Habitat - Indoor :: Water Bridge

[stephaniej]

Hello,
I am thinking of setting up a water bridge to run from my turtle tank to my planted tank, does anyone here have/had this kind of setup before? I’m going to make the bridge slightly too small for the turtle so he can’t swim the bridge and get stuck (my fear). I've researched how to install a water bridge but if anyone has firsthand experience, advice is appreciated.

[ljapa]

I've seen pictures of water bridges with fish using them. I have no experience with them.

However, I can tell you that it will not work like you've drawn it, unless the aquarium on the left is COMPLETELY airtight. Water coming in will not flow up the bridge, it will overflow the aquarium.

Conceptually, I've done something similar with an overflow into a refugium on the floor that's a planted aquarium. I've got a canister filter with input and output in the main 55 gallon tank and an overflow that spills into a three chambered (media, planted tank with shrimp, return pump) 55 gallon refugium.

The plants suck up nitrates and provide food, as do the shrimp. All the evaporation happens in the return pump area of the refugium, so all my water stains in the main tank are hidden behind the rim.