Bottomless Fish Tank Questions

I would imagine simply flipping a smaller tank over and putting something to raise it off the bottom of the tank should work. Bet you could rig a shop vac up to pull vacuum.
 
khaosinc said:
I would imagine simply flipping a smaller tank over and putting something to raise it off the bottom of the tank should work. Bet you could rig a shop vac up to pull vacuum.
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would work but im guessing would be 5x more expensive for the tanks b/c they arent just rectangle tanks like a normal tank you buy at a LFS
 
you can get just about any tank and any size, there really isn't any more than that to the set up. In my opinion it would end up as way to much of a PITA in a salt water set up however.
 
Nothing would happen in the power cut out. As long as the bottom of the upper tank remains under the water the vacuum will hold. Also you could do this with any tank as long as you can competely submerge the upper tank the shortest width and then lift it up vertically ( bottom up), or if you dont mind bubbles in the top tank whatever depth you want. The biggest problem would be water movement. Any powerhead in the upper tank would have the chord coming out the bottom and look pretty awful.

However if the vacuum ever did break for whatever reason...Big time mess....
 
i guess my question is....why? definitely interesting...but really looks like a PITA to take care of...
 
I had a hard time grasping this concept when I first heard of it and this helped... Submerge a glass in water in the sink, fill it with water, turn it upside down and then lift it up. The water stays inside the glass until the point the bottom rim rises above the water level in the sink. ;)
 
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I understand the concept... I just had a whole big setup in my head that had a sump down below. Power out = water drains from the display to the sump = vacuum lost. Obviously I just didnt consider the fact that you'd want to set this up sumpless :)
 
lots of interesting ideas and thoughts on it. i just figured it would be something new to work with. the articles ive read said it is easier to maintain than a regular fish tank. also as far as water movement in the upper chamber ive seen them in youtube with a bit of space at the top and a waterfall dropping into the tank to create water movement also people place babblers underneath the tower tank to also create water movement, im not sure how well that works but it seems to work fine for them. the waterfall idea seems better 2 me and move pleasing on the eyes maybe? as far as saltwater i was planing on using it as freshwater for to test it out and see the pros and cons of it

waterfall example, and this one is a saltwater setup. it also explains why he made it and so on so read the description ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2EIO2hX1Hc
 
jaybfresh said:
I understand the concept... I just had a whole big setup in my head that had a sump down below. Power out = water drains from the display to the sump = vacuum lost. Obviously I just didnt consider the fact that you'd want to set this up sumpless :)
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You could actually still do a sump. You'd just have to put a siphon break in a location where the main tank's water level doesn't drop low enough to allow air into the bottomless tank section.
 
Interesting. It's like a zero-edge tank upside down. :lol:

Any lighting will be going through glass that's got water on the other side, which means it's going to turn into a mat of algae in no time at all.

Also, I really fail to see the "easier maintenance" aspect. It's going to be a real pain to clean up inside near the top of the walls, much less the "top" itself.
 
der_wille_zur_macht said:
Interesting. It's like a zero-edge tank upside down. :lol:

Any lighting will be going through glass that's got water on the other side, which means it's going to turn into a mat of algae in no time at all.

Also, I really fail to see the "easier maintenance" aspect. It's going to be a real pain to clean up inside near the top of the walls, much less the "top" itself.
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i have no idea, do some research, ive done a bit, every ive read says it is easier to maintain and they actually have one. so i gonna have to go with the options of the people who have one and have maintained one. although i deff do like your thoughts and the others thoughts they also make me think. maybe just a simple tank magnet cleaner will work just fine for cleaning all sides of the glass?!?!?!? maybe?!?!?!? yes?!?!?!? no?!?!?!?
 
talon4x4 said:
Here's the answer on how to clean them --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkw7qytdp0U&feature=related
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He's just siphoning detritus out of the bottom of the tank, then cleaning algae with a magnet cleaner. You can do the exact same thing just as easily on a conventional tank. I guess I just don't understand the advantage. If anything, as I said above, the bottomless tank strikes me as MORE work to clean, because by default there are more glass surfaces underwater to scrape algae from (you're basically cleaning algae from two tanks instead of just one). If siphoning detritus from the bottom of a deep tank is "hard" then just get a longer siphon tube!

Not trying to be a naysayer, and this does strike me as an interesting concept. I just don't get why "ease of maintenance" would be touted as an advantage.
 
But the questions is. Have all these been freshwater or saltwater? If they all have been freshwater I see it being easier because less light and less algae. But imagine with reef lighting over these the algae build up on the glass, or even better the coraline buildup. I think it would be cool but I would not want to take care of it...lol. Give me an SPS, low nutrient, 1,500gal reef tank!
 
mr86mister said:
But the questions is. Have all these been freshwater or saltwater? If they all have been freshwater I see it being easier because less light and less algae. But imagine with reef lighting over these the algae build up on the glass, or even better the coraline buildup. I think it would be cool but I would not want to take care of it...lol. Give me an SPS, low nutrient, 1,500gal reef tank!
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view my link above, they have made saltwater ones. the one with saltwater has the two waterfalls.


but anyways back to my question, how much do you think something like this would cost to make? im not familiar with glass prices or acrylic prices :-P
 
Just google a new york tank builder and get 2 quotes for the tank sizes you want. Then triple it for the cost of the rest of your stuff to run a salt water tank
 
khaosinc said:
Just google a new york tank builder and get 2 quotes for the tank sizes you want. Then triple it for the cost of the rest of your stuff to run a salt water tank
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like i said i would be running my first one as freshwater. and triple it? seems a little much to triple the price of the tank just to add the rest of the needed stuff to run the tank. but you most likely know more than me im still new to this
 
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