Shilo

Background was a fail, not happy with it at all - too many straight lines. Will dig out and replace the worse bits once I get some more grout.

Plumbing all fitted but not glued yet as I need a lot of clamps for the hoses and a couple of other fittings. Access under the overflow is VERY cramped but I can get my hand in there to adjust the taps as needed. Can't take a very good pic of it without removing some of the pipe work to move the tank away from the wall but: To explain the system: Overflow is a typical Herbie, 2 x 32mm bulkheads that join up to 40mm pvc (had to use 32mm because of room but already had 40mm pipe). The front bulkhead is the siphon and leads to a ball valve then piped through the wall into the wet/dry filter in the sump. 2nd bulkhead is the emergency / trickle one and is the same but without a valve. A third 20mm bulkhead is down below at the bottom of the tank for water changes. From the bulkhead it T's off with one being the drain. This goes to a tap then through into the sump room, along the wall to the waste drain. The other also goes to a tap and through the wall but connects up with the charcoal filter and the mains. This system should allow two types of water changes. For a 50 or so % change the drain tap is opened up fully and when the tank level reduces enough, its closed off then the other (fill) tap is turned on and water from the filter enters the same bulkhead and fills up the tank again. The other type is continuous. The fill tap is adjusted to let just a small trickle into the tank from the filter, this mixes with the tank water then the excess goes through the overflow system, into the sump, and out the sumps overflow into the waste drain. I am hoping that bulk water changes will be unnecessary once the system is up and running but if it is needed it sure beats syphoning into buckets! From the sump room pic below it looks like only one overflow pipe goes into the trickle filter because the main siphon one goes into the back of the top draw. The draw stand was a couple of cm too high to have the siphon pipe below horizontal if I put it through the top, should still work Ok and by doing this it has more drop.

I'm at that stage where I can't wait either! At a guess I think there is 2 months to go before its stocked, all depends on how fast the tank cycles once its up and running. Labour weekend is my deadline. Just spent a small fortune on plumbing bits today :cry1: but managed to test out the chiller (it works!!!) and have sussed the plumbing design and where everything is going to go. Also did the 3D background over the the last couple of days - didn't turn out anything like I wanted but reckon its good enough. Will post a pic once the grout's dried.

Warning: If you want some driftwood from the beach don't be too greedy and make sure the beach hasn't sanded in! Last week I spotted a couple of good pieces close to the track but the beach had filled in since then so ended up walking a km to find the right piece, cut it off the log with a pruning sawn then lugged it back along the beach and over a huge sand dune to the car. Just about killed me! Once home I attacked it with a chainsaw and ended up removing half the wood so it would fit the tank - should have taken the saw to the beach with me and only carried half the weight. Don't know what sort of wood it is but its solid and heavy so not pine or any other sappy wood. It should darken after being water blasted and soaked for a while. Also made a cover for the overflow side of the tank. A simple bit of stained ply made a huge improvement on the overall look. Plan is to fill under the wood with spray on foam to avoid any dead spots then cover the foam with grout / sand mix to blend in with the background I've yet to make (tomorrows job).

Thanks mate. Your foam will be going into that sump in the previous pic as an additional filtration to the wet/dry, reckon the combination should work very well.

And it all fits together. (Still have to put a grey trim down the side to cover the overflow.)

Doable, but it still relies on a float and mechanical switch and in my case I want to try to keep things simple. My number one criteria in designing the tank system is of course fish health but number 2 is for it to be as maintenance free as possible (thus the automatic water change). Even if a float switch is only checked once every few months it still adds to the maintenance schedule. Once the plumbing is done I will test things out to see how well it does work ( probably not at all! ),

It was the safest thing I could think off. If the system is left too long in a power cut then the backup is the pumps run dry cut off but there will always somebody around the camp to turn the drain off within the 8'ish hour limit. 8hrs is a guess, although water will still be trickling in (25ltr/day) I won't be able to fine tune the tap enough to exactly match it, so with the sump full from a pump stoppage more will exit then enter even with the tap tuned in as close as I dare. A float valve is okay but they do jam or leak (it happens too often here) so I don't trust them enough.

