ideas for wavemakers?

short of buying one. i've been rackin my brain trying to think of a way to incorporate a pool type wave maker,or even a pinwheel type thing in front of a powerhead on a timer, anyone have any ideas?

 

ive been working on a way to get a small ball, like a ping pong ball or like a ball from a kids ball pit. to bob at the top . try taking a small floating ball and push it up and down at the surface at a steady rate and watch the waves form, im not talking ripples ither it will make waves like a vortech pump or wave box.

its like when your in an floaty pool ring and you bounce up and down it makes big ass waves. same princible.


had some success with small AA powered motors. and an arm on the spinning shaft that connects to the ball to bob it up and down as the motor spins.

 

YouTube - DIY Wavebox / Wavemaker
look at wat this guy did

 

bluephish, i tried something similar where i tied two film containers half filled with water at two different lengths and anchored to a powerhead,the idea being that as they were tossed around they'd create random flow, it worked ok but looked really silly in the display, you're idea is a good one with the ball,the up and down would be really effective,today i gutted a 3'' plastic fan and tried putting the blade in front of a powerhead,they test run worked well but mounting it is going to be an issue,luckily i'm a machinist and can make whatever i need.
sostoudt, i saw that a while back, definately the most impressive diy wavemaker i've ever seen, that guy has a thread on reef central detailing how to do it,i don't do electronics and don't want to buy..well..anything lol! theres gotta be a way.

 

how bout a bucket over the tank that gets filled up by a small pump and when it full it falls over releasing all the water then once the buckets empty the bucket will reset.

 

like those chinese water garden things? i thought about that but if the bucket ever hangs up it could spell disaster, i don't really want to move water out of the tank to do it either.i'd make a surge box if that was the case. i think this fan thing is gonna work out and not look so stupid i cant leave it in there. i should just put an mj1200 on the back glass with a timer but that would be way to simple...