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FISHMAN Dan 
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 Topic: BIG WAVE project
Posted: February 23 2005 at 10:27pm |
Hey guys....wondering if anyone wants to put some input into a new concept tank I am in the process of creating.
heres the idea.
no pumps or power-heads ..ect just one large panel at one end of the tank that sits as a divider about 5 inches from the end and several inches off the bottom. this panel will move back and forth via a linkage connected to a flywheel which will be run by a cheap home depot drill motor/gearbox. The linkage arm will slide through the Plexiglas end of the tank back and forth due to the action of the flywheel its connected to. and the wave panel will slide through guides on the side of the tank. The waves will be about 3 inches in height, according to the speed of the motor (variable resistor). The tank itself will have high sides and a normal dsb with lots of live rock that the waves will break on.
there will probably be no fish and mostly corals.
the idea is a natural environment allowing for plankton cultivation, baby fry and anything else that doesn't survive reproduction in a typical setup due to pumps fish predation etc.
The only problem thus far is creating a water tight seal around the push arm shaft. any suggestions on this would be great.
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125 reef, grower of hard to find macro algea,(feather giant feather, branching coraline ect...
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Suzy
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Posted: February 24 2005 at 5:50am |
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Sounds like the wave maker pool at Raging Waters! Maybe you
should wait a month and check out how theirs works? A child
did get trapped in it a few years back, though.....
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rstruhs
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Posted: February 24 2005 at 7:24am |
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How about rocking the panel from above? Then you do not have to worry about a watertight seal, and your "throw" could be less, allowing for a smaller flywheel.
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Rodney, Sandra, Jeffery, and Laura Struhs
South Jordan, Utah 98th South & 40th West.
(801) 282-2744
75 gallon reef
55 gallon reef
55 gallon FOWLR
20 gallon FOWLR
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: February 24 2005 at 6:45pm |
It's been tried before.
Doesn't work too well.
The amount of real water flow is dismal, sorry. 
There is even one of these products on the market that was just pointed out in a recent thread on surge devices.
A Surge Device is more practical and very effective. 
Oh also, pumps do not harm plankton the size of BS Nauplii and smaller. I can explain if you want.
Edited by Mark Peterson
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FISHMAN Dan
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Posted: February 24 2005 at 8:01pm |
so do you think predation is really the culprit ... not pumps? I have had good reproductive success in my fuge. Looking under the scope I have found some very interesting larvae but have not seen adults develop.
Also I got the idea from the amount of current my hand can create moving back and forth... the idea was a plate about 12X10" or so moving back and forth with 5 inches of travel... I would think that would create substantial wave motion.
I also like the appeal of actual waves over the surge device.
Obviously the mechanics would be noisy and cumbersome but its really more of an expierment then a display tank.
I know you guys are probably getting sick of my "crazy ideas" but sooner or later one of them should work out!
<Oh also, pumps do not harm plankton the size of BS Nauplii and smaller. I can explain if you want.>
Please do! Iam very interested to know what you have found out!
Dan
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125 reef, grower of hard to find macro algea,(feather giant feather, branching coraline ect...
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: February 25 2005 at 6:12pm |
It was John Walsh the guy that built Seaquest in Puerto Rico raising Marine Ornamentals that really explained it to us many years ago. He did some experiments/observations.
Relative size is the deal. Think of it like this...you have a huge paddle pushing a huge roomful of water. The individual organism gets pushed with the body of water rarely coming in contact with the paddle. So the most you might get is a dizzy larvae because the water it was suspended in suddenly moved fast in a different direction.
Predation and death from starvation are probably the two biggest factors. I found a shrimp larvae a while back. It was about a half inch long, but did it get enough food to survive to adult? I doubt it, especially because about the time I found it, there was a lapse in feeding the necessary large amount of phyto to the tank.
Not because it ate phyto but because the organisms it ate may have been phyto eaters. Andy Rhyne, a guest from last year told us that shrimp larvae are voracious eaters and capable predators.
The surge device I used a few years back made waves in my shallow frag tank. I believe it has to do with the amount of water and distance to the bottom.
A moving plate certainly would have an interesting effect.
I like your ideas. Do you have any more? Keep 'um coming.
Edited by Mark Peterson
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Suzy
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Posted: February 26 2005 at 9:01am |
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I love my Blundell SD!
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Crazy Tarzan
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Posted: February 26 2005 at 11:39am |
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what if rather than having a water tight seal for the shaft, you have a waterproof mechanism, and loose a little more space in the tank? you could mount the motor/mechanism in the space behind the plate instead of outside the tank--though yoiu will end up using more space inside the tank it's self.
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Was that in there yesterday? Casper--WY windier than ?
Down to a 20, soon to double or nothing
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FISHMAN Dan
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Posted: February 26 2005 at 12:16pm |
I think it would be harder to water proof the motor... Although the drive arm will be made from thick plexi and nylon attatchments.
I think the motor will need to be geared as well, with lots of torque (thats why i was thinking of a cheap drill ($30-40) motor which will definately need to be mounted outside.
another idea was a hydrualic or compresed air piston..
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125 reef, grower of hard to find macro algea,(feather giant feather, branching coraline ect...
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