Fish Bowl

davidian · 01/12/2015, 06:52 PM

My fiancee and I had wanted to setup a 150-gallon reef and started collecting the things we'd need, but money is shorter and time faster than we expected, and we have our wedding to pay for in the coming months. So I decided we would start a smaller reef in the meantime. That's my intro. Now, about the

I like the seamlessness of an acrylic tank, but I don't like how easily they scratch. I like the resilience of a glass tank, but I don't like the idea of seams that can leak and will eventually have to be re-sealed. So I got the best of both worlds.--It's the biggest fish bowl I could find. All glass, one single, solid, seamless piece. It's 18" in diameter and by my math should hold around 12 gallons.

I've drilled one hole in the bottom for a 1/2" bulkhead. I'll be drilling a second in the next couple of days. The overflow and return plumbing will both reach right up through the center, and my rockwork will be placed in a column around the plumbing.

I'm using a Danner Mag Drive 1.9 for the return pump and an Aquatic Life Mini 115 skimmer in the 25 gallon plastic sump in the stand below. Speaking of the stand, it's made for a 125-gallon tank, designed so the rim of the stand supports the tank, so there's no top. I installed 2 braces across the middle of the stand, front-to-back, flush with the rim to support the top directly under the fish bowl. I have a piece of OSB and black laminate cut to size which I need to laminate tonight before I trim the excess laminate with a router and drill 2 holes in the center of it for my plumbing to pass through.

The overflow will consist of a funnel feeding into a piece of 1/2" CPVC which connects to one of the bulkheads in the bottom of the bowl. The funnel will have teeth/fins cut all the way around the top about 1/2" tall and will be mostly hidden by the rockwork.

I'll be building a DIY LED light hood which will rest on the rim of the bowl and have 5 separately dimmable channels, controlled by a Jarduino I had already built anticipating my 150-gallon build.

I've taken a few pictures already and will continue documenting the build and post pictures according to my availability to do so.

I thought surely someone has done this already, and as far as I can tell, there has really only been one guy. (Search Jim's Azoox Fish Bowl.) It was only a 16" bowl though. Stay tuned.

davidian · 01/13/2015, 09:12 AM

Here are a few pictures. Sorry they're links and not inline, but I've never used Google Drive for this before, and it's really quite a frustrating process. I'm currently working on laminating the top for the aquarium stand and will post more pictures after that's done and the holes are drilled in it for the plumbing. So here are the pictures. More to come.

The Bowl

First Hole (Thank you, glass-holes.com!

First Bulkhead

With Tubing Attached

Wider Shot

On The Stand with the New Top (Under Construction)

davidian · 01/13/2015, 06:30 PM

Quick correction:
I said the stand is for a 125-gallon tank. It's for a 150.

(Can you not edit a post once it's up?)

FireFoz · 01/16/2015, 06:29 AM

Quite unique, but are you actually planning to put fish in it? It seems rather small for fish. Also I believe round shaped tanks although they look pretty, not very suitable for fish.

davidian · 01/16/2015, 08:43 AM

Yes, only a couple of very small fish suited for nano reefs. It will be mostly a coral tank.

davidian · 01/16/2015, 09:06 AM

I was drilling the second hole just now in the bottom of the bowl, and CRACK. I'm not happy. But the show must go on...

davidian · 01/16/2015, 06:28 PM

Anybody have any experience with HXTAL epoxy? Supposed to be museum-quality epoxy for repairing glass and porcelain, same refractory properties as most glass, and really tough. The crack is only across the bottom, sort of around the bottom edge on one side. So if it's in the back and covered by sand, you'd never see it anyway. I think that's my best option so far. Then again, I could repair the crack, and the bowl may bust completely in half as soon as I put water in it. I love an adventure...

bundybear1981 · 01/16/2015, 08:32 PM

IMO - It it has cracked I would not continue and use it. It would have been compromised and no matter how you try the risk of it failing will be imminent, especially with the weight that is applied to the base of a aquarium. In the long (or more likely short term) it will be cheaper to replace the tank as its likely to rupture and damage the house and lose any inhabitants.

callsign4223 · 01/19/2015, 02:07 PM

Where did you find the bowl?

