Ridiculous Question from a surfer

[krookedsession]

Ok...I apologize if this is completely obsured/ridiculous but I'm too curious not to ask. So as I sit here at work thinking about what used to be the only thing ever on my mind, surfing, and now my new favorite thing, reef aquariums, I wondered to myself, would it be possible to have a home size aquarium, nano to 300 gallon, that had a mini wave breaking above the reef. I know the physics of wave, how its energy traveling from far away reaching shallow reefs or sand causing it to break, but could you build something similiar to that of a wave pool at a water park to replicate a mini wave, in order to create your own at home perfect indo reef break.

[RVANANO]

Not sure about creating the perfect wave but search "surge tanks or surge systems" You can also buy wave boxes.

[username in use]

You can make a wave in a tank without much issue at all. The problem you are going to face is getting it to break the way you want. The most common way to make a wave in a tank is to have a pump that turns on and off with the frequency of the tank which generates a kind of standing wave. However, what you are going to want is to generate a wave that goes one direction and then breaks. You will need to make the wave the way wave pools do, which will mean building everything from scratch. They basically use a large plunger the width of the pool and force it down into a cavity where the water exits out the bottom, Or dropping a large amount of water into the same cavity, creating that rolling surge that forms a wave.

Can it be done, of course.

Can you do it without spending a ton of money and time? Probably not.

Also, you will want a really long tank that gets shallower as it goes.

[username in use]

[krookedsession]

heres what I doodled up while sitting here. You can use powerheads and fans to aid your swell direction.

[GreshamH]

Originally Posted by username in use

LOVE IT

[bpoore89]

Wow that wave is amazing! Now if only that was on a reef tank :-P

[MJinMN]

And ideally you'd do it without an old pickup truck in your living room....

[username in use]

Originally Posted by MJinMN

And ideally you'd do it WITH an old pickup truck in your living room....

fixed

[plyle02]

Originally Posted by username in use

You can make a wave in a tank without much issue at all. The problem you are going to face is getting it to break the way you want. The most common way to make a wave in a tank is to have a pump that turns on and off with the frequency of the tank which generates a kind of standing wave. However, what you are going to want is to generate a wave that goes one direction and then breaks. You will need to make the wave the way wave pools do, which will mean building everything from scratch. They basically use a large plunger the width of the pool and force it down into a cavity where the water exits out the bottom, Or dropping a large amount of water into the same cavity, creating that rolling surge that forms a wave.

Can it be done, of course.

Can you do it without spending a ton of money and time? Probably not.

Also, you will want a really long tank that gets shallower as it goes.

Oh a nice backside lay forward into this beautiful right barrel If I was only the size of a mouse....lol... That is very cool...

[seapug]

you can use a tunze wavebox or Vortec powerhear to create a standing wave, but if you're looking for a "surge" type effect you'll need to build a Borneman Flush device or something similar to that. Just remember salt spray is a constant issue with flushers and the tank will need to have high sides or it'll be like Shamu spraying the spectators at Seaworld.

[Sk8r]

I don't have a wave, but I have a wedge-shaped tank: I get great action from my corals by aiming two Sea Swirls at each other: they swing out of time with each other, occasionally meet here, meet there, and keep the coral swaying as it does in nature to the motion of the water. The corals respond by growing like bandits.