Fish tank... In a bath!

[suitcasey]

Hey there ! I think/hope this is the best forum for this topic. Can I also just say thanks to the people who helped me in a thread I had a couple of months ago, their advice was fantastic and within the next year I will be setting up a new tank the with the help they gave me. Hopefully now I'll get the same helpful information back to help me with this new project

Well today I was down at the rock pools near me, and I think the reason Im fish obsessed goes back to my childhood of spending nearly every single day down here and being absolutely fascinated by the amount of life in these small bodies of water.
It had been a while since I'd visited these rock pools, and since the last time I was there I had discovered the incredible world of tropical marine fish. As I live in the UK, a lot of the animals found in the waters here arn't as fascinating as what you find in the tropics. So I started imagining what it would be like to have all those colourful, beautiful animals in a sort of rock pool type tank. And after going to the local 'aquarium' (kind of a small building with about 3 tanks of native creatures) I saw a beatiful look down tank made to look like a rock pool. And I realised how amazing it would be to have tropical marine fish and corals in this sort of set up.

After renovating our bathroom, we have an old bath sitting outside waiting to be taken to the skip. I suddenly realised the amazing use it could have. Its not your average rectangle shaped bath, its slightly wider, has three square corners and one round one, and one corner has an elevated platform to sit on (i think thats what it was for anyway).

This would look absolutely amazing as what I would like to create. I would have it in the corner of the room, with a metal halide in the far corner which would be situated over the elevated platform. This would be perfect to sit high light corals on, and the reef would slowly descend to the bottom of the tank.

Now a few questions:

Would you put pond liner in the bath first? I am thinking yes, its probably not essential, but it would make it a more natural look than the white that is already in there, and would hopefully bring out the colours more in the fish and corals.

However if I were to do this there is a second question I have. I was thinking the tank has a perfect overflow hole already, you know that drainage hole in the bath to overflow the water when it gets too high? I was thinking of using that. But if I were to use pond liner, how could I safely get to that hole?
On second thoughts, now that I think of the horrible gurgling sound the bathwater makes going down that hole I'm not sure it would be suitable. Does anyone know what would be a good solution or another alternative to use as an overflow?

What would you reccomend for inhabitants?
The more I think about it, the more I think a nice lionfish would look absolutely beautiful from above. However I know this would limit me on what other fish I could keep. I'd love to have ur ideas of what could look nice while veiwing from above

Finally, what do you think of this idea as a whole and do you know anyone who has ever done it??

Thankyou very much, I am quite excited about this idea and hope someone here can help me get it perfected

[Jojoyojimbi]

you could make a false rock coating for the entire tub out of portland cement and rock salt, then cure the 'liner' by letting it soak until the ph stabilizes, but that would add a rather hefty weight to the finished product

[suitcasey]

Thankyou for the quick reply, that could be a good idea ! I've never had any experience with doing that before, perhaps an alternative would be the black pond foam some people use for the back of their tanks?
Or would anyone just leave the bath completely white as it is now? that would certainly look different, and maybe kinda cool. But I dont know, im open to everyone's opinions so I'd really really like to hear them .

Thankyou for the input, I'd really really love to hear everyone's ideas on this set up

[rppvt]

why hide the idea that it's a tub? Besides, it'll purple up after a short time anyway. as for the overflow, you could wrap that with foam pipe insulation and add a durso siphon control to it. Play with the plumbing. try a valve to restrict it with an emergency overflow.

[suitcasey]

I like that idea a lot . It might look cool if left looking like the bath! For the plug hole, would you cover it up with something else? Or would the plug be safe with the salt water? Maybe silicone it? I like the thought of this, I think it'll look pretty interesting and I could maybe go bare bottom.

As for the overflow you described, Im sorry but Ive never done anything like that. Just so I'm clear with the idea could you elaborate a bit more
Thanks very much.

I think this could look awesome

Casey

[suitcasey]

Just measured the tub, at its longest/deepest points it is 5' by 3' by 2' deep. But those measurements arnt exact as its not a regular shape. I think this could look really cool

[suitcasey]

Any more ideas or input??

Casey

[kathainbowen]

Maybe you could have your cake and eat it too with the pond liner?

You could put the liner in and use something as a coping material around the top edge to hide the edge of the liner and highlight whatever type of tub it is. Such as, if it's a clawfooter, maybe a nice, scrolling of some form. Or, if it's a more modern tub, tiling?

I think it's a wonderful and downright whimsical idea to make a tub into a tank or fish pond of any form. In fact, down the road from my house is the most amazing little garden created from an old baby-todler bed headboard, footboard and rails to make a "flowerbed."

But, you must understand, I demand pictures!!! Keep us posted, have fun, and good luck!

