Lily pipes at the front or the back?

[ChrisP]

So I currently have my inflow and outflow lily pipes next to each other and positioned right at the back of the tank so they are out of view. But when I look around at other peoples setups I notice quite a lot of people either position the pipes at the front or midway. Can anyone tell me why that is? I would have thought people would want them as hidden as possible so I presume there's a reason to have them at the front

 

[PedroB]

I used to have mine positioned like yours, but got to the conclusion its counterproductive.

You want as few disruptions to flow as possible, as in, if you outflow is pointing in one direction having the inflow pulling water in the opposite direction is going to decrease and disrupt that flow.

My current setup is: left back - inflow, left front - outflow.

The reason the outflow is at the front is that usually there are few obstructions at the font of the tank and the flow is uninterrupted. The flow then goes against the glass on the right side and the inflow pulls water to the back left, creating a circular motion.

 

[ChrisP]

Hi Pedro thanks for the explanation. I've shifted my Lilly pipes about and will see how I get on