would it make a wave?

[treesprite]

I'm wondering if putting a secondary inner wall in a tank, then having the in-flow from a return pump go into that instead of into the main tank area, could be made to create a wave action somehow instead of a noisy waterfall. I'm thinking a very small water height difference, like maybe half an inch so the entire tank would still have the water at or above the rim line (in a rimmed tank of course). Would it just work that way, due to there being such a tiny drop height, or maybe would putting some sort of small lip on the main area side of the inner wall be able to direct the water more outward (maybe even a concave lip).

 

Obviously I haven't been sleeping lately, so all kinds of crazy thoughts about aquariums are running through my head. I don't have any immediate plans for making such a thing, but it sounds interesting. Thinking up aquarium things is more interesting than fruitlessly counting sheep.

Edited December 31, 2016 by treesprite

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

You would need a LOT of flow coming out of the return to make any kind of flow going through the tank from this. Most of our returns don't add much flow anyways let alone spread out over a large area. Plus it would be constant flow so it wouldn't be a wave.

I think using another tank and making a surge device is best for what your thinking about.