Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Tanks and Equipment => Topic started by: Tommo on April 05, 2014, 08:33:54 AM
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Hi all, what are people's thoughts on spray bars and the funnel nozzle? What's best for the fish? Best mounting- above or below water line? Also if below water line does this create enough oxygen or would an air pump be needed?
Thanks in advance
Justin
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I currently use a funnel outlet, but have had a spray bar in the past - I found it clogged up easily and had to be cleaned regularly but they could be better now-a-days?
I'm not sure whether one is better than the other for the fish though - I think the key is to ensure you have some surface movement either way. My funnel outlet is below the surface but I have it pointing up towards the surface and at an angle so as to both disturb the surface and create a current around the tank. I also occasionally supplement the water movement created by the filter with a small wavemaker.
I would imagine that a spray bar above the surface would be best overall for oxygenation but is likely to be noisy!
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Thanks dbaggie. I am using the funnel now, under the water line and it creates a nice current, plus my lights look good cascading into the tank. Would I have to do anything else for oxygen etc as there is not much surface agitation as with the spray bar which visibly made air bubbles.
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All you need is for the water surface to ripple as it moves quickly from one side of the tank to the other - adjust the angle of the funnel if necessary. You don't need bubbles, all they do is churn the water up a bit. Oxygen doesn't actually dissolve from the bubbles, it dissolves at the water-air interface ie the surface. And carbon dioxide leaves the water the same way.
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You just need decent surface movement as Sue says - when you use something like an air stone to create bubbles under the water, it's generally the bubbles disturbing the surface which creates most of the oxygenation, not the bubbles themselves.
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Thanks all