strange idea for acros placements

[reefman]

u know how we all strive to find the best placement for our acros in terms of lighting,water flow ,etc. it seems that those best spots r usually in a central area.
now what if we have something like a revolving table where each acro is being move around slowly so that every acro is getting exposure in diff spots. like a merry go around effect. i wonder what kind of effect that will have.

 

[TimberTDI]

That would pretty cool. Imagine a whole rotating rock structure on some sort of revolving lazy susan.

 

[ezee]

reefman,

I am not a huge lover of acro but this sounds interesting, so I figured I would throw a couple of thoughts on the table.

In terms of water movement, I would think that the rotating platform would subject the coral to changing flow patterns, which I actually think might be good. Many people try to reproduce natural turbulence in their tanks, so this would be a positive (I think).

In terms of lighting, you would have to be very careful. Certain reflectors/tanks have "hotspots" and "shaded areas", not always visible to the naked eye. Forcing an acropora to adapt to moving in and out of these spots might be unhealthy for the coral.

I am most interested in seeing how you would set up this table without electrocuting yourself or the fish! Any thoughts yet?

E

 

[steveo32]

I think for something like this you would have to use something like a pin wheel. Where you would have a certian spot witha tab and then have a power head push water to create the rotaion. But would this be going a little bit off of the "natural" look we srtive for in our reefs.

 

[ezee]

Kinda reminds me of those sunglasses racks you see in pharmacies! lol

 

[reefman]

this is just a "thinking outa the box" idea i had. i haven't really gone beyond implementation stage.

 

[Quang]

Cool idea!
On a small scale, I think this would be possible.

But on larger scale, maybe 50g+ this would be pretty difficult. Imagine creating a platform to turn 60+lbs of rock through water. Or having multiple platforms turning sections of the rockwork. Also, the aquascaping better be super secure or we'll have landslides. Now lets factor in the amount of energy we will need for such a mechanism.

Another issue is rotation of the mechanism. One side of the coral will always get more flow than the other, namely the side that coincides with the rotation direction. Will this be a continous rotation or something with a stop and go of a few seconds?

Cool idea though, but there's a few quirks that need to be worked out.
With that said, someone try it out!

 

[cali_reef]

Build a lazysusan out of egg crates, PVC, and some plastic wheels, have a motor turn the rack from the top with some pulleys. You can grow corals on frag plugs to keep weight off the rack.

Interesting idea but I don't see this being "natural" at all.

 

[fritz]

Calfo is all about this but he came at it from the other way round. His artcile referenced a guy on RC that made a closed loop manifold utilizing sprinkler heads from HD as the outlet. Using water pressure as their power source they would occilate and create random flow paterns as the 6 heads bounced flow off of each other. Secondly he adovcated putting Hallides on a track to save wattage and prevent shading. Instead of running two 250watt MHs, he suggested a single 400watt MH that would move along a track to simulate the sun moving from east to west over the course of the day which should reduce shading.

 

[steveo32]

Fritsz that track idea sounds cool but how would you time the movement of the "cart".

 

[bad coffee]

http://homeharvest.com/lightmovers.htm

 

[fritz]

I had been wondering that myself, he never elaborated. That lamp mover is NICE!

 

[cali_reef]

Random water movement can be achieved with the sea swirls, ocean motions, or two tunze with a controller, much easier and more reliable than a lazysusan idea. Calfo's manifold is not random at all, unless you have some super high flow so the water is colliding and causing back pressure at each nozzle.

As for the light mover, I have tried the light mover method and I have a six feet light mover setup for sale if anyone wants to try for them self's.

 

[Opsanus tau]

The company was called Aquatic revolutions, and the whole reef bottom rotated, within a cylindrical tank, each animal would rotate through different lighting and flow regimes.
I haven't been to a M.A.C.N.A, since 2001, but this used to be one of the big displays back in the day( a couple years in a row,around 1998, 1999, 2000).
Am I the only old guy here who remembers this?

I will go dig up my pre-digital pohotos, scan one, and post it here if I can locate it-Dave

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

:shhh: This thread is over 2 years old

 

[masterswimmer]

:shhh: This thread is over 2 years old

:grouphug: Don't flame B. We beg our site noobs to use the search function and sure as $h-t he did!!!! With flying colors

 

[Opsanus tau]

2- years ago is even closer to the time of these rotating tanks being in existence, making it even harder to belive the folks posting about this Idea were not aware of it.
Sorry are you not supposed to reply to old posts?
whats the grandfather clause around here?

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Nothing saying you can't reply to old posts, and not flaming anyone. Was just giving a heads up that's all.

 

[ShaunW]

From a biological point of view I think that purposely moving acros around such that you change their lighting intensity, flow and position hinders their growth. Acroporas are stationary animals, and as such are not as adaptable as wandering creatures.

In my tank, keeping my hands away from frags/colonies, leaving them alone to "sense" their local surroundings allows them to adapt with the appropiate biological response, i.e. growth. If you change their local environment constantly they will have to adapt each time and their biological focus will be towards that adaptation instead of growth spurs.

 

[jimidalock]

Great Idea Reefman! But I think Cali's right, it would be great for growing frags out but, impractical in a display tank. In the willd they have changing currents and light conditions all the time.