rain simulator in reef tank?

[Biotopes]

Just use a water pump attached to several feet of hose with pinholes throughout it, and when the pump turns on it will spray an extremely small "jet" (more like mist, which is why it works) of water. Then you could add something small to the end of each pinhole that the mist would collect on, and eventually the weight of the water would pull a drop down into the tank. If you have enough water going through the "mister" you can create a steady rainfall using this method. I'd go for 3-4 drops per second, and use as much or as little hose as you need to adjust the amount of rain.

You could set that up on a timer to rain, for instance, a gallon per day (assuming you need a gallon RO/DI top off each day. Just modify for how much water evaporates, and then run the pump to see how long it takes to add a certain amount. Finally, just run the timer that long ) and instead of using an ATS you could just rain the topoff Being that you probably have a few pumps lying around, you could grab one of those to do this with!

 

[Biotopes]

That was meant for Living_Waters

 

[Biotopes]

ALSO, if you're trying to recreate as best a reef as you can, don't "storm it" everyday! LOL I'd say maybe 2 or 3 storms a month, and if you have/get/can get LED's with RANDOM storm capabilities, try to connect that to your rain system, so you get a great effect AND, maybe even get that whole system connected to your pumps, to create stronger currents or maybe even small waves!

Sorry, I get pretty excited about new technology or new ways to recreate nature LOL I'll shut up now and let someone else pitch in :lolspin:

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

Gotta love salt creep!

 

[Biotopes]

:lmao: If this system was built right (and run with RO/DI topoff) I think you'd be ok on the salt.

Btw, I love your signature

 

[billsreef]

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.

What r-balljunkie said. Below the surface you can't even tell it's raining. Might see some flashes of light that clue you in, but the fish don't alter their behavior in the least. If there is some heavy wind and wave action to create surge, that is noticed...but that also happens equally without any rain storms.

 

[Biotopes]

AND, maybe even get that whole system connected to your pumps, to create stronger currents or maybe even small waves!

BRING IN THE EXTRA PUMPS. :celeb3: :celeb3: :celeb3:

 

[living_waters]

ALSO, if you're trying to recreate as best a reef as you can, don't "storm it" everyday! LOL I'd say maybe 2 or 3 storms a month, and if you have/get/can get LED's with RANDOM storm capabilities, try to connect that to your rain system, so you get a great effect AND, maybe even get that whole system connected to your pumps, to create stronger currents or maybe even small waves!

Sorry, I get pretty excited about new technology or new ways to recreate nature LOL I'll shut up now and let someone else pitch in :lolspin:

Wow love the ideas and the constructive criticism I certainly do have pumps lying around and even a few more power heads sounds like its time for a weekend project coming soon!

 

[Biotopes]

Let us know how it goes!

 

[JonJon12082]

Not to rain on your parade but...pun intended...There comes a point where a line has to be drawn. Yes fish aquariums are for our viewing pleasure, but as owners we have a responsibility to give our inhabitants the best home we can possibly give them. That means I might have to turn down the simulated rain concept because, flickering/flashing lights and artificial rain drops might just be more annoying/irritating to the inhabitants than it is, putting them in tune with nature.

I say this because a very large percentage of fishes we own are farm raised and have never experienced a rain, lightning or whatever else natural element we can attempt to simulate. I think it will be more so, you freaking your fish out for your own pleasure.

 

[JonJon12082]

However I would like to see what you can come up with lol:ape:

 

[IUfan]

I really like this idea, it would be very hard to implement in my canopy, or anyone's for that matter as any piping and other components would for sure block out the light fixture.

But to defend this, I was snorkeling in the Caribbean in December, it would rain every other day or so, dark clouds would emerge very quickly, it would rain really hard, but only last for around 2 minutes or so, then back to bright sunshine. (Shows that it would only have to run a pump for a minute or 2 to get an effect.) I didn't witness a thunder storm whilst there however.

Anyway, one of these rain showers happened while we were snorkeling one day, the water was very clear there, and every time I came up for breath, I could see the droplets of rain on the surface, I was not scuba diving, I was snorkeling therefore on the rise up I had a lot of attention on the surface, so maybe that's why I was able to see this and those who have scuba dived haven't. Even still the fish don't need to see the droplets, they have other sensors which the rain can effect don't they? I've read many times that you have better luck fishing when it's raining?