XD

[driftin]

I love the idea! I saw a thread where a lagoon was created in an open "bathtub" style tank as part of a larger system. I was mostly engrossed by the photos but I think the original posted walked through some modifications he made over the years since setting it up. Parts of it may be applicable to your idea:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=1

[nick18tjetta]

I would put down a layer of fiberglass on the inside of the tub, it would seal any holes, and prevent anything that might possible leach from the tub (soaps, cleaning chemicals, fungicides that are added at manufacture of the tub)

[omni2226]

I think it would look nice. Don't use anything to cover the enamel, that would ruin the whole look. A thorough cleaning with bleach and/or lye will rid any "soapscum".
As stated a durso standpipe will eliminate the gurgles from the drain.
Strategic placement of rocks can hide the powerheads/pumps used to circulate the water inside the tub.
Lighting can be incorporated into a suspended arrangement disguised as an old fashioned parlor/chandelier type fixture.
An added touch could be full length mirrors on two sides on the walls.
Lots of possibilities here!

[suitcasey]

Hey everyone !!! Sorry about the late reply, and thankyou so much for all of your ideas. This is definitely a little outside the box, so it requires a little outside the box thinking!

I am stuck between two different themes. My original plan was to make it look very natural, just like a real rock pool. I would do this by lining the inside with the black pond foam people use on the back of their tanks. I think this would give a nice rocky effect to the inside and it would all look brilliant .

Now the idea of leaving it very obvious that it is a bath has got me very interested also. My main concern is, as the tub is white it will get dirty looking very quickly. However I think it could look really cool by mounting SPS corals all around the side of the bath, not on any rock, actually on the bath walls. I mean, how sweet would that look!

So that is a choice I'll have to make .
Does anyone have any ideas for lighting?? I would like to use MH, but can you think of any set ups that don't look so intrusive? I'd like this to all look pretty stylish, I dont think it will with a big obvious looking MH hanging over it.

Thanks for the link to that thread, that is exactly what I want to recreate only on a smaller scale . If I had that big lagoon tank I'd be diving in it everyday!!

As far as stocking, ATM I'm going to keep it quite low. But two definites are going to be a large lionfish, and a cowfish. Does this seem ok? They are two fish that I really love, and from what I have head have great personalities and will both interact with me through the surface of the water (especially the cowfish). I might not add anything more than that, unless you guys can convince me with something else??

cant wait to hear more ideas

[InvaderJim]

You could put a Tunze Wavebox in the tank to make the water level fluctuate like that of a tide pool.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1089682

[purebullet417]

i would defently use a wave box that would look so cool

[msman825]

GEEZ, My wife would really hit the roof. she come home and i have turned or jacuzzi into a tank. the toilet into fug and the sink into a sump

[anthamm93]

can u post a pic of the tub

[suitcasey]

Oh I love the idea of the wavebox, thats a great idea thankyou very much !

I will try to get a picture in the next few days, I will lend a camera
In the mean time, here is a link to something of basically the exact same design
http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/...500-x-1000.jpg

I was thinking of sticking SPS frags around all of the sides, how awesome would that look when its all grown out?! And then a rock pile sort of starting in the middle and moving up the back to the raised platform where more corals would be placed. And in the middle some LPS or soft corals maybe.

Fish wise, a volitans lion, cowfish and maybe a yellow tang

What do you guys think?

[kathainbowen]

Originally posted by msman825
GEEZ, My wife would really hit the roof. she come home and i have turned or jacuzzi into a tank. the toilet into fug and the sink into a sump

.... actually, I wish I still had picks of the jacuzzi pond.....

My cousin, Bill, who lives in South Florida, used to have the craziest "garden" in his "back yard." I'm using air quotes pretty liberally there because, as soon as you went through his back gate, it was like walking into a jungle. Tall palm trees, absolutely massive elephant ears, even lady finger bananas and an orchid house that he built for his lass. The greatest part, was this little bit in the middle of the garden, like a small clearing, sandwiched between two ponds. The low pond was a pretty standard concrete bottomed pond, with two gorgeous butterfly koi.

The other pond, however, was great. It was the ultimate in fab trash. He took an old jacuzzi he found on the side of the road with a crack, sealed the crack and turned it into a pond. And, as the neatest touch, he also found, in the trash, a red boat form (like fire engine red) Not having enough space to put it in storage or off to the side in his jungle until he could come up with a use for it, my cousin sunk it in the jacuzzi. Tons of parrot's feather, water lilies, lotus, and some cool marginals grew around the boat form, making it just apparent when you actually looked for it into the water. For the added icing on the cake, my cousin put a little, carved wooden boat to float in the pond. Awesome stuff.

.... not that I'm trying to give you ideas.

[frederickk]

Love to see a pic of that.