Friday, January 18, 2008

Fishtank Friday: Fish Overpass

Fish Overpass

By Evan Ackerman

When commuting fish need to get from home to work, their options are generally somewhat limited in a captive environment. This fish pipeline connects two fish tanks over a respectable distance (looks to be several tens of feet), allowing fish to travel from one tank, up and over the floor of a coffee shop, into the other tank. According to some of the comments in the article, the coffee shop in question is the now defunct Liquid Potion Lounge in Evanston, IL. One observer says: “They would often go up the tubes, but they’d rarely make it all the way to the other fish tank. I remember it being days before I finally saw a fish make it all the way across. Looked really cool though.” So, how does it work? From what I can tell, air gets pumped out of the top of the pipeline, drawing water up out of the tanks until the pipeline is full. Vacuum pressure then keeps the water from draining out. More pics of fish in the pipeline, after the jump.

Fish Overpass

Fish Overpass

Fish Overpass

Fish Overpass

VIA [ thecontaminated.com ]


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  • Gazman
    That is cruel
  • Brad
    are you serious cruel? how stupid are you
  • NoirRaven
    Oh yes. Giving them MORE SPACE TO ROAM is just HORRIBLE. We should all just trap our poor little fishies in to one tank that's way too small for them. e.e Dude, come on. It would be cruel to make them JUMP from tank to tank but to build them a specially designed fish pathway? That's awesome.
  • Anonymous
    how is that cruel? the things i want to do to idiots like you is cruel.
  • Anonymous
    far from cruel smart and gives the fish more room to swim around

    we need more people like this
  • spuffler
    Lovin' it! Great idea!
  • Anonymous
    I would say that that is far less cruel than keeping them in just one tank....
  • Ray
    I'd be more worried about it springing a leak...
  • tony
    cleaning that thing has got to be a chore.
  • Dale
    Don't get in a huff, it's not cruel, they'll forget all about it soon enough!
  • Anonymous
    NOT CRUEL U IDIOT
  • The only problem I can think of is that the heaters might not get the job done in the tubes. BUT...heat rises...so that might be a non-issue. Anyway if the fish are cold they can swim back to a nice warm tank.
  • nwah
    i agree that it's cruel. also subways are cruel, tunnels, those underground passages under the streets that save thousands of lives every year, also hallways are cruel and we should not use this things because they are cruel.
  • Bunny
    How cruel of you to say that :))
  • SL
    i think it is cruel that people have to look at GazMans face.

    xxx :P
  • Xifihas
    Gazman, it's not cruel, these pipelines give the fish greater freedom to move around (sure the pipes themselves are a little cramped but its connected to another tank meaning if they want to leave their tank they are free to do so)
  • Fionn
    They are fish, braindead fish they dont care which tank they are in, it looks cool and thats the only thing too it really.
  • Kris
    Not cruel, but to Fionn - Fish are not 'brain dead' and there is a long lasting myth that fish have a memory of a few seconds, this is nonsense. Similar to the (now lessening) myth that birds are stupid (bird brain) as science now has it - birds are some of the most intelligent creatures in the word.

    And Fionn how do you know they dont care which tank they are in? did you do a survey. You dont know either way, so unless you want to back up your comments with scientific data (same goes for you gaz) please refrain from making blanket idiotic statements.

    Again I dont think the set up is cruel - but I DO think its cruel that we have to listen to idiotic comments from people like Gaz and Fionn.
  • lovejahlive
    Lets figure out how to turn that thing into a bong...
  • fr3ll
    nothing more to comment ;)
  • Therealjoe
    Actually this is a bong the fish you see are just your imagination.
  • Rein
    damn, everyone that left a comment on here just murdered gazman bahaha, thats what you get for being cruel ;)
  • Rein
    its a bong!? hahahahahahahahahahahahahhaha i wish, thatd be one hell of a water bong!

    legalize it!
  • TheGabe
    Ye gods who gives a fuck if it's cruel or not?!
    Also, kris, they're fish; so what the fuck does it matter how long their memories are? Nobody asked you to spout all that fascinating information about the psychology of fish and birds, so contrary to what you apparently believe, you don't look any cleverer than anyone else who's posted here, except possibly gazman.
    Also, people who spend time writing long winded comments on websites no-one goes on anyway, that are completely irrelevant to the original subject, fail it mightily.

