DIY surge device

I am in the process of desiging a surge device for my 30 gallon low light 'gorgonian' tank, which will need a lot of flow.  I am not sure how big the tank will need to be or whether the siphon style or flapper is better.  I would appreciate any input/suggestions or better yet plans.

Thanks,

John

John, for my 180g, my surge is at most 10 gallons. Id say a one or two gallon surge would be good for a 30. A 5-gallon container would probably be best since only a fraction of the container actually surges. Mine is a flapper design. Its a little noisy and makes lots of bubbles.

Adam,

Are the bubbles caused by the water  breaking the surface? or from the plumbing?  Thanks for the idea and congrats on TOTM!!

Shawn, I'm just thinking chaotic flow would work, however, I will keep that in mind!

The Carlson surge device is much noisier than the flapper design. There would be no need for two. The typical setup is to have a powerhead at one end running continuously and then the surge changes the water flow temporarily.

Actually, for a small tank, the simple "poor mans wavemaker" would be a better choice than a cumbersome surge device.

Thanks for all the input.  My first attempt will be with 4 inch pvc capped at the bottom.  The cap will be drilled and 1/2 inch pvc will be attached (somehow) to it.  The 1/2 inch pvc will then loop up the 4 inch pvc to a desired height (to be determined).  I'll run it several times to see how close to the top I should go.  The overflow tubing and flow from the pump are still to be determined, so any suggestions will be welcome.  I'm thinking that I'll get a stronger pump and pump from the bottom through the cap.

Mark, I've been interested in trying a surge for about 4 years.  This tank is in the basement so I'm not really worried about noise or room taken up.  My real concern is trying to find something or combination of paramters/techniques? to keep a non-photo gorgo alive!  I have tried a variation of the poor mans wavemaker and in fact tried to set one up last night but the powerhead I was trying to use (on the right) wasn't working properly, so I just have one that cycles on/off every 2 hours.

Thanks,

John

I'm thinking that I'll get a stronger pump and pump from the bottom through the cap.

It won't matter if you go into the bottom or top... actually it'll go better if you go into the bottom as long as your sump can handle the backflow in the event of a power or pump failure.

Mark,

????MJ?  Was that post directed at me?  I bought a RIO 600.  How does one go about hooking it up.  I've tried with other pumps (Rio2100) but they always leaked.  I'm going to hd to see what they have that may work but any advice is welcome.

John

Mike,

Thats what I thought except I don't own one or mention it.

Funny:  I opened my RIO600 (bought yesterday at BW) and found a venturi rio600 which was used.  Bird World exchanged it right away.  I only use rio pumps and thought I might have accidently grabbed the wrong box from home.

I did get all the way home, but was planning on bringing in parts to take to hd to see what I could rig up