The Romaurie Effect
This was the idea that sparked my interest in vacuum-enhanced aquariums.
Since my childhood in southern England I have employed hybrid-technology to provide aqualife support systems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GDAq1d2E3k
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 not to buy (yet another) tank, but to venture into something unique that I am sure nobody or very few people in the world have tried. This concept was an aquarium water-bridge and I decided to go ahead and build one. This turned out to be my most exciting project ever in the fish keeping business and it has entertained my family and me for years, as well as visitors who have come to see it.
What is an aquarium water-bridge?
An aquarium water-bridge is a clear tunnel of water that travels above the water line between two aquariums in which all or most of the inhabitants of the tanks can swim. Imagine two 4 foot tanks standing 3 feet apart, and fish swimming out of one tank, and into the other. Even more absurd, imagine that they swim almost 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 water-bridge 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 fill a bottle with water and and raise it (upside down) out of a tub of water, no air can enter the bottle and therefore no water can escape from the bottle: hence all the water remains in the bottle. You can almost raise the bottle out of the water completely before it catches air and the water runs out. The water-bridge uses the same mechanism to keep the water inside 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 it worth the effort?
Yes. No let me repeat that: yes, yes and yes! Almost 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 time he swam to the other side and "Hey Presto!", entered a brand new environment. From then on he spent 80% of his time in the water-bridge leaving the bridge only on occasions to breath air on the surface of the 2 tanks. He almost 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 least 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.
Then 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 there in total bliss. The lobsters often crossed the tunnel 4 or 5 times a day. A lobster molted in there on one occasion and we watched as he undressed in the magnified tunnel. Incredible!
The Siamese fighter and a female even spawned in the tunnel on another occasion. And the apple snails loved to cross the bridge regularly.
All the inhabitants somehow instinctively knew the bridge was there and how to use it.
Are there any advantages besides the uniqueness?
Yes, there is more water in each tank, so the water is more stable. It is like having one 8 foot tank. The fish seem happier as they constantly explore between the 2 "changing" environments. Breeding pairs are naturally separated for days, giving the female time to recover, and seems to trigger the spawning process when they meet without the stress of human intervention. The tanks are also easier to move than one 8 foot tank.
The idea is not new.I found some prints once of a Victorian cascaded aquarium set-up that suggested a glass tunnel to link aquariums.
In 1934 a U.S. patent was issued to link 2 aquariums with a plexiglass tube.
The "Bio-Elite" article I read in 2003.I tried to contact the author to see if he had considered making the vacuum "artificial".Unfortunately I received no reply.I tried the idea with copper tubes and a commercial 5cuft/hr vacuum pump.It worked extremely well so I ordered the glass to build a tunnel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbDuI23GYpc
This is the link to that tunnel and testing.
A number of systems have been built and tested.In Oita, Vietnam a public aquarium took an idea I showed on YT to provide fresh air to vacuum enhanced systems by drilling holes on the water line at the interface between atmospheric and negative pressure to provide feeding holes for the fish in the side of a large public aquarium.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-PBj4_z1-U
We called our system "The Romaurie Effect".
A hybrid of Rom, my son and me, Laurie.
It is an on-going project.Plans have been drawn for a simulated tidal pool using a large centrally placed aquarium to pull the water from the shallow base aquarium by digital timer and solenoid valve to to allow the water back after the time lapse.
Laurence Lee Duman
This was the idea that sparked my interest in vacuum-enhanced aquariums.
Since my childhood in southern England I have employed hybrid-technology to provide aqualife support systems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GDAq1d2E3k
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 not to buy (yet another) tank, but to venture into something unique that I am sure nobody or very few people in the world have tried. This concept was an aquarium water-bridge and I decided to go ahead and build one. This turned out to be my most exciting project ever in the fish keeping business and it has entertained my family and me for years, as well as visitors who have come to see it.
What is an aquarium water-bridge?
An aquarium water-bridge is a clear tunnel of water that travels above the water line between two aquariums in which all or most of the inhabitants of the tanks can swim. Imagine two 4 foot tanks standing 3 feet apart, and fish swimming out of one tank, and into the other. Even more absurd, imagine that they swim almost 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 water-bridge 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 fill a bottle with water and and raise it (upside down) out of a tub of water, no air can enter the bottle and therefore no water can escape from the bottle: hence all the water remains in the bottle. You can almost raise the bottle out of the water completely before it catches air and the water runs out. The water-bridge uses the same mechanism to keep the water inside 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 it worth the effort?
Yes. No let me repeat that: yes, yes and yes! Almost 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 time he swam to the other side and "Hey Presto!", entered a brand new environment. From then on he spent 80% of his time in the water-bridge leaving the bridge only on occasions to breath air on the surface of the 2 tanks. He almost 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 least 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.
Then 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 there in total bliss. The lobsters often crossed the tunnel 4 or 5 times a day. A lobster molted in there on one occasion and we watched as he undressed in the magnified tunnel. Incredible!
The Siamese fighter and a female even spawned in the tunnel on another occasion. And the apple snails loved to cross the bridge regularly.
All the inhabitants somehow instinctively knew the bridge was there and how to use it.
Are there any advantages besides the uniqueness?
Yes, there is more water in each tank, so the water is more stable. It is like having one 8 foot tank. The fish seem happier as they constantly explore between the 2 "changing" environments. Breeding pairs are naturally separated for days, giving the female time to recover, and seems to trigger the spawning process when they meet without the stress of human intervention. The tanks are also easier to move than one 8 foot tank.
The idea is not new.I found some prints once of a Victorian cascaded aquarium set-up that suggested a glass tunnel to link aquariums.
In 1934 a U.S. patent was issued to link 2 aquariums with a plexiglass tube.
The "Bio-Elite" article I read in 2003.I tried to contact the author to see if he had considered making the vacuum "artificial".Unfortunately I received no reply.I tried the idea with copper tubes and a commercial 5cuft/hr vacuum pump.It worked extremely well so I ordered the glass to build a tunnel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbDuI23GYpc
This is the link to that tunnel and testing.
A number of systems have been built and tested.In Oita, Vietnam a public aquarium took an idea I showed on YT to provide fresh air to vacuum enhanced systems by drilling holes on the water line at the interface between atmospheric and negative pressure to provide feeding holes for the fish in the side of a large public aquarium.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-PBj4_z1-U
We called our system "The Romaurie Effect".
A hybrid of Rom, my son and me, Laurie.
It is an on-going project.Plans have been drawn for a simulated tidal pool using a large centrally placed aquarium to pull the water from the shallow base aquarium by digital timer and solenoid valve to to allow the water back after the time lapse.
Laurence Lee Duman