    Geddit?

    Kthxbie
  • Anonymous
    it would be the opposite of cruel if it was a fish-bong
  • Therealjoe
    Those fish would be flying high.
  • Steve
    So, all that water's held up by an air pump pumping air out of the top? I have just two words: Power outage.
  • Solar
    Steve - the air only has to be pumped out once as long as no more air can enter, so no power is required to maintain it.

    TheGabe - take your own advice and stuff a sock in it, moron.
  • noname
    TheGabe, you're a hypocritical douche bag. I bet you're ugly too
  • lawraw
    what if a fat fishy goes into the tunnel and gets stuck?
  • dick
    People are always saying (insert animal name here) are the smartest in the world. Until they stop getting eaten and owned by us, shut the f#$k up. We are the smartest, otherwise the the fish would have us in air aquariums walking back and forth between tanks, and sprinkling beef jerky flakes on our heads once a day.
  • TwoLips
    I think fish are cool, all swimming around and shit. Super cool. Birds would be cool too, but they don't like cheesecake.
  • buf
    2lips, I think I love you. You just summarized ll that I believe is true in the world.
  • Anonymous
    oh lawds!
  • verser
    truly a dumb idea, go get em tiger ;)
  • ruthemus
    it's just like those tunnels and things high up for cats--they love it. this kind of thing gives the animals much more space to explore. awesome.
  • andrew
    noone asked you to be a jerk either gabe. go away
  • DarKKnight
    to Gaz: im sorry, but you set yourself up for complete failure, which was f***ing hilarious dude
    to Fionn: all you really need to do at this point is to be a winner of the darwin awards
    to Kris: did YOU survey those fish on weather or not its cruel?
    to Gabe: dude, all you needed to say was shut the fuck up, thats it

    now, what would be cruel is dropping cherry bombs in that thing muahahahaha
  • Billdave
    If the fish don't like the tubes, they won't swim into them. Dolt.
  • loogibot
    Damn, that bong must be good cuz I swore I saw fish in it!
  • kathy
    This is possibly the most awesome thing ever.
  • Anonymous
    wow. its amazing how more than half the comments revolve around the first one. we all know that the comment is stupid, so why point that out constantly. congratz, you've all lost the internets. FAIL
  • Phia
    I wanna know what happens if two fish meet when they are coming opposite ways.... do they fight it out or are they polite and say 'you go', 'no you first', 'oh, i insist', 'no, please, really...well ok, have a nice journey!', 'wait, can i get your number?', 'oh sure *blush*'......
    i'll stop there, i think i'm getting a lil carried away... but the structure is cool, oh and to keep up a wonderful tradition...ITS SO NOT CRUEL!!! it is a place to meet like minded fish!!! :)
  • Joe
    Fish have no brain and no feelings. They are useless creatures, with the exception of being good to eat. Jesus himself ate fish. Those of you who think this is cruel should move to North Korea. Get out of my country.
  • chuck lee
    Joe owns this country? good to know. Joe stop wasting your time talking about Jesus, and do something about the freakin Bush family will ya?