And also, I agree that this could play a role in helping the fish determine passage of time, all animals on earth use the weather as there calendar, and it's been widely documented how the change in weather triggers all kinds of actions by animals. Therefore it could be useful to research the seasons a bit, and then you could program this to only be operational for a certain part of the year, creating that rainy season?

 

[billsreef]

I've read many times that you have better luck fishing when it's raining?

Has to do with the cloud cover and drop in barometric pressure. Don't actually need the precipitation

 

[Biotopes]

Not to rain on your parade but...pun intended...There comes a point where a line has to be drawn. Yes fish aquariums are for our viewing pleasure, but as owners we have a responsibility to give our inhabitants the best home we can possibly give them. That means I might have to turn down the simulated rain concept because, flickering/flashing lights and artificial rain drops might just be more annoying/irritating to the inhabitants than it is, putting them in tune with nature.

I say this because a very large percentage of fishes we own are farm raised and have never experienced a rain, lightning or whatever else natural element we can attempt to simulate. I think it will be more so, you freaking your fish out for your own pleasure.

Rain is part of a reef's natural environment, as is lightning. There is frequent rainfall on reefs and the fish are used to that. In actuality, we have not successfully bred many marine species. Yes, we have bred a lot of them, but many are still taken from reef's. While aquacultured fish have never been in a storm, most fish actually aren't farmed (yet, that's one of my big goals is to be the first to breed/help breed more marine species ) and come from reef's near the equator, with lots of rain/storms. So I do think using this system would create a more natural environment.

 

[Biotopes]

I really like this idea, it would be very hard to implement in my canopy, or anyone's for that matter as any piping and other components would for sure block out the light fixture.

But to defend this, I was snorkeling in the Caribbean in December, it would rain every other day or so, dark clouds would emerge very quickly, it would rain really hard, but only last for around 2 minutes or so, then back to bright sunshine. (Shows that it would only have to run a pump for a minute or 2 to get an effect.) I didn't witness a thunder storm whilst there however.

Anyway, one of these rain showers happened while we were snorkeling one day, the water was very clear there, and every time I came up for breath, I could see the droplets of rain on the surface, I was not scuba diving, I was snorkeling therefore on the rise up I had a lot of attention on the surface, so maybe that's why I was able to see this and those who have scuba dived haven't. Even still the fish don't need to see the droplets, they have other sensors which the rain can effect don't they? I've read many times that you have better luck fishing when it's raining?

And also, I agree that this could play a role in helping the fish determine passage of time, all animals on earth use the weather as there calendar, and it's been widely documented how the change in weather triggers all kinds of actions by animals. Therefore it could be useful to research the seasons a bit, and then you could program this to only be operational for a certain part of the year, creating that rainy season?

:beer: I agree that since animals use weather as a clock, we should make every effort to "create" weather (artificial) for them. I think that making our systems more natural is going to overall increase our chances of breeding more and more species of marine fish and invertebrates, as well as keeping them healthier and happier.

 

[G4546]

I think it's a great experiment! The tank linked looked neat Don't let everyone de-motivate you. Go for it, share it and let's see how it turns out. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[crazzyreefer]

There is many natural parts that should and shouldn't be duplicated, This is coming from someone that is truly crazzy... Rain brings algae blooms in nature (Red Tide) and heavy mineral run off. So is a super minus tide, but I don't think I want to expose my corals to being out of the water with the lights on full blast.

 

[living_waters]

How would you guys go about it on a 38g innovative marine? Any ideas to still keep the clean look of the aio system?

 

[TheCatsWrasse]

check exo terra they have a rain maker for terrariums and such from my recollection i t has a timer but if not you could always put one on it im not sure why it wouldnt work just hook it up through an ro like you said its just top off

 

[TheCatsWrasse]

There is many natural parts that should and shouldn't be duplicated, This is coming from someone that is truly crazzy... Rain brings algae blooms in nature (Red Tide) and heavy mineral run off. So is a super minus tide, but I don't think I want to expose my corals to being out of the water with the lights on full blast.

not to mention (not thinking this would effect at all) but if it were to red tides are a phytoplankton bloom ...live pod/coral food