Connected Tank Idea- Feedback please

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T

ThePBM

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2007
602
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Hawaii / Wisconsin
So, let's say i have a a pair of 10 gallon tanks. And i want fish to be able to commute between the two. Is this very poor drawing of a design going to work? the tube would be big enough for fish to swim in, it would be filled with water, and would be stable as far as balancing the water levels between the 2 tanks. both ends of the tube would be at the same level of course, and the tube itself would be a translucent material so fish won't be afraid to swim into an otherwise dark void.

tanktube.gif



each tank will have its own filter system so don't be concerned about that. the amount of water in the tube will not be enough to fill/overflow either tank should the fishes manage to fart enough within the tube and introduce an air pocket at the top.

lemme know whatcha thinks. ;)
 
There used to be a link to a setup like this....

http://knuttz.net/hosted_pages/Home-Aquarium-20061031 but this link doesnt work anymore....


The guy had two tanks connected from one side of the room to the other, overhead all the way ... I will see if I can find a corrected link
 
You little stinker i was going to link to the same two things.... you you can just take out the linking glass and make it a 20.


I would hate to see what would happen to the fish highway one when the power turns off...
 
Its come to my attention that you are uncertin as to how this works, you need to create a suction at the top of the pipe, this is done by useing a "lift pump", there is now way to get water to stay higher then the water line unless you have a pump constantly pumping the water out VERY slowly. it needs to create a negitive pressure to draw the water up and into the top of the tube, this is the most common way that the water is kept in the tube..., theoreticly if you had a ballvalve at the top of the tube and you sucked on it till water came out then closed the valve off then the water would stay in there, but this means absolutly no bubler at all, the more air you get in there the more likel you are to get the suction to break...


They sell this ready made BTW...
 
If you have a small enough tube, you don't really need a check valve or a pump. You just submerge the entire thing and get all of the air out of it. Then block the openings so that no air can get in. Put it in place on the tanks and make sure the openings are both under water and unblock them.

Also, if you wanted to create a small amount of flow through the tube, you could very slowly pump water from one tank into the other. The bridge will act like a siphon and water will flow back through it into the first tank.

I'm thinking about doing this as well, but having a planted tank with a breeding live-bearer population on one side and a large cichlid tank on the other. The bridge would only be big enough for the live-bearers to go through and get eaten. I just can't figure out a way to only have a certain number of them go through it per day. I don't think they'll listen to me even if I ask politely.
 
I'm quite certain how it works, i was just going to fill the tube with water, cover both ends, stick it into the tanks, and open the ends under water. no need for pumping or sucking or any of that forplay.

I guess i was seeing if anyone else has done this, because it seems like a simple idea.
Only thing i need to figure out now is what material the tube can be. Any ideas? Large diameter, clear, cheap, etc.
 
perhaps i could even put a powerhead in one tank and have the outlet release into the other, and get a constant flow going through that tube.

i will be using 3" or 3.5" diameter tubing for this, since the 4" looked too big.
i'm excited.
 
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