tide tank?
- Thread starter goda
- Start date
poedag
New member
some of the researchers next door to me are working with black abalone recruitment and they need to simulater tides as well. they use surge buckets that slowly fill with tank water and then dump all at once into the main tank. they have several so it simulates rising and falling of tide. just an idea
ChickenCannoneer
Premium Member
What about having an overflow box that had two holes in it. This is where the water would enter. One hole would be the maximum height and the lower hole would be the minimum height. Then you would just have a very small return pump and a solenoid valve that would be hooked up to the lower hole would open and the water would drain out that hole. This would work if the return pump was smaller and the drain to the sump was a little over size. If you wanted to get fancy you could use an actuated ball valve. HTH, Tim
intresting.
anyideas along the lines of a small motor that would raise and lower the intake pipe... or a small pipe inside the intake pipe
i can get an intermatic motor for 14 bucks at homedepot and it has the 24 hour gear system on it .... ( i know tide changes more often than that so id need to mod it i guesx
anyideas along the lines of a small motor that would raise and lower the intake pipe... or a small pipe inside the intake pipe
i can get an intermatic motor for 14 bucks at homedepot and it has the 24 hour gear system on it .... ( i know tide changes more often than that so id need to mod it i guesx
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
I had planned on using an actuated sluice gate type of setup. That way I would get good surface skimming.... all of the feed water was going to come from a surge bucket. I had considred either a holding sump for the extra water or 2 tidal tanks... running opposite of each other.
There is a lot of stuff to consider, including top-off and surface skimming.
There is a lot of stuff to consider, including top-off and surface skimming.
Ryanqk
Active member
You might have an erosion problem if you have a tide system. I've heard of this before, someone I worked with in jacksonville had problems keeping the sandy substrate he was using in one place, it kept wanting to slide and spread evenly across the tank. So if you are gonna do this look into the substrate you will use and keep in mind that shifting water will eventually catch up with the layout if you dont plan it out carefully.
Ryan
Ryan
ok here is how you do it.
get a U tube that is as high as you want high tide to be, and have it drain into a seperate tank(lets call it the tide tank) elsewhere. Have the bottome of said U Tube be where you want low tide.
Now then in your tide tank you have a pump that is plumbed back into your main system. Put this pump on a float switch that activates when the tide tank is almost full(or whatever level the tide tank is at when the main system is just about to hit low tide and break the syphon of the U tube). this way it starts to refill the system. then have a second float switch lower down in the tide tank to shut the pump off when the tide tank is low on water(or the main system is at high tide)
Now have two ball valves on both the U tube drain and the tide tank return pump and tune these untill you get a drain and refill time you like for your system.
Now in order to keep said system on an even filter, I would mount your sump/fuge whatever higher then the main system and use a pump hidden in the rockwork to pump the water up into the filter and then let it gravity drain back into the system. that way you have filtration all the time rather then at just high tide.
PM me if you need a pic
get a U tube that is as high as you want high tide to be, and have it drain into a seperate tank(lets call it the tide tank) elsewhere. Have the bottome of said U Tube be where you want low tide.
Now then in your tide tank you have a pump that is plumbed back into your main system. Put this pump on a float switch that activates when the tide tank is almost full(or whatever level the tide tank is at when the main system is just about to hit low tide and break the syphon of the U tube). this way it starts to refill the system. then have a second float switch lower down in the tide tank to shut the pump off when the tide tank is low on water(or the main system is at high tide)
Now have two ball valves on both the U tube drain and the tide tank return pump and tune these untill you get a drain and refill time you like for your system.
Now in order to keep said system on an even filter, I would mount your sump/fuge whatever higher then the main system and use a pump hidden in the rockwork to pump the water up into the filter and then let it gravity drain back into the system. that way you have filtration all the time rather then at just high tide.
PM me if you need a pic
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Yup but you have no surface skimming. Also the rate of the water level change will change as the head pressure does on the siphon. Your idea would likely work, but adjustment would also be somehwat tricky/touchy.
A surface skimming "block" with a fexible hose could be easily raised and lowered into the tank via a sinlge nylon lead screw and nylon guid. The variable overflow would be plumbed into a bullhead in the bottom of the tank (preferably behind a partition). A very simply stepper motor and computer or microcontroller would move adjust the overflow height. You could actually then simulate real tidal cycles.
Theres likely a few dozen ways to skin this cat.... the questions is how realistic do you want it, and what do you want to do with the excess water as tides change.
A surface skimming "block" with a fexible hose could be easily raised and lowered into the tank via a sinlge nylon lead screw and nylon guid. The variable overflow would be plumbed into a bullhead in the bottom of the tank (preferably behind a partition). A very simply stepper motor and computer or microcontroller would move adjust the overflow height. You could actually then simulate real tidal cycles.
Theres likely a few dozen ways to skin this cat.... the questions is how realistic do you want it, and what do you want to do with the excess water as tides change.
Ryanqk
Active member
I might add, that there are several different types of intertidal habitats, if you were to choose a specific one. That could be as different as a salty temperate mudflats or pilings. tropical shoreline, whether rocky or sandy, tidepools, and estuaries. there are many choices....
Ryan
Ryan
surface skimming wouldnt be that important as long as you have good enough flow in the system to disrupt the surface. Since this would be a tide tank I was guessing it would have some kind of wave system which would more then take care of that. Or if you REALLY wanted to do it, it wouldnt be to hard to rig up a floating toothed thing and is attached to a hose going to your pump intake.
and since its for a store and not a bio lab trying to recreate the tide to the T i dont see much need for over complicating things with a variable overflow needing a stepper motor, when a simple U tube and some float switches will work. Not everone has unlimited funds ya know
like you said, lots of ways to skin a cat....i just dont see much point is spending 5 times as much to get slightly more naturally acurate results.
and since its for a store and not a bio lab trying to recreate the tide to the T i dont see much need for over complicating things with a variable overflow needing a stepper motor, when a simple U tube and some float switches will work. Not everone has unlimited funds ya know
like you said, lots of ways to skin a cat....i just dont see much point is spending 5 times as much to get slightly more naturally acurate results.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
I have considered the same idea. My plan was to have two overflows at different heights, and two return pumps. One return pump will run all the time, and the lower return will be able to handle its flow. The second pump will be on a timer and will increase the GPH beyond what the lower return can handle so the tank will fill until the water reaches the higher overflow.
I wanted to do a mangrove type biotope with appropriate fish and critters.
I wanted to do a mangrove type biotope with appropriate fish and critters.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
I think you could balance the pumps and overflows in such a way that the rise and fall of the water would be slower. Over the course of an hour or so, then you could hold the high and low to give the critters time to do their thing.
xxaquanutxx
New member
would this require sometype of hydrolic system?
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Like I said... a nylon lead screw with a stepper motor 
