# ever used a clear tube to hook two tanks together?



## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

i keep thinking about filling a clear bent tube with water, i'll hold one end, a friend holds the other so the water stays in there, put it in two tanks so the fish can swim from tank to tank. obviously i'd have to mount the hose somehow so it wouldn't fall on the floor and siphon the water all over the place.
anyone ever done this?
i know you can buy tanks like this, just thought it would be cool to do it myself.


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## Brando (Oct 6, 2010)

like a gerbil cage...interesting.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

One of the local fish stores has a custom acrylic like that. Connects a couple of 3-400gal tanks that this big shark looking fish (almost 3' long) hangs out in. Not sure how you'd do it.


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## AtRandom (Sep 11, 2010)

I've definitely hooked two tanks together with a tube before, but it wasn't clear tubing! How big a diameter are you thinking? You can probably get some flex-tubing from the hardware store with 1" diameter or a-little more. You could then try putting it in boiling water, carefully, then forming it to the precise shape you want and dip it in cool water. I once tried straightening some flexible hosing to un-curl it by simply moving it over the stove-top flame and it seemed to work, but could potentially catch fire I'm sure!
Depending on your fish size/type, they can definitely move between the two, I was using a 1/2" PVC pipe and had at least 4 mollies migrate tanks over night. This was of course on accident, as I was trying to make the tanks exchange water, not fish! Show us some pics if you get it made, sounds like fun! What size tanks? A tip for making the syphon work - just fill the tube with water by submersion, then cover one end with your hand and flip it over, only taking the side that is closed off out of the tank and placing it in the other.
Regards,
Craig Standefer

/edit: there's probably also some transparent/semi-transparent plumbing pipes/joints you could try out that would yield greater diameters! Sounds so fun I want to try it!


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

you can use some sort of bonding or elbows plus bonding to hook a few together. if you do an image search on acrylic tube, you can find tons of sizes AND i'm sure I could find one bent already or have any acrylic place on the net make me one. any of the places that make custom acrylic tanks would do a tube in a u shape i'm sure. check this site out SAN DIEGO PLASTICS - METALLIC ACRYLIC TUBE AND ROD as far as size tank, who knows, maybe my 30 show next to my 60 gallon, or maybe the 60 and a bigger one that i haven't got yet. i have a 60-65 gal long, a 30 long and a 20 tall, and few small ones. i often think it would be cool to hook them up together.


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## AtRandom (Sep 11, 2010)

sand said:


> you can use some sort of bonding or elbows plus bonding to hook a few together. if you do an image search on acrylic tube, you can find tons of sizes AND i'm sure I could find one bent already or have any acrylic place on the net make me one. any of the places that make custom acrylic tanks would do a tube in a u shape i'm sure. check this site out SAN DIEGO PLASTICS - METALLIC ACRYLIC TUBE AND ROD as far as size tank, who knows, maybe my 30 show next to my 60 gallon, or maybe the 60 and a bigger one that i haven't got yet. i have a 60-65 gal long, a 30 long and a 20 tall, and few small ones. i often think it would be cool to hook them up together.


Heck yeah, that looks great! I guess the only "important" thing, other than fastening (suction cups?), would be to make sure your tanks are level. I'm not 100% sure, but I think you would end up with a moving syphon if they aren't. When I was using PVC between tanks I had a return pump and the water level in that tank was always lower than the other, even though they were level originally. I guess this is b/c the syphon wasn't strong enough b/c there wasn't much drop? Anyways, that looks really cool, are any of those tanks the same height? This kind of reminds me of those "bottomless" tanks. You should try using a huuuge pipe between the two !!!
edit: And have the tube run some 10 feet across a wall, adding a ton of extra volume to the tanks!!! haha!


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## squirrelcrusher (Sep 23, 2009)

Something like this? I think it would be pretty cool

Aqua-Bridge.com, connect aquariums together easily


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

ya the aquabridge looks cool! exactly, hahaha. what the hell is with the post above mine from hedi01 ? looks like odd advertising for dvd's ?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Its gone now


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

cool thx susankat. LOVE your avatar! hahahaha, looks like what goes on in my bathroom!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Thanks, reminds me of mine when I had to many cats.


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

i have three cats  three is PLENTY. even though they have each other to play with, they still need a lot of time with me. between them and the fish tanks, i keep out of trouble! hahaha


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

AtRandom said:


> I think you would end up with a moving syphon if they aren't. When I was using PVC between tanks I had a return pump and the water level in that tank was always lower than the other, even though they were level originally. I guess this is b/c the syphon wasn't strong enough b/c there wasn't much drop?
> edit: And have the tube run some 10 feet across a wall, adding a ton of extra volume to the tanks!!! haha!


ya SHOOT, i hadn't thought of the siphoning effect. tube across the wall HAHAH now THAT is a cool idea! hmmmmmmm (wheels turning in my head)
well maybe when I am old and retired and i know i'm in the house that i will stay in, maybe the tube 10 feet across the wall is something i'll have to have fabricated by one of those places that makes custom acrylic tanks. my 30 gallon "show tank" is acrylic and when it's empty i can pick it up with one hand and move it anywhere. gotta love that. my fish like me and i like them. how cool for my fish to me able to swim in a tube across a wall to follow me, hahahah. it would have to be supported with cool shelving. anyway, that'll have to wait til i am old  i have seen on some of those cable channels that are all about homes, where people have done some amazing custom stuff for their fish. anyway, back to real life


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

oh! and on a deep tank, i saw where a guy attached glass or acrylic plant shelving INSIDE the tank with epoxy and maybe like one acrylic stick, so that the plants could be closer to the light and so that his betta could live up there. he had a betta living quarter with holes drilled through the acrylic, epoxied to the inside of the tank. he said he was able to vacuum it out too since it was closer to the surface. LOVE that idea. i've been floating larger betta housing in my tanks for years, just need to drill holes in them!


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

I see this pop up all the time. It is pretty kewl I must say.

Here's a link that you will see most common:
Fish Bridge


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## squirrelcrusher (Sep 23, 2009)

Wow that bridge seems excessive. lol It would be cool if the fish used it regularly


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

how do you even fill that much tube with water?


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

you get a pump or hose to shoot water through it.

OMG that tube through the restaurant, hahahaha, how cool is that! it would take a week to run the magnate cleaner through it though! hahaha.


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

the only way I can think of would be to put a cap at the top-most part of the tubing (a VERY good air/water tight cap), and be able to close off both ends

close both ends, open the cap, fill the entire tube with water, put the cap back on, fill the tanks at the end with water, then open the ends up that are under water in the tanks



that setup almost defies the laws of physics though, lol


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

withdraw the air maybe


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

sand said:


> withdraw the air maybe


+1


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

what does +1 mean?


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## AtRandom (Sep 11, 2010)

well TAP sells some kind of acrylic cement for "solvent welding" that literally joins two pieces of acrylic into one, with no seam/leak possibility. I can't find it in town anywhere though, and don't feel like ordering! But you could use that to make your in-tank shelving, and also to make custom rectangular tubing. It looks like you could just go buy a sheet of 1/8", score it, snap it, "weld" it, then put it in the tanks. To fill it'd be similar to filling an overflow syphon - just blow water up into it while blocking off the other end. Any excess air that you have at the top of the tube you could blow out with a hose attatched to a power head (hopefully!).


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

sand said:


> what does +1 mean?


basically, it mean's "ditto", or "yeah, what he said"


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

sand said:


> what does +1 mean?


all that said ^

but also

I'm too lazy to type three or more letters*old dude


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