waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Well ranjohns, I think we all hate to get into direct recommendations like this lest you end up disappointed, especially with more significant stuff like this. We all do our research and make our decisions and its often a little different for each of us, so please take my comments as just one more little bit of info.
The spraybar was part of the filter, in the box. Its been fine for me although I believe there are fancier versions you can get if you need more flexibility. In my tank I have the intake tube in the back right corner, where it goes down and touches the gravel. I have the spraybar across the top back feeding from the left. That was because the spraybar was a tiny bit too long to fit across the left side (it might fit in your 29g) and I was too lazy to cut it, which you could easily do. My arrangement means the feeder hose to the spraybar is visible at the back side of the tank, but it doesn't particularly bother me. It also means the water flow comes forward across the water surface, hits the front glass and goes downward and is concentrated somewhat into a stream by the bowfront of the tank. This, depending on whether you like it or not, means fish can ride it like a water fall and their tails tip downwards when they swim through it. Personally I find this a bit annoying and I may change it but my son thinks its fun. I use a Hydor exernal heater on the input hose of the eheim, so there's no equipment visible in the tank except that intake tube on the right rear.
If I had it to do over again I'd probably go for the eheim ProII 2026 instead of the 2222, now that I've had more time to hear what the planted guys have to say and realize they run their tanks often up around 10x turnover, whereas my 2222 gives me 5x turnover. I'm still a bit of two minds about this (the anti-algae positive vs. the blow-the-fish-around negative) but I'm told the water flows can be tamed by adjusting the outputs more (such as pointing the flow more at the near glass, and also by having more plants, which is good.) Now the 2026 is still more expensive but it might help solve the problem of availability. The Pro line is almost non-existant in the USA (this is a German product) but the ProII line is much more easily available. I had to do an all-out search to find mine at the time because I was convinced that's what I wanted. By the way, I'd use the eheim site to get measurement specs and see if you have room, these are big devices. The only options I got were a little rubber bulb to prime the pump (very helpful on the 2222 but unneeded on the 2026 as it has one built-in) and a pack of extra media pads. Mine came with ceramic rings and ceramic gravel and sponges. The user manuals are online at the eheim site and the usa parts and service site exists and works.
~~waterdrop~~
The spraybar was part of the filter, in the box. Its been fine for me although I believe there are fancier versions you can get if you need more flexibility. In my tank I have the intake tube in the back right corner, where it goes down and touches the gravel. I have the spraybar across the top back feeding from the left. That was because the spraybar was a tiny bit too long to fit across the left side (it might fit in your 29g) and I was too lazy to cut it, which you could easily do. My arrangement means the feeder hose to the spraybar is visible at the back side of the tank, but it doesn't particularly bother me. It also means the water flow comes forward across the water surface, hits the front glass and goes downward and is concentrated somewhat into a stream by the bowfront of the tank. This, depending on whether you like it or not, means fish can ride it like a water fall and their tails tip downwards when they swim through it. Personally I find this a bit annoying and I may change it but my son thinks its fun. I use a Hydor exernal heater on the input hose of the eheim, so there's no equipment visible in the tank except that intake tube on the right rear.
If I had it to do over again I'd probably go for the eheim ProII 2026 instead of the 2222, now that I've had more time to hear what the planted guys have to say and realize they run their tanks often up around 10x turnover, whereas my 2222 gives me 5x turnover. I'm still a bit of two minds about this (the anti-algae positive vs. the blow-the-fish-around negative) but I'm told the water flows can be tamed by adjusting the outputs more (such as pointing the flow more at the near glass, and also by having more plants, which is good.) Now the 2026 is still more expensive but it might help solve the problem of availability. The Pro line is almost non-existant in the USA (this is a German product) but the ProII line is much more easily available. I had to do an all-out search to find mine at the time because I was convinced that's what I wanted. By the way, I'd use the eheim site to get measurement specs and see if you have room, these are big devices. The only options I got were a little rubber bulb to prime the pump (very helpful on the 2222 but unneeded on the 2026 as it has one built-in) and a pack of extra media pads. Mine came with ceramic rings and ceramic gravel and sponges. The user manuals are online at the eheim site and the usa parts and service site exists and works.
~~waterdrop~~
