My unusual aquarium

http://jasonlpsmith.googlepages.com/ I built this aquarium in June 2007. The tank is unusual since the fish are able to swim above the apparent water level.

I keep getting the same question or comment: What happens if the power goes out. Answer: Nothing. As stated in the video, the pump is a diaphragm pump. It has build in one-way valves, so the water will stay put when the pump is off. I only turn on the pump for water changes, it is off most of the time.

The tank was constructed with 4.5mm acrylic, the pump is a flopump FL-2202 diaphragm pump.

There is some more information on my website including a technical drawing which I created to laser cut the acrylic.

I got the idea from the bottled water dispensers which have a large bottle upside down. Others that have done it have called it open bottom, inverted aquarium and romaurie effect.

Music: Saint-Saëns, "The Carnival of the Animals", movement 7 "Aquarium".

• Category

  Howto & Style

[jorasave]

is awesome!! do you have a valve that prevent the air go in if the power shots down?

[Jason Smith]

Thanks. The pump has two one-way valves built in (it is a diaphragm pump). I keep the pump off most of the time since it is noisy.

[leann lewis]

Would you be able to make and then post a video about how your filtration and pumps work, and how they're placed?

Thanks & Congrats on having such imagination.

[Jason Smith]

Thanks. I used an Eheim internal filter that was a little bit oversized for the tank to keep the water in constant motion to prevent stagnation of the water at the top and keep the oxygen level in equilibrium with the air. I put the filter at the bottom of the tall section to keep the water moving everywhere in the tank.

[Myles Fitzgerald]

So do you need a bubbler to keep feeding air to upper section? I saw on a different video

[Jason Smith]

I don't use a bubbler. I have a filter that is large enough to keep the water in constant motion so that the water stays in oxygen equilibrium with the air. If a bubbler was used then the water level in the top would drop as the bubbles rise, so the diaphragm pump would need to be on (which is very noisy, so I keep it off).

[marmiedoise]

Very nice! Congratulation for this amazing aquarium!!

[karim ash]

amazing

[brett kirby]

Funny how many people are worried about the power going out and the tank overflowing. He not only eplained it in a comment, he also explained it in the video, and like Djsnowman06 said, if you have ever done dishes and pulled a glass out upsidedown you would understand how this works. The pump does NOT make the water stay up there, vacuum keeps the water up there.

[SireSquish]

It'd be good to see an update on this tank 4+ years on. I imagine there'd be some design and build refinements that have happened since then?

[MrAlexander19322]

when i play this video on a android, your voice sounds gltichy

[blizzardscool]

Can I buy 1 of those???

[jcmtz0814]

Jaja se te va la Luz?? ...y a la chingada toda el agua!  Jaja

[cbebbington2]

The water in the tank stays the same because water can't compress. Its the air pressing in trying to get to the negative ( the air he tuke out).

[Andrea Bormotova]

I ment lower then wouldnt they expand. Or do the fish adapt quickly?

[Andrea Bormotova]

If the pressure above the atmospheric pressure water level, is than the atmospheric pressure level, then wouldnt the fish expand?

[bruno a]

Shit u just broak phisics laws! Haha