Certainly doable. Whether you have enough flow will be dependent on your pump, not the lily pipe. It might be better to have an output and input on each end of the tank though. Here's a 6 footer from AFA and you can find a lot more examples especially in the ADA gallery in Niigata.
That's pretty fantastic. It looks like there is Inout and output at both ends. Are they using two filters for that, or did they fabricate some kind of T to split the outflow? Seems like it would be bad for output flow, but I guess if it's just based on pressure, it would work. Wouldn't want to wear out the filter prematurely by making the motor work too hard.
Edit: I was planning on using my Cerges reactor to dissolve the co2, so one filter would be preferable. If I need to add a power head, I'm not opposed. I'm having good flow on my 30b with just a spray bar, so I kinda wanted to upsize that. However, my 30 has surface scum problems, so I added a surface skimmer, which I hate. Don't want it on my 125. It's a pain in the butt. So lily pipe with a vortex was my solution.
I'm sure they're using two filters. If you want to use one filter you might think about a sump or wet dry. If you want to stay with a canister then look at the larger ones like an Eheim 1500XL.
Not only can you use a lily pipe you can even diffuse co2 and ferts quite effectively using a ceramic diffuser and average 2-3 turnover, even on a 6 foot tank. As far as co2 diffusion the hint of why this works can be found in the name of the diffusers sold by ADA.
You could, but would be unnecessary and would add an ugly piece or equipment to the setup. Look at the 6-ft setups. No powerheads and no deficiencies anywhere. There's also only one filter on those tanks.
Those aren't photo shoot pics, those are someone's pics of the actual gallery. ADA photos in their books, etc they usually remove all the equipment even the lily pipes.
Not saying you can't use a powerhead, but if setup correctly you really don't need it. Here's one of my own that was setup for 3 years. This is all the equipment, nothing removed for the pic. There is a spray bar top left above the disc that you can't see and I only used an Eheim 2215 and this is a 72G (4-ft tank). It is a myth IMO and experience that you need strong flow to move CO2 and dissolved ferts around a 2-4 ft and sometimes 6 ft setup.
One lily pipe with one filter? I would not find that adequate. Unless you have a rimless tank and want the aesthetic, there are more effective ways of distributing flow.
On my 72G (4-ft) tank I showed above. It is powered by one Eheim 2215 (which you know is pretty weak flow-wise), but there are no issues with the plants. This is some pics of pearling from the tank.
I agree aswell, I see sometimes, a taking to the extreme of the high flow mentality on a planted tank. As if it will prevent algae or be some end all to other problems.
Lets go even bigger though, at the ADA gallery they use two filters on a 6 x 4 x 2 tank 360 gallons. They use x2 ES-2400 I believe. Less than x3 turnover per hour. These tanks also have Roseline Sharks. All the plants are thriving. This isn't about blindly following the ADA style because Amano said so, like some tend to point out. They have proved the concept on a large scale and in numerous tanks.
So, am I to take from this that one canister filter (350 gph) and 1 lily pipe should be sufficient?
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