rain simulator in reef tank?

[living_waters]

Not necessarily in this hobby we try to replicate the natural reef as best as possible and if you search on YouTube there's a lfs that runs it of course its a beautiful sight but the fish also respond like it was raining in real life by trying to eat the rain drops

 

[billsreef]

Not necessarily in this hobby we try to replicate the natural reef as best as possible and if you search on YouTube there's a lfs that runs it of course its a beautiful sight but the fish also respond like it was raining in real life by trying to eat the rain drops

Fish in the wild don't respond like that to rain drops

 

[living_waters]

Come on bill always lurking to correct something huh lol let me dream!

 

[Allmost]

yea Bill, dont let facts ruin a good story haha I am kidding of course


from fishing, I know rain is the best time for fishing, as the fish go into some sort of feeding frenzy, maybe they think the splash at the surface is a bug or something.

 

[smb2415]

my interest in this effect is more along the lines of seasonal indications for fish and/or coral. By itself the rain/lightning effect would be just for the "cool" factor. however if lighting and rain is coupled with seasonal temp changes indicating a wet/stormy season then the fish may respond to it. Perhaps it could effect breeding, growth, colorations, moods, appetite, socialization?

all living creatures have physical responses to our environments. Is it necessary definitely not as proven by the thousands of successful tanks. Could it be beneficial? perhaps. Could you do harm? yes. It's a risk vs. reward argument.

 

[FullBoreReefer]

What is the point of this? Just for a cool affect? I see no point other then that and a lot of splash on the floor. Same with the T-storm light all I see it good for is to scare the fish and make them dart around the tank. Just sayin

Unless you have crazy psi. There is only minor splashing on my setup. Doesn't even come close to getting outside the tank. Mine literally is just about a fast drip. Having an in wall tank it's gonna look cool when it's completely done.

And I have zero fish, so nobody but crabs and snails to freak out.

Nothing beneficial, who cares, looks cool...

 

[gotzkill]

http://www.mistking.com/home.php something i used on my vivarium for simulating rain in a rain forest.

 

[Mrbh22]

i would love to see this in a video if someone has made it work

 

[living_waters]

Search on google there's a lfs that has it.

 

[minireef30]

Pretty cool looking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuDYCCaVIKo

 

[r-balljunkie]

umm...whats the purpose of this? i have managed to scuba dive at least every weekend for the last three years...in the rain, at night, at night in the rain. i've gotten in the water when it was raining, been in the water when a nasty storm passed over during the dive without knowing until later.

you cannot tell its raining once you are in the water....period.

i wont chime in too much about the silliness of this concept.

FYI the reef is more than 24" in depth.

 

[KirbyBTF]

umm...whats the purpose of this? i have managed to scuba dive at least every weekend for the last three years...in the rain, at night, at night in the rain. i've gotten in the water when it was raining, been in the water when a nasty storm passed over during the dive without knowing until later.

you cannot tell its raining once you are in the water....period.

i wont chime in too much about the silliness of this concept.

FYI the reef is more than 24" in depth.

It's for the fun of it, to see if it can be done. Innovation is the basis of this hobby, and how we progress. Not really sure why you're so against it, whats "silly" to you can be a great weekend project for another. I know in my vivarium I made every effort to make it as natural as possible because that was the look/feel I wanted. Same concept for reef tanks.

 

[AcroporAddict]

It would not be hard or expensive to do to do this, but just super messy. If I were doing this, I would use the flexible black tubing you use with underground sprinkler systems (silly pipe is one brand name) with holes drilled in it, held up above the water, then a simple mag type pump on a controller timer set to variable timing. Locate the pump either in tank so you don;t have any sump level variance, or in the sump if your system volume can handle a bit taken to simulate rain.

Neat concept, but if you have an open or mesh covered tank, you will have a mess of spray to deal with.

 

[r-balljunkie]

I made every effort to make it as natural as possible because that was the look/feel I wanted. Same concept for reef tanks.

im not trying to burst anyones bubble, just trying to give some perspective of what it is really like in when it rains and you are on the reef.

i really cant say that spraying water atop the surface of your aquarium will add any value or simulate any realisms. if you want to have some fun "experimenting", cut some PVC, drill some holes etc...have fun, but by no means is this "natural".

if/when you do come uo with something, by all means, post some pics.

c

 

[AcroporAddict]

im not trying to burst anyones bubble, just trying to give some perspective of what it is really like in when it rains and you are on the reef.

i really cant say that spraying water atop the surface of your aquarium will add any value or simulate any realisms. if you want to have some fun "experimenting", cut some PVC, drill some holes etc...have fun, but by no means is this "natural".

if/when you do come uo with something, by all means, post some pics.

c

This is really it^. I think you'd be the only one deriving the benefit of it. The corals and the fish probably could not care less.

