# I NEED your feedback on an idea for a DIY project!!! please!



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

Ok, heres my idea, and I know its going to sound crazy, but *** been thinking about it for awhile and I really think its doable... what if person took Multiple small tanks, like 10 gallon tanks, cut perfect holes in them(maybe 2-4 inches?), and connected the tanks with clear Plastic tubing of some sort, preferably something strong but semi flexible, and of course sealed so it was water tight... Im sure something like this would work better with Acrylic and some sortve acrylic tube since it would probably seal better... But I think as long as the tanks where on a nice sturdy stand that was perfectly flat and didnt move, it would work...and maybe be an interesting use for all those 10 gallons laying around,lol...

The many benefits are rather obvious as well... what also would be interesting is you could create different environments within each tank, one tank could be pretty much all rock and dark sand, another could be HEAVILY planted, a third could be a mix, lots of rocks and plants, a 4th could be mostly open... that way the different fish or other creatures in your tank could choose the environment they prefer... I know there are certain possible drawbacks, like if algae got into the tubes, it would be really annoying to clean, although only if the tubes where rather long, if they where only maybe 2-6 inches it shouldnt be a problem... Also you could just go with all one theme, lots of rocks and plants, and youd be offering a better separated territory for different cichlids, but they would still be able to interact...

So, what are your thoughts my new friends? and what would be your advice for anybody thinking about doing such a thing?


----------



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

WOH! just had another idea for it! (bear with me, im not an expert on this stuff, so if I sound stupid, correct me with the correct terminology since youl probably understand what I mean,lol)

What if you could build some sortve bulk head, or gasket, or whatever... over the holes in each tank, basically something that you could slide the tube into or over on each side that would be quite permanently attached to the tank, then the tube would slide into it creating as water tight of a seal as possible, people could customize the lengths of the tubes however they wanted, then to make extra sure it was watertight could then put some silicone on there to seal it... then later if they wanted to tear it down it would be much easier to do without the chance of possibly breaking your tanks, you just strip the silicon on the tube, and pull the tubing out and your good to go... Kinda like those little ant farms that allowed you to attach to other ant farms with tube, you could mix and match different types and sizes... same general idea, only in this case id probably only do it with 10 gallons, or maybe a display with 2 10 gallons behind and 1 in the front in the form of a triangle, or maybe a 20g long in front...


----------



## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

like the fish bridges?


----------



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

yeah. just like that, but allot smaller of course since its main function is to just turn the massive amounts of 10 gallon tanks lying around into something useful for species that need more room... or to create a variety of different aquascapes within "one" tank... Might even consider painting the tubes black so fish would feel more comfortable swimming through them, that fish doesnt seem to mind though,lol...

edit: Also it would be just from the sides, not from the top of the tank like that which would be much more complicated, im actually talking about putting holes in the side of a tank and connecting tubes between them, not feasible in really large tanks cause of structural integrity issues, but perfectly feasible with 10 gallons! and should be rather easy!


----------



## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

don't see why it wouldn't work. Just use the largest bulkheads and tubes..








...have the intake at one end of the row and the outlet at the other.


----------



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

Thanks, this project is on my to do list now! lol... I need to gather more information, find a good quality but cheap dealer of the kinda bulk heads id need, find out if I have a friend with the right equipment for cutting the holes I need in the glass,lol... And find more 10 gallons since all of mine are heavily populated at this moment and I wouldnt want to make them live in a bucket with the chance that I could screw it up and then theyd have nowhere to live but that bucket...and really, thats not a place any fish would want to live in,lol... sooo, just gotta pick up a few more 10 gallons(or a bigger tank to put the creatures that reside within my 10 gallons till I complete this project) If anybody has any advice for me, links to information on doing something like this, or other resources I may need for this project... Id greatly appreciate it!!!


----------



## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

I just use 75 and 90 tanks and sell off the small ones.... :lol:


----------



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

yeah, I cant afford any large tanks right now, I just have 5- 10 gallons which I got for free over the years, I used to have a 130 gallon but my dad tore it down, killed all the fish (flushed down the toilet) and sold it to a friend of his everything included, lights, stand, filter, heater...for $100 while I was gone in Tennessee for a few months without asking me about it... I had some fish in there that I had since I was 4 years old, including a pleco that, get this, was 27 inches give or take an inch or so! hard to measure the guy when he doesnt want to be measured,lol... I havnt heard of bigger yet, nor of any living that long (about 18 years from when I got him...this happened 2 years ago) it was originally my dads aquarium, but I bought it from him for $200 when I was 15 and he wanted to tear it down and basically what he ended up doing anyway...:/


----------



## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

not nice. surprising since he was a fish keeper too. Too bad about the long timers.


----------



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

well, he wasnt so much of a fish keeper after the first few years or so as a fish hater, he got all into it when i was a kid, by the time I was 7 he hated it cause of all the work involved so i took over taking care of the tanks, when I went to tennesee, I asked him if I could pay him to take care of the tank while i was gone, he said he would do it for $50... gave him the money, and oh, he took care of that tank alright :/...lol... but oh well, silt happens :wink:


----------



## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

OK, please stay on topics, thanks...


