240g Asian Arowana Tank - Modified River Tank Manifold & Hard-plumbed FX5's
- Thread starter Albertan
- Start date
Mostly because I have several sitting around and I wanted a higher turnover rate for the tank. If it doesn't pan out pulling that much water through 1" PVC, then I'll cap one off and just run one and some HOB's. I've got a bunch of AC110's lying around as well.
Sweet !! So I guess in Canada asains are legal to keep? lucky
Only thing I will add is thick cover glass, these fish can jump. Its quite amazing how many people forget this part and wake up a few days later in tears.
With your fx5s I would also try to create some area on the surface thats quite still, Asains like to sleep on the surface of the water so if you have a baby 2 x fx5s maybe too much on the surface, it can stress the little guy.
these points are just my opinion, I am no expert on the area... not enough income to be ! lol
Only thing I will add is thick cover glass, these fish can jump. Its quite amazing how many people forget this part and wake up a few days later in tears.
With your fx5s I would also try to create some area on the surface thats quite still, Asains like to sleep on the surface of the water so if you have a baby 2 x fx5s maybe too much on the surface, it can stress the little guy.
these points are just my opinion, I am no expert on the area... not enough income to be ! lol
Yup. Got the lids covered. The fish isn't big enough to for it to be an issue with the glass lids I have. But I'll be sure to weight them down as the fish grows.
Current on the bottom and calm on top in a 24" tall tank. Therein lies the trick.
Current on the bottom and calm on top in a 24" tall tank. Therein lies the trick.
Output Side
As mentioned, I wanted to keep this run as short as possible. I started with the FX5's located right under the output on the far right hand side. But I still built the outflow from the spray bar back to the filters. I put a little jog in the run up near the top to tuck it under the side brace and keep the spray bar up against the glass. It's a compromise but I'll see how it turns out when I test the system later. Here's the picture of the tank side of the run. The holes in the spray bar haven't been drilled yet, and the outflow isn't glued from the top "U" down to the spray bar so that I can test different locations.
To attach the filters, I again used a 1" PVC slip fit to threaded adapter to join a threaded T to the rest of the run. This time I also used another slip fit to threaded adapter, a short piece of 1" PVC, and a slip fit to threaded 90[SUP]o[/SUP] so that both filters can input on the same "side" of the pipe, as shown below.
You can see I again used zip ties to brace the run. I will also use suction cups in the tank to hold the spray bar in place. I think this will work fine. The only concern I have at the moment is whether the 1" PVC and the straight T's will be able to accommodate the flow from two FX5's. If it's a problem, I'll cap each run and just run a single FX5. I'll see if I can post videos when I flow test the setup with one and then two FX5's running.
Everything has been glued except for the spray bar and is ready for a test run. However, I've been guilted into painting the in-tank pipes black, so I picked up a couple of cans of Krylon Fusion and will take care of that first in the morning. Cheers.
As mentioned, I wanted to keep this run as short as possible. I started with the FX5's located right under the output on the far right hand side. But I still built the outflow from the spray bar back to the filters. I put a little jog in the run up near the top to tuck it under the side brace and keep the spray bar up against the glass. It's a compromise but I'll see how it turns out when I test the system later. Here's the picture of the tank side of the run. The holes in the spray bar haven't been drilled yet, and the outflow isn't glued from the top "U" down to the spray bar so that I can test different locations.
To attach the filters, I again used a 1" PVC slip fit to threaded adapter to join a threaded T to the rest of the run. This time I also used another slip fit to threaded adapter, a short piece of 1" PVC, and a slip fit to threaded 90[SUP]o[/SUP] so that both filters can input on the same "side" of the pipe, as shown below.
You can see I again used zip ties to brace the run. I will also use suction cups in the tank to hold the spray bar in place. I think this will work fine. The only concern I have at the moment is whether the 1" PVC and the straight T's will be able to accommodate the flow from two FX5's. If it's a problem, I'll cap each run and just run a single FX5. I'll see if I can post videos when I flow test the setup with one and then two FX5's running.
Everything has been glued except for the spray bar and is ready for a test run. However, I've been guilted into painting the in-tank pipes black, so I picked up a couple of cans of Krylon Fusion and will take care of that first in the morning. Cheers.
I've never owned any fx5s. If they don't have built-in check valves, you might want to add some in line to prevent back flow looping if you have to turn one off for breakage/maitainence. Or at least some ball valves.
Does that make sense?
Does that make sense?
They don't exactly have a check valve. But it has a water block type of feature that will not allow water to move through, much like all canisters to my knowledge. Otherwise, all the canisters once disconnected for cleaning would just gravity feed into your stand while you're fiddling around with the canister itself.
Intake is intake, return is return. So as long as the lines aren't mixed up I really don't see a problem. The only thing I'm unsure about is if 1" PVC is enough for 2 FX's. As we all know they are prone to blowing up if they get back pressure. Which the short return seems that it won't allow it too much, because I think it'll be pulling harder from the intake because it's such a far distance. Granted the height on it should reduce some of that too being just under the rim for extra gravity.
Question, is the PVC level with the stand/tank or did you give it a bit of a drop to aid in the flow to the filters? It looks level but we all know how that really works in real life scenarios.
Edit: And that is something you may want to consider is in the piping putting ball valves in the itake and return lines if for any reason you need to take both FX's off and shut down flow to the entire tank. Or lets say you need to replace the aquastop valve on the FX. You can't without a ball valve.
Intake is intake, return is return. So as long as the lines aren't mixed up I really don't see a problem. The only thing I'm unsure about is if 1" PVC is enough for 2 FX's. As we all know they are prone to blowing up if they get back pressure. Which the short return seems that it won't allow it too much, because I think it'll be pulling harder from the intake because it's such a far distance. Granted the height on it should reduce some of that too being just under the rim for extra gravity.
Question, is the PVC level with the stand/tank or did you give it a bit of a drop to aid in the flow to the filters? It looks level but we all know how that really works in real life scenarios.
Edit: And that is something you may want to consider is in the piping putting ball valves in the itake and return lines if for any reason you need to take both FX's off and shut down flow to the entire tank. Or lets say you need to replace the aquastop valve on the FX. You can't without a ball valve.
The FX5 couplers have their own built in check valves as mentioned. The PVC on the intake run is level. Two FX5s through 1" PVC is a concern for me as well, but we'll see. It's easy enough to just run one. Heck, it's easy enough to quickly build 2" runs as well. Time will tell.
I thought about ball valves. But to be honest, I can quickly unscrew three screws on the return and eight on the intake and lift the whole thing out of the tank for maintenance if necessary. That's what I've been doing during building/test fitting.
I thought about ball valves. But to be honest, I can quickly unscrew three screws on the return and eight on the intake and lift the whole thing out of the tank for maintenance if necessary. That's what I've been doing during building/test fitting.