Glass arrived so siliconed it in today. Wasn't as nerve wrecking as I thought it would be and went well with no gaps (plywood edges are exposed because the brace is removed). Hopefully I should be able to do a water test next week once the silicone has cured. Also took the opportunity to silicone some gutter guard over the weir to stop any fish enjoying a hydro-slide ride . Other bit of progress was the sump drain. I will be trickling 25 litres of new water per day into the sump as part of the automatic water change but that of course means 25 litres of old water has to be removed. The sump has a stand pipe in it (not shown in pic) to set the water level and I added a cheap irrigation tap so I can adjust the flow. If I had it open, during power outages the sump will fill and the water will pour out of this outlet leaving only what's below the standpipe. This means the pump will run dry before the tanks overflow kicks in, the tap allows me to control how fast the water exits the sump and it should give me a good 8 hours to close it completely before levels get too low. The second upright on the waste pipe is for the bulk water change which will come directly from the tank (should allow me to easily do a 50-75% water change if needed). The waste pipe heads under the house and into a spouting downpipe thus a soak hole.

Sump ended up much larger then I thought (I just used left over materials from the tank). Total capacity of the sump is 225 ltr but since I want room for power outage overflow and the above water media in the wet/dry I will only fill it up to 140 ltr's. This means the whole system will be running on 620 ltrs. Sump is only in there to try for size as I still have to glass the corners and give it another couple of coats of epoxy. Also got the plumber to tap into the house mains and run a water supply into the room (tap under the window). Found out that although the local water is from a spring it still has to be chlorinated because it is stored. Was thinking about using rain water but even if I put in 2x 200ltr barrels it will only last 20 days and a summer drought can be longer. Because of this I will have to fit a carbon filter to the tap before running pipes from it for the automatic water change system - Bugger. Have ordered a Jebao DCT4000 to move the water, hopefully it will be enough for 5+ times turnover as there is a 1m head and I will be T'ing it off so half the return flows through the chiller before entering the tank. Haven't got a plan for the system so most of what I'm doing is just researched guess work. At least with the Jebao I can turn down or increase the flow with out having to use power sapping restrictions like valves.

Sump room. Wasn't going to do much to the room itself but after I cleared out all the fishing & kayaking gear I realised that for my own sanity that orange colour just had to go. Don't know if the colour would of effected the fishes health any but it certainly would have effected mine :sick: So stripped out all the shelving and desk then hit it with a brush and roller. Also took the opportunity remove the old carpet and waterproof the floor with some 2 pot epoxy paint I had laying around. The green tape marks where the sump is going. It should work out to be around 150 litres (half that operational and half for power outage overflow), a trickle filter will be the main filtration method in it.

Canopy all finished (apart from lights and wiring). Still waiting for the glass so next stage is either the 3D background or the sump room.

Fibreglass is actually the cloth or reinforcing used in the resin - made from strung glass thus "fibreglass". Any of this is inert and safe to use but 200g woven cloth is the easiest to use as well as one of the cheapest options. Once set in resin its easy to cut, sand etc For resin "fibreglass" can either be polyester or epoxy. Don't use polyester despite being cheap because unless it is coated with a gel coat to seal it is not as waterproof as epoxy and can bubble or lift (osmosis in boat hulls where the gel coats failed). Any of the normal non-specialised epoxy's and brands will be aquarium safe because epoxy is completely inert after curing. There are some specialised ones out that that contain other chemicals that could cause problems but these are more expensive and harder to find. Any brand like Ados, Epiglass, West Systems etc are all ok. Not sure exactly what you are planning but freshly mixed epoxy is like thick varnish in consistency and is not a glue. If you want it thicker then you will have to mix it with some glue powder or filler (also on trademe), for thinner heat both the resin and hardener separately before mixing together. Not sure of using any type of metal in the tank apart from high grade stainless. Copper, brass, aluminium or any of those alloys I would stay well away from.

