Sky Bridge

[Cosmo]

My wife's an HGTV (home and garden televison) addict, and, once in a while between WCs, I'll sit down and watch with her.

About two/three weeks ago, there was a show that featured someone who had built a "tunnel" from a tank on one side of the room to a tank on the other side of the room :confused: He kept an assortment of fish that went from one tank to the other as they pleased..

Made out of plexiglass, and measuring roughly 5 X 10 inches, this appeared to go straight up to the ceiling of the room from one tank, travelled 10 or 12 feet, and appeared to drop directly into the other :confused: As I remember, the tube held somewhere around 75 gallons or so.

I had always wondered about putting in tubes like this between rooms, but could never figure out how one would keep the water from running out and all over the floors :confused:

Anyone else see this? Anyone have any idea how this works :confused:

Jim

[AADiscus]

I've never seen this before but sounds pretty cool! Your tunnel would have to be pretty round for a large discus to go from one tank to another.

[Sergey]

Check these out

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

Sergey.

[candyl70]

Wow!!! Great links Sergy. I wish i could build something like that! How nice that must be for the fish... they can choose their favorite tank! http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_1_210.gif



Candy

[Sergey]

I can see a practical use for this. If you need to leave your fish unattended and there's nobody to do WCs, you can chain together a bunch of tanks or any water containers for that matter, have a canister filter or a submersible pump draw water from the first tank, return to the last, and provide the fish with a reasonably large volume of water. Doesn't have to be fancy, PVC piping or even hoses will do.

Sergey.

[kaceyo]

Hi Jim,
That does sound pretty tricked out. Imagine seeing fish swimming overhead between tanks! WOW!! Keeping it clean would be the real trick. As far as keeping it full without overflowing thats easy. As long as both ends of the "tube" stay submerged the water would stay in place. Just like if you were to put a U shaped piece of pvc pipe in an aquarium and let it fill with water, then lift the upside down U out of the water leaving the ends of the U submerged, the water would stay in. Both aquariums would need to have the same level of water. But if either end ever comes above the water level, the tube empties in a big hurry, lol. So be very carefull not to remove too much water during the w/c or you'll be wearing whatever was in the tube :(
Have fun and take pics when you get it done.

Kacey

[CAGE-RATTLER]

That looks pretty cool and the possiblities are endless in designs.

I definately like the idea of the solid round tubing instead of the pieced together plexiglass. I dont think i would want to take the chance of a leak causeing the entire thing to overflow my tanks .... lol. But that clear PVC doesnt look that thick to do any elaborate designs with.

The ultimate would be a thick 1 piece round plexiglass tube ........... maybe moulded to your design specs............. if that would be possible.

[candyl70]

Hey Rattler,
If you do it... can you come to my house and do mine too? http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/10/10_1_18.gif lol.. i would be scared of springing a leak too. It's a really neat idea though. Could you use tempered glass for that setup? There isn't any cutting right? You're basically just making a tubefrom one tank to the other, yes? i wonder if you could just sort of lift the tube out of the water for a water change so that no fish would get stuck inside... hmm ... i think i would just let the pro's handle it and do it for me http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_11.gif


Candy:p

[Sergey]

>But that clear PVC doesnt look that thick to do any elaborate designs with.

I don't think the strength of the pipe itself is that important as long as it's suspended so the pipe doesn't bear the weight of the water.

Cleaning a large diameter round pipe from inside is interesting. Could drag a tight-fit ring through it once in a while.

Sergey.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

Well as of now ........... I only have a 100 gallon tank going but i still would love something like a large tube to run around my cieling so the fish could follow me around more .... lol.

Could even have it run from room to room thru the whole house ... lol.


I agree with the proper hanging ........... that thin tubing would probably work ................ but i still would rather have something thicker.

Im wondering how you would get water to flow thru it constantly with only one tank?

[nacra99]

Wow... that's some crazy stuff!

[Sergey]

>Im wondering how you would get water to flow thru it constantly with only one tank?
Get a pump to draw water at the topmost point of the 'bridge', return water back to the tank.

Sergey.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

I looked around a bit and the heavier stuff is available in PVC clear and clear acrylic tubing too.

I found it from 1/8th inch thick to 3/8ths and also up to 12 inch in diameter.

But its definately expensive.

[Kindredspirit]

If your tank comes down with something, then .........all tanks connected would get it as well???

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_11_52.gif




Marie~

[Cosmo]

Hey Sergey.. long time no see :) The photo's in the fishway link you provided were the exact same house / tanks / tube that was featured on the TV show I saw - just couldn't remember the name he used lol Thanks for posting that for us :)

On the TV show he did mention that on his first commercial installation they did have a flood problem :p and as I remember there were more than one or two instance in the house.. but apparently now he claims he can guarantee no flooding :confused:

Same thoughts of cleaning and circulation came into my mind - this wasn't addressed during the TV piece... don't have those answers but seems a round design would be easier :) Since there would be only one "tank".. cross contamination wouldn't be an issue, but disease would definately be a concern..

Kacey old buddy... question I would have is, how do you go about filling it the first time :confused:

Told my wife, as soon as we win the lotto we'll have room to room "fishways" running throughout the house LOL


Jim

[kaceyo]

Jim,
I can tell your realy serious about doing the Skyway. You'll probably have one built before you ever get around to hooking up those breeder tanks, huh? ;) To fill it the first time you just run a vaccuum hose into the tube and suck the air out while adding water to the tanks untill all the air is replaced by water. Or, better yet, fill the tube with water while the open ends of the U are pointing up. Waite for winter to come and freeze the water inside the U, quickly hang it inplace with the ends in the filled tanks and waite for it to melt. Easy! Let me know when you get it built.

Kacey

[jim_shedden]

that is really neat

jim