# FX5 Spray Bar Start to Finish...



## Steveboos

So sick of the dual outputs and the lack of surface agitation, i opted to make a spray bar for my tank.

Materials needed:

5 feet 3/4" Diameter white PVC :$1.37
6 3/4" 90 degree elbows: $2.04
1 3/4" end cap : $0.24
5 Feet 1" INNER Diameter vinyl Tubing :$9.60
2 11/16 - 1 1/4" hose clamps: $1.74
1 can of Krylon Fusion or in my case Valspar Plastic Paint in gloss black: $4.97
1 Can of PVC Cement: $6.38
Sandpaper: whatever you have! Between 50-150 grit.
Rubbing Alcohol
Flathead Screwdriver

Total Cost:
$26.34 plus your local sales tax. This was at Lowes Home Improvement by the way.

For my 125 Gallon i needed a 4 foot long spraybar to have room for other equipment and the AC110 i also fun in addition to the FX5

I took the 5 foot long PVC and cut it down to 48". Then i took the remainder of the 12" of PVC and cut off two 2" sections and two 1 1/2" sections of pvc. Then you take an elbow to each end of the pvc. Then take each 2 inch section and put it on the other end of the elbow. Put another elbow on each end of 2" tubing. Then take the two 1 1/2" sections of PVC and insert them into the open end of the elbows. And add one more elbow on to each of the pieces and you have the main shape of the bar.

To finish off each end, take the remaining 5 inches of PVC you have left over and cut off one more 1 1/2" section and another 3 inch section. Insert the 3 inch section to the end of the bar closest to the OUT of your FX5. Then take the other little 1 1/2" section and put it into the elbow on the other side, and the cap goes right on the end.

You end up with something that looks like this:

















Once you have everything where you want it, go ahead and cement all the pieces that are going to be OUT of the water. Anything submerged doesn't need to be cemented due to the pressurization. The cement usually dries in 30 minutes to an hour, but i gave mine 5 hours before prepping to paint.

Take the whole unit and sand it down with whatever grit sandpaper you have available. If you have to buy some anyhow, get coarse grit somewhere between 50-150 and that seems to give the best texture on the PVC. I sanded the entire assembly for about 10 minutes making sure there was no shiny surface left on the pvc, paying special attention to the bar and parts that are going to be submerged 24 hours a day.

Then take your spray paint and go ahead and do one coat on the top end of the unit, wait 20 minutes, second coat, wait 20 minutes, 3rd coat. Then wait about 2 hours so that it's dry to the touch, turn the piece over and paint the bottom side using the same routine.

Then most importantly let the piece dry for at least 3 days, i let mine dry for 4 days just to be sure and washed it off before putting it in the tank to make sure.

Then once dry and ready, go ahead and drill the holes. I wasn't too concerned about the holes, just used a small drill bit (11/64") and put them about 2 inches apart on the entire bar. I wanted more pressure and more of a spray then a gentle flow.

So far the bar seems to be doing an amazing job keeping the water flowing and agitating the surface of the water.

Here's some finished pictures and an HD video on the entire spraybar setup:


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## GTZ

Nice! Thanks for the writeup, it's something I've been debating on doing myself. The only thing I might have done differently would be to sand and paint after drilling the holes.
In any case, this saves me a lot of measuring and test fitting


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## Steveboos

Yeah i thought about that after the fact. You know honestly, i will probably just buy another piece of PVC, drill and paint, then re install. I didn't cement the bar itself, so i can remove and replace in less than a minute.

Didn't realize how much the white would stick out.


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## theoryguru

Good job.
I just made a 14" spraybar for my FX5, 12 holes 1" apart, hanging from the top of the left side of my tank.


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## Rhinox

Very nice.

Did you consider looking for street elbows rather than the standard 90 elbows? Could have maybe done away with some of the extra lengths of stright pipe in between some of the elbows, and had a tighter hold on the back of the tank.

I think I might use this design on a tank some day.


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## Sub-Mariner

Hope the paint holds up for ya. If not you know where to get the black PVC from.


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## Steveboos

To be honest, i didn't even measure, just cut the pieces and what do you know it was the perfect length! The spray bar is actually pretty tight and there's only about 1/8" of open space for the hangers.

Yeah i hope the paint holds up also, but black PVC will definitely be next if this doesn't hold up for more than a couple months.


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## smiller

Where do you find black PVC?


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## Sub-Mariner

I bought my black PVC from savko.com.

black PVC pipe: http://www.savko.com/PartList.asp?pgid= ... 18&pid=146
black PVC fittings: http://www.savko.com/PartList.asp?pgid=3&ptid=36


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## smiller

Thanks!


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## AfricanLove

k I just came across this, a spray bar is for a canister right because I was gonna try to design something with an air pump


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## Sub-Mariner

Yeah a spray bar is for a canister filter.


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## AfricanLove

could I do the same thing but rig it with a air pump and make a bubble wand?


