Spray bar?

[jmmiller]

I have had my first marine tank set up now for about 6 weeks. Everything is going well but I heard from someone that I should change the regular fitting that came with my rio pump to a spray bar. He told me to take a piece of pvc and drill a bunch of holes in it to replace the fitting. Is this a good idea or should I just stick with what I have? Any suggestions on what I should do will be helpful. My tank is 72 gal and I am running a wet/dry filter with a rio 2100 return pump.

Thanks

 

[loganj]

I would probably not to this for two reasons. One, if you have the spray bar very close to the surface where it will agitate the surface of the water, you'll have a lot of salt creep. Salt creep has been known to cause divorces, excessive drinking, and in some cases, complete loss of sanity. Seriously, it makes a terrible mess. Two, it will cut the flow from the pump. You're better off to leave the pump running wide open and add a couple of powerheads if you need more flow. JMHO.

 

[fishfreek]

Plus rios dont do well with extra head pressure.

 

[ellisz]

I think if you had a big pump on a small tank you could proably do it. There is a big thread on RC about a spray bar. I tried it but like Logan said it slowed my return down and algae will grow and block the holes over time.

Seems like no matter where I put a PH, something always digs a corner up in my 75 gal. I have a mag7 return, maxi1200, JBJ PH and a Seio 620. I get good flow but I wish may tank was longer

 

[markh30]

I have to agree with loganj. Salt creep is nasty and makes a mess of everything. I used to use a spray bar and it was more of a pain then anything. Eventually, I submersed the bar and let it run underwater. It worked for about two weeks before it started getting clogged. So I went from one extreme to another. I eventually removed it and added extra powerheads.

 

[swissfish]

what about running the rio rotaders at the end of the return line?

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=TA4133

 

[markh30]

That looks like it would work.