lineymac

ok so i was just reading about the aqua-bridge thing in another post and i got a crazy idea. so i have two 10 gallon tanks in my room and they are on different walls. could i use some sort of clear tubing and connect them like 4 feet high on my wall? them are probably like 15 feet apart. would it work if i used like some type of 4 inch piping? ok i know this is crazy and im going crazy too.......

Coryd55

You would have to get drillable glass - not tempered. And get a very tight seal, otherwise you would get leaks out the wazoo. If you can get 15 feet of tubing and a hole in your tanks, then I don't see why not.

PLEASE dont try to drill a hole in your glass if it is tempered, it will shatter. Which is a mess and it can be dangerous. Also you will less than likely be able to drill the hole unless you are a very handy person and have alot of tools.

So you will be better off getting some acrylic, making a tank, and drilling a hole; or have someone do it for you.

sirdarksol

Cory, you're thinking of an entirely horizontal bridge.

The "aqua bridge" we've talked about actually rises out of the top of the tank and goes into the other tank. As long as neither end ever goes above the water surface, physics will hold the water in the tube.

A bridge of this scope is difficult, and there's no guarantee that the fish will traverse it. The tubing you'd need would have to either be flexible or you'd have to anchor it solidly to the wall. It would need to be very carefully fused at each joint, and the tanks need to be level with each other, I think, or physics may start a siphon in order to even out the water levels.

RandomKayos

My concern with a bridge that size would be if for some reason air was to break the suspension or a siphon did occure, That 15 feet of 4 inch pipe would hold 11.5 gal on it's own. One little seal issue and you would have a flood.

And also note that that bridge would weigh nearly 100lbs.

On the other hand, that would be very cool.

RK

sirdarksol

Precisely.
The siphon won't be a problem as long as the surfaces of the tanks are within an inch or so (height-wise) from each other. The bridge should keep things even.

But the other things are all huge potential issues. The biggest issue would be the strength of the pipe. I think that flexible PVC would be the best solution for this. The joints would be the biggest problem in a rigid setup.

Steve113

*COULD* look great but:

It's a massive job. Not an after school evening project. It would be very heavy and would neen adequate support and fixing to the wall.

and in the unlikely event that you were able to build and suppor this mammoth structure in your room - There is no guarantee that your fish would swim through it.

Have you thought how you will fill the pipe? or even how you might clean it?

remember - It's a fish, not a hamster.

sirdarksol

You can do it by hooking a vacuum pump into a valve at the top of the loop (you'd need a shutoff for the valve, and the vacuum pump needs to be able to handle both water and air. You'd also have to fill the tanks as you did this.) As the air gets sucked out, the water will fill the void. Of course, this is another cost, and the valve is another potential weak point in the hose.

Cleaning...cleaning...nope, I can't think of anything other than getting otos and hoping they'll clean the thing out.

Edit: By the way, this is an awesome idea, if you can find the time/effort to do it. It's kind of like my idea for a freshwater stingray habitat. I doubt I'll ever get around to making it, but I keep refining the idea anyway, just in case I get the funds/space to do it.

PetSmart

http://www.bio-elite.com/waterbridge.htm

I've seen tons of these. This particular one has a cool youtube video.

http://gizmodo.com/346527/fish-bridg...ough-to-use-it

that one is way way cool
http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/fishpipe/1000523420
mmmm

Nicolas Rodriguez

Well actually if you could attach a scrubber head to something like awire hanger you could probably get into the pipe

sirdarksol

Yep, but you're looking at 10+ feet of tubing with turns in it. If you want to clean it while it's in the tank, you've got to reach into the tank, etc...

Butterfly

Is this kind of what your talking about?
http://www.bio-elite.com/waterbridge.htm
Carol

Red1313

Hmm... Cleaning it would be the defining issue unless you wanted to periodically (once a month, or however long you would deem reasonable) dismantal it and put it back togeather.

Now I'm not an expert but I know on our farm we have a type of hose it's clear with blue green rings in it. And I've seem it (possiably) 4 inches wide. Would that work instead? It's relativly flexable and would get rid of any leakage issues. To clean it you could just take it outside and run a hose through it to rinse everything out (well maybe a pressue washer instead of a hose).

RandomKayos

Cleaning would depend on what fish and critters you have. According to the article link posted by Butterfly, they never had to clean thier bridge. The Pleco's and snails did that work for them. as for the flexable hose you mention, as long as you supported it properly and fixed the ends so they did not come above the tank surface water I'm sure that would work.

RK