Tide Pools for home aquariums

[username in use]

Have you thought about havin 2 overflows? One at the high tide line and one at the low tide line. You would have to set up a timer to open and close the lower overflow at the 6 hour mark. Would defenitly take some tweaking, but I think its a really "simple" way of doing it, and you wont really be inventing anything new that might not work. All you really need to figure out s how to open and close the lower overflow.

 

[GatorEngineer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15064360#post15064360 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by username in use
Have you thought about havin 2 overflows? One at the high tide line and one at the low tide line. You would have to set up a timer to open and close the lower overflow at the 6 hour mark. Would defenitly take some tweaking, but I think its a really "simple" way of doing it, and you wont really be inventing anything new that might not work. All you really need to figure out s how to open and close the lower overflow.

this is something i'm trying to envision. is there some type of valve or or perhaps a gate that could be electrically opened and closed? like an ATO that opens and closes a valve based on water level.
that could be simple.
otherwise i see it as trying to maintain a constant flow and level through a sump while having a slow flowing reservoir on a six or 12 hour cycle.

 

[billsreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15073604#post15073604 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GatorEngineer
is there some type of valve

It's called a Solenoid Valve It's nothing more than a simple solenoid controlled valve, they are commonly used on washing machines.

 

[GatorEngineer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15077420#post15077420 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
It's called a Solenoid Valve It's nothing more than a simple solenoid controlled valve, they are commonly used on washing machines.

awesome thanks. i will look into those the next time i'm out.

 

[GatorEngineer]

if anyone else doesn't know how a solenoid valve works this is a good quick video that makes all things clear.
how solenoid valve works
this should be fairly easy with these valves. i will work on this over the week(end) and see what i come up with. thanks for all the help and info everyone. i've checked every link and every zoo or aquarium mentioned unfortunately not many give system specs. i will update with some new plans later.

 

[das75]

might not be truly tidal but years back seen a really neat tank in a LFS. Raised planted area on one side (might of been mangroves), sloping to water on the other and had mudspkippers basking on the beach area in the middle.

 

[norskfisk]

Here is a very cheap system that can work:

Put two tanks next to each other, one is the display and the other is the reservoir. At the maximum allowable water level a hole must be drilled in both tanks and they are connected by a horizontal tube. The tanks can have different shape and the bottom can be at different heights, but the max water level must be at the same altitude. Now put a small powerhead in each tank that pumps water into the other. The powerheads run 6 hours each on alternating time cycles. Ideally they should be tuned to pump a water volume x, which is the volume difference between high and low tide in the display, in 6 hours. But it doesn't matter if they don't get that amount exactly, or if they get clogged or anything else happens. There can never be an overflow or dry running of the heads. Various powerheads can be used to make slow or fast tides, and perhaps combined with circulation pumps to create a tidal wave.

 

[Dweezle]

There was a write up in FAMA within the last year on a tide pool fuge. I can't remember the exact month of the issue and have since passed the mag on to a friend, sorry. I THINK it worked like this: 1 drain low with a gate valve to limit the flow. Another drain at the high tide line. A pump on a timer set for 6 on/6 off. The lower drain was tuned to flow less than the output of the pump, so as the pump kicked on, the tank slowly filled (lots of thru-flow) to the tide line(high drain). 6 hours later the pump shuts off and it drains back down to the low tide level. Pretty simple, but then again it doesn't exactly replicate nature. It did however come close in effect and without anything more wizbang than a timer.

 

[Johanv]

So did you ever do the tide tank???

 

[Six line]

Saw a nice tide pool system in La Jolla...Every 60 seconds or so a surge of water at the top, taking about 10 seconds to loop all of the way to the bottom and get pumped back out. Had fish and corals all under the sun.

It had pools that formed and trapped fish until the next surge, quite fun to watch.

 

[inselaffe]

Here is Simon Garratts tidal system speeded up.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ReefEden#p/a/u/0/9WcR6CkfyR4

 

[DJ Electron]

Crazy Tidal Beach Aquarium Idea

Crazy Tidal Beach Aquarium Idea

I posted this also in the Maintaining a Slope of sand? thread here, but wanted to post here as well since it applies equally to tides.

Hi,

So I've been mulling over how to put a beach and tides in an aquarium for a long time. I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

I currently have a tank for my two male diamondback terrapin turtles. My girlfriend and I (we might have a better title sometime very soon) are moving in together soon. She has a female terrapin, and sine they grow to double the size of males, the tank will be way undersized.

The current tank is a 120g 4'x2'x2' with a 1'x2'x6" beach section and ramp. I keep the SG at 1.018. I have a deep sand bed, 15 pounds of live rock, all manner of CUC, and a bunch of mollies. They breed like crazy, and sometimes end up on the turtle's menu. There is a ReefSavyy Ghost Overflow with 1" Bean Animal drain system to my 40 Breeder sump. I have a DIY Algae Scrubber made from a 2.5g aquarium on a plywood base with 4x 24 Watt LED Grow Lights. The ATS pump is a AquaMedic 1.2 DC pump from an old tank. The main return is an AquaMedic 3.0 DC Pump. They're great: controllable flow, quiet, and efficient.

