The only Surge Device I've seen in action was much more "forceful" than the ones posted above. Maybe it was because it was on a larger system but it acted more like.... well a DUMPING action. I didn't see the final mechanicals on it (never saw inside the canopy once it was finished) but when it surged it looked like a 5g bucket of water fell over all at once as opposed to "running" into the tank.
I really like the concept and LOVE the look of it. I'd try it on a larger tank if it would be more of a DUMP rather than flow.
all of the surge devices that I posted links to needed the surge reservoir mounted higher and with larger PVC outputs and bigger reservoirs to have a better surge for a large system....those are good starting points for smaller tanks though....
the ideal concept would be to dump a 5g bucket all at once and every few seconds and in different locations of the tank to have an awesome surge but it would be difficult to implement over a tank in most homes....
the cantilever design like in sas's post could be built using a 5g bucket instead of bamboo,it would require some neat mechanics to make it function properly,but as the bucket filled,it would get top heavy,dump,then a counter weight would return it to start position to refill....I'm sure someone has already tried it somewhere in the world
Re: Bubbles - Most coral can take micro bubbles and as noted in the wild the waves & surf do create them. The problem is when something collects air (say under a monti plate) the coral can die from the constant air exposure in the general area.
good point Al,I didn't think about the trapped air.......Jaun,you'd still need flow from other sources to force any trapped air out from under the coral
