Rainbar for planted tank???

[instinctloh]

Bros,

Just wondering is rainbar for planted tanks necessary?

I have just setup the canister for my 2' tank.

Can see it create a stir in the tank.. but wonderin if this is alrite for the plants?

Wats the purpose of the rainbar?

To slow down/distirbute evenly the water output?

What will happen to the plants without rainbar?

[bdement]

Circulation in a planted tank is an absolute necessity. Ideally you'd see not some but ALL of the leaves in your tank swaying some in the current. The rainbar, aka spray bar is meant to distribute the current to a LARGER area of the tank, which benefits more plants in the process.

I close the ball valve slightly on my canister filters so that I can keep the flow to a reasonable level and semi-constant as the filter gets clogged. When I notice that the flow drops even when the valve is completely open, it's time for a cleaning!

[instinctloh]

Thanks...

I finally buy the rainbar from clementi... well looks cool.. hehe...

Cheers

[blue33]

Bdement is right, if you dont see your plant sway but not till damage , your plant will not get nutrients or CO2 to them, it becomes a death spot instead, many people said that slow current is good for plant, which is not true, initially maybe cause less plant but when plants grow more dense, you'll have algae or plant not growing in good condition or so... many times many people failed in planted tank due to current circulation and CO2 problem and they give up later on. I've try this and gives good result, when you have this massive plant in a 1.5ft cube tank you will understand what i mean, alot of death spot. You can see my top right surface current is so strong.



George Farmer used very strong current for his planted tank and he got very good growth. This video you can see that the fish is swimming in fast current and the plant is swaying also. Here's the video!

YouTube - Practical Fishkeeping: George Farmer's nano tank

[Salphur]

I think a rainbar helps to spread the flow of water through the many small holes as compared to a single output.

The spread seems better.

The only con that i can think about a rainbar is the aesthetics? It may seem out of place for some tanks/ aquascapes.

Cheers!

[instinctloh]

WOW!!!

Thanks for pointing out...

After i install that rainbar, i just find that is a bit wierd but just cant figure out where the prob is.

Well at least now i know the pros and cons...

Well i do have another question...

If I do not have a lot of plants, is not necessary for rainbar correct?

[Salphur]

I think that whether or not there are many or little plants in the tank, good circulation of water is vital to the health of the mini biosystem that one have.

The rationale of the rainbar is to help improve the circulation of the tank, and thus if you find that water is sufficiently circulated without the help of a rainbar in a less heavily planted tank or vice versa, then your guess is as good as mine.

Anyway, there is no hard and fast rule here in aquascaping. Decisions depend on the tank architect (you and me) armed with good knowledge.

Cheers!

[bbpippen]

hi bro, a rainbar is definitely not desired in a planted tank.
Why is that so ?
basically a rainbar is to give a good dissolving rate of gaseous exchange between the water and the air.

That will ensure a constant supply of oxygenated water to the fauna.
However, the drawback is that more oxygen means lesser Co2.

The more oxygenated the water, the lesser the co2 concentration. So you will end up wasting all the co2.

hope it helps

[blue33]

Wrong! That only happen when you place above the water surface! If you place below the water surface it create vortex flow.

[k3nlim]

I will beg to differ. Most bro in the forum actually encouraged the use on rain bar. This is because a rain bar can be adjusted below the water surface to create the necessary circulation within the tank. When compared to the HOF, there is less chance of "splashing" thus less CO2 loss. Excessive water surface movement will increase the gaseous exchange between water and the air. It has got to do with the positioning of the rainbar instead.

Expert bros, please correct me if my understanding is not right. Thanls

[zenscape]

I will beg to differ. Most bro in the forum actually encouraged the use on rain bar. This is because a rain bar can be adjusted below the water surface to create the necessary circulation within the tank. When compared to the HOF, there is less chance of "splashing" thus less CO2 loss. Excessive water surface movement will increase the gaseous exchange between water and the air. It has got to do with the positioning of the rainbar instead.

Expert bros, please correct me if my understanding is not right. Thanls

Spot on! There are many uses of rain bar in planted tank and include these:-
1. For big tank, it ensures good water circulation (the gas exchange and spreading described in above thread is right)
2. For tank with chiller and if your pump has high flow rate, rain bar will mitigate the strong flow.
3. For Co2 mist method, link the co2 with a small pump and deliver co2 mist to the length of the tank using, what else? the rain bar.

