Clam coffee table

brshriver

brshriver

Member
Anyone ever hear of a saltwater reef coffee table aquarium that has sufficient lighting for clams? A crazy idea I suppose , but it would be really cool. Lighting could possibly come in from around the edges on the top.
 
i doubt it would work. the light needs to be focused down, not at a 45 degree or greater angle, so the clams probably would get enough light. If at all possible, T5's would be the only possibilty, but I still think way too much light would be deflected and would "hit the target".
 
update to my post- I meant to say the clams would NOT get enough light, and that the light would NOT hit the target.

my typing sitnks:lol:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8211104#post8211104 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Peabody
I agree. I can see how that would be a cool idea, but it's just not realistic.
Click to expand...

yeah but there are so many people out there with large $$$ why not??

definitely a cool idea

maybe one way glass, reflective on the inside but to a normally lit room......... hmmmmm better get the patent quick :rollface:
 
Hmm.. Don't know what DE lights are.

I was hoping someone out there had already done it. Maybe a small HQI bulb in the middle of the table built into an inlay in the center of a glass top? The water level would have to be a bit lower than the top and it would be a shallow tank. Maybe it is time to dust off the table saw in the garage.
 
cooling could be taken care of below in the sump, i'm thinking one of those perpetual overflowing tanks so the water is crystal clear. don't laugh there's enough people around here with $$$, i think we may be onto something. that's it !! time to get out the graphpaper and pencils .................. :rollface:

doesn't have to be halides ( maybe only 12"- 16" deep), but T5's get pretty hot too
 
Why not just make the hallid look like a lamp on top of the table? Or hide it in a fake book or something lol idk definitly intresting idea
 
I was thinking a wooden inset holding a light 6 inches above water line. Perhaps one side of it looks like a wooden cabinet to hold filtration equipment, pumps, etc... There would need to be ventilation path and a fan to pull air over the bulb for cooling. Perhaps the inset holding the light runs the length of the table down the middle?

The lamp idea is interesting - you might be able to use a freshwater coffee table design that is already out there doing it that way, and you would only need to design the lamp (and maybe augment the water flow a little). A fake coffe table book with a light - brilliant! Of course it would have fan vents on it ;-)
 
How about this:
You have a shallow glass overflowing edge tank but in the middle there would be a piece of starphire laying across the top so that it looks like it is floating on top of the water. The light could come from a stylish pendant such as the geismen (sp.) and be hung with clear line. This would be awesome in theory. A light seeming to be suspended from the ceiling and a glass island seeming to float on the top of the water. Just imagine! If anybody does something like this I get 1/2 of all profits!
 
i'm working on it right now ( on paper ), and have a guy who may be interested in funding the project.

don't worry brshriver i'll send you one when i make my millions. :rollface:
 
I had another thought about potential design ideas. I was stuck on glass sides being the only route for a while, and then realized that it is a clam tank designed to be viewed from above - thus the sides could be wood on the outside with a removable glass top. Reflective material could be used to line the inside to maximize the effieciency of the light.
 
I threw this together. Obviously on the sides, you would want overflow boxes. The bottom tank could be about 8 inches high and using a insump pump to push through holes in the bottom of the other tank. The middle piece could be used as a single reflector where the halide would go under. I didn't make fans either but you could have fans on both sides of the coffee table to cool it down and across the bottom sump. Using vortech's could definetly hide powerheads except the piece inside the tank.

This would be really cool to make. The nice thing is, you could dump a nice 40 gallon breeder or something similiar for it.

table.jpg
 
Heres my internal dilemma- maybe someones got a fix for it. Water is ultra reflective. In our normal tank, we have the light perpendicular for maximum penetration. If we had a light at a 45 degrees (or likely even greater) angle, the vast majority of the light would reflect, and what wasn't reflected would be defracted greatly. So I cant imagine a suitable amount of light would reach the clams. If the light was over top, it would obstruct view, and create a massive heat trap. How do you beat this? What am I not seeing?
 
Heres my internal dilemma- maybe someones got a fix for it. Water is ultra reflective. In our normal tank, we have the light perpendicular for maximum penetration. If we had a light at a 45 degrees (or likely even greater) angle, the vast majority of the light would reflect, and what wasn't reflected would be defracted greatly. So I cant imagine a suitable amount of light would reach the clams. If the light was over top, it would obstruct view, and create a massive heat trap. How do you beat this? What am I not seeing?
 
One idea was to suspend a pendant style ficture from the ceiling I think with clear fishing line. If you chose an HQI style pendant, it can be small, still put out a lot of light and not obstruct much of the view. The tank will be pretty shallow no matter what . A coffee table is around 18 inches high - minus material thicness, any legs, clearance for the light, etc.. A light like this may work:
http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium...e_geisemann_nova_2_ii_hqi_pendant.asp?CartId=

or this

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_lighting_metal_halide_aqua_medic_ocean_lights.asp?CartId=

If you hang it from the ceiling, there are no heat issues. If you try to build it into the top, then you clearly need an exhaust fan and good ventilation paths. I am assuming that you would try to get air flowing in from the edges of the tank and around the light and out the top somehow. Building it into the top also adds more height constraints for the tank, since you would need a pretty good air gap below the light (6 inches or more?), etc.... I think with the ideas floating around this thread it could be done, but I could be wrong as well ;-). Too bad I can't ditch the day job and play play around in the garage all day trying to figure it out. :-)

Some people might even get by with natural sunlight in a sunroom?
 
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