Yo, what's going on SerpaSquad! Tanner here, and I'm back with
something I developed the other week. I was thinking to myself, what would
it be like to have an aquarium that continuously spills over into a bog
system that filters the tank above. Something like this. In theory, it should work. To make it happen, I'll use
primarily scrap materials. With a wacky design like this, I really
had to consider the thickness of glass. I'll use 3/8” Thick Pieces
for most of the elements, which is quite thick for a tank of this size. I cut the pieces down as I've
shown plenty of times before. I put down a straight edge, scored a line with the glass cutting tool, and broke the pieces on the edge of my work bench. The same thing can be done with mirrors. I decided to use one for the
front of the bottom tank. I also sanded down the edges so they're safe
to handle and rinsed them to remove debris. To get this tank plumbed, it
made sense to include a Bulkhead. I marked for it on the glass
and taped down a guide. I filled it up with water and drilled
away with a Diamond-Tipped Hole Saw. The bulkhead itself was a little too long. I cut it to a shorter length. Let's get the pieces assembled. I taped along the edges for
clean beads of silicone. I applied it to the appropriate
spots and secured them with tape. Then, I applied it to the inside. I smoothed it out with my finger
and removed the masking tape. I repeated this process for bottom tank. I let the silicone cure overnight. What I ended up with are these tanks. The small one, which holds roughly 5 gallons,
was made to fit inside the other tank. It will be lifted up and used as the overflow. To get that effect we need a few other components. To get the water flowing, I'll
use a small Fountain Pump. My idea will only work
properly with a Check Valve. I modified one so that it fits into the pump. I'll also use a Barbed Fitting
to tie into the bulkhead. I modified this piece as well. I connected it all together with a Vinyl Tube. Then, I put this in the tank and
measured to the top of the piece. I used these measurements to cut out additional
pieces of glass, which I processed like before. I marked for them inside the tank. I turned it upside down and
applied silicone accordingly. I attached them together just
like the aquariums before. Back to the plumbing. I added a small Hose Clamp to both sides of
the tube to ensure the pieces don't leak. I also added Plumber's Tape to the
side that attaches to the bulkhead. I screwed it in place. I went on to mark for the
top components on the bottom. Then, I put the pump in place and
checked the alignment of everything. It looked good, so I locked
it together with silicone. Once it set up, I placed it on top of Neoprene. I cut along the edges so they match up. This will act as a self-leveling mat. Now it's finally ready for a test run. I started with the top tank to ensure
the check valve worked properly. Without it, the tank could drain out during
a power outage or due to equipment failure. It worked as intended, so I filled up
the bottom compartment and let it rip. Unfortunately, it didn't work how I anticipated. Irregularities caused the spillover
effect to occur only in a few spots. I changed my vision and attempted to cut
the side pieces to account for errors. I was able to successfully cut
one, but I ruined the other. So, I had to take apart the top
portion and start over with new pieces. This time around, I checked everything with
a level to get the best overflow effect. I also cut the side pieces so they're
slightly shorter than the front and back. As such the water will only
overflow from these areas. Originally, I intended for it to happen on
all four sides, but as I developed the idea, it made sense to isolate it to the left and right. I also decided to cover up the middle
section with Black Corrugated Plastic. Makes for a cleaner look. Now for another test run. This time was certainly better than
before, but it still wasn't perfect. I noticed that the water was creating a huge
meniscus and only spilled over slightly. I assume this occurred because the pump
isn't filling up the tank quick enough. I didn't want to change the pump, so I decided to include a piece of glass that forces
the water to spill over as intended. Here's an example of how it will work. To keep consistent spacing I
built up a few pieces of tape. Then, I siliconed and taped the glass in place. After the silicone cured,
I gave it another test run. As they say, the third time's a charm. This is exactly what I envisioned it to look like. It took a while to get it
right, but I love the result. I finalized the tank by
adding Frost Film to the back. This really brought the aesthetic full circle. Since it's a custom-built tank, it
made sense to add a decal as well. Here's the result. I don't know about you, but I think it
has a really cool modern vibe to it. Let's bring it to life. I started by encasing the pump with Filter Foam. This will keep debris out of the intake. For the plant substrate, I mixed up
Seachem Flourite Black and Fluval Stratum. As usual, I rinsed them
off to remove loose debris. Prior to adding it to the tank, I covered the
bulkhead with a piece of Fine Window Screen. This material will keep debris out
without hindering the flow of water. I concealed it with a thin layer of substrate. I think it makes sense to keep the scape simple. In line with that, I'm using a single piece
of Malaysian Driftwood for the key element. For the rest of the scape, I'll use
Round River Stones of various sizes. I fit a few larger ones around
the wood to get the base layout. I poured more substrate behind
the scape to build height. I added more in the front as well. I sloped it up toward the back to create depth. Then, I filled in the front with White Sand. I capped off the planting
substrate with Pea Pebbles. I sprinkled in sand to soften the transition. Let's add the plants. My selection isn't ideal, but I can make do. First up, are several
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Bronze'. This is a pretty large plant
in comparison to the tank size, so it will work perfect as a background plant. I used a Crypt lutea on the left side. For the mid to foreground I used Crypt undulata. I also put a Crypt spirialis in the back right. To create textural contrast, I included
a Hydrocotyle tripartita 'Japan'. That will do it until we fill it up. Until then, I sprayed it down
so the plants don't dry out. Moving on to the bog filter. I filled the compartment primarily with Leca. These are a great growing medium for plants, while also doubling as a nice
surface for beneficial bacteria. As for the plants, I'll keep it simple once more. I put an Acorus gramineus
'Oborozuki' in each corner. I decided to top it off with substrate to make
the inclusion of Hemigraphis repanda easier. That should do it. Let's get it filled up. As usual I added my dechlorinator prior
and I'm using regular old tap water. Once the top tank was full, I added
the remaining plants, including, Rotala indica, Cabomba caroliniana, and Süßwassertang. I went back and added a few accent stones. To finalize the design, I put
Java Moss under the flowing water. I situated a piece of Geotextile Fabric first
to give the moss something to hold onto. The combination of these will
mitigate splashing water. There you have it, the Upflow Overflow
Infinity Bog Filtered Aquascape. The idea here is that the water
is always overflowing and being filtered by the plants in the
bottom tray in a continuous loop. Of course, that's happening from
the plants in the tank as well. As for livestock, I decided to go with
a colony of Yellow Neocaridina Shrimp. I added some Fritz Turbostart to the system,
so I could immediately add the shrimp. This was provided by Fritz with a paid promotion. I think the concept is pretty
cool and I like how it turned out. That said, I would consider this
to be somewhat of a prototype. I might run with the idea for a future
build and dial it to perfection. What do you think? Let me know down in the comments. As always I really hope you all enjoyed
the video and learned something new. Until next SerpaSquad, take care and peace.
