'PicoSurge'

[BlueAbyss]

Alright, so I might as well start a thread for this

I've put the larger surged system on temporary hold, partially because I want to start with something smaller, and partially (perhaps more importantly) because I need to test some of my theories and doing it on a large scale will just be too expensive until I know it works... and I'm lazy So without further ado...

This will be a fully surged pico system (though by some definition this would be a nano) with a useable water volume of 5.3 gallons. The actual tank dimensions will be 26l x 8w x 9d, but at either end 3" is lost for utilities (leaving around 6 gallons) and there will be a 1" sandbed installed.

Planned turnover will change during day and night cycles, with one or two surge tanks. One end of the tank is reserved for surge 'breaking' and the other for overflow. There will definitely be a closed-loop style return built into the tank, it's undecided ATM whether I'll run a closed-loop or a second surge tank. Either way my pump of choice is the Sedra KSP-1000 and 2000, though I don't know if the 2000 will accomplish 150gph at an 18" head height. The idea is to have a tank turnover of 50x.

The star of the show here is going to be my DIY lighting which should rival MH... more to come about that later, I'll be running around 60+W in this tank. The colour temperature and overall intensity will be adjustable. No I won't get sued I'm hoping the prodigious use of LEDs will transmit little heat into the water, which is my main concern for this tank... growing SPS without boiling the water.

Did I just say SPS? I sure did! In 5 gallons of water? That's right, it's not a misprint I won't have many... in fact there won't be many of anything in this tank, except different species... the stocking list is similar to what I had planned for the larger surged tank, but downgraded.

Tentative Stocking List:

Bumblebee Shrimp - 3
Sharknose Goby - 2
Pom Pom Crab - 2
Some smaller snails <1"

Macroalgae (Peysonnellia, Halimeda)
Photosynthetic Sponges
Photosynthetic Gorgonians
Christmas Tree Worm Rock / Porites SPS
Some other SPS (Montipora, Acropora, who knows)
Some sort of LPS (choosing from Acans, Blastos, Micros, chalices, not all of these... whatever catches my eye)
Zoas, Ricordea

I'll be starting with the freshest live rock I can order from J & L in early summer, before it's too hot. I like the look of the Irian Jaya rock, I'll probably order 25 lbs and whatever doesn't go into the surge tank will go into another AIO tank... that one will probably be the 20 gallon, and will probably end up being a 'side project' of some kind. I won't know till I have the extra rock The biggest problem here will be getting the money together for the lighting, which will by far be the most expensive part of this project. Good thing LEDs last 50000 hours

Hoping to keep the entire setup clean looking by hiding everything. We'll see how that goes, I might still be in the experimentation phase when the rock gets here

[golf nut]

You won't get sued as long as it's for your own use, I would be interested in your surge idea.

[Myka]

Interesting idea, I'll be tagging alone for the ride. That Irian Jaya rock scares me...it has so much green on it! I wonder why J&L isn't stocking Tonga and Fiji anymore...? All their live rock is over $8/lb now. That's steep.

[bignose]

Can you define a surge tank for me? I've never heard of that before.

[mseepman]

Tonga rock is banned from collection now if I remember correctly.

[BlueAbyss]

Originally Posted by mseepman

Tonga rock is banned from collection now if I remember correctly.

Yes, they've stopped exporting it.

Originally Posted by bignose

Can you define a surge tank for me? I've never heard of that before.

Hmm, well I'm not sure there's a definition for it, really... I would define it, personally and for my own uses, as a tank that is fed it's flow mostly by surge device. I suppose it could be considered a 'tidepool' style tank by some. And lots of flow too, like 50x turnover.

I use the term as a way to describe the planned flow of water through the tank, a (relatively) large volume of water moving in a dominant direction with some flowback but with low force. Or that's the idea anyhow I'm not sure what the turbulence will be like inside the tank with my current ideas... the tiny fishes and shrimps and crabs might get blown away, or that's my fear. I won't know until I build it

[Delphinus]

I toyed with the idea of toilet flapper surge tanks over my 75g some years ago. In the end I discontinued them because the flappers kept getting hung up (a problem with the way I implemented them, not a problem with the idea of a toilet flapper surge tank, per se), and also just because I was sort of disappointed with the amount of flow that came out. I had 2 1-1/2" outputs per tank and it was just as if someone had turned on a pump for 30 seconds. I really wanted a more dramatic "crash" of water but realized I had nowhere near the height to work with for the kind of head pressure that would take.

I started wondering how it would be if, instead of a toilet flapper, one could use an automated valve of some kind. Then you could have it open and close at intervals and probably reduce the amount of air introduced into the tank (unless, of course, the bubbles are something you want - after all most waves do sort of create transient bubbles).

I've also wondered what a Carlson surge tank would look like if you used really large diameter pipe so the tank emptied briskly..

Anyhow, fun stuff, wish I had more time/energy to play around more with this sort of thing. Good luck with your experiment, can't wait to see it in action!

[BlueAbyss]

Originally Posted by Myka

Interesting idea, I'll be tagging alone for the ride. That Irian Jaya rock scares me...it has so much green on it! I wonder why J&L isn't stocking Tonga and Fiji anymore...? All their live rock is over $8/lb now. That's steep.

The green doesn't scare me... actually that's one of the attractions for me. Green ocean stuff always has all kind of critters associated with it.

On a side note, I'll order some Vanuatu at the same time... It looks pretty cool, and the wierd shapes will give me something to look at in the 20 gallon. More variety is good too, apparently there's evidence of encrusting corals on the Vanuatu rock... which makes me think sponges and tunicates and such. Interesting pieces will go into the pico, and the leftovers in the 20. No sense wasting good rock.

Yeah I thought it was sort of expensive for live rock, but then I compare it to the live rock I've seen in some shops in the city... that stuff just looks like coral skeletons with algae on it, and it's not that much cheaper at least wasn't where I saw. I want rock with diversity.