Above are 2 pics of my fish tank. It is a 72 gallon Bow Front tank. I have had this for almost 2 years now. Last week, when I was cleaning my tank and changing stuff in my filter, I had a problem with the filter. After everything was hooked up, it started to make a loud clicking noise, and it looked like it was functioning sporadically (stop and go). It is a Fluval 406 Canister Filter.
I replaced the impeller within the unit. It was still making a lot of noise, and I was afraid that it might stop working, so I went out and bought a new one. The new one is working perfectly.
I contacted Fluval (since my unit has a 3 year warranty), and the representative asked me a slew of questions to ascertain what the problem might be. When I described my setup, he told me that I have the hosing for the intake and output tubes spaced too far apart, and that they should be no more than 12 inches apart from each other.
Here is my question.... If you can see it in the pics, I have my intake tube set up on the Left-hand side of the tank (in the rear), and my Output tube is almost all the way to the Right side of the tank (in the rear). They are spaced 32 inches apart, with my output tube aiming the flow of water to the Left (towards the direction of my intake tube). Is that really too far apart? Should I cut some of the air hose, and move the output tube closer to the intake tube? If so, should I really space them only 12 inches apart... especially in such a large tank? I have seen some set-up videos (on YouTube) for the Fluval 406, and the one I remember viewing (when I first got my fish tank and set everything up 2 years ago) showed the hoses and tubing set up at opposite ends of the tank (which looked like a helleva lot more than 12 inches apart).
Another question (based on moving my output tube closer to the intake tube)... Which direction should I aim the flow of water coming out of the output tube... towards the direction of the intake tube, towards the direction of the top center of tank, or towards the Right side of the tank (away from everything)?