Surge tank experience?

danny zubot · #1 11-21-2006, 10:54 PM

I've been thinking of using an old 5 gallon tank to try my hand at a scaled down model of the Waikiki surge tank design. Has anyone ever built one of these? How do they work for you?

Pescador · #2 11-21-2006, 11:26 PM

I haven't tried one myself, and I realize your looking for hands on experience. but...
You probably have already done a search for the Carlson surge device.

Here's one link http://petsforum.com/personal/trevor...ge_device.html

The Dana Riddle version uses a 5 gallon tank.
http://http://www.breedersregistry.o...mple_surge.htm

There's some info (8 pages) in The Reef Aquarium Vol.3. If you want to see it let me know.

Delphinus · #3 11-22-2006, 01:37 AM

Haven't tried the Carlson surge, did try a toilet flapper surge a few years back and it worked well for while. I eventually stopped it though because the float kept getting jammed in the bucket I was using.

There's no getting away from bubbles with surge devices (you can minimize them though, of course, but not really eliminate them) so there is some increased salt spray on your glass and so on.

But they're a great method to shake things up in a tank .. I keep wanting to go back to having a surge tank or two on a tank.

The nice thing about the Carlson surges are no moving parts, so as long as you can get it tuned right it should work awesome.

honkey sauce · #4 11-22-2006, 03:04 AM

ive got one and dont use it anymore.You shouldnt waste your time and money one when you could buy a tunze powerhead with controller,way better.more water movement and more random

Dale · #5 11-22-2006, 05:22 AM

Hey Danny,

I'm going to try one of the toilet flappers (two actually) on my temperate reef. Let's compare notes down the road.

danny zubot · #6 11-22-2006, 07:21 PM

I can see how these designs would create bubbles. I think the size of bubbles could be adjusted by using a larger sized air line. (#3 above) This would make larger bubbles and thus rise out of the water faster.

I thought about trying a flapper style surge, but mechanical parts = more room for malfunction. The design used at Waikiki soesn't use any moving parts, so if I can get it working it should stay working.