# 2 intakes 1 canister filter



## SaltspringTropicals (May 17, 2011)

Thanks to Penn Plax's customer service, I am going to soon have alot of extra parts for the fresh new Cascade 1500 they are sending me.  

I was considering setting up my 135 with one long spraybar, and 1 intake in each back corner going to a Y fitting to a single hose and then to the intake on the canister. I figured surely someone out there must have already tried this already and could give me a heads up on any problems (airlocks, etc) with this set up so I know in advance. Any advice would be appreciated.


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I haven't tried this yet, it sounds doable. I just wonder if 2 intakes generates turbulance at the intersection thus slightly reducing flow?


----------



## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

My thought is, as long as the two intake tubes going into the "Y" are 1/2 the diameter (or more - there is a precise calculation for this that I don't know) of the single tube they are going into, there should be minimal flow restriction. I think if all 3 tubes are the same size, it would cause some sort of back-log at the intersection, and possibly cause a siphon break. As for air getting trapped, that might be an issue with the 2 streams of water hitting each other - depends on where the "Y" is located.

Of course I've never set up a canister filter, so just a thought...

I may have to try this when I get a canister filter....


----------



## shady280 (Oct 17, 2011)

When calculating pipe size you need to figure out the area of the pipes being used. 1/2 diameter doesn't equal 1/2 flow. For instance if the pipe is a 1" diameter you don't need 2 1/2" pipes. You actually need 2 pipes smaller then 1/2". Just do some math. Only reason I know the basics behind this is for car exhaust as I am a mechanic and modify cars for performance. Lol. I guess some things transfer over.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Unless your canister can produce the flow, the suction at the intakes will be reduced. Since the canister is a closed system, you can't put more in than is coming out. So instead of having more efficient filtration, you'll have less. Only one canister I know has 2 intakes and that's the monstrous Eheim 2080. The FX5 gets around this by having a monstrously big intake strainer. I think you'll just end up compromising the functionality of your filter.

I think you got it reversed Shady. Area of a circle is a function of the square of the radius, so you would need more than 2 1/2" pipes. Plus you would also have to account for increased frictional losses. So 2x0.5" pipes is much less than a single 1" pipe. I am not a mechanic so I don't know the mechanism of how it works for cars, but in absolute flow, it's not more, it's less than 1/2 if you 1/2 the diameter, since the function is squared.


----------



## shady280 (Oct 17, 2011)

Yeah I think I got it backwards. I don't have my charts in front of me plus I'm tired. Lol


----------



## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Dont Y your canister. Instead, use two canisters.


----------



## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

charles said:


> Dont Y your canister. Instead, use two canisters.


I've got an eheim 2080 that will be up for sale shortly... just a thought 

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2


----------



## SaltspringTropicals (May 17, 2011)

Thanks for the advice, I've put the dual-take idea on the back burner for now, instead I've got the 2 1500's set up in series, with the 2nd in the series unpowered & impeller removed. 

I'm experimenting with having the new canister loaded with coarse prefilter pads arranged from very coarse up to medium-fine, and then the 2nd can is set up with a floss pad, 2 and a half trays of matrix, finer floss pads, and a tray of bulk fiter floss. I'm hoping with this I'll be able to just leave the 2nd canister alone to maintain a nice bio-culture, and then just periodically change/clean the media in the first can as needed. If needed, I figure I can still swap out the top trays of the 2nd can with carbon or w/e chemical filtration, or even just change out the filter floss, without disturbing the bio-culture too much. So far my flow seems just as strong as it was with the single canister, I'll have to see with time how much it slows down as the media loads up. 

That 2080 would be ideal, its pretty much my dream filter for this tank, the cost of one of those new is impossible, as in impossible to float past the wife, lol.


----------

