Simulating tides

[iansilv]

I had a thought- would there be any reason to raise and lower the water slightly in a reef tank to simulated tides? I guess if you did it you could use some sort of pum and suck the water in to a holding container, then reverse it out, with the tide schedule each day. Would that do anything to more accuratelysimulate a natural environment? The corals at the top might be closer to the surface, get slightly more light as they would in nature. Any thoughts?

[fkshiu]

Take a look at the Tunze Wavebox.

[MCary]

The best way to simulate tides is to vary the direction of the predominant flow based on tide tables. The critters if not in a tide pool probably don't know the water is lower or higher, but the current changes directions.

[iansilv]

I was talking about the water level relative to the corals. The Tunze is great for simulating flow from currents, and I think it is awesome. But- lets say you have some sps near the top of the water. With the water level lowered an inch according to low tide, there will be more lighting getting through to them. Then, it raises, slightly reducing the amount of light they recieve- this might be good for simulating nature and coral spawning. This raising/lower would happen slowly, according to the cycle of the tides.

[MCary]

I don't think you could duplicate on a scope large enough to make a difference in a home aquarium. Your best bet would be to vary light intensity and spectrum if that was your goal. Maybe with the new Solaris lights you could do it. If you have $3500.