Pump controls

[Joe Coetzee]

Howsit guys

So I have two Sunsun 1200l/h powerheads on opposite sites of my tank, running full time, I noticed the current flow was too strong for my fish and for the plants, as it looked like there was a strong wind going on inside the tank, blowing the fish and the plants

So I decided to build a pump controller, which switches on one pump for 10mins, then off for a random time, switches on the second pump and then of for a random time and so on and so forth

Do you guys think it will be okay for the fish, as I can see the water is isn't getting moved around so violently as before, the tank looks calmer aswell, I just don't want to confuse the fish with the current flow

 

[King Fisher]

That's a heck of a system. Lol. If it doesn't work..... point the heads towards the back of the tank and slightly upwards.

 

[Joe Coetzee]

It seems that it is working well, the water is more calm and the plants have settled down.

My powerheads are at the sides of the tank facing each other.

I have attached a drawing of my existing setup and the setup recommended by King Fisher if i understand correctly

The only problem for me is, i hope the change in flow every 10min doesn't affect or disturb the fish

If it will help with the flow, i am willing to rotate the powerheads.

 

[King Fisher]

I was gonna say you could use a spray bar to slow flow but it looks like you already have that. If the spray bar is sits a bit to high to point it upwards and it's throwing water out of the tank you could try pointing it downward slightly and towards the back of the tank.

 

[Joe Coetzee]

Looks like i will have to take out the controller, the pumps don't like to be switched on and off. The one is making a clicking noise now when it starts.
I also noticed when either one of them starts, sometimes they run in reverse for a sec or so and then go in the right direction.
It is starting to make my plants come loose, i think i am going to bypass the controller and re-position the pumps and the spray bars are per Your suggestion. Should i mount the spraybars with the suction cup holders onto the back glass of the aquarium and position them to spray slightly downward, they will then be close to the glass aswell.



Can i drill some more small holes in the bars, will it help diffuse the water better?

 

[King Fisher]

Drilling more holes and making the existing holes larger by drilling them out decreases pressure coming out of the bar.

I'd try to keep your spray bar at the back of the tank. You can position the spray bar down in the water facing directly upwards, facing towards the glass, positioned above the water or near the top and facing directly down or down and towards the glass. There's a few options to play with until you get it dialed in. Here's a link explaining and showing some options you could work with........

https://fishlab.com/spray-bar/

 

[King Fisher]

I'll add that drilling holes in the back of the spray bar as well has worked for some people

 

[Joe Coetzee]

Thanks so much

I am going to add some holes in the spray bar and open them a bit to decrease pressure, move them and angle them towards the back downwards.

 

[King Fisher]

Let me know how it turns out.

 

[Joe Coetzee]

Hey

I have scratched around and found some extra extenders for my spray bars, I have drilled extra holes in the green to match the amount of holes in the black, I have increased the size on all of them by about 1mm, positioned them towards the back facing down a little bit and I have removed them from the controller system, they are permanently on again now
They are much much better now, the flow is more than soft enough but I still have water movement. Prefect idea, I think issue solved
I am very pleased with the results
Thank you so much for the help

 

[Joe Coetzee]

Btw
I am picking up my co2 bottle on Saturday, more issues than come I'm sure
I am going to inject using the method in this video

 

[King Fisher]

No problem. It's always nice when a plan comes together [emoji16]