01/12/2015, 06:52 PM	#1
davidian Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Ohio Posts: 22	Fish Bowl My fiancee and I had wanted to setup a 150-gallon reef and started collecting the things we'd need, but money is shorter and time faster than we expected, and we have our wedding to pay for in the coming months. So I decided we would start a smaller reef in the meantime. That's my intro. Now, about the I like the seamlessness of an acrylic tank, but I don't like how easily they scratch. I like the resilience of a glass tank, but I don't like the idea of seams that can leak and will eventually have to be re-sealed. So I got the best of both worlds.--It's the biggest fish bowl I could find. All glass, one single, solid, seamless piece. It's 18" in diameter and by my math should hold around 12 gallons. I've drilled one hole in the bottom for a 1/2" bulkhead. I'll be drilling a second in the next couple of days. The overflow and return plumbing will both reach right up through the center, and my rockwork will be placed in a column around the plumbing. I'm using a Danner Mag Drive 1.9 for the return pump and an Aquatic Life Mini 115 skimmer in the 25 gallon plastic sump in the stand below. Speaking of the stand, it's made for a 125-gallon tank, designed so the rim of the stand supports the tank, so there's no top. I installed 2 braces across the middle of the stand, front-to-back, flush with the rim to support the top directly under the fish bowl. I have a piece of OSB and black laminate cut to size which I need to laminate tonight before I trim the excess laminate with a router and drill 2 holes in the center of it for my plumbing to pass through. The overflow will consist of a funnel feeding into a piece of 1/2" CPVC which connects to one of the bulkheads in the bottom of the bowl. The funnel will have teeth/fins cut all the way around the top about 1/2" tall and will be mostly hidden by the rockwork. I'll be building a DIY LED light hood which will rest on the rim of the bowl and have 5 separately dimmable channels, controlled by a Jarduino I had already built anticipating my 150-gallon build. I've taken a few pictures already and will continue documenting the build and post pictures according to my availability to do so. I thought surely someone has done this already, and as far as I can tell, there has really only been one guy. (Search Jim's Azoox Fish Bowl.) It was only a 16" bowl though. Stay tuned.

01/13/2015, 09:12 AM	#2
davidian Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Ohio Posts: 22	First Pictures Here are a few pictures. Sorry they're links and not inline, but I've never used Google Drive for this before, and it's really quite a frustrating process. I'm currently working on laminating the top for the aquarium stand and will post more pictures after that's done and the holes are drilled in it for the plumbing. So here are the pictures. More to come. The Bowl First Hole (Thank you, glass-holes.com! First Bulkhead With Tubing Attached Wider Shot On The Stand with the New Top (Under Construction)

01/16/2015, 08:32 PM	#8
bundybear1981 Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia Posts: 685 Blog Entries: 1	IMO - It it has cracked I would not continue and use it. It would have been compromised and no matter how you try the risk of it failing will be imminent, especially with the weight that is applied to the base of a aquarium. In the long (or more likely short term) it will be cheaper to replace the tank as its likely to rupture and damage the house and lose any inhabitants. __________________ Tank inhabitants : 2x Clownfish, 1x Blue Koran, 1x Foxface Lo, 1xCoral Beauty, 1x Blue Tang, 1x Sailfin Tang Current Tank Info: New Build : 250g (6x3x2) with 2x RW15 pumps, 2x 2200lph return pumps, Tunze ATO, Jebao Dosing Pump, AquaOne G220 Skimmer

01/13/2015, 06:30 PM	#3
davidian Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Ohio Posts: 22	Quick correction: I said the stand is for a 125-gallon tank. It's for a 150. (Can you not edit a post once it's up?)

01/16/2015, 06:29 AM	#4
FireFoz Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 13	Quite unique, but are you actually planning to put fish in it? It seems rather small for fish. Also I believe round shaped tanks although they look pretty, not very suitable for fish.

01/16/2015, 08:43 AM	#5
davidian Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Ohio Posts: 22	Yes, only a couple of very small fish suited for nano reefs. It will be mostly a coral tank.

01/16/2015, 09:06 AM	#6
davidian Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Ohio Posts: 22	I was drilling the second hole just now in the bottom of the bowl, and CRACK. I'm not happy. But the show must go on...

01/16/2015, 06:28 PM	#7
davidian Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Ohio Posts: 22	Anybody have any experience with HXTAL epoxy? Supposed to be museum-quality epoxy for repairing glass and porcelain, same refractory properties as most glass, and really tough. The crack is only across the bottom, sort of around the bottom edge on one side. So if it's in the back and covered by sand, you'd never see it anyway. I think that's my best option so far. Then again, I could repair the crack, and the bowl may bust completely in half as soon as I put water in it. I love an adventure...

01/19/2015, 02:07 PM	#9
callsign4223 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 348	Where did you find the bowl?