    The fish tunnel is cool.
  • Fella
    All comments on every blog turn into juvenile bickering. WTF? Grow up.
  • I was bored as hell today, but reading all the comments made it more interesting for a few minutes. The tank is cool as hell, the fish probably dig the freedom, some people will go nameless but are frickin idiots! others are to intelligent to know when to keep their pie holes shut. And others are just smart enough to say what needs to be said. That being said I will leave you all to figure out who fits where.
  • Bob
    This fish tank is a series of tubes.
  • Thyhack
    Fish like cheesecake too.. ZOMG I HAVE AN IDEA!!! You create more tubes going everywhere. And inside you should have cake stencils with arrows pointing to the cake. And then have a waterfall at then end, there you would have a strainer. That would expose the fish to air and then it would have a tragic ending. And you could call it Fish PORTAL!!!!! or not...
  • GAZMANS A RETARD
    U R A RETARD GAZMAN RETAD
  • Anonymous
    Fake
  • Roberts
    It would be better if the fish where able to swim from the river to the fish tank
  • Anonymous
    dont worry thegabe. i got cha.
  • Charlie
    Who cleans the sucker?
  • Walter Cena
    This fish tank is EROTIC
  • Anonymous
    FREE THE FISH! FISH IS INNOCENT!
  • Anonymous
    more sushi spots should have this as an added feature. Watching lobsters crawl around, crabs and other smaller fish... that would be great!
  • Anonymous
    I do not know the mechanics but the idea is lovely. When you think about it, it allows the fish to fly over land. It might be different but as long as the fish are not hurt it should be fine. They adapt; its what they know; it becomes their norm. Puts into perspective humans moving from farms to cities or being introduced to a new culture. Normal = Strange + Time
  • ben
    i love that normal=strange+time
  • Anonymous
    your all fucked!
  • Anonymous
    What's brown and sticky????
  • Anonymous
    A STICK
  • an entertained aristocratt
    lol thank you all for your illuminating conversation!! it was hilarious and slightly pathetic to see the "smartest race on earth" wasting their time like this. :) I look forward to reading future posts on different threads, so keep it up, morons!!
  • Freddy
    How do you keep those tubes clean?
  • Anonymous
    get a better hobby ppl
  • Anonymous
    what would the fish do?

    this is a form of torture of the same magnitude and cruelty as waterboarding!

    how can you all say that this isn't cruel. you are all horrible horrible people with no morals! remember the romans thought that slavery and gladiators were not torture... but it was.

    YOU ARE ALL IDIOTS!
  • ZilViA
    come si può paragonare questa cosa con i gladiatori??i pesci non hanno il cervello...nn si rendono conto! e in + mi sembra solo un'idea diversa dal solito per attirare gente in un locale....e sinceramene ognuno ha la propria idea...non esiste nessun IDIOTAAA!!
  • ... but are the fish tasty?

    D
  • Anonymous
    learn how to speak english you idiot
  • peter
    I like it. It shows out of the box thinking and free thinking. It shows imagination past the confines of the guy that said, "That is cruel". Obviously an inside the box thinker working on pure and immediate notions, and not thinking it through.
  • tamtam
    Well i am a adimate fish lover i have 4 aquariums in my house plus 5 betta bowls and i think your tank is the coolest i understand that fish love to wonder and this will keep them busy considering what else do they have to do. i am very curious on the cost and upkeep. maybe one day i will have a community connected together. ha ha
  • Why did they go out of business? Spent all their money on that thing instead of good coffee ;-)
  • Ryan
    Very cool apparatus, alot of thought went into just how to support the thing properly...it's a cool idea and I'm surprised if there aren't larger scale versions of this somewhere, like giant hampster playgrounds but for fish...hahaha
  • Alex
    Why there is not a knife-fan at the embouchure of the tube?
  • Bubba
    Man, I'd like them there fish to be swimming right onto my skillet. Nothing like a little lemon-peppered bluegill to make my day. That there apparatus is awesome. Reminds me of a big 'ole fish tank I done saw in Chattanooga. It were BIG! And if that were a bong that big, I wouldn't be seeing fish... I'd being seeing some Whales! I wonder what would happen I you put prey-fish in one tank and predator fish in the other. Dang, I'm going to make something like this to connect my kids' rooms together. Or maybe another trailer to mine. That would be sweet, And I don't believe none of that there vacuum BS. It's the government doing an anti-gravity experiment right under our noses. Ain't too long till the UFO's come and take us away.
  • Anonymous
    how do they keep the water up there ?
  • Jackson Mehoff
    man oil
  • Anonymous
    this is badass. I wish I had the money or time to do this
  • George W. Bush
    NO ITS CRUEL YOU IDIOTS!
  • Best comment thread evar.

    LOL, morons.

