Width vs Height

So I am brand new to this whole laminar flow stuff and I am starting to plan a really small tabletop display using a laminar flow jet. I was wondering since this is going to have to be a tiny nozzle, would it be better to have it long and skinny or wide and short. From what I've read it seems it is more important for my nozzle to be wide but I'm not sure.

It really depends on the flow rate you want to achieve which depends on how wide your nozzle ring is and how far you want the water arch to go. If you want a reference point the design I am messing around with right now is 100mm wide (~4in) with an outlet diameter of 9mm. So far the results have been really good. I have an arch around three feet long using a 145gph DC pump. I may be able to push it farther with a bigger pump but I have not tried to test that yet.

There is a minimum height you need for the straws. Even with a very small low flow rate fountain I wouldn't recommend having shorter than two to three inch straws. My straw chamber is 75mm. As far as width, you'll probably want to experiment a bit. Four inches is a good solid width for starting out though you can go down lower to 2-3" as well if you do a very clean build. If you're using PVC then anything from two to four inches are easily available piping sizes in most home improvement stores.

Okay thanks. I'm probably gonna try using screens instead of straws because it seems like I can make smaller designs with that.

Sweet. I've never gone the screen route myself so I'm interested in your experience. Let me know how it goes!