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## navycigarsmoker

Hey guys I am getting ready to leave Italy and finally after 3 years set up my 125 again. My questions is this:

I have 2 xp3 and I was wondering if I could make a spray bar and connect the two outputs.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.


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## Sub-Mariner

AfricanLove said:


> could I do the same thing but rig it with a air pump and make a bubble wand?


You could but why? Id just buy a long air stone type thingy if you want bubbles in your tank.


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## TrashmanNYC

Awesome. Gonna do this when I finally get my 125 setup.


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## k7gixxerguy

Very nice, I'm about to do this for my soon to be mine 125 next week. Do you notice any difference in pressure coming out of the holes on the far end from the inlet hose? I was wondering if this would be a factor such that a T in the middle may be in order. Obviously that would not look nearly as clean though.


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## GTZ

1 year bump 
Try a board search for FX5 spraybar and you'll find some other designs and opinions.


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## 13razorbackfan

k7gixxerguy said:


> Very nice, I'm about to do this for my soon to be mine 125 next week. Do you notice any difference in pressure coming out of the holes on the far end from the inlet hose? I was wondering if this would be a factor such that a T in the middle may be in order. Obviously that would not look nearly as clean though.


I was talking with a fluid dynamics engineer and he said a T will limit flow compared to it flowing through a simple elbow from one end to the other. Also...I have made a lot of spray bars for the FX5 over the last year and the pressure is stronger towards the far end of the spray bar. The best way to eliminate that is to make the holes larger at the beginning of the spray bar or where the water first enters the spray bar. The hole sizes don't need to be all that much bigger and once it is painted it is not even noticeable. Personally....I don't mind the water coming out a bit stronger towards the end of the spray bar.

Here is a link to a spray bar as well from start to finish with a diagram on page two:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=248582


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## bwestgsx06

13RBF gave me the write up and how-to to do mine and it's been running strong for a few months now


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## 13razorbackfan

bwestgsx06 said:


> 13RBF gave me the write up and how-to to do mine and it's been running strong for a few months now


These DIY spray bars make a huge difference especially on the FX5.


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## TwiztidUnreal

13razorbackfan said:


> k7gixxerguy said:
> 
> 
> 
> Very nice, I'm about to do this for my soon to be mine 125 next week. Do you notice any difference in pressure coming out of the holes on the far end from the inlet hose? I was wondering if this would be a factor such that a T in the middle may be in order. Obviously that would not look nearly as clean though.
> 
> 
> 
> I was talking with a fluid dynamics engineer and he said a T will limit flow compared to it flowing through a simple elbow from one end to the other. Also...I have made a lot of spray bars for the FX5 over the last year and the pressure is stronger towards the far end of the spray bar. The best way to eliminate that is to make the holes larger at the beginning of the spray bar or where the water first enters the spray bar. The hole sizes don't need to be all that much bigger and once it is painted it is not even noticeable. Personally....I don't mind the water coming out a bit stronger towards the end of the spray bar.
> 
> Here is a link to a spray bar as well from start to finish with a diagram on page two:
> 
> viewtopic.php?f=6&t=248582
Click to expand...

 I made a 40", 3/4" bar for my 48in tank, 1/4" holes every inch, and i used a T in the back. The flow seems low to me, but i'm not sure which of these is the factor. I didnt glue the bar in place, so all i have to do is remake the end to test if it is because of the T, or another factor.


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## Demigod

Too many holes, too close together. Try half as many holes with a hole half as big and move up from there. My spraybar for my 48" tank works fantastic with a Fluval 306 and 1/8" holes 2" apart.


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## TwiztidUnreal

Well I took the T out of the back, keep the exact same bar with out changing hole size or spacing. I put feed at one end, and capped the other end, instead of the dual feed from the T and it is a total differance. I will take a video of the new pressure and jets tomorrow on my next water change. I notice the flow being stronger at the end that has the cap on it as well, but this is fine as my intake for my FX5 is at the same end, so it makes everything stay moving to get sucked up into the filter.


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## k7gixxerguy

*** got mine right at the top of the water but angled downward slightly and on either end I tend to get some air shooting out of it as well making microbubbles. I cant really move it down anymore due to how I shaped my 3D background for it to sit into. Is there anything wrong with some microbubbles? *** read a few places where it really bothered people. Is this a visual thing or is there any problem caused by this. The fish actually seem to like it as I often see them swimming up to these areas, doing a quick 180 and flying down into the tank like its an invisible fish waterslide.  If I were to angle it up anymore it would shoot water over the front wall of the tank when I first turn the filtration back on after a water change and the level is low due to the overflows.


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## PandaFishMan

Question here: 
I am running a filstar xp3 on a 75g and was wondering if this design works for my setup. I'll probably have to cut down on length but just in terms of all the supplies listed and if all the components will work on a different filter.


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## kingbri1

Just wanted to throw it out there that I just followed these instructions and built a pretty nice spray bar for my FX5. I used 5' of spray bar with holes 2" apart and it's perfect. ... It is running in tandem with my Filstar XP3. Just debating now where I should put the input of the XP3


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