How to make a spray bar to replace the AGA overflow nozzle

[phdezra]

problem i see with using clear flex hose is that you'd have to support it some how every 6" or so (maybe further apart)

My 135g will be a room divider, and see through in the back/front. I'm thinking of running 1" tubing along the very top (covered by top of canopy overlip. I will connect it to the acrylic with a few simple suction cups. I can;t imagine it'll be very visible as peopel will be fosuing on the fish and corals. .

 

[electric130]

it should work for you. i personally wouldn't use clear though. it will grow algae on the inside and begin to look unsightly. that's why i like the black siloflex. light can't go through it, so it's less likely to grow algae inside and need to be cleaned. also, the outside of mine is already getting covered with coraline, which is making it blend in more. clear will grow coraline too, but i wouldn't use it because of the algae problem i described. i'm fighting this under the tank with my fuge. i'm going to change all my clear tubing to black vinyl tubing (like the kind they sell for ponds) so i won't have the algae problem in the tubes.

 

[electric130]

just thought i'd post an update. the spray bar works great and i've seen improvements in my corals in general. the only PITA of the spray bar is having to remove the ocasional stomatella that takes a ride through the pump and then wants to block a hole. if i were to do it over again, i'd put another threaded nipple in the end of the pipe where i put a plug, and then put a threaded cap on it. that way i could easily remove anything that might be in the end of the pipe (like small snails)

 

[phrases37]

electric,

first of all, i'd like to say...genious idea! secondly, i'm setting up a new 50 gallon and i'm looking to get a prefilter tank with obviously an overflow and a return in the same area...i haven't seen the tank yet, so please forgive my ignorance, but would i be able to from the sump bypass the built in return and split my return pipe into two returns and close it off with your spray bar?

thank you in advance!

 

[electric130]

electric,

first of all, i'd like to say...genious idea!

thanks. it's amazingly simple, yet so effective.

would i be able to from the sump bypass the built in return and split my return pipe into two returns and close it off with your spray bar?

i think i know what you mean, and yes, you should be able to, you'll just have pips coming over the back of the tank. if the spray bar will be under water, just make sure that you have a siphon break somewhere on the pipe so the spray bar doesn't empty your tank when power goes out.

 

[phrases37]

thanks for the response...on your set up, what did you use as a siphon break?

also, on one of your replies you had mentioned that if you were to do it all over again, you would put a threaded nipple on the end you fixed with a cap...my question is, what would you close it off with or better yet what would it be called at lowes or hd so i'm not flagging down all the "knowledgable and helpful" people there...sorry for the sarcasm...

 

[1BadHawk]

Nice mod electric. Where did you get that pipe for the spray bar?

I just set up my new 125 and I use a loop system for the returns. Puting a couple discharges at the bottom of the tank to help with circulation. This was before I realised you need something at the surface to stir it up some.

My first attemp was to put a 'T' on the rutrns but most of the return water ended up coming out of the top surface area and barely any was gooing to the submerged returns.

I tried reducers to make a smaller rerturn off the T but that only inceased the pressure. My next try will be to install ball valve of some sort.

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=364157&outx=760&oq=0

 

[alonks]

Thanks Electric130! I have installed a similar spraybar in my 65gal and love it! Works great and hard to see.

That silflex is hard to find though, out of the 7 or so HD's and Lowe's I tried only 1 (Lowes in Danvers, MA) carried this stuff in 5ft lenghts. Maybe half the stores carried 250ft spools. It seems silflex is used for underground lawn sprinklers.

 

[electric130]

That silflex is hard to find though, out of the 7 or so HD's and Lowe's I tried only 1 (Lowes in Danvers, MA) carried this stuff in 5ft lenghts.

huh. every one around here carries it.

Maybe half the stores carried 250ft spools. It seems silflex is used for underground lawn sprinklers.

yest it is. it should be by the irrigation supplies.

 

[electric130]

thanks for the response...on your set up, what did you use as a siphon break?

i made the mistake of wasting my money on the AGA overflow plumbing equipment kit. the stock return pipe has a 90 deg elbow to get the water over the wall of the overflow. on the underside of the elbow, there's a little hole drilled in it, probably 1/8" diameter. it's pointed down so that it doesn't matter that water comes out of it, but it's above the water level so that when the pump shuts off, it allows air to get into the line and not drain your tank.

also, on one of your replies you had mentioned that if you were to do it all over again, you would put a threaded nipple on the end you fixed with a cap...my question is, what would you close it off with or better yet what would it be called at lowes or hd so i'm not flagging down all the "knowledgable and helpful" people there...sorry for the sarcasm...

the fitting would have 3/4" threads on one end and a male barbbed nipple on the other end (same thing used for going from PVC to siloflex) and then get a 3/4" threaded schedule 80 PVC cap. it will look like this: PVC cap . i don't think the one i linked to is threaded, but it's a better picture. the reason i suggest threaded is so you can take it off and on for cleaning, but it will still hold when pump pressure is applied.

also, don't worry about the questions. i wouldn't have posted this thread if i wasn't willing to help people out. i posted this to help fellow reefers.

