Cannister filter placement?
- Thread starter j_levine
- Start date
both right by each other works but an intake and and exaust at different ends of the tank is better for flow.it's kinda moot with an eheim because they use spray bars.you can place the sraybars anywhere you like so long as the hoses will reach an you can get the suction cups to hold it.and i'll move this to the equipment forum,you'll get more veiws there.good luck with your new canister
As Mike says it all depends on the attachments you use and water movement in the tank is affected by the infinite variety of rockwork, plants and decor that you've set up.
I've used both spray bars and diffusors with good success, have set inlet and outlet right next to each and at some distance apart.
My tip would be to place the inlet as low in the water as you can and outlet so that it creates water movement near the surface and away from the inlet, then observe the water movement for yourself and adjust if necessary.
The outlet is your opportunity to disturb the surface which helps with gas exchange. A diffusor will create lots of movement and pulls air into the flow often obviating the need for a (noisy) airpump. A spraybar can be set up to spray directly onto the water surface or (my preference) just under the surface to create a rippling effect. If you want even but not excessive water movement, you can tandem mount spraybars across the entire length of the tank, you could even mount them vertically instead of the more normal horizontal.
Finally, don't forget that your wonderful Eheim Pro II can has a flow regulator so you can fine tune the outlet flow if required.
I've used both spray bars and diffusors with good success, have set inlet and outlet right next to each and at some distance apart.
My tip would be to place the inlet as low in the water as you can and outlet so that it creates water movement near the surface and away from the inlet, then observe the water movement for yourself and adjust if necessary.
The outlet is your opportunity to disturb the surface which helps with gas exchange. A diffusor will create lots of movement and pulls air into the flow often obviating the need for a (noisy) airpump. A spraybar can be set up to spray directly onto the water surface or (my preference) just under the surface to create a rippling effect. If you want even but not excessive water movement, you can tandem mount spraybars across the entire length of the tank, you could even mount them vertically instead of the more normal horizontal.
Finally, don't forget that your wonderful Eheim Pro II can has a flow regulator so you can fine tune the outlet flow if required.
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Taffyfish is right has his points. Well I'm here to give a different viewpoint in contrary to the conventional filter placement, and is just for your information and may not be relevant to you, just for your reading pleasure.
Conventional placement suggests that inlet are to be placed at the bottom of the tank and the outlet be placed near the surface. Supposing you do not need extra air exchange created by the spray bar. I have read somewhere that you can create an opposite way of flow, that is to put the inlet just a several inches below the surface (make sure that you allow more than enough tolerance to the change of water level due to evaporation and not leaving your inlet tube sucking dry air). And outlet tube several inches above the gravel. Creating a bottom to top flow rather than the conventional top to bottom flow.
The rationales are:
1. Dissolve organic substances have surface tension with water thus making it most abundant at the water surface, placing the inlet nearer the surface can more effectively suck them in. The conventional flow pattent will be to create disturbance and send these dissolved organic back to the water.
2. Depending on the kind of substrate you have, it might be able to create more turbulence in the bottom of the tank due to the outlet. It will help in preventing junk settling at the gravel and have enough time suspending in water for the inlet to take it.
3. This one is my own rationale hehe... In some unlikely case of failure in the tubing (say outlet tube came lose and you are pumping water in the tank to the floor), if the inlet tube is placed low in the tank, the pump will empty your tank till where the level of the inlet is. Thus the higher is the inlet in the tank, the more water you will be left in your tank and lesser water will be on the floor in case such incident happens.
(Sorry for so much junk...)
Of course the draw back is you need to pay extra attention during water change and evaporation, make sure that it is not sucking dry air. A balance of both will be to place the inlet in the middle of the tank.
And these are second to the overall water flow in the tank, which would be depending on the landscaping of the tank. It is best to avoid "blind spots" of water flow.
Happy working!
Conventional placement suggests that inlet are to be placed at the bottom of the tank and the outlet be placed near the surface. Supposing you do not need extra air exchange created by the spray bar. I have read somewhere that you can create an opposite way of flow, that is to put the inlet just a several inches below the surface (make sure that you allow more than enough tolerance to the change of water level due to evaporation and not leaving your inlet tube sucking dry air). And outlet tube several inches above the gravel. Creating a bottom to top flow rather than the conventional top to bottom flow.
The rationales are:
1. Dissolve organic substances have surface tension with water thus making it most abundant at the water surface, placing the inlet nearer the surface can more effectively suck them in. The conventional flow pattent will be to create disturbance and send these dissolved organic back to the water.
2. Depending on the kind of substrate you have, it might be able to create more turbulence in the bottom of the tank due to the outlet. It will help in preventing junk settling at the gravel and have enough time suspending in water for the inlet to take it.
3. This one is my own rationale hehe... In some unlikely case of failure in the tubing (say outlet tube came lose and you are pumping water in the tank to the floor), if the inlet tube is placed low in the tank, the pump will empty your tank till where the level of the inlet is. Thus the higher is the inlet in the tank, the more water you will be left in your tank and lesser water will be on the floor in case such incident happens.
(Sorry for so much junk...)
Of course the draw back is you need to pay extra attention during water change and evaporation, make sure that it is not sucking dry air. A balance of both will be to place the inlet in the middle of the tank.
And these are second to the overall water flow in the tank, which would be depending on the landscaping of the tank. It is best to avoid "blind spots" of water flow.
Happy working!
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Talking about different view points, here’s mine.
I use a combination of Eheim liberty 200 and 2213. I put a pre-filter sponge onto the inlet of the 2213 and leave it suspending about 2 inch below the surface, the liberty 200 is stretch all the way to the bottom. The outlet of 2213 is connected to venture which give me sprays and lots of bubbles.
The idea is to reduce maintenance on 2213 so that I don’t disturb the BB there while liberty do the mechanical work and cleaning is pretty easy. The pre-filter sponge are great as BB live in them as well.
I use a combination of Eheim liberty 200 and 2213. I put a pre-filter sponge onto the inlet of the 2213 and leave it suspending about 2 inch below the surface, the liberty 200 is stretch all the way to the bottom. The outlet of 2213 is connected to venture which give me sprays and lots of bubbles.
The idea is to reduce maintenance on 2213 so that I don’t disturb the BB there while liberty do the mechanical work and cleaning is pretty easy. The pre-filter sponge are great as BB live in them as well.