Positioning questions for two fX6s on a 185 gallon?

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Dolemedes

Dolemedes

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 17, 2023
18
44
16
Western North Carolina
I am very new here and this is my first post. I recently bought a used 185 gallon acrylic tank that I am going to set up to replace the 75 that my mixed SA/CA cichlids are currently living in. I have an FX6 on the 75 and got another one with the 185, and I was thinking of running them both on the new tank, with the intakes plumbed through the 1" bulkheads at the top of each end of the tank and the outflows in the middle somehow, maybe with spray bars?

The tank is 60"x24"x30" so it's a lot taller than any of my existing ones. How far down does the bottom of the intake need to reach? I have a flow tamer dual prefilter intake for my existing 75 that is a bit longer than the stock Fluval one, it comes about to the bottom of the 75 so on new tank it would be about 6-7" from bottom if I didn't extend it somehow. Is that sufficient or do I need to extend lower than that?

As far as the outflow, is it practical to run two spray bars? I was thinking I could either have two full length ones either positioned at different heights or two that were about two feet or so each running half the length of the tank. I've built stuff from PVC before but never set up spray bars at all so this would be new territory for me. I don't want to get it wrong and put too much strain on the filter pumps.I'd be mounting them a few inches forward from the back to accommodate all the hydroponic plants I'll be moving from the 75.

I was originally going to set up a sump but I am not confident I've learned enough at this point to do that properly and didn't want to mess with drilling additional bulkhead holes right now. And I already have the two FX6s, one of which is only a few months old. I'm building my stand with access in case I want to try and do a sump later.

Below is a picture of the existing 75. I'm hoping to set up the new one similarly, with a bit more open space. This one ended up kind of cluttered because I had to put in extra stuff to break up line of sight a bit more.


IMG_1200.JPG
 
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Your current 75g is absolutely gorgeous! And the new, larger tank sounds great as well.
Personally, I would use two spray bars positioned in paralell along the top of the back wall, sightly offset to cover the 5 feet (approximately like this, but closer to each other): ---------------------------|
|________________

I have 3 6' tanks each with a canister with spray bar (at center ~4feet) and a AC110 at each end of the back wall. Two of the canisters are FX6 and one is a Hydor 450. I have been very pleased.

Making your own spray bars is easy, but black pvc is not easily found everywhere (IME), and when purchased by the individual piece, not cheap. There are several vendors selling already made spray bars for FX filters, which are very well made, offer configuration options, and are relatively inexpensive. If you make your own, remember there is no need to glue the individual pieces of pvc. That way it is easily modifiable.
Good luck!
www.ebay.com

FLOW TAMER SPRAY BAR FOR FLUVAL FX6, FLUVAL FX4, FLUVAL FX5 CANISTER FILTER | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for FLOW TAMER SPRAY BAR FOR FLUVAL FX6, FLUVAL FX4, FLUVAL FX5 CANISTER FILTER at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
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Thanks, I've been surprised they don't mess with the plants more than they do. I use the Flow Tamer intakes on several of my tanks and like their stuff, and originally was planning on using their spray bar(s) but because I am going to use PVC instead of the ribbed hoses and need to be a bit creative how I mount the spray bars, partly because of the hydroponics and partly because the tank is eurobraced and the openings are in weird places so I figured it might be easier just to make my own but still kinda going back and forth on that because it's all going to be a lot of work and that's one less thing to worry about. The shortest set of Flow Tamer's spray bars has holes on both sides of the pipe (which is kind of intriguing) and would overlap just a few inches, the longest set would mostly overlap. Not sure how the pothos and other stuff would like the flow pointed at their roots if I did the short ones.
 
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I just wanted to say that I did end up going with a Flow Tamer spray bar setup. I actually called Walt, and he was super helpful! Not only with helping me determine what would be the best configuration for the spray bars, but he also gave me a lot of advice on the overall configuration I was planning for the tank and helped me find a vendor that had replacement bulkheads. The existing ones were a bit of an odd size and I had cut them off the tank with a Sawszall because the gaskets were on the wrong side and the threads were coated in some sort of glue so I couldn't unscrew them. The Flow Tamer spray bars are excellent quality! The sponge intakes are awesome too, I already have those on all of my tanks with canister filters and they do a great job of keeping food and sand out of the canister.

The project has gone a bit slow because I first built a water reservoir tank stand, and then built a stand and canopy for my other 75 to build up a bit of familiarity with the design and the miter saw before building the stand for the 185. I built the frame yesterday an am skinning it with plywood tomorrow and then getting some help getting the tank up there so that I can do the plumbing and the scape. Each FX6 will have a spray bar that covers half the tank and a double-headed Flow Tamer intake sponge. 'm really excited to give the fish more room and interested to see how my planned use of the FX6 utility valves is going to work. Basically I'm going to run 5/8 tubing to the reservoir tank from one FX6, and tubing through the wall to the bathroom drain from the other, so that if the setup works, water changes will be fast and less labor intensive. I couldn't find posts anywhere from people who have tried that, hopefully that doesn't mean someone tried that and failed.

I've been accumulating extra plants and wood for weeks now as well. I should be able to do the upgrade by this weekend and I'll put up a picture when it's all done. :)

FJB said:
Your current 75g is absolutely gorgeous! And the new, larger tank sounds great as well.
Personally, I would use two spray bars positioned in paralell along the top of the back wall, sightly offset to cover the 5 feet (approximately like this, but closer to each other): ---------------------------|
|________________

I have 3 6' tanks each with a canister with spray bar (at center ~4feet) and a AC110 at each end of the back wall. Two of the canisters are FX6 and one is a Hydor 450. I have been very pleased.

Making your own spray bars is easy, but black pvc is not easily found everywhere (IME), and when purchased by the individual piece, not cheap. There are several vendors selling already made spray bars for FX filters, which are very well made, offer configuration options, and are relatively inexpensive. If you make your own, remember there is no need to glue the individual pieces of pvc. That way it is easily modifiable.
Good luck!
www.ebay.com

FLOW TAMER SPRAY BAR FOR FLUVAL FX6, FLUVAL FX4, FLUVAL FX5 CANISTER FILTER | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for FLOW TAMER SPRAY BAR FOR FLUVAL FX6, FLUVAL FX4, FLUVAL FX5 CANISTER FILTER at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
 
Sounds great. Good for you!
Look forward to seeing the progress of your new big tank. My largest at this time are 125g (x3).
Cheers!
 
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