Countertop Tank viewing from all sides?

[Bill Smith]

Hey all:

The MTS addiction gets ever stronger...

I have a countertop island in my kitchen with its own power. I'm weighing the possibilities of putting a nice cube tank on the center of it, but I don't want any cords to show.

Wondering if anyone here has had to deal with that (paging Mr. @Daniel), and what kind of clever solutions/ideas you've come up with or seen for hiding those kinds of things?

Suspended lighting from the ceiling is doable, but not optimal, because it's a very high ceiling at an angle.
I am open to drilling the bottom of the tank, but how do I get power cords through there?

Thanks!

Bill

[Streetwise]

Here is a little brainstorm idea. Make your own powerhead sponge filter mounted on the bottom, without drilling, using foam, and one of these:

https://ecotechmarine.com/vortech

You could have the tank on a little riser to hide the outside part of the powerhead. You could even try lighting from underneath, maybe with glass cubes or cylinders in the substrate directly above the light source(s).

I love your idea!

Edited September 18, 2020 by Streetwise

[MickS77]

First thing that comes to mind would be a black cord hinder on an outside corner of the tank. If you don't run a heater and use only a sponge filter you could have only one airline going into the tank. If you build a little enclosed pedestal for it you could hide the airpump and cords under the tank. Use a fluval 3.0 nano for a light, that has a small cord. 

[Bill Smith]

14 minutes ago, Streetwise said:

Here is a little brainstorm idea. Make your own powerhead sponge filter mounted on the bottom, without drilling, using one of these:

https://ecotechmarine.com/vortech

You could have the tank on a little riser to hide the outside part of the powerhead. You could even try lighting from underneath, maybe with glass cubes or cylinders in the substrate directly above the light source(s).

I love the idea!

Magnet-driven filtration! Brilliant! I love it! This scratches my DIY itch so hard.

For lighting, I was thinking a decorative lamp might do the trick as well...like, lean into it as part of the design.

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Bill Smith

[Bill Smith]

5 minutes ago, MickS77 said:

First thing that comes to mind would be a black cord hinder on an outside corner of the tank. If you don't run a heater and use only a sponge filter you could have only one airline going into the tank. If you build a little enclosed pedestal for it you could hide the airpump and cords under the tank. Use a fluval 3.0 nano for a light, that has a small cord. 

Good ideas! Pedestal for the win, thanks for that idea @Streetwise and @MickS77! Makes me think maybe drilling a tiny hole in the bottom for just an airline will handle my filtration and aeration for me at the same time. Maybe mod a sponge filter to pipe the airstone through the bottom of that too.

I'm getting more excited about this idea by the minute!

[MickS77]

If you use an acrylic tank you may be able to drill and tap a hole in the bottom. You could then use a 1/4in push-to-connect fitting to run an airline into the tank. Idk how water tight that would be but an interesting experiment. Other idea is to have a center spire of black pvc pipe connected to bulkhead on the bottom, run everything up through that, obviously have the end above the rim of tank, conceal it with plants and decor. Not sure what drilling the bottom of tank does for the structural integrity though. 

[Bill Smith]

3 minutes ago, MickS77 said:

If you use an acrylic tank you may be able to drill and tap a hole in the bottom. You could then use a 1/4in push-to-connect fitting to run an airline into the tank. Idk how water tight that would be but an interesting experiment. Other idea is to have a center spire of black pvc pipe connected to bulkhead on the bottom, run everything up through that, obviously have the end above the rim of tank, conceal it with plants and decor. Not sure what drilling the bottom of tank does for the structural integrity though. 

Yes! I could even run a transparent uplift tube up the center, a la undergravel filter style, and splice in a "transparent " power cord to the light overhead. I'll bet bubbles would obscure it mostly.

 

[MickS77]

3 minutes ago, Bill Smith said:

Yes! I could even run a transparent uplift tube up the center, a la undergravel filter style, and splice in a "transparent " power cord to the light overhead. I'll bet bubbles would obscure it mostly.

Even better 👍 They do make clear SCH 40 & 80 pvc that way it would fit standard bulkheads

Edited September 18, 2020 by MickS77

[Daniel]

1 hour ago, Bill Smith said:

Hey all:

The MTS addiction gets ever stronger...

I have a countertop island in my kitchen with its own power. I'm weighing the possibilities of putting a nice cube tank on the center of it, but I don't want any cords to show.

Wondering if anyone here has had to deal with that (paging Mr. @Daniel), and what kind of clever solutions/ideas you've come up with or seen for hiding those kinds of things?

Suspended lighting from the ceiling is doable, but not optimal, because it's a very high ceiling at an angle.
I am open to drilling the bottom of the tank, but how do I get power cords through there?

Thanks!

Bill

*Excuse the photo problem I am having, but I think you get the gist.

@Bill Smith you hit upon the solution exactly which is four big holes drilled through the bottom of the aquarium.

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Pipe on the left goes down to the recirculating pump. Pipe on the right is a standpipe overflow that runs the excess water out to a pond.

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This is the inline heater (a hot tub heater) and the Iwaki circulating pump. The tube with the blue ball valve is water from the well/RO system that reaches the tank through Pex tubing embedded in the concrete slab foundation of the house.

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This is the other side of the tank where water enter and leaves through hidden emitters in the aquarium, and the other pipe is the other side of the Iwaki circulation system. This tank has no filter system, but the water is automagically changed frequently.

Lights come down from outlets embedded in ceiling.

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I have made the sleeve to tuck all the lighting cables up on the ceiling but have been too lazy to get around to it. The iLonda (which I purchased on your recommendation and love) cannot go upside down, so I am still think about that one.

If I didn't have the lights suspended from the ceiling I would have mounted them like this:

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And discretely snaked the power cables along the black rim. Notice that the Kessil cabling runs through the interior of the gooseneck mounting arm. Very nice!

So in summary, plumbing etc. underneath with holes drilled in bottom of tank, and electrical from above or discretely snaked along edge of tank.

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[Bill Smith]

Thanks @Daniel for all the insights into your setup! While my setup would be in the 25-35-gallon range, you do have me thinking best practices here.

And acrylic solves all my drilling woes, don't know why I didn't consider that in the first place.

 

14 minutes ago, Daniel said:

The iLonda (which I purchased on your recommendation and love) cannot go upside down, so I am still think about that one.

 

No, but you can mount the iLonda feeder on its side. Just attach it to a piece of 2x4 or similar and mount that part upside down. That's what I do for my pond.