the Rio Xingu has the most weird flow rate/direction ive ever seen! one min you could be floating around looking under rock's for gold nugget's and what not and the next your being thrown against some rock's as the current hit's you and belive me it get's hold of you and throw's you, i have the scar's on me leg to prove it, but it's the best scar ive ever got . where the Zebra's where was a minimum of 12 feet deep and the folw was really fast, way to fast for me, i filmed my friend try'n to get down to them with the fisherman as he had underwater housing for his video camera but it was to hard. even the fisherman could'nt get down there with the camera . i say now i wish i had of tied some rope to a rock and thrown it in, and pulled myself donw with it but at the time you dont think of these thing's. if i went again id take dive belt's and all that stuff.
Thank you Kev
I asked because I have had to traverse many rivers in the world with the military very many years ago. Some of them exhibit the same currents as you have experienced. I have looked at many web pages on the Rio Xingu trying to get a feel of this river but thank you once again for giving me an idea of the flow rate there the fish actually live. Part of a river in Eastern Europe is very fast flowing but in some areas the water was almost still hence my question
Thank you Kev
Excellent pictures. I get the message. I have a male + 2 Females in each of two 4 foot tanks. I am going to try a method I once used in a coral tank. I once set up a coral tank to give an alternate flow in each direction (length ways) by fitting a piece of glass parallel with the back but 12 inches shorter then the length and about 3 inches in from the back. The glass was equidistant from each end. I had two Maxijet 1000's, one fitted into the glass at each end with the outlets facing inwards towards each other and between the glass and the back of the tank. They were connected to a relay such that one was on and the other off. The relay was actuated by a timer so I got a flow, say, left to right then right to left. I tried this without the glass at first and it did produce a flow of sorts but with a lot of turbulence. With the glass in place the output from the Maxijets seemed to get a lot more water going smoothly in one direction then the other with less turbulence. I will give this method a try in one tank and see how it goes.
good idea dont forget some pic's . the people who make visi-therm heater's also make a wave maker for marine's. it's like the 6 plug adapter thing's, you plug in 4-6 powerhead's and it switch's them on in secquence to make a wave. if i get a load more of these L236 then the barbatus might have to go to make more room.
There is a piece of equipment available for reef tanks called a SCWD that will first put flow out one direction, then gear it over to the other side that would work ideal for this situation. It doesn't put much back pressure on the flow source, and uses no electricity, just literally allowing the water flow to switch the two directions. They generally can be found for $30 or so online.
Thank you for that link Barbie
I have seen that device and have, in the past, made similar impeller / geared units. With the corals I wanted to create a very large water flow and move a mass of water at the same time. The two are not the same. With the outlet from a round pipe you get a hose pipe effect under water. There is a very fast central flow but you also get an eddy current (reverse flow opposite and away from the central flow) With the corals I wanted to move the entire tanks contents in one direction then move the entire tanks contents in the other direction so, if possible, there were no reverse flows where the coral was placed. There was some disturbance at pump reversal. As I had a block of water some 18 inches square moving in one direction along an 8 foot tank only to have it stopped in its tracks, as it were, by the blast from the pumps at the opposite end. The flow in one direction lasted 3 minutes then reversed for three minutes. I have made a much smaller device to the coral one with pumps at one end only. When the silicon is cured I will give it a go. My aim is to create a flow in one direction continuously where most of the tanks water in front of this device flows smoothly.
. where the Zebra's where was a minimum of 12 feet deep and the folw was really fast, way to fast for me, i filmed my friend try'n to get down to them with the fisherman as he had underwater housing for his video camera but it was to hard. even the fisherman could'nt get down there with the camera 
. i say now i wish i had of tied some rope to a rock and thrown it in, and pulled myself donw with it but at the time you dont think of these thing's. if i went again id take dive belt's and all that stuff.