    Cool invention, probably a bitch to keep clean unless the filtration is very good, and chems are used to prevent algae growth.
  • @anonymous

    Time would be the only constraint. Money-wise, the plastic (lexan or something) would not be all that expensive. Learning how to cut and pin/glue the plastic would only take a bit of googling and some practice. I've made a couple aquarium sumps and overflows with the same methods.
    The concept itself is the truly amazing part of the whole thing.
  • Bob is my hero. I liked the cheesecake comment also, but Bob is my hero. More to the point - I am a big cat fan and am planning, when I get a house, on doing catwalks. Suspended train tracks have also long fascinated me -- and now I have a third thing to add. You could interweave the fish tubes and the catwalks so that the cats (curious about the fish) get motivated to use them more. I am curious about the cleaning problems though -- just a large aquarium can be a bear. What would you do, flush it with some kind of enzyme?
  • Silversun5
    hahahah. amazing thread. and i agree, way way too cruel to provide more space for the fishes. beyond.
  • cabbagehats
    whos gazman?
  • cabbagehats
    oh. duh. hes at the top. sorry, missed that.
  • Jas
    Damn that is awesome i want 1 what would be really cool is a fish tank in each room and connecting them all ... but clean it would hella suck .... unless u made them really big that u could put scuba gear on and swim round
  • Alan
    EH -EH stop swearing it's just the point of veiw the big fish is saying Hi lilly thats cool. do you want to hear me sing. ? yeh ok, if I was a carp-enter and you was me lady yeh Ha good eh yeo Derby
  • Alan
    another. OK. traveling around from tank to tank, some times I think it's just a prank for I know I never be set free but it's really good enough for me, just swimming I love it my friend i'm happy inside this tube without end.RRRR
  • Tom
    traveling around from tank to tank. some times I think it's just a prank for I know I will not be set free but it is the nicest place for me. just swimming the word is my friend i'm traveling around this room without end. glub-glub good eh Derby again,
  • Anonymous
    definitely not cruel. seriously! i wish i was a fish in that tank! haha!
  • Gizzard
    OK. I love the idea but....... The reason that it probably took ages for a fish to swim across is that the fish would be subjected to considerable changes in pressure as it swam up the tube which would no doubt hurt it. Not that I'm against hurting fish, you understand. It was a tragic fish-related accident that killed half of my family. Let them suffer, the little scaly bastards. That'll teach 'em to mock me!
  • Todd
    So this looks cool, but something urks me about it... It's not that I think it's cruel to fish...(remember PETA kills 98% of the animals it "saves") plus they're fish....seriously...

    My complaint is physics. These "tubes" are ABOVE the two tanks. In order for the water to not push out the tanks and spill on the floor, it would need to be kept under pressure. In fact, the only way to get the water up there is to literally suck it up from the two tanks simultaneously while filling both with water. Literally PULL the water up to the top and cork it (must be kept air tight otherwise the tanks overflow till there is no water in the tubes). Something this size doesn't look feasible.
  • SciKid
    The laws of physics are in no way being bent or broken. It is true that “water finds its own level” but so long as no air can get in the top of the tube the water cannot fall down because there is nothing to replace it. This creates its own pressure. I do not think, however, that this was achieved by simply pumping air out of a one way valve on the top. There are many more simple ways of doing this that don’t require nearly as much suction.
  • eddiedog8
    cool 8)
  • Abe
    I love how one brief three-word comment decides the content of hundreds of posts that follow. IT IS CRUEL, YOU GUYS! SETTING UP THOSE IN THE CEILING FISH FOR ENTERTAINMENT?
  • j.
    woah. first of, you guys are mean. "idiot, moron, ugly". second of all, sitting around arguing about the cruelty value? small animals in small cages are there for our amusement and for the decoration value.
  • Anonymous
    this would be a fucking awesome bong!
  • tunca
    are the tanks at the both end of the tube sealed to prevent water leaking?
  • Anonymous
    looks cool but how would you clean it when it gets full of algae? would like to see it 6 months down the line. haha
  • peerpressure
    Hahahahahahahahahahhahaha I'm from Britain and I can't believe what I'm reading here, are you lot sat in a trailer-park somewhere in Alibami passing round THE brain-cell while you take turns with the crayon?????? Hahahahahahahahahah
  • jerry
    well i will tell you what. it would make a good bong and it is obviously the work of somebody who has a lot of either time on his hands or brains in his head....or maybe even both. and if so he's my first pick for dodge ball....lol
  • GAZMANS A RETARDS A RETARD
    UR A RETARD GAZMANS A RETARD A RETARD
  • Anonymous
    A hamster run for fish - i'd like to see a hamster ball where a
    fish can roll itself around the room
  • Swacey
    I'm totally amazed that so many people would actually comment on a fishtank story. And before im eaten alive for doin the same thing, I'd just like to say the first comment drew me into this thing and once I reached the bottom, I had to throw my hat in the tank. Good luck to everyone, this was a pleasure.
  • mandi
    I think this is pretty cool. Now if you want to be cruel, all you have to do is build a cat walk alongside the tubes. Except, would you be cruel to the fish, or to the cats?
  • Anonymous
    ive always wanted to do that
  • Kit
    It's basic - the guy who actually observed the tank set-up in action points out that the fish take several days to get part-way through the tubes, and rarely make it to the second tank - HELLO, there's no way to FEED the fish lost in the tube..
    That's what makes it cruel.
    Do they have 8 second memories ? Who cares ? They're clearly not bright enough to get through the tube , or back to home base within time to EAT.
  • golden
    I bet they clean it from the top, 1/2half at a time, strong wire with a cloth maybe, you could be done in ten minutes.
  • emma
    well. That took a while to read.