By the way, the placement of rain bar is below water level if any of the above 1, 2 and 3 is intended

[bbpippen]

Wrong! That only happen when you place above the water surface! If you place below the water surface it create vortex flow.

obviously its referring to rainbar immersed.
Whats the point of having a rainbar immersed when you can have a L-shaped elbow projecting into the water surface?

A rainbar spoils the overall aesthetics of the tank and if its submerged, it isnt fully utilising its main purpose.
For planted tanks, a rainbar not advisable, however if you do think otherwise then by all means go ahead

[blue33]

obviously its referring to rainbar immersed.
Whats the point of having a rainbar immersed when you can have a L-shaped elbow projecting into the water surface?

A rainbar spoils the overall aesthetics of the tank and if its submerged, it isnt fully utilising its main purpose.
For planted tanks, a rainbar not advisable, however if you do think otherwise then by all means go ahead

May be you want to show us your setup and see how your setup works. If your L-shaped works for you, fine with us.

[StanChung]

Personally, I'm not a fan of rainbars. Looks ugly and makes my plant sway one side but if it works for you by all means use it.

The way I see some guys use it like placing close to the bottom at the back is IMHO not practical especially if the canister is air-locked. It's the same reason i don't like CO2 reactors in the tank. It makes restarting my canister filters difficult after a clean up as it has to push the water out through the pipes that are deep in the tank. Have to remove it and suck out the water so that water comes through the inlet etc.

My 2 cents.

[k3nlim]

Refering to the L shaped elbow, there is another discussion within AQ about its use. Some of the bro have observed that the flow slows down significantly towards the other end of the tank and create a deadspot. Will using a lily pipe be useful in this situation then?

Regarding the aesthetics aspect, perhaps painting the rainbar according to the background colour might hide its view? Just a thought.. I'm sure that lots of the bro here will have the knowledge to seek out the correct resources

[StanChung]

Hi Lim,

I think depends on your design. If you are one of the majority who likes black bg's then the rainbar can be hidden. If your scape is also designed with large hardscape, then it's also possible to hide the rainbar.

If you're doing an iwagumi layout I think dead spots won't be a problem but if your concept is heavy planting then the rainbar might be better.

I've tested with a lily pipe with it pushing water across-. The effect is quite interesting as a vortex is created and you can see the fine CO2 bubbles from a diffusor on the opposite side move in circular motion and back towards the lily pipe side on the bottom. It's a nice piece of glass but need regular cleaning for it to look sparkling.

If you put just an elbow pointing across the front panel but close to the glass, you can get a similar vortex action but not the same of course. Simple and cheap. There's an attachment you can buy to simulate the vortex action as well! LOL.

My conclusion is you do get some pros and cons and pick one that suits you.

[gemo82]

Sorry if I am diverting, but I have asked this question in another thread with no reply, thus am hoping someone here might advice me.

If I am using a rainbar placed horizontally, should I tilt the holes at an angle closer to the water suface, or towards the vertical axis? Meaning should the outflow be downwards or across the water surface?

[jacian]

It depends on how you want the flow to be within the tank. The recommended is to let the outflow be across the tank. Some direct the outflow towards the water surface to prevent the buildup of the surface scum.

[Juby23]

i dumped my rain bar. Sealed the holes in the rain bar with tape, stuck the sealed tube up from the base of my multi ball diffuser and then cap the top with the green filter cap that ehiem provides for water inlets. works wonders. the water output is not too strong as the green cap diffuse the energy like a rifle muzzel. water circulation is good without too strong currents.

[aquaSynthesis]

Bdement is right, if you dont see your plant sway but not till damage , your plant will not get nutrients or CO2 to them, it becomes a death spot instead, many people said that slow current is good for plant, which is not true, initially maybe cause less plant but when plants grow more dense, you'll have algae or plant not growing in good condition or so... many times many people failed in planted tank due to current circulation and CO2 problem and they give up later on. I've try this and gives good result, when you have this massive plant in a 1.5ft cube tank you will understand what i mean, alot of death spot. You can see my top right surface current is so strong.

Sir....may i know where and how high you placed the intake pipe? Thanks Sir..