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Unique sphere/orb Aquarium

OctopusBoy

Cuttlefish
Registered
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Messages
25
Location
Oregon, USA
Hello

I wanted to share my new tank with you all, I got it on craigslist for a decent price considering I've never seen one quite like it. It is a orb/sphere type of tank that came with a stand, refugium, some live rock and about 40$ worth of Fiji mud. The aquariym has a peice of pvc pipe going throw the bottom of it leading bellow to the barrel. Here is a picture down below showing it right when I brought it home.


20140714_111504.jpg
20140714_111504.jpg
20140714_111504.jpg

Now for the refugium pictures.


20140714_111542_LLS.jpg


I moved all that Fiji mud that was in the tank and moved it down to the barrel that has the majority of mud. It came without a pump so I'm going to have to buy one on craigslist soon :smile:

I had my buddy come over and help me clean it the next day after I got it and it looks allot nicer than before here are the following results after deep cleaning.

20140714_144045_LLS.jpg

My next step in this project is to buffer out the scratches on the aqrylic and make it shine. Most likely tomorrow I will go and buy a kit, and I will keep you posted on it as I go along working on the project. Any suggestions/comments would be much appreciated.
 
OctopusBoy, you're right - I've never seen a tank like this before! What was it used for? How will water circulate? And how many gallons of water will it hold? It looks like there's a hole in the top for access.

Nancy
 
OctopusBoy, you're right - I've never seen a tank like this before! What was it used for? How will water circulate? And how many gallons of water will it hold? It looks like there's a hole in the top for access.

Nancy


Yea it's cool!, the guy who owned it had an octopus in it once it looks to me like it was once a reef at one point. He said it as running for maybe 5 years and i'll post pictures bellow this text of what he had in it.
00808_65qvMqZ4hqO_600x450.jpg
01313_7KJwhuuo7I1_600x450.jpg


He wasn't quite sure on how many gallons of water it holds he said it was a prototype that took him around 8 months to build and another tank in 6 months possibly around 50 gallons. The barrel is a 55 gallons too. I will also post a pic of the tank looking down from the top.

20140714_144135.jpg
 
I'm thinking it is smaller than 50 gallons but if you get the circumference we can get an approximation by assuming it is round.

It will definitely be an interesting build but I worry that it is better designed as a small fish or low flow coral tank than for large fish or an octopus. Like Nancy, I am confused (or can't see) where the return water enters the tank (assuming the center tube is the drain) but mostly I am concerned about filtration, aeration and waste removal for an octopus.

Also, be sure you do a leak check. As cool as it is, it has more potential for leaks than most tanks.

Expect to be patient and for the project to take more than a week when you start sanding. Done this once for a major scratch I found the amount of work is challenging. Also be sure this is acrylic and not lexan (also from experience). Lexan (polycarbonate) cannot be buffed out at home (or at least all I did was add a few scratches trying). Start in a place along the bottom to be sure you really want to do this. You might try filling it with water to see if it is acceptable as it is. You will need to do this anyway for a leak check but do it a second time is you go ahead with the sanding since you will be putting pressure on the seams.
 
I'm thinking it is smaller than 50 gallons but if you get the circumference we can get an approximation by assuming it is round.

It will definitely be an interesting build but I worry that it is better designed as a small fish or low flow coral tank than for large fish or an octopus. Like Nancy, I am confused (or can't see) where the return water enters the tank (assuming the center tube is the drain) but mostly I am concerned about filtration, aeration and waste removal for an octopus.

Also, be sure you do a leak check. As cool as it is, it has more potential for leaks than most tanks.

Expect to be patient and for the project to take more than a week when you start sanding. Done this once for a major scratch I found the amount of work is challenging. Also be sure this is acrylic and not lexan (also from experience). Lexan (polycarbonate) cannot be buffed out at home (or at least all I did was add a few scratches trying). Start in a place along the bottom to be sure you really want to do this. You might try filling it with water to see if it is acceptable as it is. You will need to do this anyway for a leak check but do it a second time is you go ahead with the sanding since you will be putting pressure on the seams.


Indeed, and I feel up for the challenge :smile: I have taken some more pictures to better understand the tank and get a better image of what i'm dealing with. I plan in time to get the full 9 yards of equipment for this tank if it is octopus compatible, I want to make sure it has the best life possible that I can provide. He told me it is acrylic but I will double check and make sure before I go into sanding. When I first met the guy he had it filled with water up to the pipe and it held with no leaks, definitely will do another check after I clean it up a bit.

Pictures

From above better shot
20140719_110737_LLS.jpg

The skinny pipe fits in this but is not secure.
20140719_110957.jpg

I flipped the tank upside down so you can see the bottom of it
20140719_111806.jpg

These are the parts I got with it.

20140719_111826.jpg
 
I'll give you my take but you're not going to like it. If I am understanding the design the only debris exit is the hole in the side of the main pipe. Clean water is pumped up the middle, internal (skinny) pipe and is the only circulation. IMO, it is a cool tank but only suitable for very limited life (possibly some softies and tiny, hardy fish or shrimp). With good siphoning, you might get away with a cool mantis since they don't need a lot of water volume (but do need good water quality).

I keep an 8 gallon biorb (sort of a mini version with much less water, no sump and round) with no other filtration than live rock, bristle worms and an air stone that skirts the bottom sides (I don't use the small, useless filter that comes with it). I change out about half the water once a month but the ONLY thing in the tank are tiny, very hardy shrimp (Opae) and some rather cool pink encrusting volunteer sponge. There is no lighting and I only feed spirulina algae so the waste produced and nuisance algae is minimal. Your tank will hold a good bit more water (need diameter to guess) but, even adding a Koralia style circulation pump (to move waste off the bottom and between rocks), I don't believe the small exit hole will extract enough debris for anything that produces heavy waste.

I don't know if you could alter the exchange enough by connecting a tube (or adding a 90 degree elbow or top capped "T") to the inner pipe and exiting out the existing hole then adding a weir type top to the outer tube (something like this but I have no idea of the size - the bigger the better). In the early days, we constructed a crude weir type top with a PVC adapter and a saw) but you will still be limited in the water exchange by the space between the inner and outer pipes. The new return tube could be placed further away from the exit water and help with flow but can't be too deep or you will have reverse siphon problems when the power goes out (the tank will drain to the level of the tube).

Since you don't have a good feel for the potential GPH allowed by the exit tubing, be sure you get a pump that you can add (or has) a flow control valve.
 
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