Hollow Acrylic Tube Aquarium Build Ideas

[reefsaver]

I expect tremendous laughter. But I think this is an awesome idea hehe this build has been just pinballing around in my brain and I decided to put it into a paint document to experiment and see if it would actually work. It makes me think of Lego, you could just keep building onto it and make a little fish highway around your home.


I figure the biggest challenge and Deterrent of actually building this would be the impossibility to clean and feed.
I think the idea could easily be extrapolated and instead of it being fully enclosed, you could open the top up entirely or add doors on-top to get better coral placement, maybe holes to get your pipettor in to feed corals and fish. Looks like a pain in the butt to light, but it reminds me of when I was a kid, my Dad and I used to give Mice big tunnels to different places and areas to explore.

 

[MnFish1]

I expect tremendous laughter. But I think this is an awesome idea hehe this build has been just pinballing around in my brain and I decided to put it into a paint document to experiment and see if it would actually work. It makes me think of Lego, you could just keep building onto it and make a little fish highway around your home.


I figure the biggest challenge and Deterrent of actually building this would be the impossibility to clean and feed.
I think the idea could easily be extrapolated and instead of it being fully enclosed, you could open the top up entirely or add doors on-top to get better coral placement, maybe holes to get your pipettor in to feed corals and fish. Looks like a pain in the butt to light, but it reminds me of when I was a kid, my Dad and I used to give Mice big tunnels to different places and areas to explore.

The funny thing is I had a dream like this the other night. I woke up wondering exactly what you did - how to clean the tubes lol. Now - you could have the tubes 'covered' - otherwise they would look like algae messes. but the fish and water could still go through....... Then - when someone trips on the 'pipe' and breaks it - watch for a flood... Well you wanted a comment - after my dream I thought about it for a while. BTW - If you want an analogy - have a waterfall installed in your backyard - then wait for the unexpected leaks, problems, etc

 

[reddogf5]

So essentially a hamster habitat but full of water. Build it and see how it goes. I think it could work if you keep the tubes short.

 

[reefsaver]

I was thinking you could maybe use Magnetic glass cleaners to clean the tubes if it was a closed system but I despise Magnet cleaners because they scratch everything. It needs to have some design so you can access it for feeding and coral placement throughout the entire display tubes. I am not beyond using a specialized home engineered tool to assist in cleaning. The more I think of this the more it sounds like a Sail ship inside a bottle that you have to consistently maintain.

 

[Timfish]

Could be a really cool tank. Honestly, I see this idea come up every few years. Trick is going to be keeping surfaces clear of algae. To be successful long term I'd try to figure out how to have the tubes mounted secure enough and have easy removal to clean out the tuffer algae that won't come off with an algae magnet. Ease of access for getting an algae magnet would certainly be a design consideration IMO and custom magnaets that fit the curve of the tubing could be made too.

 

[MnFish1]

Another way to do it - would be to have nice 'shut off valves' made - so that you could EASILY take the tubes apart and clean them while still leaving the water in the 'tanks'. But - the problem I think you're going to have is The water flow through the pipes will end up with all the fish in one tank, unless you plumb it differently or unless I'm seeing something incorrectly. Also - there is going to be relatively lower oxygen, etc in the pipes unless you have enough flow (which will further hamper the fish's ability to swim 'upstream'. Though fish are exposed to lots of flow in the ocean its not unidirectional directed flow which is what you would have here. I guess my other question is 'why' what do you gain except a maintenance headache, a huge expense? When you could probably remodel part of your house, build a great fish room have a large tank and sump - and be good to go?

 

[reefsaver]

Another way to do it - would be to have nice 'shut off valves' made - so that you could EASILY take the tubes apart and clean them while still leaving the water in the 'tanks'. But - the problem I think you're going to have is The water flow through the pipes will end up with all the fish in one tank, unless you plumb it differently or unless I'm seeing something incorrectly. Also - there is going to be relatively lower oxygen, etc in the pipes unless you have enough flow (which will further hamper the fish's ability to swim 'upstream'. Though fish are exposed to lots of flow in the ocean its not unidirectional directed flow which is what you would have here. I guess my other question is 'why' what do you gain except a maintenance headache, a huge expense? When you could probably remodel part of your house, build a great fish room have a large tank and sump - and be good to go?

I enjoy thinking about it because learning about the possibilities between builds is seemingly endless. But you're absolutely right in that anyone in the world is much better off building some dream tank over experimenting with unique unorthodox builds that will most likely develop unforeseen issues.