The tank is too small to add a 3rd turtle, and I have this annoying issue where the turtles bring a little sand from the beach into the water with them every time they jump in. So, how do I replenish the sand on the beach naturally? I think waves and a real beach will do it.

Waves lapping gently up on a beach help to replenish the sand there in the real world. Only very rough waves from storms erode the sand. I think a little wave action will keep the slope intact and the turtles happy. If waves will do that for my turtles, then tides will keep my mangroves happy too. They're not shown in the diagrams, but i will pant them on the back side of the tank between the high and low tide lines.

So, here are my plans for my new, ridiculous tank. I'm going to need a better job for sure...

This thing is big because I need a lot of gallons for these growing turtles, but I think this will scale well for anyone that wants to do it. It's a drop off, because I wanted to have some deep water without having the sand slope over the length of the tank. The tank is 10' long, 4' wide and 4' deep with a 40" water depth. The deep section is 3' long with 1.5' of shallow, 4' of slope and 1.5' of dry sand. The two stacked overflows allow for 6" of water to drain out, creating the low tide.

I have a glass box with Tunze pumps and a wave controller on the end of the tank pointing directly at the beach. That gets the waves moving. The outlets are just above the height of the shallow area of the tank and are low enough that they stay submerged at low tide.

The plumbing looks complicated, but it really isn't. Just think of is as two separate tanks with different water levels, each with an overflow and return pump.

The lower overflow is tuned so that it matches the output of the main pump. It has two pipes which are under full siphon at all times. It is backed up by the high tide Ghost Overflow with Bean Animal drains.

When it's time for the tide to ebb, the solenoid valve opens, and water drains out of the additional drain at a tuned rate of 15 gph for 6 hours and 12.5 minutes. That will drain the 90 gallons out, creating the low tide.

When it's time for the tide to come back in, the ebb tide drain solenoid valve closes, and the flood tide pump turns on. It's not pictured, but I should have a backflow preventer on this line to stop a siphon from draining the high tide when the pump turns off. Yes, it's lossy, but I only need to pump 15 gph back into the tank to get to the high tide mark over the same 6 hours. There is a T and valve to send the pump's excess flow back into the sump.

When the tide is in, the water level reaches the top overflow. Since the lower overflow handles all of the main pump's flow, the main leg of the Bean Animal only needs to flow 15gph. I will have the backup and emergency sized to handle all of the pumps flow each on their own.

The sump has to be 200 gallons or so so that I can handle the 90g tides as well as regular filtration. I'm glad to be a big fan and current happy Algae Turf Scrubber user, and I use it here. It's nice to not have to have a dedicated, constant water-level section in the sump for a skimmer taking up tide water space. Besides, my bioload is very low compared to the number of total gallons, and these algae scrubbers (in conjunction with my sea grasses, mangroves and DSB) will do wonders for filtration.

Very long winded, I know. I've been thinking about this forever though, and would love to know what you all think.

 

[Boom]

Lol, the OP hasn't posted anything since 2011.
DJ electron, you must have a huge house to dedicate that much of a foot print to a tidal tank!
I'm heading home today from the coast with livestock for my outdoor marine " pond". If I had the space, and money for lighting, I would love to keep it indoors.
Keep us posted.

 

[guserto4]

This is s really cool idea- always loved the tidal / touch tanks at Monterey and other aquariums. Why not go low tech and use a bell siphon to initiate the surge from a separate surge tank. Constant flow could be going from the DT to sump/refugium, and constant flow to the surge tank. Surge water level triggers the auto (bell) siphon, DT floods. The only change in volume is between DT and surge- the sump/refugium would always have the same water level. If you did some calcs first for total water volumes you could probably even use a bean from DT to sump/refugium.

 

[outy]

Oahu had a sweet tank like this on the beach front on the diamond head side

 

[DJ Electron]

Haha, no... I don't have a big house. I'm getting ready to move soon, but houses big enough for this tank as drawn are definitely not on the list. Neither is removing a window and renting a forklift, lol.

What I will probably do is just make it somewhere between 24" or 30" wide so that it will fit through a door. That will reduce everything by half or so, making it a lot more realistic. My better half is even on board so long as it's not too huge!

Guserto, are you talking about using a bell siphon like an overflow to only pull out the tidal water, or putting the siphon high in a holding tank? I won't have any room above the DT for a holding tank. With a smaller setup and a sump that would hold 100g or 120g, things start making a lot more sense. That also changes the tides to a total of 45g or 54g, meaning I'm only pumping in or draining out 7.5gph to 9pgh. A very small pump and drain can handle that. Could a bell siphon be tuned to 7-9gph and used somehow as an overflow in the main tank? Much easier to find room for 50ish gallons in the sump than above the tank.

Outy, where was this Hawaiian tank? Was it at an aquarium? Have you seen any pictures or info online anywhere?

 

[djbon]

The only way I can think of is using spdt relay on timer. When power is on, relay kick n and run small powerhead pumping water to display tank. When off, pump off, the other side of the relay will kick the valve on, draining display tank into reservoir. For failsafe, display must have overflow hole at maximum level back to reservoir. Likewise, reservoir should equipped with lowest level sensor to cut off pump. Cheap amd safe