Wisey
Member
- Joined
- 19 Jul 2014
- Messages
- 1,061
Hi All,
I have some flow and distribution issues in my TMC Signature 60x45x45. The biggest issue is my hardscape bogwood that you can see in my journal linked in the signature below, so I am thinking about a rescape, but I have another issue with distribution that I would like to resolve before I rescape.
My filter is an Eheim Pro 3E 600T, listed pump power of 1850 LPH which seemed more than adequate on a 120 litre aquarium. After purchasing the filter I discovered that the maximum you could actually set the rate to was significantly lower than the actual pump power. I therefore set to the maximum I could possibly get.
I do have an UP inline atomiser which will reduce flow and I do have two Eheim twin tap sets in my loop, one that allows me to easily take out the atomiser (which I have since determined really isn't that beneficial as I take the whole return pipe out to clean it anyway) and the other is on the filter inlet line which allows me to cut in to that pipe to drain water out for water changes.
My spraybar is the Eheim Installation Set 2 16/22 version, with an extender kit that gives about 45-50 cm of spraybar in the 60 cm tank.
The issue I have is that I get far more pressure at the far end of the spraybar from where the water enters than I do at the start, so my jets are much weaker at the start. They also don't come out straight, they come out pointing in the direction that the water is flowing down the spraybar. See poor diagram done in MS Paint below:
That's just a rough idea, ignore the number of jets, I didn't count, its just to give a general idea of the spray pattern. The most powerful jets go about 3/4 of the way to the front, the weaker barely make it half way. The other thing on the left is my Eheim skimmer. I used to have this running 24/7, but now only run it when the CO2 is off to reduce off gassing.
Although I have read that my jets should be hitting the front glass and mine don't, I do see the bubbles go down the front, but once they turn and start to go back over the substrate some of them don't make it to the back, it just starts to rise in the centre of the tank. I have also read that leaves on plants should sway gently in the flow, my plants at the back left are quite often flapping back and forth in the flow, so it seems too powerful in that area and not powerful enough in the other.
I did attempt to move the skimmer to the right hand corner to boost the flow on the right, but it won't fit without the skimmer top hitting the spraybar and being pushed below the surface. I could of course add a powerhead in that corner to boost flow, but would like to try and resolve the issues I have with the direction from the spraybar.
All thoughts, comments and suggestions very welcome! Thanks in advance.
I have some flow and distribution issues in my TMC Signature 60x45x45. The biggest issue is my hardscape bogwood that you can see in my journal linked in the signature below, so I am thinking about a rescape, but I have another issue with distribution that I would like to resolve before I rescape.
My filter is an Eheim Pro 3E 600T, listed pump power of 1850 LPH which seemed more than adequate on a 120 litre aquarium. After purchasing the filter I discovered that the maximum you could actually set the rate to was significantly lower than the actual pump power. I therefore set to the maximum I could possibly get.
I do have an UP inline atomiser which will reduce flow and I do have two Eheim twin tap sets in my loop, one that allows me to easily take out the atomiser (which I have since determined really isn't that beneficial as I take the whole return pipe out to clean it anyway) and the other is on the filter inlet line which allows me to cut in to that pipe to drain water out for water changes.
My spraybar is the Eheim Installation Set 2 16/22 version, with an extender kit that gives about 45-50 cm of spraybar in the 60 cm tank.
The issue I have is that I get far more pressure at the far end of the spraybar from where the water enters than I do at the start, so my jets are much weaker at the start. They also don't come out straight, they come out pointing in the direction that the water is flowing down the spraybar. See poor diagram done in MS Paint below:
That's just a rough idea, ignore the number of jets, I didn't count, its just to give a general idea of the spray pattern. The most powerful jets go about 3/4 of the way to the front, the weaker barely make it half way. The other thing on the left is my Eheim skimmer. I used to have this running 24/7, but now only run it when the CO2 is off to reduce off gassing.
Although I have read that my jets should be hitting the front glass and mine don't, I do see the bubbles go down the front, but once they turn and start to go back over the substrate some of them don't make it to the back, it just starts to rise in the centre of the tank. I have also read that leaves on plants should sway gently in the flow, my plants at the back left are quite often flapping back and forth in the flow, so it seems too powerful in that area and not powerful enough in the other.
I did attempt to move the skimmer to the right hand corner to boost the flow on the right, but it won't fit without the skimmer top hitting the spraybar and being pushed below the surface. I could of course add a powerhead in that corner to boost flow, but would like to try and resolve the issues I have with the direction from the spraybar.
All thoughts, comments and suggestions very welcome! Thanks in advance.
