Do Currents really change at night?

[Ram_Puppy]

I have been researching wave makers and it seems some of the nicer ones have sensors on them that are supposed to tone down the wave action when your lights go off.

now, my question is, does the reef really calm down at night?

[Texreefer]

yes! much current is caused by wave action, and waves, in large part, are generated by the wind. at night winds diminish because of no sun to fuel the the heating of nearby land masses. thus no sun, no wind,no waves, less current at night,,, that is, of course a very simplified version of it

[Ram_Puppy]

ok, I can buy that, but, for instance, I know that waves generated by storms in alaska cause the swells off the north shore of hawaii in winter.

When the moon is out, then that means the tide is coming in...

not doubting you, I am just wondering how much they really do go down, last time I was in port A the waves at night came in just as large as the ones during the day.

as far as I know the only wavemaker compatible with the hydor Korelias I just had come in is the SEIO controller, and unfortunately, it doesn't have the 'night time' feature... and if it's really worth it, well, maybe i should wait until hydor's system comes out.

[erikharrison]

you gotta remember, we don't have REAL waves. We have wanna be waves, that's why you won't see a ton of surfers :P It probably doesn't help that we are so far in, in the gulf!

[Ram_Puppy]

true

[LoneStar]

It probably doesn't help that we are so far in, in the gulf!


The armpit of the Gulf of Mexico ;)

[blueboy]

i thing anthony is running his hydor on a seio controller, but he said that controller doesn't allow you very many options as far as frequency, duration, combination of outlets.

[erikharrison]

It probably doesn't help that we are so far in, in the gulf!


The armpit of the Gulf of Mexico ;)

Is that why it STINKS?

[brewercm]

True, after being in Hawaai you notice a huge difference between the daytime surf and the night time. Almost spooky how calm the ocean can be at night.

[Ram_Puppy]

ok, so I guess that pretty much convinces me that at least for now, I am going to put the Koralia's on timers and have them shut off at night, and just run the filters at night, and then everything during the day.

until a compatible controller w/ better options than the seio comes out anyhow.

of course, I guess i could put the SEIO on a timer too.

[brewercm]

That's what I was thinking was just put the Seio controller on the timer and that should fix your problem. Not sure how it works or if this would change it in any way though.

[GeoB]

I've read that the benefits of not reducing flow at night (more liverock filtration, gas exchange, etc.) outweigh the benefits of possibly replicating night conditions on the reef. I think this makes sense, especially if the tank is not lightly stocked. Somehow I still like the idea of changing the flow at night, but I probably won't bother with it.

[Tim Marvin]

I ran tunzes and scwd's on the farming tanks 24/7. Acropora grew 1/2 inch per month. I'd say don't blow a ton of money on controllers that can fail. Crank out the current and switch it up with the scwd.