Spray bar suggestions

[Moozillion]

I am setting up the tank for my soon-to-be baby Mississippi mud turtle.
My tank is a 20 gal long, and since it's a mud turtle, the water is only 5 inches deep.

The spray bar on my filter is much more forceful than I expected: it's VERY noisy (sounds like several people are peeing! ) and SPLASHES water all over that end of the tank. My husband rotated the bar so that it pointed the spray to the wall it's attached to- that way the water just ran quietly down the back and into the tank. We thought that was going work, but the descending water DIGS a big hole in the sand substrate- all the way to the bottom of the tank, and I'm afraid that constant added pressure of the active flow will eventually weaken the silicone seal at that spot on the back wall of the aquarium. The filter is rated "up to 20 gal", so it is the right size and power.

I am a mediocre do-it-yourselfer, but it seem like there must be SOME way I can moderate the outflow somehow.
I am open to any suggestions!
Thanks!

 

[Moozillion]

Because the water level is low, the water from the spray bar falls about 5 inches before it hits the water, so that may be part of the problem. I don't want to raise the level of the water because a baby mud in 10 inches of water would not do well- they're not the greatest of swimmers. I wonder if somehow lowering the spray bar would help? But that would bring the force of the water even closer to the sand and gouge out another hole. Maybe I could tie or drape something over the spray bar- like mesh of some sort? The water jets would hit THAT, which might remove some of the force; then the water could dribble rather than jet down the mesh.
Whaddaya think about that idea?
OR I could FILL the tank, but create a false bottom, which would raise the baby up to 4-5 inches of water. The water from the spray bar would not have far to fall, and would no longer have the force to dig holes in the sand. When he's bigger, I could lower or remove the false bottom.

 

[SteveW]

I've had the same issue with spray bars. The first solution I tried was drilling out the discharge holes. Same volume but less velocity, so less turbulence. The better idea (I think) was to remove the end cap of the bar and connect it with tubing to a proportioning valve. You'll have a low velocity flow off the end, but you can direct the flow where you want and adjust the velocity with the valve.

 

[Moozillion]

I've had the same issue with spray bars. The first solution I tried was drilling out the discharge holes. Same volume but less velocity, so less turbulence. The better idea (I think) was to remove the end cap of the bar and connect it with tubing to a proportioning valve. You'll have a low velocity flow off the end, but you can direct the flow where you want and adjust the velocity with the valve.

Thanks, Steve!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Drill the holes bigger and there will be less of a "venturi effect" or do away with the bar and just use a plastic pipe\tube to return the water. A spray bar is good for oxygenation and keeping scum off of the water surface, but may or may not be needed.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Woops. Steve said that exact same thing.
Great minds think alike.

 

[Moozillion]

Drill the holes bigger and there will be less of a "venturi effect" or do away with the bar and just use a plastic pipe\tube to return the water. A spray bar is good for oxygenation and keeping scum off of the water surface, but may or may not be needed.

Thanks Ed!!!!