Breaking Up the Flow

[Gauge]

I just got a new Mag Drive Model 7 due to what happened this morning. I think that the flow might be a bit too fast for my longhorn cowfish because the circulates around the top of the tank where he spends most of his time.

Is there some way that I can break up the flow a bit? Perhaps a Y-piece in hose going from the return pump to the tank and two outputs instead of one? Perhaps a type of output that spreads the flow out more?

I really don't want to slow the flow down any because I think my tank needs it. I just need to spread it out some more. Specifically, getting more of it closer to the bottom of the tank would be good.

 

[HoopsGuru]

Run the hose into a T fitting and you would have two outputs, 2 T's for four, etc.

 

[Gauge]

Are these available at the LFS? If so, I've never seen them. Or are they at the hardware store?

 

[TheMadNucleus]

Hi guage,

The T fittings (I assume you are using schedule 40 PVC or perhaps Vinyl hoses) are largely available in good Plumbing supplies. If your local plumbing supply places are not helpful try this site:

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/pvc.html

At the very least it will show you the names of stuff that is available.

If you want to try to maximize your flow rate then an alternate to a 'T' might be a good idea, as T's set up some back pressure. Y's (sometimes referred to as wyes) will achieve the same result with less back pressure. The site above has a few of these listed under fittings. The best for you is likely a 3 way wye which splits one large incoming feed down to three (these exist but are harder to find). It's also likely a good idea to balance the output from the wye. For example if you have 1" plumbing coming in and wye it to two outputs make the outputs 3/4" (typical plumbing practice). This should be the case for a 'T' as well. I think the reasoning for balancing the outputs is that the output tubes can not be filled at a smooth rate if they are the same size as the input tube so additional back pressure is created via internal vortexes.

HTH

Tom

 

[Gauge]

Godo info MadNucleus... When I tried to find this stuff before, I failed to find hose barbs. Should they be a standard item in the hardware store's plumbing department?

(FYI: I'm using 5/8" hose)

 

[loganj]

Home Depot and Lowes have them here. They don't have any Y fittings though. You could make a Y using a PVC Y and three female adapters...I'm not sure it would be worth all the trouble to do it that way though.

 

[TheMadNucleus]

Yep,

Funny you should mention Home Depot and Lowes - I was thinking of suggesting this but was'nt sure if they had them in Texas (suppose that was sort of dumb. Duh - like what is Texas in the middle of the Andes or something).

Anyway the additional advantage of the pre-made wye's is that they split the flow of the water very smoothly. Also, recall that you can put several together if you can't get the 3 way version.

Also - If you are using Hose barbs and can not get the wye fitting for the hose barb fittings then use a schedule 40 Y in whatever size you are plumbing with and then use a barb adapter on the ends of the sched 40 fitting.

Here's another mail order site if you are still having difficulties:

http://www.atozsupply.com/acb/webpage.cfm?WebPage_ID=10&DID=15

HTH

Tom