----------



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

sure, np, feel free to delete the last 3 posts which where off topic if ya want to...its just 4 am and im bored, so I ended up rambling,lol...sorry.


----------



## Jakemonaghan90 (Nov 30, 2008)

Im really interested in your idea. I have been thinking of taking a whole wall in my future house and dedicating it to a variety of cichlids, with a large reef tank in the center. I really like your idea, however.

I think that there are few serious issues you need to address. First, filtration. If you put a return line on one side of the tank network (hereafter, network) and a drain line on the other side, you might need to put power heads in each tank to help move the water in the desired direction through the network. Maybe not though...

Secondly, it is possible that the fish wont swim through the tubes that often. If they do constantly change tanks then you will have been very successful. However, most cichlids do claim territory, so they might pick a home and you could be left with a bunch of 10 gallon tanks that are connected for no reason.

Thirdly, keep in mind that your network may be 50 gallons, but the fish really only have 10 gallons to swim in. This eliminates the ability to keep a lot of the larger cichlids in. I personally wouldnt keep any african cichlid in there.

In sum:

1)Make sure you have good water movement through the network
2)Make sure you find fish comfortable moving from tank to tank
3) Make sure all your fish can feel comfy swimming in 10 gallons of water, despite the 50 gallon plus network

I dont mean to rain on your parade, but the more i think about this the more difficult it seems. Nevertheless, this thing, if done right, WOULD ROCK.


----------



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

the point of the network, at least for me, is to provide more areas for territory, If the cichlids pick a home, thats great! other cichlids can pick a home in one of the other sections of the network, I dont want to have this network set up just cause I think it would look cool, but because of how more stable the tanks would become when connected together, and how the fish would have much more territory to choose from... this tank setup would be more than big enough for african cichlids as long as I didnt choose varieties that got over 5 inches or so, it could be perfect for fish like demasoni or other similarly small cichlids...


----------



## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

If you build it
I will look :drooling:


----------



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

If I can get ahold of some extra 10 gallons, or a big tank to put all my fish in while I work on the 10 gallons I already have, then I will build it...or attempt to at least,lol.. the hardest part I think is going to be putting the holes in the glass, these are really cheap plate glass tanks, theres a chance I could break the whole tank if im not really careful... my idea for drilling it is as follows, please anybody that knows more about this stuff feel free to give me any tips or constructive criticism...

#1 Carefully set side im going to drill on top of a perfectly flat piece of wood, making sure the whole thing is stable.
#2 Maybe temporarily silicone wood to the glass to make sure it doesnt move?
#3 Use Diamond bit hole drill to carefully drill hole/s to desired size.
#4 repeat with other tanks/sides of tanks till all the needed holes are in place.
#5 set tanks on a stand where you plan for them to permanently stay, cause if you move them without removing the tubing first, youl probably break them...
#6 Insert PVC tubes, normal or clear, of desired length into holes, if the hole is just slightly to small, maybe gently sand it with something till it fits the tubes perfectly. (maybe paint the tubes black first if your using normal PVC...)
#7 Silicone the living **** out of it!!!

let cure, personally I would leave it for a week or more if your not impatient just to make sure!!! then fill your tanks and check it out...unfortunately since you cant move your tanks after the tubes have been siliconed to them without most likely ruining all the work you just did, if it leaks, then your boned,lol...

Another idea is maybe using a slightly Larger piece of PVC pipe to make a cheap pseudo bulkhead...then put the smaller size pvc through it it would probably make it far less likely for you to get a link, you have silicone sandwhiched in there, then silicone around all the seals, you then will have like 5 silicone seals the water would have to get through rather than 2... and would be allot cheaper than buying actual bulkheads (the point of this is to try and make this kinda think safe, but as cheap as possible...)


----------



## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

A decent bulkhead will cost as much as a ten gallon tank. I haven't seen a good DIY that was cheap AND decent. (Someone will try to picture one here now. :lol: )

Water bridges are a pain but probably the right way to connect 10's. The glass is too thin to hold up well after being drilled. Eventually it is going to crack.

What I have seen done is to make a very long tank in about the height and depth (of field) of a ten from discarded glass department store shelving. So you end up with a tank ten or twelve feet long but only ten by ten inches. The shelves you can assume are tempered, so you will need some other glass or glased ceramic tile for the tank ends.


----------



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

hmmm, good idea... I may end up trying that, probably will still try my idea with the 10's as well once I either get more of them or get a bigger tank...cause if it works, it will be a really cool conversation piece, if it doesnt, oh well, 10's are a dime a dozen, people give them away up here pretty often...


----------



## talon444 (Nov 25, 2008)

I connect some 10s and 20L using a "U" that goes over the edge of both tanks. Took awhile but the fish started using it. My reason was mostly because I was using DIY overflows and I wanted a "backup plan" in case one of the overflows failed or lost prime, but I did not want 2 overflows on each tank. Creating a simple and very cheap PVC upside down "U" to join the tanks (goes over the edges of the tanks) works great because I do not need an overflow for each tank. I just use several overflows between 10 tanks and have them all connected with the PVC U. If one overflow fails it does not really matter.

