I need to create a very long path between the two main chambers. the more I think of it, a long coil would be better than zigzag baffles.
Here's the kitchen version of the experiment:
Mix a glass of salt water with one color of food coloring.
Mix a glass of fresh water with a second color of food coloring.
Gently pour the fresh water on top of the salt. (Use a stick or something for the water to run down, you want minimal splashing.)
Note the two don't mix.
The idea is to replicate the saltwater interface that occurs in a natural estuary. This can certainly be done in the short term in our kitchen experiment, but can it be maintained in an artificial environment as it is in the wild? I was going to use peltiers and bubblers to encourage more evaporation on the saltwater side, use and unusually tight fitting lid, and set things up to funnel all the condensation to the freshwater side. The questions are can the salinity be kept stable on the saltwater side at such a small scale? Can the evaporative engine keep up enough flow to replace freshwater that mixes with the salt?
The point of the experiment:
If sucessful, this would be a potential way to swawn certian freshwater shrimp that require saltwater to breed. The babies are normally swept downstream to the sea, and at a certian stage of life, they swim back upriver to their native habitat. Such species are difficult to breed, because the timing of the transfer back to freshwater is very tricky.