Just a guess, but I think the cloud cover and associated change in sunlight reaching the reef from storms would have more of an impact on the fish and corals that the rain falling from them. Cloud cover and simulated lightning are a lot easier and cleaner to simulate than actual rain as well.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

No matter how hard we try, it is impossible to truely recreate the ocean and all its aspects in a closed environment.

As I mentioned before, years ago ICE Cap sold a controller that 'recreated' weather, storms, etc.... Lunar phases as well. It was marketed as recreating nature, and encouraging reproduction in reef animals that are naturally tied to the lunar phases.

Other then being a cool techy gadget, none of these really 'recreate' nature, certianlly not in the eyes of the inhabitants, I am sure.

 

[Biotopes]

Not necessarily in this hobby we try to replicate the natural reef as best as possible

Amen! That's why I like tanks with a mix of soft coral, LPS, SPS, NPS, macroalgae and mangroves! Plus an open sanded area with seagrass of course It covers many areas of the ocean, and the most populated areas at that. I think we should make it a goal in this hobby to give the fish as much of a realistic environment as possible. Not a rock wall covered with SPS :face palm:

End rant.

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IMO This is a great idea if you can do it without too much salt spray!

 

[Biotopes]

i really cant say that spraying water atop the surface of your aquarium will add any value or simulate any realisms.

c

If you had a perfect temperature, zero wind, no rain, same lighting, same lunar cycle etc would you think it's normal? I think that the more we can do to simulate the conditions reef inhabitants (or any ocean inhabitants for that matter) experience the better. So rain IMO makes it more natural, take Hawaii ( ) for example.

Mount Waiʻaleʻale gets 400 inches or more of rain per year! I think that that qualifies as part of a reef's natural environment. Mind you, that is the rainfall on a volcano. The average rainfall on the coast of O'ahu is around 10-20 inches of rain. So it rains enough (IMO) to say that a rainfall system would be beneficial in a reef.

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Here's a bit of knowledge I'll throw out there. When I used to breed freshwater fish (esp goldfish and cichlids) I'd raise water temperature and feed more live food, which to the fish signals the coming of spring. Why does that matter? The way the food gets to the water. The live food in the wild is insects that are forced to the surface of the water by rainfall.

So I do think a rainfall system or even a mister for vivariums (which I think I'll try) would be helpful in maintaing a thriving reef.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

If we try to replicate the natural environment, we need to think about the animals and where rthey come from.

How many have fish and corals collected from remote locations that would never ever see each other?
How natural is that?

With a username such as Biotopes, you know exactly what I am talking about. I promoted setting tanks up as biotopes for years, but it mostly fell on deaf ears.


Freshwater fish in small isolated bodies of water see much greater fluctuations in water parameters then ocean fish.

Do you think the salinity of the reef water near Mount Wai'ale'ale changes due to that rainfall?

 

[Biotopes]

If we try to replicate the natural environment, we need to think about the animals and where rthey come from.

How many have fish and corals collected from remote locations that would never ever see each other?
How natural is that?

With a username such as Biotopes, you know exactly what I am talking about. I promoted setting tanks up as biotopes for years, but it mostly fell on deaf ears.


Freshwater fish in small isolated bodies of water see much greater fluctuations in water parameters then ocean fish.

Do you think the salinity of the reef water near Mount Wai'ale'ale changes due to that rainfall?

I would agree that we need to either group together fish/animals from a region, or give them all an average of what they are used to. But most reefs are in tropical areas that experience frequent rain fall. Freshwater fish are very different, yes, but the food/spring aspect is the same across the board.

I don't think rainfall affects the salinity of areas near Mount Wai'ale'ale, simply because much of that water is funneled into the rivers, which flow into the ocean. I do think that rainfall OVER, a reef can affect salinity for a few seconds, maybe minutes at the longest, but with no long term affect.

Just to make myself clear I didn't mean to use simulated rainfall to adjust salinity in our tanks.