    ...but how do they feed the fish?
  • FishFoot
    That is so cool! Seems fun to swim in if I was a fish. Great idea. I would want that if I had fish, that's a real gap in the market for cool tanks.

    I suppose it would also work for hamsters or other rodents/similar pets.

    Glad I made this stumble :p
  • discus
    well, suction or not, physics applies. Any physicians here? I thought the fish would have a hard time swimming so high against gravity. Can fish attain indefinite buoyancy? This is not a nice setup. A tube parallel to the lids would be more acceptable, but then people would tap on the tubes... I can't decide which is more cruel. BTW, fish have long term memory, see link: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411366/1587710 .
  • Melly
    That is awesome... though, it would be funny to have some really evil, barracuda looking type of fish in there... scare the crap out of people >.
  • to peerpressure.
    you'll probably never come back. but who cares. You're from britain, half of your populace is just as stupid and petty ashalf of everyones populace. unfortunatly, the only half of the american populace who posts in places like this re 12 years old. For some weird reason, you europeans think they represent all of us. here's my theory, correct me if i'm wrong. you're 12 year olds are just s immature and stupid as ours. maybe more. suck it.
  • billy bob
    do you think I need to get a permit to write in this . or just poach
  • Joe (Not the same one)
    This is really cool, imagine what it'd be like if you made like a grid going across the ceiling for fish! =D I would so do this, if I had fish.
    Sorry, but I have to.
    Fish have brains, STARFISH don't, and fish have feelings, we are all evolved from fish, millions of years ago, so they have to be pretty damn clever. Plus they'll last long after us, as long as we don't over-fish.
  • janelle
    COOL!
  • I can not believe there have been this many comments on something so insanely stupid. The owners of this coffee bar must be on crack.
  • stevie
    Gazman is a dick!
  • cold pie
    i really enjoyed reading all this, tank looks gr8, the fish wudnt go up there if it was uncomfy for them, the cleanin and all that looks rather impractival, but if the guy set it up im shore hes got it sorted,
    gazman ur a twat, itheres plenty of tank, they dnt av to go dwn the tunnels they choose to,
    pease out
  • belac
    Hahaha you guys all crack me up! Look at that fish's face he is so pumped on life.
  • -PooPoo
    Hey those are Texas Cichlids. Sweet.
  • jade
    i love it what a great idea i have fish that jump so this would save them the trouble lol jade
  • fish R shitting over your head
    What a great idea. The should come up with something like this for hamsters and gerbils...Oh ya they already did, the human ass.
  • lomphy
    OMG I WANT ONE

    that thing is amazing, an incredible piece of fish tank thing
  • Plip
    Chill out my man. Why do you always take the fishes side haha. Dont worry if someone dosent provide scientific data when making such a trifle statement about a trifle subject. And ultimately it does just look cool. I dont think they had the fish in mind when constructing such a controversial piece of architecture haha.
  • dcace94
    i dont get how its cruel when its the fishes' choice to go in the tube or not
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