FlyingFish78
Fish Fanatic
Being new to the hobby of fishkeeping I decided to buy my first tank, a Fluval Roma 240 litre; the biggest tank in the store. The tank looks extremely nice and the cabinet compliments my living room.
The other day I purchased some live plants whilst doing a fishless cycle. One of the plants was a Vallis and I planted it at the rear of the tank to provide a background. Straight away as soon as the filter was switched back on again I noticed that the vallis began swaying madly in the turbulence and bent over at near right angles due to the strong current; almost touching the gravel.
The Roma 240 came complete with a Fluval 306 cannister filter which sits in the cabinet under the tank. The outlet pipe connects to an outlet tube which rises from the bottom of the tank and directs the outgoing water via 2 nozzles at the top of the tube.
No matter which way I directed the nozzles the water was still being churned around like a washing machine and the plants were being pushed around all over the place. I did some further research and decided that it would be a good idea to fit a spray bar in order to improve the flow of water in the tank.
And the problem? Fluval don't manufacture a spray bar for the Roma 240! I couldn't find one anywhere. This appears to be a negligent oversight on the part of Fluval for not providing a part which is essential for that particular tank.
The solution? Simple. I went to my local Wickes hardware store and purchased a length of 22mm overflow pipe, an L-bend, a plug for one end of the pipe and some assorted rubber O-rings. I then simply drilled 20 holes down the length of the pipe and attached it to the outlet pipe using the L-bend. I then simply used some cable ties to secure the pipe to the tank and hey presto, a fully functioning spray bar! All for less than £10
I'm really not a DIY genius either, so if I can do it, anyone can!
It works great and now the water flow has been spread out more evenly across the whole tank. There's no longer any turbulence in the water. The flow starts from the spray bar which runs along back of the tank, with the holes just under the water line. It creates a healthy rippling of the surface as it makes its way to the front of the tank and then moves down the front of the tank to the gravel, producing a nice forward circular flow. Now the plants stand up straight and look as though they're gently flowing in the breeze.
All this is no thanks to Fluval for not providing a spray bar for the tank.
The other day I purchased some live plants whilst doing a fishless cycle. One of the plants was a Vallis and I planted it at the rear of the tank to provide a background. Straight away as soon as the filter was switched back on again I noticed that the vallis began swaying madly in the turbulence and bent over at near right angles due to the strong current; almost touching the gravel.
The Roma 240 came complete with a Fluval 306 cannister filter which sits in the cabinet under the tank. The outlet pipe connects to an outlet tube which rises from the bottom of the tank and directs the outgoing water via 2 nozzles at the top of the tube.
No matter which way I directed the nozzles the water was still being churned around like a washing machine and the plants were being pushed around all over the place. I did some further research and decided that it would be a good idea to fit a spray bar in order to improve the flow of water in the tank.
And the problem? Fluval don't manufacture a spray bar for the Roma 240! I couldn't find one anywhere. This appears to be a negligent oversight on the part of Fluval for not providing a part which is essential for that particular tank.
The solution? Simple. I went to my local Wickes hardware store and purchased a length of 22mm overflow pipe, an L-bend, a plug for one end of the pipe and some assorted rubber O-rings. I then simply drilled 20 holes down the length of the pipe and attached it to the outlet pipe using the L-bend. I then simply used some cable ties to secure the pipe to the tank and hey presto, a fully functioning spray bar! All for less than £10
I'm really not a DIY genius either, so if I can do it, anyone can!
It works great and now the water flow has been spread out more evenly across the whole tank. There's no longer any turbulence in the water. The flow starts from the spray bar which runs along back of the tank, with the holes just under the water line. It creates a healthy rippling of the surface as it makes its way to the front of the tank and then moves down the front of the tank to the gravel, producing a nice forward circular flow. Now the plants stand up straight and look as though they're gently flowing in the breeze.
All this is no thanks to Fluval for not providing a spray bar for the tank.