Anyway I got a bit off tangent. Just was saying that is a cheaper way of doing it; though probably a bit scarier for the fish to use" (eventually mine used it though). In my opinion though this way is much less risky as you never have to drill any glass which on a 10g the glass is so thin I would not want to do.


----------



## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

yeah, it is less risky, I was just hoping I could find a way to drill the glass that would be safe so as to also make it more comfortable for the fish, and give better water flow...oh well, will probably end up doing it with the pvc instead,lol...


----------



## warbyd (Apr 3, 2009)

I know this is an old topic, but I just wanted to add to this in case you're still contemplating it Curator..

(1) If you're keeping africans, the water is going to have to be hard & high pH, you will struggle to get any part of the network to remain "HEAVILY" planted..

(2) Connecting 10x 10G (for example) tanks together in this manner will not allow you the same stocking options as a 100G would, not only because of the physical size of the fish but the fact that they are still seriously limited in swimming space within each tank.. Personally if you did this I would suggest stocking it with nothing bigger than you would put in say, a 20G... just more of them. If you want a comparison, imagine taking a 100G tank and using dividers to chop the tank up into 10 sections, but leaving a gap somewhere that the fish will fit through.. They will NOT be happy in there.

(3) The cost associated with purchasing all of the components needed to do this would likely be significantly more than purchasing a comparatively sized large tank

(4) If you do succeed in getting fish happy in this setup, as soon as they claim territories you may find fish getting killed by the more territorial fish. Fish B swims into fish A's "territory" 10g, panics when fish A starts chasing him and his escape options are limited..

(5) Unless you are going to have multiple filters on this, you will need quite alot of water flowing through in order to avoid dead spots.. so much so that I imagine it would end up rather turbulent in there. And the more tanks you connect, the more flow you're going to need.. still I think you would wind up with some dead spots around where the tanks connect.

All in all, I think it is a very interesting idea and it would look fantastic if done right, but I dont think it is anywhere near as simple as you might beleive it to be.. Sort the flow & filtration out and stock it appropriately and it could be pretty cool, but make sure you have a bit of spare $$ set aside for it 

My 2 cents,

Dave


----------



## Scuds03 (Apr 27, 2009)

There are sites that sell hole saw / bulkhead combo kits made specifically for drilling holes in aquariums and installing bulkheads. Glass has to be drilled with specialized glass holesaw bits. Ordinary drill bits will not work.


----------



## TNprogrammer (Jul 28, 2008)

So...how did this turn out?


----------



## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Small tanks because of the thinner glass are less usable with bulkhead fittings than larger tanks. Super easy to crack the glass when it's thin. You can make fish bridges from one tank to another with inexpensive plastic pipe, but you can't see if any fish is trapped inside.

You need another connection between the first and last tank in the line to supply filtered water so that the water in the pipelines, or bridges if you went that way, does not become stagnant. A pet shop near me got a bunch of the fish bridges when they were being marketed a decade ago, and set them up not knowing this since it was not in the instructions. The next morning they opened the store and many fish had swum up into the bridges and suffocated because there was no oxygen in the water.


----------



## BangMx (Jul 27, 2009)

here you go. check out this sweet setup.


----------



## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Many times I have had great ideas at 3 AM that did not work out so well once daylight came around. :zz: Day dreams are the first step to inovative thinking though so why not cheer him on? =D> :fish: :dancing:


----------



## tripn (Jan 18, 2007)

Ok I know this is back off topic but something that I found interesting none the less...

HOW DO YOU FLUSH A 27 INCH PLECO DOWN THE TOILET?

Can you please give me the manufacture and model number of this toilet, I have a 4 year old and I am interested in something with this sort of flushing power.. for his toys not my son.


----------



## TNprogrammer (Jul 28, 2008)

tripn,
I wondered the very same thing


----------



## Hambiscuit (Aug 22, 2009)

How about something like this as an alternative to expensive bulkheads.










*** used them and they hold up well.


----------



## TNprogrammer (Jul 28, 2008)

Hambiscuit,
what exactly are those fittings?


----------



## Hambiscuit (Aug 22, 2009)

They are uniseals. As long as you drill the proper size hole you can use them to mount PVC in almost anything. Brute trash cans, buckets, or tanks. Best part is the PVC is removable and they are cheaper and lower profile than bulkheads. I doubt I would trust in high risk places like a display tank but I have had some in my water change station for years and no leaks so far.


----------



## rarefaction (Aug 6, 2009)

where can I get these uniseals? I have a ton of applications for that!


----------



## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

rarefaction said:


> where can I get these uniseals? I have a ton of applications for that!


A quick google search turned up this :

http://www.saltycritter.com/plumbing.htm

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


----------



## Hambiscuit (Aug 22, 2009)

Also try www.aquaticeco.com. Lots of cool gadgets including cheap float valves for those DIY auto top offs


----------

