Double Fish Tank With Connecting Tunnels Updated

Double Fish Tank With Connecting Tunnels

Fish keeping is a very addictive hobby. Anyone in this hobby knows multi-tank syndrome and "suffers" from it. After many years in the fish keeping business I decided non to buy (yet another) tank, merely to venture into something unique that I am sure nobody or very few people in the globe have tried. This concept was an aquarium h2o-bridge and I decided to get ahead and build one. This turned out to be my most exciting project ever in the fish keeping business organization and it has entertained my family and me for years, as well as visitors who take come to run into it.

What is an aquarium water-span?

An aquarium h2o-bridge is a clear tunnel of water that travels in a higher place the water line between ii aquariums in which all or nearly of the inhabitants of the tanks can swim. Imagine two 4 foot tanks standing iii feet apart, and fish swimming out of 1 tank, and into the other. Even more cool, imagine that they swim nigh a foot above the water line, as if they had wings and enter the other tank, a completely different environment.

How does the water-bridge work?

The h2o-span is based on the same mechanics that keeps water in a bottle when it is raised out of the water in an upside down position. If you make full a canteen with water and and raise it (upside down) out of a tub of water, no air can enter the canteen and therefore no water can escape from the bottle: hence all the h2o remains in the bottle. You can almost enhance the bottle out of the h2o completely before it catches air and the h2o runs out. The water-span uses the same mechanism to go on the water within the tunnel, except that there are two openings, neither of which allows air inside. One opening is in tank A, and the other opening is in tank B.

Was information technology worth the endeavour?

Yes. No let me repeat that: yes, yes and yep! Well-nigh within 20 seconds of loading the bridge, my Siamese Fighter swam inside. He hesitated for a while then he returned into the original tank. He then became totally inquisitive and decided to enter again. This fourth dimension he swam to the other side and "Hey Presto!", entered a brand new environment. From and so on he spent 80% of his time in the water-span leaving the bridge only on occasions to breath air on the surface of the 2 tanks. He virtually claimed the bridge for himself, like a troll!

On a regular basis we had pearl gouramis and other gouramis, plecs, angelfish, rainbowfish, red finned sharks, swords and tetras swimming through. Fish that did not enter were silver dollars, some loaches and certain types of sharks.

What made the water bridge spectacular, is that it sometimes amplified the image of the fish when they swam through. This was remarkably spectacular with the pearl gouramis. The pearl seemed at to the lowest degree 3 times its normal size when it swam closely to the edge of the tunnel and it emphasized the brilliance of this already beautiful fish.

So there was a male freshwater lobster that claimed the one side while the female lobster claimed the other side. All one could see was their feelers and pincers sticking out into the tunnel, sleeping in that location in total elation. The lobsters often crossed the tunnel four or five times a day. A lobster molted in at that place on one occasion and we watched as he undressed in the magnified tunnel. Incredible!

The Siamese fighter and a female fifty-fifty spawned in the tunnel on some other occasion. And the apple snails loved to cross the bridge regularly.

All the inhabitants somehow instinctively knew the bridge was there and how to utilise information technology.

Are at that place whatever advantages as well the uniqueness?

Yep, in that location is more water in each tank, so the water is more than stable. It is like having i viii foot tank. The fish seem happier as they constantly explore between the ii "changing" environments. Breeding pairs are naturally separated for days, giving the female person fourth dimension to recover, and seems to trigger the spawning process when they run across without the stress of human intervention. The tanks are also easier to move than 1 8 human foot tank.

How was it built?

It was very piece of cake to build. You tin can very hands build one yourself in less than two - iii hours. The about difficult material/part to find is the clear tunnel pipage. I used 110mm clear PVC piping. This almost looks similar glass and to the untrained eye looks exactly like glass. It was quite expensive: 400 ZAR ($50), only that is mainly because it is imported. For the bends I used 2 normal white ninety degree 110mm PVC elbows. I also extended the vertical ends with a pocket-size length of standard white 110mm pipe and glued a PVC threaded terminator on the cease for a normal white 110mm PVC screw on cap. This would become useful when loading the bridge.

The PVC pipes are but forced into the elbows. I used the elbows with the rubber rings that requires no adhesive to be applied.

The most piece of work is required to build the brackets that hold the water-bridge on tiptop of the aquarium. I used a piece of apartment bar aluminium and aptitude it into 4 legs. These legs would stand on the meridian of the aquarium back up glass that holds the top edges of drinking glass (of the aquarium) together. I would not remainder the bridge on the sides of the aquarium glass as the span is rather heavy. I used four aluminium brackets that are commercially used to support 110mm pipe. There brackets were riveted to my 4 aluminium legs, and thick safe pads were stuck to the lesser of the legs so that they would non scratch the glass. Y'all volition need 2 brackets on each side of the tunnel between the bend and the articulate PVC tunnel.

Ideally I would take liked to use articulate PVC elbows but I could not source these anywhere. Information technology is not recommended to employ a smaller diameter than 110mm for tropical fish. All fish should comfortably fit through the water bridge. It is also possible to get for 150mm or 200mm; however, these would probably exist likewise heavy for the aquarium glass and would need to be supported on a wall.

How practice you lot get the water up there?

This is a question that I was always asked by starting time time visitors. I often said " I place my head under water and suck on the i end." And it makes them even more inquisitive.

Getting the water upwardly at that place is very elementary. You lot turn the h2o bridge upside down and then that the openings are facing upwards. Preferably exterior, and fill the bridge, until at that place is no air in the tunnel or in the elbows or extensions. Do not forget the anti-chlorine. You then screw on the terminate caps assuasive as little air as possible to be trapped in the extension pipes and tunnel. When both caps are secure, you lot can go inside and at the very last minute, flip the span around that both of the entrances are under water. Unscrew the caps that are now under water.

What happens if the h2o level drops below the entrance of the tunnel?

The obvious. Water runs out of the h2o-bridge in both directions and floods your lounge with the content of the water-bridge. I have never allowed the water level to drop to lower than one inch from the threaded opening of the span.

Do the fish get stuck up at that place?

Yeah, if there are lobsters on either side that do not allow the fish to escape. This happened once and the fish waited in the middle of the bridge until one of the lobsters decided to exit the bridge and enter the tank once more. The fish was non stressed. Simply in all other cases, the fish seem to instinctively understand. Up = In. Downward = Out.

Does the water non stagnate up there?

No. I pump h2o out of my one tank through an external canister filter and into the other tank. Gravity keeps the water level of the ii tanks the same and there is constant motion of water through the tunnel. It too keeps the chemistry of the water in both tanks the aforementioned. If your filter pumps 2000 liters of water an hour; this is the volume of water that passes through the bridge every hour.

Does the h2o-bridge clog upwardly with algae and debris?

Surprisingly not. I expected to constantly have to clean the tunnel of algae and other clay. The bridge has been running for a couple of years, and I never needed to clean information technology. I suppose the plec and the apple snails helped to go along it clean. Cleaning would be piece of cake. You lot just fill the tunnel with 50% water and then milkshake it until it is clean. Yous tin also use a magnet like yous clean your aquarium glass. But be careful:- PVC scratches very hands.