HOW TO： aquarium water bridge

Hi everybody, Joey here again and welcome back. So in today's video, I'm going to show you guys how to build a water bridge. Now this is similar to a project that I've actually done in the past. I did a video on the upside down aquarium. Now they're similar in the fact that they work on the same principle of physics. Now what is a water bridge? Well simply put, it's a tunnel that connects two aquariums from above and in doing so it allows fish to freely swim from one aquarium to the next. Now I wanted this project to be as universal as possible. I want it to be practical for as many people as I can. So for this project, I decided to use glass for the simple reason that when building a glass aquarium, you don't need any tools for the most part. Really if you're going to cut your own glass, you just need a cheap handheld glass cutter as opposed to using acrylic where you will need some tools to cut the acrylic. Now the aquarium bridge has been in the hobby for quite some time and it's been done in many different ways using many different methods. One of which is just using a PVC pipe to connect two aquariums with a couple of 90 degree elbows. In my opinion, that doesn't really look very good and you can't actually see what's in that water bridge so you can't visualize the fish swimming through it. Another method is using clear acrylic tubing. However, acrylic tubing of any reasonable size is surprisingly expensive. Now before considering building your own aquarium bridge, what I do recommend is you watch my video on how to build a glass aquarium. Everything that you learn in that video can be applied to this project. I cover a lot of topics in that video that we won't actually be discussing in this video because we've already done it. For my water bridge, I simply used old aquarium lids. Now those lids were 6mm thick so they were actually the perfect thickness for what I was looking to do. All I had to do was cut it up into the measurements that I needed. So I did just that. Using a handheld glass cutter, I cut the glass into the dimensions that were required for this project. Then I sanded down the edges to make sure I didn't cut myself while maneuvering the glass into place. Now the overall length of this aquarium bridge is 36 inches long, it's 14 inches tall, and the diameter of the bridge itself is 6 inches. So it's 6 inches in every direction. Now the easiest way to build an aquarium bridge is from the top down. The only way to do that is if we flip the aquarium bridge over and start building from the bottom up. Now the first thing you're going to notice with an aquarium bridge is the fact that it has a U shape to it. And that is a very intimidating shape. How are you going to cut glass into a U shape? So with glass, instead of cutting it out to a U shape, which I'm not going to be able to do from home, I made the U shape out of three different pieces. So I created these U shaped pieces, which are my side panels, in advance. Creating them in advance made this entire project a lot easier to do. These side panels consist of three pieces. There's a long side panel that runs the entire length of the bridge, and then there's also these taller panels that run the entire height of the bridge. So to create these side panels, all I did was take the long length and I siliconed these top pieces to it. I used a lot of silicone and pressed down hard to ensure there were no air bubbles. Because as you see, they actually overlap in the corners, so you want that to be clear. You don't want to have too much silicone there. You also don't want air bubbles. You want it as clear as possible. So to create them, I simply laid the front panel down and laid the top pieces right on top of them with lots of silicone. I created a small lip at the bottom the thickness of the glass that I'm using, and you'll see why later. Now obviously I used a lot of silicone to do this, but the plan was simple. The more silicone I used, the less chance of air bubbles getting into these seams. And since there's such a huge seam to cover, it only made sense for me to use a lot more silicone. Once it cures, I can go ahead and clean up all the excess with a razor blade. And that's what I did. I simply waited 24 hours for the silicone to cure, then I removed all the excess silicone. Obviously I had to repeat this step twice. You also want to make sure that they're square with each other. So just using a basic square will allow you to do that. So the silicone cured, I cleaned them up, and it was 24 hours later. I'm now ready to move on to the next step. The next step was actually placing the front and back panel onto the bottom. Now the lip we created is going to allow me to slide the U-shaped panels into place along the side of the top panel, while the side panels here will sit on top. That's what that lip was for. I wanted it to be a flush with the actual bottom panel here. With the first front panel on, I was ready to put the side panel on. Now the side panel does the same thing. I got the silicone ready on it, and I pressed it into the side. It does not go on top, it went into the side. Now the way I'm designing this, you can do it a lot different if you like. However, the way I cut it, I was forced to do it like this. You can do things a lot differently if you want. My videos are only here to serve to inspire you and get you thinking. With the side panel on, I was able to