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by **smiley** » 2006-09-19 00:36

anyone evermade on of these to fit to a fluval2 plus?

ive been expermenting with a small one, and to be honest, they look cool, so i made a full lenth one, for a 3 foot tank, seems to be working pretty good
ill get pics tomorow i need sleep now!

by **KittyKat** » 2006-09-19 00:55

what? already?

yp, made one years ago for one of my tanks, but nothing recently

can't wait to see some pics

what materials did you use?

by **smiley** » 2006-09-19 17:50

sorry they are pretty poop pics
but heres what i did
i found some plastic aquarium safe tubing, a stop thingy (that you put on the end of the tube to stop water coming out) and a conectonor that you can see in the pics. then i heated the end of the tube up slightley and pushed it over the outlet pipe on my filter, this amkes it easire to un couple the spray bar from the filter.

the connector then is pushed onto the 'heated up' pipe (once its cooled down).

then the long part of the tubing: all you do is wack the stop cork on one end, drill tiny weeny lil holes in all the way down it, then push it onto the conectonr , thats already on the filter, slap a suction cup on the wall of the tank at the other end to the filter and..... robert is very much your mothers brother :lol2:

hers the pics

<a href='http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g215/smiley-1988/filterandspraybar2.jpg' target='_blank'>http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g215/smi...ndspraybar2.jpg</a>

<a href='http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g215/smiley-1988/filterandspraybar.jpg' target='_blank'>http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g215/smi...andspraybar.jpg</a>

by **Indigo Blue Fish** » 2006-09-19 19:07

Very clever smiley - very well done!

It looks very hi-tech too

by **sheepcoma** » 2006-09-20 09:58

what are the advatages of having a spray bar apart from looking cool like does it help make the surface area of the water so inturn aids oxygen absorption just a guess

by **KittyKat** » 2006-09-20 12:07

There is a lot fo surface movement which helps the water become more oxygen rich

by **Indigo Blue Fish** » 2006-09-20 15:05

And it puts the outflow across the whole of the tank.

If you have a fish/animal that likes the flow to be slow ie: an axolotl - a spray bar can be a lifesaver.

Waterflow can stress an animal to death.

I solved this in my tank by using a flow-deflector - all the water goes UP out of the main body, and then along the back wall, where it runs back down it and in again.

by **sharkdude** » 2006-09-20 16:41

im making a spray bar when my new stuff arives to !
wel done smiley!

by **sheepcoma** » 2006-09-20 21:18

what flow of water do guppies prefer

by **KittyKat** » 2006-09-20 21:35

Short finned guppies and females tend to not care much, but longfinned guys like medium low to medium flow because they can't swim as well due to the flowing fins

by **Indigo Blue Fish** » 2006-09-21 08:55

Rushing water causes a lot of drag.
When you set up a tank, you of course build it according to the species you have - if they have short fins and flattish thin bodies - chances are they're a high speed stream fish - for a great example look at how the Hillstream loach has modified itself:
The hillstream has flattened it's entire structure, and spread it's fins SIDEWAYS.
This means it can create controllable suction using its underside and flattened fins, keeping water OUT from under it, and the water flows neatly OVER it - keeping it firmly fixed to the rock it wants.
It also has a relatively small gillspace, and slow breathing - fast water means more oxygen.

However - if you look at the veiltail guppy, I would dare to suggest they would be best in slower waters:
They have reasonably large gills, fast breathing, as slow water is low oxygen.
The long fins would cause drag, meaning the fish would have to work harder to get anywhere, or even stay in one place - leading to possible starvation, exhaustion and death.

The downside of fast biotope fish is that sometimes it's hard to cater to their needs - not enough flow and oxygen can push their metabolisms over due to buildup of carbon dioxide they would be unable to expell.
If there isn't enough flow, they become depressed and listless.

However, an angled flow, or angled spraybar can create a fast "wall" of water down one side - good for fast animals to play with, but maintaining a relatively slow flow throughout hte rest of the tank!

Hope that helps.

by **borderboy** » 2006-09-22 15:01

for internal filters, if you reduce flow with a spray bar does it compromise filtration?

by **KittyKat** » 2006-09-22 18:52

Although theoretically the rate of flow should remain the same, it might be reduced due to the filter having to push up the water higher then it normally would. If this happens, then yes, your filter will be slightly less effecive, but IME it will usually not cause a problem.

by **smiley** » 2006-09-22 19:34

so far mines held up

and it seems to be keepin all the water really well oxygenated
and border boy , to aswer your question, mines been absalutly fine, having to push the water up higher.

by **borderboy** » 2006-09-24 10:09

cool, cheers guys. might try and put one together myself. (think the apiso's would prefer slower water)

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