 

[electric130]

Nice mod electric. Where did you get that pipe for the spray bar?

it's 3/4" Siloflex from Lowes (see above posts)

I just set up my new 125 and I use a loop system for the returns. Puting a couple discharges at the bottom of the tank to help with circulation. This was before I realised you need something at the surface to stir it up some.

also make sure there's a siphon break on any pipe that's submerged

My first attemp was to put a 'T' on the rutrns but most of the return water ended up coming out of the top surface area and barely any was gooing to the submerged returns.

the deeper the water, the more pressure it takes to push the water down.

I tried reducers to make a smaller rerturn off the T but that only inceased the pressure. My next try will be to install ball valve of some sort.

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=364157&outx=760&oq=0

you need a small valve something like this: 1/2" valve it won't have a whole lot of pressure on it, so it should work. give it a couple months and it will grow over with coraline and you won't hardly notice it.

 

[Aaron]

nice work!

nice work!

How did you angle the spraybar holes?

 

[electric130]

Re: nice work!

Re: nice work!

How did you angle the spraybar holes?

i didn't, i just drilled them in a straight line, and then turned the spray bar down to whatever angle i wanted as i was screwing it in the elbow.

 

[electric130]

update

update

spray bar is still working awesome. the only changes i have made is that i stepped up the hole size one drill bit. those stupid little snails kept getting caught and i was sick of it. now they flow right out the holes.

 

[phdezra]

Wow - haven;t seen this thread active in MONTHS and then along came an email notification. I almost fell off my chair.

Snails get stuck in the oddest (and worst) places. Bigger holes are a good idea, but I imagine the pressure is reduced, so the water movement/distance out of the spray bar is reduced a little now?

 

[Entropy]

I thought about doing this to my tank but ended up using the 3/4 inch return as a second drain. How much flow do you think you are getting out of the AGA overflow with the mods you did? I cut mine a little bigger than yours (opened them up all the way to the top) and am just wondering how much bigger of a pump I can run (using a Mag 9.5 now).

 

[electric130]

i'm running a little giant 3-mdqx-sc wide open. it's probably pushing at least 900-950 GPH. i only use the one 1" drain. i have the durso standpipe and it handles the flow just fine. the 3/4" pipe has a open cross sectional area of about .44 in^2

the spraybar openings have a total cross sectional area of 1.12 in^2

maybe i'm not thinking of this right, but oh well.

 

[ejmeier]

I've been in the process of designing/researching spraybars, and I think this post deserves a bump.

electric130 - I noticed that you had to drill bigger holes with the snails in your tank getting stuck..... How big are they now? (the holes not the snails)

I'm just curious because I'm thinking of doing the same thing on a 4 ft. propagtion tank (48"L x 18"W x 8"H) using a Quiet One HH that I have lying around and my tank has tons of those little critters crawling around.

The pump does ~1000 GPH at 0' head, and I will be splitting the return off to a skimmer that will get maybe 1/3 or 1/2 of the flow. I expect roughly 300 - 400 going through each return. I figure I can get away with this lower flow because it is a prop tank only 8" high with no LR to impede the flow.

BTW - My Stomatella snails are taking over my tank! But I really don't mind because they keep stuff so clean. And if one ever gets caught in my pump..... FREE FOOD!

One last thought.......

Has anyone ever drilled the holes at a slight angle facing each other in pairs? It could make the water much more turbulent and the flow might look something like this:

-----s-p-r-a-y-b-a-r-----
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /

What d'ya think?

 

[tor101898]

tagging along

 

[electric130]

electric130 - I noticed that you had to drill bigger holes with the snails in your tank getting stuck..... How big are they now? (the holes not the snails)

they started 7/32", now they're either 15/64" or 1/4" can't really remember. they're definitely not bigger than 1/4"

The pump does ~1000 GPH at 0' head, and I will be splitting the return off to a skimmer that will get maybe 1/3 or 1/2 of the flow. I expect roughly 300 - 400 going through each return. I figure I can get away with this lower flow because it is a prop tank only 8" high with no LR to impede the flow.

you should be fine. that tank will be roughly 30 gallons, so you'll be over 10 times per hour.

Has anyone ever drilled the holes at a slight angle facing each other in pairs? It could make the water much more turbulent and the flow might look something like this:

-----s-p-r-a-y-b-a-r-----
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /

What d'ya think?

you could try it, but i think that the walls of the pipe are so thin that it wouldn't affect it significantly. if you want more turbulant water, either drill smaller holes, or less holes of a larger size. best thing to do is start with smaller holes and not as many. see how it does. you can drill more holes later. that's easy. it's harder to fill the holes if you have too many.