Gyre Nano

[kwirky]

I plan on doing exactly that once the rock is cycled. I'm going to run two more on the other side, and initially switch them every 15 minutes using a coralife light timer I already have.

I've been trying to figure out exactly how some of the wavemakers work. I need one that I can set the interval the pumps are run. Most pulsate and stuff, while I just need to switch back and forth.

by the way, it takes about 15 seconds for it to get to full speed from a stopped state. Don't know how long if it was running the opposite direction, though. I've considered I can get exact control of the water flow just by lowering the timer. The shorter the timer, the less flow the tank gets.

I'm using the rocks' cycling time as a delay for buying the other two pumps and deciding on my lighting

I've got a 150W MH ballast/bulb that needs a pendant/fixture, but it's not enough for sps, probably. The water's only 12" deep, but I still think it might not be enough. I could go T5's, but then they'd only be useful again for another 1'x2' tank. I considered T5 retrofit with an icecap 660. The endcaps and ballast could be reused. Or a 250W MH. it could be reused on another tank down the road too.

I don't forsee this tank running for longer than a year probably, as I'll likely upgrade it to a larger size if I run into disposable money or something heh.

[andresont]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/1/aafeature
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007...um/figure2.jpg


Figure 2 is an example of a horizontal gyre tank which I built for stony coral culture. The aquarium is 33 gallons, 4 feet long, 14 inches wide and 12 inches tall. The divider was made out of two pieces of dark plexiglass which were overlapped in the center. Both pieces of the divider were unattached and I found that I could vary the speed of the water flow by adjusting the distance of the gap between the divider and end faces of the aquarium glass. The water movement was provided by one Seio 820 pump on one side and two Maxi-jet 1200’s on the other side. A Chauvet light timer was used to alternate power between the pumps for 5 to 15 minutes to each side. Since the water flow was so unidirectional in this long aquarium, it was very simple to measure flow speed. Water velocity was calculated by adding neutrally buoyant particles to the water and timing how long it took for them to travel across a distance of the aquarium. Using this technique I was able to measure water flow speeds between 15-22cm/s throughout the entire aquarium. These velocities are within the range of ideal flow speeds for optimum particle capture, respiration and photosynthesis of many corals. Figure 3 is an image of a vertical gyre tank built and designed my Michael Janes of Aquatouch. Mr Janes is an octocoral specialist and he refers to his design as a laminar flow tank. He designed the aquarium to produce ideal flow conditions while still maintaining enough vertical space to accommodate tall soft coral species such as gorgonians. Although this aquarium was designed primarily as a proof of concept, Mr. Janes continues to work with this type of gyre tank for studying octocoral species.

[kwirky]

so you're jake adams? cool I was trying to figure out how to get ahold of you through e-mail or something. Was sifting through the advancedaquarist website looking for contact information. That article is exactly the one that made me want to build a gyre tank

Yeah, after building it, it's totaly a beneficial design of an aquarium for waterflow. I liked the idea of the horizontal plate rather than the verticle plate because it would require less floor space. I'm quite curious about what you used as a neutrally bouyant material?

And have you ever had problems with the seio on the 5 minute timer? Was trying to find info on what happens to them when they're on wavemakers. Most people say they end up dieing in about a year, or only start up some of the cycles after about 2 months.

I really like the term "cm/second" rather than "gallons/hour", because that's a much more practical way to provide a quantitative requirement for flow, considering so many people's flow patterns are different in their own tanks. I think it would be a good way to describe desired water flow to somone new to the hobby, and doesn't know how to point their powerheads and such.

[Delphinus]

Um .. I think andresont just quoted the article, ie isn't the actual author.

[kwirky]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Um .. I think andresont just quoted the article, ie isn't the actual author.

oops! now I'm embarassed

[andresont]

Originally Posted by kwirky

oops! now I'm embarassed

i apologize i should have noted that it is a quote

[Delphinus]

Tried reading the link on the 555 timer - Definitely way beyond me. If you end up attempting something like that please keep us apprised of the steps you take and what not..

[Delphinus]

Well I'm sort of intruigued by this idea now. What timer do you suppose you could use on a set of alternating pumps?

Also, in answer to an earlier question you had .. I dunno, 150W over 12" depth might actually be enough, espescially since it's really <12" due to the rockwork involved. Maybe it's worth a shot? If all you need is a pendent, run over to HD and get a 500W halogen floodlamp, they are like $15 and should fit the bulb. Only problem is you'll need to replace the sockets as they don't fit the 150W'ers, only the 70W'ers.

[kwirky]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Well I'm sort of intruigued by this idea now. What timer do you suppose you could use on a set of alternating pumps?

Also, in answer to an earlier question you had .. I dunno, 150W over 12" depth might actually be enough, espescially since it's really <12" due to the rockwork involved. Maybe it's worth a shot? If all you need is a pendent, run over to HD and get a 500W halogen floodlamp, they are like $15 and should fit the bulb. Only problem is you'll need to replace the sockets as they don't fit the 150W'ers, only the 70W'ers.

The timer, I'm starting to think, will probably have to be some DIY kinda job using a 555 timer or the likes. I think i'd try to design it so that one timer mechanism switches between the two pumps at a variable interval (like from 5 seconds to 15 minutes), and another timer can be run at the press of a button, switching off the pumps for a set time period for feeding.

I found a good write-up on how a 555 timer works here. Quite an involved reading, but I like learning .

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/gadgets/555/555.html

As for the lighting, I think I agree. I actually have a 500W halogen fixture I've already modded to take the bulb. I was worried about using it because it wouldn't fit the bulb "nipple up", but I cut some more out of it last night, and now it goes in properly. Fires up quite bright. I have a thread on the MH fixture mod somewhere in the DIY, just gotta do a search.

It's a giesseman 13k, which is an absolute PAR monster, so I think it should be fine for SPS at the depth. Only thing is, the water's so shalow that the shimmer shadows are EXTREMELY pronounced. It's like shimmers of bright white and dark black. Very deep shadows amongst the rockwork, too, because the light's so close to the rocks.

Think it'll still be brightly lit enough if the fixture was 12" from the water surface?