Tank Idea

[Piti]

This is an idea i've been thinking about for a while. There are some problems, as you may also notice, but here are the ones I need a bit of advice on.

1. How to get water from bottom to top (with filter) and maybe flow
2. How to keep fish from getting into next aquarium (Maybe a glass or plastic anti jump top or netting inbetween the fountians.
3. Heating... How or even if i need it?

4. The big one.
So the way i was thinking of contructing the tanks is... Taking 3-5 (depending on what is easier (taking all apart or just 1 wall off) $11 tiny aquariums either 5.5g or the smaller cheep version, taking the glue off most the walls, and replacing it with stone tile that I have leftover from a previous project. (the reason i wouldnt be keeping the tanks in tact is because I need a fountian piece, a way for the water to flow from top to bottom. Cutting the stone to proper sizes of course, making the fountian, re-glueing it + the fountian piece to the object, and bam? The wood frame and cabnets will not be a problem, its the glass and stone I'm worried about. Is there any other type of sealent other then aquarium stuff for a project like this. Is there a generaic home depo sort of name for that stuff as well?

Any other comments, suggestions?

And... It wont be done till September (full time arch school)

 

[Didge007]

2. How to keep fish from getting into next aquarium (Maybe a glass or plastic anti jump top or netting inbetween the fountians.
Glass/Plastic lids with like a plastic 'grill' in between fountains?

If you pull this off...

 

[Tizer]

Have a look at the tanks in local aquatic shops that hold plants, they are very often setup like this.

If i recall the bottom tank simply has an overflow pipe in it and it goes down into a sump below it, it then gets pumped up to the top tank so the only water that goes out, is the water that goes in. The "wiers" on the tops of the tanks are very small onyl need to be millimeters lower than the top for the water to flow over, i dont think fish would be able to get over although that wont stop them launching themselves out of the water and over. Some sort of lid would have to be contructed or some form of netting.

You could heat the water in the sump so its constantly being moved through the system aswell as filter it of nasties. All in all, a relatively easy system, although i would imagine it to be a little noisey in a home environment with the water cascading non stop. i certainly wouldnt want it in my house, wouldnt be able to hear the TV !

 

[nurglespuss]

Yep thats exactly what I was going to say

You need a sump, and an emergency cut off sensor incase one of the pumps fails.

 

[micko]

Good idea but as Tizer said it would be a wee bit noisey.

How about if you raised the rest of the tanks so there wouldn't be such a drop inbetween them? A slight step in them I think would look better and would reduce the noise.

Just a thought.

 

[mattbleasby]

Personally i dont think you should raise the tanks up. I think it would loose the effect of it Although maybe a little noisy

You would need a sump and could heat in there.

I think too stop the fish getting through, Glass or PVC Lids with holes in them could work quite well This way only leaves a tiny gap for the water too get through and even then you could net that off.

This is going too be an awesome project. Cant wait.

 

[godfather2]

I made one of these over 20 years ago something like image (pic 1) to stop fish going into next tank I used plastic canvas the stuff women use for crosstich comes in large sheets of different gauge made into boxes which I then filled with filter wool which helped filter all tanks as didn’t know about sumps in them days so just used washing machine pump (very noisy but putting lids on all tanks cut noise down a lot) before getting an external filter then job was a good one
Plastic canvas from eBay
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/plastic-canvas-embroidery-sheet-new-/160596691259?pt=UK_Crafts_Needlework_EH&hash=item25644f093b

 

[minnnt]

Bare in mind though that if something nasty infects one tank then it gets passed around to all the others...

 

[mattbleasby]

And your going too need ALOT of De-Chlorinater.

 

[Mowbz]

i certainly wouldnt want it in my house, wouldnt be able to hear the TV !

Agreed!

However, you cant deny its going to look awesome when its done. Would look good in a shop or office building.

 

[mattbleasby]

i certainly wouldnt want it in my house, wouldnt be able to hear the TV !

Agreed!

However, you cant deny its going to look awesome when its done. Would look good in a shop or office building.

Whats the latest on this then?