Jellyingabout Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Ok so this may be a pipe dream however i have hopes of creating wave (ish) motions in my 4L pico. My thought is to run two lines into the tank pointed at each other. Both inflows would come from the same pump like so: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _tap _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Inflow1 ¦ (2/3 open) ¦ ¦ Pump _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ¦ ¦ ¦ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ tap _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ¦ ¦ (1/3 open) ¦ ¦__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _¦ ¦_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Inflow2 ¦ ¦ ¦_ _ _Solenoid valve _ _ _ ¦ This way neither inlet is ever off. When the solenoid is open the flow balence is 40/60, with the solenoid shut its 60/40. By doing this we keep both Inflows always on, avoiding any noisy gargling that would happen with the flow simply turning on/off. I have a 12V DC solenoid valve and a 12V DC power supply. What i need help with is what electrical wizardry do i need to turn on the solenoid intermitantly? Cheers, Aaron Quote Link to comment
Nocturnal Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 I purchased one of these last Halloween for a prop. I actually wonder if something like this would be useful for that kind of application. Barring the purchase of an aquarium controller, something that can switch off and on solenoids like this is probably well worth the investment compared to building your own. May be worth a look. It is either off or on though, but it can cycle very quickly as it is intended to control animations using pneumatic pistons and the like. I couldn't find an easy way to rig up something that would cycle power fast enough for a prop (or wave maker for that matter). https://www.frightprops.com/controllers-electronics/frightideas-controllers/picoboo-controllers/picoboo-jr.html 1 Quote Link to comment
Jellyingabout Posted April 10, 2018 Author Share Posted April 10, 2018 I've actually found really good mechanical alternative with less Macgyver'ed electricals near water as well and much much cheaper. I made a small Bell siphon from some PVC pipe which sits in a 4" spagetti container for about £7 ($10) and took 5minutes to make. As the spagetti container fills up and covers the siphon it self primes and dumps 1L into the aquarium very quickly. A breather tube keeps it relatively quiet. Theres a tiny gurgle which is not unpleasant being so small. But im sure i could tweek it to get rid of this completely. I have two next to each other, filling at slightly different rates so that they fire asynchronously in different directions in the tank creating a nice random surge pattern. SAnd two spagetti contianers can be easily hiden on a shelf behind the tank. I'm considering planting them with mangroves and coastal seaweed, so that they double up as two aquaponics beds ripping out my nitrates Quote Link to comment
dawz2 Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 11 minutes ago, Jellyingabout said: I've actually found really good mechanical alternative with less Macgyver'ed electricals near water as well and much much cheaper. I made a small Bell siphon from some PVC pipe which sits in a 4" spagetti container for about £7 ($10) and took 5minutes to make. As the spagetti container fills up and covers the siphon it self primes and dumps 1L into the aquarium very quickly. A breather tube keeps it relatively quiet. Theres a tiny gurgle which is not unpleasant being so small. But im sure i could tweek it to get rid of this completely. I have two next to each other, filling at slightly different rates so that they fire asynchronously in different directions in the tank creating a nice random surge pattern. SAnd two spagetti contianers can be easily hiden on a shelf behind the tank. I'm considering planting them with mangroves and coastal seaweed, so that they double up as two aquaponics beds ripping out my nitrates I've got to see that in operation!! 1 Quote Link to comment
Nocturnal Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 18 minutes ago, Jellyingabout said: I've actually found really good mechanical alternative with less Macgyver'ed electricals near water as well and much much cheaper. I made a small Bell siphon from some PVC pipe which sits in a 4" spagetti container for about £7 ($10) and took 5minutes to make. As the spagetti container fills up and covers the siphon it self primes and dumps 1L into the aquarium very quickly. A breather tube keeps it relatively quiet. Theres a tiny gurgle which is not unpleasant being so small. But im sure i could tweek it to get rid of this completely. I have two next to each other, filling at slightly different rates so that they fire asynchronously in different directions in the tank creating a nice random surge pattern. SAnd two spagetti contianers can be easily hiden on a shelf behind the tank. I'm considering planting them with mangroves and coastal seaweed, so that they double up as two aquaponics beds ripping out my nitrates Sounds cool. In my last McGuyver phase I kept going back to how toilets are designed. Sure you can flush them manually but if you dump enough water in fast enough you get an auto flush. No worry about losing a siphon etc. There has to be a way to do something similar (if you don't care about splashing a bunch of salt around). 1 Quote Link to comment
Jellyingabout Posted April 10, 2018 Author Share Posted April 10, 2018 Well the bell siphon is working a treat for me, i struggled around witht he desing yesterday and realised that my siphon was simply too large for the spagetti box so i went down a pipe size and it works perfectly. At this size the rate at which i fill it doesn't matter much, so even trickly will fire it. I tried a few designs following attempts by aquarists calling it the carlson surge device but they were all a bit clunky and over complicated the plumbing. Aquaponics folks seem to have it really simplified and realiable, plus thin and inoffensive looking. I plumbing it to the tank to check it works but the wife made me dismantle it as we have a viewing today, ill get some photos up soon though. 1 Quote Link to comment
Jellyingabout Posted April 10, 2018 Author Share Posted April 10, 2018 I couldn't wait, I got one out the shed and took a video of it in the bath with me filling it with a jug slowly. But that vase in the bath is my pico tank so it counts Because im filling it with a jug i was pushing bubbles into it as you can hear, when i fill it with a pump from the bottom of the container its silent apart from the gurgle at the end. I have all the various bits of my tank but were moving in three weeks so setting it up would be silly. Doesn't stop me from assembling it and tinkering with it though gives me time to plan it right i guess. 1 Quote Link to comment
Nocturnal Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Nice. I want to do a tidal/surge tank one day. Quote Link to comment
Jellyingabout Posted April 10, 2018 Author Share Posted April 10, 2018 1 minute ago, Nocturnal said: Nice. I want to do a tidal/surge tank one day. Theres no day like today My main impitus for this was to create the perfect environment for a clam & SPS stocking, i heard growth rates of both in surge tanks are measurbly higher Quote Link to comment
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