take it it would be fine to put an up atomiser on the other half then, or would it need the full amount of flow?


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## foxfish (1 Nov 2012)

You can find the fitting you need via Google but you might have more luck searching for the imperial equivalent.


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## krazypara3165 (3 Nov 2012)

thanks for everything guys! i could not find the y pieces but have found copper 'T' pieces that i can do it with. i also have the 16mm spraybar and hose that i ordered anyway. however upon inspection, it appears that the spraybar provided for my aps filter is actually 'chocked' at one point..... seems to me thats its actually snmaller than 16mm!! whereas the spraybar i ordered for the 16mm pipe, is better built and is actually wider!!! so my question is this, what spraybar would be better? would it still be better using the 22mm pipe and splitting it to 16mm for the hydor, even though its restricted at the spraybar or would i just be better off fitting the 16mm pipe and new spraybar after the hydor?

i have included a pic below


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## krazypara3165 (3 Nov 2012)

sorry the poor paper arrow illustrates where the 22mm fitting is restricted.


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## Antipofish (3 Nov 2012)

Dont use copper mate, you will NEVER be able to put any shrimp in if you do. Its an invertebrate killer.


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## krazypara3165 (3 Nov 2012)

Ahhhhhh cheers for that, I just assumed copper pipe would be ok seeing as the house is supplied via copper pipe and thats what I use to fill the aquarium. Either way im not planning on having invertebrats anyway. 

So does anyone know what spraybar would be better?


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## Antipofish (3 Nov 2012)

krazypara3165 said:
			
		

> Ahhhhhh cheers for that, I just assumed copper pipe would be ok seeing as the house is supplied via copper pipe and thats what I use to fill the aquarium. Either way im not planning on having invertebrats anyway.
> 
> So does anyone know what spraybar would be better?



Thats a good point actually, I was going by what someone else told me.  But as most water comes via copper piping I wonder how that works ? You are not even thinking of having Amano shrimp ? The best algae crew (combined with otocinclus) going ?    HERESY ! hehehe 8)


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## krazypara3165 (3 Nov 2012)

well i havnt excluded them totally, i have them in my 20l fluval edge but to be honest i only have three and im sick of looking for their shells once theve shedded. i dread to think what theyd be like looking for in a 200l. i have also read that discus like chowing down on shrimp and im planning on getting 2 discus in a few months.....


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## Antipofish (4 Nov 2012)

krazypara3165 said:
			
		

> well i havnt excluded them totally, i have them in my 20l fluval edge but to be honest i only have three and im sick of looking for their shells once theve shedded. i dread to think what theyd be like looking for in a 200l. i have also read that discus like chowing down on shrimp and im planning on getting 2 discus in a few months.....



Just suck em up when you do a water change. You dont need to search for sheds daily.  If I see one I take it out oherwise it happens when I do a water change.  If I miss one I dont worry.


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## krazypara3165 (4 Nov 2012)

what about discus eating them? i dont want to throw in 3 rcs (that ive actually managed to kep alive for a year only to have the discus wipe them out lol)

for reference on the spraybar, ive installed the smaller tetratec spraybar and it seems to be pretty good, however i will be draining the tank once again to finish off the aquascaping and planting. when i do that i will do a test with both spraybars to see how long they both take to fill a 10l bucket


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## foxfish (4 Nov 2012)

It seems to me that you might as well sell your filter & buy one with smaller hose because if you reduce the diameter like you have you are just waisting your present filters power & flow!
If you are really stuck cant you just ask you locale fish shop to help?


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## krazypara3165 (4 Nov 2012)

cheers, we have done the maths now and it appears that the original spraybar that came with the filter is serverly restricted anyway. the standard spraybar and 22mm hose fills up a ten liter bucket 10 seconds slower than the 16mm hose and spraybar. i have sent a email to APS so hopefully ill hear back from them on monday. ive been doing my research into it and apparently a member of another forum has recently criticized APS and has been told that they are reviewing the spraybars on all of their external filters. i will be making a custom spraybar in the future, but seeing as my tank is well overfiltered and lightly stocked i will be able to get away with this for the time being.


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## foxfish (4 Nov 2012)

It is just not a difficult thing to do! have a look here .. viewtopic.php?f=38&t=24129&p=247440#p247440


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## krazypara3165 (4 Nov 2012)

i agree its simple, and i have the equipment to do it. the problem is that the spraybar provided with the 22mm hose is restricted anyway

e.g 22mm hose and original spraybar takes ten seconds longer to fill a ten liter bucket whereas,

the 16mm reducer with a 16mm hose straight through to a 16mmm tetratec spraybar fills up the bucket 10 seconds faster

Now unless im missing something sticking with the original hose and spraybar REDUCES the flow...

therefore the only alternative seems to be to do what everyone has described, but only when ive found a 22mm spraybar or build one (which is what im looking into now as they seem to be near impossible to find!)


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## foxfish (4 Nov 2012)

B&Q will sell you two options - 21.5 overflow pipe but it is white or 25mm electrical conduit, that is black. Both are very cheap & very useful to experiment with. Once you get the pipe home you need to drill holes & experiment with spacings & hole size. 
Use the B&Q cheap pipe to to this with, then buy clear acrylic tube from EBay & copy the spacing for the finished article...


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## krazypara3165 (4 Nov 2012)

excellent, just what i wanted to hear! i woulda gone and bought the clear one straightway!


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