chopper Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 On Sunday I went on an outing to procure some giant bullies for my bully collection as i dont have any giants at he moment . I went to a few places and found some very young bullies 2cm long in a stream running into the mud flats ( I am unsure what they are at this stage so will grow them out to find out).I took my son with me and in addition to the bullies I found that when we arrived home he had brought with him several estuarine triple fins and mud crabs from one of the other locations we visited.My son wanted to keep them so i returned for some water from where we caught them and I setup a different tank for these. I was thinking of setting up a tidal tank perhaps even using 2 tanks running into each other one at high tide whilst the other at lower etc. I have used surge buckets in marine aquariums but not tried to create tidal flows in an estuarine tank does any body have any good ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 I had a similar Idea I never actually attempted (although it is still in the pipeline) the timing of the pumping would be that hard part and would possibly require some custom curcuitry to get an even tidal flow. My idea also incorporated a third tank as a refugium/sump to increase the water volume etc... so the water pumped from one tank through the refugium and out into the third. each tank would also require a filtration system in the deeper end. I also worked out that the tanks would need to be a minimum of 600mm high (preferably 800 or more) to get any major benefits of doing the tidal flow. (tidal flows affect more than just the surface of the sand, there needs to be a fair amount of subsurface drainage to allow the natural ecology to occur, my tests (sound very scientific doesn't it, involved a bit of digging at different tides and seeing how long it took to get much seepage) in the mudflats off Matua showed the average drainage needs to be around 150 -200mm deep, add that to how much you want it covered by at "high tide" and how much you want left at "low tide" and you see the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Deep sand bed in one tank and about 2cm in other, small pumps on timers through airline. Drilled overflows to handle excess if something mucked up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 Ooh what an exciting idea! Keep us posted :spop: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 Sounds exciting, keep us informed. The mechanics sound like they might be a little difficult to set up, but will be worth it if you do. How big a tank are you thinking of setting this up in? (imagine it would look better to go bigger) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopper Posted July 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 I was thinking of something like that Living Art but was unsure about substrate levels , cheers! Not sure of tank size yet as I have many. I do have two 2ft tanks which are already drilled and this will save me get any of my other tanks drilled . So i will experiment with the 2 footers first before I go any bigger so will have to keep the amount of occupants in them to a minimum. Might put crabs in one and fish in the other. If it works out OK I might try out keeping olive rockcod in another tank of similar design. I have had these in the past but not in a tidal tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 nowadays there are high and low level float switches available having timers play up or pumps block was the biggest issue i am currently setting up 2 4ft tanks to be tidal going to use a bell siphon system this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 olive rockfish is a good call as in their natural environment they can be subjected to a wide range of water conditions hungry little predators though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopper Posted July 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 Float switch would be good , just like your toilet cistern. I started hooking up the drilled overflow piping tonight , will drain into big tubs if they overflow. Hooked up a small pump to see how long it would take to move water between tanks and the thing fried itself. Which is annoying so will have to get a new one. (Had a pump once which had a loose wire i didnt know about. I put my hand in the tank to move something and got a zap, the fish were swimming around like normal though.) Yeah rockfish are pretty choice and get quite big also. I had them breed once but couldn't raise fry. They a pretty resilient able to with stand low oxygen levels and high temperatures so no need for chiller in summer. Used to feed them on mussel meat, prawns and fish as well as the young of other fish I bred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 the little sand gobies rock, tough as guts and friendly as. still one of my fav fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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