2 External Filters, Best Way To Set Them Up For Good Circulation

[jamesmacc]

hi everyone, just got a second external filter for my 385l 50x18x26 tank and looking for some advise on the best way to set it up for good circulation and to ripple the water surface to help aeration. here is one of my ideas but i am new to this hobbie.
1 inlet at either end of the tank, one spray bar in the middle just below the surface poining down and one on the side of the tank halfway up it pointing straight.
or 1 inlet either end and a spray bar at either end, but i wonder if the water flow from each end will just clash and not circulate.
or have one spray bar under the water on the back of the tank and one above it.
any advise would be great, i also have a 1600lph powerhead just incase its needed.
cheers,
James

 

[minnnt]

I have 1 inlet at either end and then both the spraybars running horizontally about an inch below the water surface both pointing at the waters surface. This creates plenty of movement in the tank and also plenty of ripples.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I'd go with the two filter outlets at the water surface in opposite corner diagonals (eg. back-left, front-right), each pointing along the long tank walls in the same direction (for a clockwise or anti circulation), creating lots of rippling.

Filter intakes on seperate corners, perhaps the ones unoccupied by the outputs if possible.

For powerhead placement, that might depend a lot on whether its output is a focused "beam" of current like my Aqua Medic Nanoprop 5000, or like a hemisphere output from the likes of Koralia. For a "beam" type I'd place it in one of the corners down low, blowing just a fraction above the sand/gravel, to waft debris towards a filter intake. For a hemisphere type, I'd place it more mid-height in a corner, slightly pointing down and slightly pointing in the direction of the current created by the filter outputs.