A DIY project I've been working on. I've connected three aquariums of differing volumes via clear acrylic "Fish Bridges" that allow the fish to travel between the aquariums.
Each aquarium has its own heater and filters, though they all now share essentially the same body of water.
The tanks all have (mostly) Mbuna cichlids.
A powerhead pumps water from the far left aquarium to the far right aquarium, which forces water to flow through the bridges, preventing stagnant water and anoxia. The siphon remains even if power goes out.
The bottom of each bridge is low enough that fifty percent water changes can be accomplished without breaking the siphon through the tubes.
The tops of all the aquariums obviously needed to be exactly the same level, so I built stands to accomplish this.
The aquariums are a 90 gallon, a 110 gallon, and a smallish 30-something gallon. The 90 gallon is filtered via a fluval canister and a HOB, the 110 via a fluval canister and a DIY wet/dry filter (pot scrubbies) and sump, and the smaller tank via 2 HOB filters.
Total volume is thus somewhat higher than 250 gallons, which is great for water stability. Since they're connected, I do one water change instead of three.
Do the fish use the bridges? Yup. More at night than during the day, but it's great watching them swim through the bridge from one tank to another. The kids absolutely love it.
The fish can find new territory to explore, seek out mates or avoid fish that are pestering them by using the bridges.
I posted this in another forum as well, so sorry if this is a repeat for some of you.
Now, the vid and pics:
[YT]brJ_uu-keUI[/YT]
The "cave" entrance to one of the bridges
Near the top of one of the down tubes
One of the bridges. The valve is to start and stop the siphon easily so I don't have to move the bridge when full of water.
More of the same bridge
The downtube for the first bridge in the second aquarium
The second bridge
And the downtube into the third smaller aquarium
Each aquarium has its own heater and filters, though they all now share essentially the same body of water.
The tanks all have (mostly) Mbuna cichlids.
A powerhead pumps water from the far left aquarium to the far right aquarium, which forces water to flow through the bridges, preventing stagnant water and anoxia. The siphon remains even if power goes out.
The bottom of each bridge is low enough that fifty percent water changes can be accomplished without breaking the siphon through the tubes.
The tops of all the aquariums obviously needed to be exactly the same level, so I built stands to accomplish this.
The aquariums are a 90 gallon, a 110 gallon, and a smallish 30-something gallon. The 90 gallon is filtered via a fluval canister and a HOB, the 110 via a fluval canister and a DIY wet/dry filter (pot scrubbies) and sump, and the smaller tank via 2 HOB filters.
Total volume is thus somewhat higher than 250 gallons, which is great for water stability. Since they're connected, I do one water change instead of three.
Do the fish use the bridges? Yup. More at night than during the day, but it's great watching them swim through the bridge from one tank to another. The kids absolutely love it.
The fish can find new territory to explore, seek out mates or avoid fish that are pestering them by using the bridges.
I posted this in another forum as well, so sorry if this is a repeat for some of you.
Now, the vid and pics:
[YT]brJ_uu-keUI[/YT]
The "cave" entrance to one of the bridges
Near the top of one of the down tubes
One of the bridges. The valve is to start and stop the siphon easily so I don't have to move the bridge when full of water.
More of the same bridge
The downtube for the first bridge in the second aquarium
The second bridge
And the downtube into the third smaller aquarium
