# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Spray bars?



## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

How many of you out there use spray bars? I have tried they a few times without the results I was looking far. I might be setting them up wrong so 
1) how do you set yours up? High? Low ? back or side of tank? 
2) do you use them alone or with other out flows?

The problem I have is the spray bar makes the stem plants bend toward the front of the tank. I am getting my 75gal ready for a new aquascape and might try using a spray bar again so any suggestion on how to set them up ?

Hawk


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## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

How many of you out there use spray bars? I have tried they a few times without the results I was looking far. I might be setting them up wrong so 
1) how do you set yours up? High? Low ? back or side of tank? 
2) do you use them alone or with other out flows?

The problem I have is the spray bar makes the stem plants bend toward the front of the tank. I am getting my 75gal ready for a new aquascape and might try using a spray bar again so any suggestion on how to set them up ?

Hawk


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## nino (Oct 2, 2004)

I use spraybars but I drilled larger holes. I used larger bit on the last 2 holes to balance the output. In my hexagon tank, I positioned it vertically.


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## imported_chrismisc (Jul 25, 2004)

My spraybar runs the depth of the right rear corner of my tank to within maybe 4 imches of the substrate. I had it set to "blow" lengthwise across the rear of the tank, & the amazon swords that were closest didn't seem to mind. but this past water change & cleaning I ended up positioning the outflow so it runs forward along the glass out of the rear corner (due to hurry on may part), and this is actually a pretty cool arrangement. There's only the gentlest current, but fish food seems to stay suspending for longer with a very gentle swirl, which my discus loves. I'm gonna leave it that way. The filter (a filstar 2 canister) intake is in the opposite corner, & I feel this setup makes for pretty good circulation. I bought extensions from my LFS for what I know think was probably a pretty inflated price, but I dont see why you couldn't do some kind of PVC/silicone arrangement.


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## bharada (Apr 17, 2004)

I run mine along the bottom back of my 40. I made it up using 3/4" gray PCV (electical conduit). I drilled a series of 3/16" holes 1" apart along its 10" length. The holes all point up and back toward the glass. It creates a very gentle current that doesn't cause the stem plants in the rear of the tank to bend.

I'll be setting up a new 125g tank next week so will need to decide if I want to take this route again, or just use the filter's standard pipes.


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## imported_BSS (Apr 14, 2004)

I have a Rena XP3. Per a suggestion in another forum, I used most all of the supplied parts to get my spray bar down to within about 1" of the bottom of the tank. I then went to a hardware store and got similarly sized tubing to extend the spray bar the entire length of the back of the tank pointed up at about a 45 - 60 degree angle. Per ninob suggestion, I was considering increasing the sizes of the holes, but I seem to recall that once I got the spray bar to about a 30" lenght, it wasn't needed. It seems to create a pretty gentle current running the length of the tank and the "baby tears" (sorry, I still can't crank out the Latin names) in the middle background of my tank has a nice gentle motion to it.


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## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

First thanks for all the suggestions. Tonight I set up two spray bars in my 75gal as suggested. I ran the outflow down within inches of the bottom and added a 10 inch spray bar. One along the back wall and one along the far side. I run two filter in the tank. At first I had longer bars but I didn't have very much current. By making them shorter, I increased the current just enough to add a little sway to the plants without bending them. Looks like its going to work. Thanks all for the help.

Hawk


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