put the back panel on the same way that I did the front panel. And then finally the other side panel. Now all the while, you'll notice that I was applying electrical tape to all of the seams. This is going to allow me to hold it together while I move on to the next step. The electrical tape doesn't leave any sticky residue and is strong enough to hold it while I move on. You'll also notice that as I laid a panel down, I also smoothed out the silicone with my finger. The reason being is simple. I wasn't going to be able to come back and do it later just due to the angles of the inside of the water bridge. I'm not going to actually be able to get my hand all the way in to do that. So it's very important that you do it in advance before you move on to the next panel. Okay so now it's starting to look like a water bridge. We only have three panels left. This top panel here is actually going to be the panel that rests on top of the aquariums when we put it in place. This panel just goes simply right down on top of the existing sides. The front and back I mean. From there, we have these two inside panels that we put on top of this bottom panel as well as pressed into the sides here. Again, more electrical tape and more smoothing out of the edges. Now one thing about glass aquariums in general and that you'll notice is that this aquarium is, or that this water bridge is actually a lot cleaner than when I was building it. That's because I didn't care how much silicone gooped everywhere. It's easier just to move on, let that silicone cure, and remove it with a razor blade later. 24 hours later and we're now ready for a water test. For a simple water test, all we're going to do is flip it upside down just like this and fill it like a normal aquarium. It won't matter which side you do it from. The water level is going to equalize on each side. With the water bridge now filled with water, we can go ahead and wait 24 hours and monitor for leaks. With the bridge now put together and considered complete, it's now easier to illustrate exactly how all of the dimensions are determined. How far your tanks will be apart is determined by how far apart the span on the inside will be. The reason is simple. These two end columns are what are going to go inside of your aquarium. Now what should the diameter of the water bridge be? The diameter being how thick or how wide this should be really. Well, an easy way to figure that out is based on what fish you're keeping. Now your fish are going to need a lot of room to be able to maneuver through these angles into the other aquarium. So what I like to consider doing is making that diameter 2-3 times the height of the fish. So now that we know how to determine the length as well as the diameter of the water bridge, how about the height? Well, the height is actually something we're going to discuss later. So now the bridge is ready to install into two aquariums. However, before we do that, I find it's very important to know how and why things work before you get involved with them. So you might be like a lot of people wondering how is water going to get in here and stay in here? So if these were on two aquariums, one side on each aquarium, water can start to fill up in the aquariums. As that water gets to the bottom of these columns here, the water will start to trap air inside of the bridge itself. Now you can simulate something like this by taking a cup and putting it upside down into water. You'll notice that air is trapped and water is not going to get in as long as you're holding it level. So if the air is stopping the water from getting in, what if we remove that air? Well, we can do just that. And removing the air starts to create a vacuum within the aquarium bridge. That vacuum is going to allow water to come up through the bridge and fill it. Why does that happen? Well, the pressure in a regular aquarium is always going to be greater than the atmospheric pressure. And what that means is the water is always going to be able to push out against the aquarium. With an aquarium bridge, it's actually just the opposite. The pressure within the water bridge is less than the atmospheric pressure. So the atmospheric pressure is actually pushing in against the water bridge. Now this allows water to stay in the bridge and not fall back out. The reason why it doesn't fall back out is because the water level in the main aquariums is creating a seal at the bottom and not allowing any more air into the bridge. Any more air will start to break that vacuum that we already created. Now because of the atmospheric pressure pushing against the bridge, an interesting aspect to a water bridge is it's impossible for it to leak. The reason why it can't leak is because the pressure is pushing in on it and the water is not pushing out like a normal aquarium. So if you were to have a leak on your aquarium or a seam is bad, something along those lines, water will not drip out like it normally would. What will happen is you'll notice air bubbles will start to rise up in the water bridge. So it doesn't leak water, but it can leak air. Now the more air that enters, it will force the water out and the water level in the bridge will start to drop. Now because it's dropping, the vacuum is also releasing, but it's not releasing completely. It's just getting weaker and weaker until more and more air is added until it's full. Now here's an example on exactly how this