Diy Fish Bridge Setup!

[Jethro]

is this based on the same theory as the "bottomless tank" that was posted about yesterday ( i think in disscusion)
great novel idea, but i reckon totaly impractical,how would you get it all cleaned?

cleaning shouldnt be a problem, as i will have algae eaters and water flow through the bridge. i found a website after some searching and the guy mentions in his article that he has never cleaned the bridge after years of use. HERE IS THE LINK to that page.

my bridge will differ because it will be a square tunnel instead of a round pipe tunnel and will be fully clear. i think this will look better and possibly be cheaper to make (clear PVC pipe is very expensive and must be shipped, i can buy plexi glass from a local shop and the guy will cut it for me for free.

 

[Jethro]

for addequate filtration i recomend you have one tank higher than the other.have a pipe going from the higher one to the lower one and then a pipe into the sump, and a power head with a tube to send it back up to the top tank. that way you will also have better water movement

that is a great suggestion but will take alot of experimenting to get all the water movement just right.


NEW QUESTION: WHAT SIZE PIPE SHOULD I USE TO RUN FROM THE TANK TO THE SUMP?? 1/2 INCH?

 

[Tolak]

I'm running 3/4" overflows, and easily getting 2-3gpm. The size of the tubing is dependent on the flow rate you want.

 

[andywg]

OK

I assume part of the aim of the project is to have a bridge wide enough to allow the fish to get from one tank to the other. In that case I shall assume you will run about 3-4" piping. This will allow a fairly high flow rate.

I would similar to you have in the third picture, drill one tank and return to the other side.

I wouldn't bother with the powerfilters. Why bother having the effort of a sump to hide filtration and heaters and then whack a nasty eyesore in each tank?

One thing to bear in mind will be that you will have to have water increase the level in the tank the return runs to and then raise the level of the second tank as well before it starts draining. As a result you may need to look at the return section of the sump (the part housing the pump) between 1/3 and 1/2 of the overall size of the sump.

 

[shelaghfishface]

thats a great link and while it obviously works for him, i dont really understand the non stagnent water part
ok so hes got the inlet pipe in one tank ( from an external) and the outlet pipe in the other tank,so how the bloody hell does it cross the bridge?? what pushes it through?is it like a syphon? but if that was the case then it would overflow on one tank??
i just dont "get it" someone please explain cos im genuinley interested ( in how it works not in making one)

shelagh xxx

im not knocking it tho, looks great (shame about the white joints but there not that bad) and he says his fish are happy which is all important

 

[Jethro]

thats a great link and while it obviously works for him, i dont really understand the non stagnent water part
ok so hes got the inlet pipe in one tank ( from an external) and the outlet pipe in the other tank,so how the bloody hell does it cross the bridge?? what pushes it through?is it like a syphon? but if that was the case then it would overflow on one tank??

yes it holds water in it just like a siphon and the water will be the same pressure as the water in the tanks, therefore the water SHOULD flow through it in the cycle i have planned.


ok now for some more questions, but first the math:

i measured the tanks and put them through the TFF calculator and they are actually 20 gallon tanks. so we will have 2 20 gallon tanks. i'm assuming the bridge will hold around 1 gallon. i will make the sump out of a 10 gallon tank so that is 51 gallons total.

now the questions:

1. does that mean i can have roughly 50" of fish???

2. to properly filter the 50 gallons of water how many gallons per hour do i need to move?

3. how do i figure out how wide my output pipe needs to be to drain out the right amount of water at the right rate?

4. so if i run the water through a wet dry filter before it hits the sump will that be enough filtration?

5. instead of a wet dry filter should i just put biofilter media in the middle section of the sump?

 

[andywg]

1. does that mean i can have roughly 50" of fish???

Well, it depends on the fish. I usually stock closer to 2" per gallon. Once you are looking at larger water volumes and sumps then the 1" per gallon guideline goes well out of the window.

2. to properly filter the 50 gallons of water how many gallons per hour do i need to move?

Look for somewhere close to 5x per display per hour if possible, thus giving you around 200 gph after head is taken into account.

3. how do i figure out how wide my output pipe needs to be to drain out the right amount of water at the right rate?

There is no doubt a formula somewhere. You might get away with 25mm on that flow, but I would prefer at least 32mm and consider 40mm to be on the safe side.

4. so if i run the water through a wet dry filter before it hits the sump will that be enough filtration?

Make the trickle tower a fair size and yes, that will be more than enough. I would look towards a tower about 12" tall by 6" by 4" as a decent one for that system.

5. instead of a wet dry filter should i just put biofilter media in the middle section of the sump?

I wouldn't, but you can certainly add it to be safer.

 

[Schmill]

For those wondering about how the water will stay in the bridge, here is the 'bottomless tank' link I posted on a different thread.
Very eye-catching, impressive, but still a pain to clean I bet!

Bottomless Tank

 

[Lateral Line]

We had a discussion, (2 actually!), about that bottomless tank last year. The original thread is here and a second one here.

 

[Jethro]

Thanks so much andywg for that post it helped me alot and gave me some of the specific information i am looking for!!!