works and every one of you guys can try this. Fill your kitchen sink up with water and take an empty glass. Submerge that empty glass in the water and turn it upside down full of water. Slowly start to raise it out of the water and you'll notice that water stays trapped in it. Now the water will stay trapped in it as long as the bottom of that glass stays submerged in water. Now let a little bit of air out and then stop it and watch what happens. The vacuum doesn't let go. It just lets that air in and that's exactly what would happen here. So now that we have an understanding on how the aquarium bridge works, let's go ahead and set one up. Now the single most important factor before you set one of these up is to make sure that the aquariums that you plan on putting them on, they are level to each other and true to each other. Now what I mean by true is simple. If one is slightly leaning backwards and one is slightly leaning forwards and you place this on it, it's going to cause the bridge to twist and the seams to pull apart. You're in for a big mess if that happens. Where you place the bridge on the aquariums won't really matter. Whether you want to maximize the entire length or come in a little bit so fish can swim in and around it and up through it, it's up to you. None of that really matters. So you can start the aquarium bridge off on some empty aquariums or even full aquariums. The end result is still going to be the same. We're still going to need to create that vacuum in the exact same manner. So it doesn't matter. I'm going to start off with bare aquariums because chances are you're going to as well. As you fill your aquariums, you can fill one at a time. Now because you're filling the water up on one and not the other, water is actually able to enter the water bridge on one side and air is pushed out through the other. Now that actually wouldn't be possible if this was sealed off by water and water was trying to enter. Water would start to rise up above it but it would not go inside the bridge. Once both tanks are filled and you've got them to the level you want them to be at, you can start removing the air from the tunnel. The hose I use to remove the air is a simple quarter inch airline hose. Once you've sucked all the air out, the vacuum has been created and the water bridge is now full of water. So it's really as simple as that. Now an interesting fact about a water bridge is it has the ability to equalize the water level in both aquariums. Now what I mean by that is simple. The water level should be identical in both tanks but if you start to lower the water level in one tank, the other tank is going to equalize the other side. It's going to give this tank a little bit more water and it's going to do it via the water bridge. Now this brings up a couple of important ideas. One being that you can filter both tanks with one filter. Ideally you would use a canister filter. For example your intake or suction would be on one tank and it would be returning to the other tank and the water bridge would equalize the levels. However I have not tested the maximum flow rate of a water bridge as of yet so I'm not sure exactly what the flow rate would be. So I suggest using caution when trying that method. Start off slow and slowly increase the flow. Now on the same topic of water equalizing and removing water, we'll talk about water changes and what's going to happen during a water change. Obviously once you start removing water from one side of the aquarium, it doesn't matter which side you do it on, the water level is going to drop at the same time. And that's where the height of the water bridge is going to come into play. I like to make sure that all my projects are ready for real world use. And a very important factor of this project is to make sure that it's ready for water changes. So when determining the height of a column you want to make sure that the column is going to drop down lower than your anticipated water changes. For example if you plan to do a 30% water change, well this water column, I'm sorry this column of the water bridge would need to be at least one to two inches below that desired water drop that you plan on doing with your water change. In doing so, the water level never drops below the bottom of the columns and the vacuum is never broken. So the water bridge will always stay full of water. However, there may come a time when you need to drain it down further. So what's going to happen when you do break that vacuum? What's going to happen when the water level drops below the bottom of the column? Well not as much as you think. However much water you remove from the column, that much air approximately is going to be replaced. So if you drop a few inches from here, a few inches of air is going to be in there. The vacuum is still not broken until it is left open at the bottom completely. Then all water will rush out. However if you do this slowly you have nothing to worry about. How am I supposed to clean this thing? Well it's not that complicated. Get yourself a magnet algae scrubber, one that can go on the inside and the outside and you move it along the glass. You guys know what I'm talking about. So that's basically it guys. It's a very simple project. It's not that complicated and it's actually a lot of fun to do. Anyways guys, I hope you guys enjoyed the video. I definitely want to thank you for watching and we'll see you next time.