Tank cover framed out. The angled front will have a hinged top and lighting (probably simple led strips) will go along the centre brace. The rear 3rd will have removable inserts because I want to have some plants growing out of the top with their roots in the tank. In keeping with the native biotope theme, does anybody have any recommendations on a native that can handle permanently submerged roots? Must be low light and I would prefer a leafy type plant instead of sedge / grass like. Thinking of http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-henui-group/new-plant-page/parataniwha.html but open to suggestions.

Time for another progress Report: Inside of the tank has been stained then a sealer coat of epoxy applied. After that a layer of 200g fibreglass cloth and 3 more layers of epoxy. No way it should ever leak apart from the 2 big holes in the side where I'm currently trying to source some glass to fill in. No bare wood anywhere, if its not epoxyed on the inside its painted with primer + 3 coats of enamel on the outside. Overflow attached to the end and drilled then sealed to take the fittings. I had got 2X 32mm bulkheads but they are the type used for alkathene pipe and the inside diameter looks too small so will go up to 40mm. Next part of the project is making the tank cover.

Woodwork on the tank is all done. Hoped to get away with not using a centre brace but even with the Euro brace around the top there was a slight amount of give when I pushed the edges apart so put a centre brace in. The top is only temporarily screwed as it will be glued once the glass panels are in. Next on the list is to stain the inside, I will do this as an alternative to tinting the epoxy and using a spirit based stain will mean the epoxy still soaks into the wood well. Oil based would be a very different story. Will also make the overflow box tomorrow. Have decided to use a Herbie type overflow instead of the Bean animal one because it will be a tight squeeze with 3 pipes in there compared to only 2. Unless there is a reason to go for the bean animal type?

Still working on it. Stand stained and varnished and the tanks currently being glued & screwed together.

Progress Report. Apart from paint or varnish the stand is 99% finished. Just have to get some stronger catches for the doors - not going to have handles on them as this will just encourage kids to open them, instead I will lever them open. The magnetic catches I originally got are too weak. By the way I'm not worried about my kids cause I don't have any but I sell ice creams from the camp office and during the summer when 20+ kids all decide they need ice cream at the same time nothing is safe from the infestation :facepalm: Also cut out some of the ply for the tank so I can get a fair idea of the final size. Will need a step ladder to reach the bottom but that's good because again it will be kid proof. Gap between tank and window is deliberate as I need an extra 15cm for the overflow, will cap this off so it can't be seen. By the way, final capacity will be 483.6 litres.

Because of the cut plan of the 2 sheets of 1200 x 2400 ply I'm now thinking of 55cm (2x60cm less waste), so fairly low and my planned 500ltr now becomes only a 430ltr. Stand is now lined with thin ply and door openings cut out. Put a floor on the bottom made from a recycled bookshelf, looks ugly but will only be seen if the doors open. Left the back unlined to allow easy access to the wall behind for plumbing and power cords etc. Trip to Te Awamutu tomorrow for mouldings to try to beautify it, problem with living an hours drive from the nearest hardware store - I have to stop work on the project for a few days if I don't have something.

Bit of a change to the stand. Decided to put in more cross pieces on the top to help spread the weight of the tank and since I may decide to put a sump in the stand one day did the same to the base. Much happier with it now. The bit of wood on top is all that is left of 24m.

Yeah, I've been following his videos - great timing with the ply tank ones! :thup:

Its only a 500ltr so simple box. The ply I have is 18mm and I will euro brace or similar to stop it bowing, my problem is the restricted area I have because the thicker the walls (like if it was framed) the less internal area the tank will have and I want to maximise this. I don't believe in just using epoxy to waterproof the ply (too likely to crack or de-laminate) like a lot of people do so I will be putting down 2 or 3 layers of glass cloth. This should help stiffen things up as well as stopping any potential epoxy failure. Stand frame finished. Screwed and glued and all verticals are doubled up for strength. Next is to line it & make doors, still undecided to go for a stain / varnish finish or a paint job. Will see how good a job I do of lining - if its a botch up then I will paint.

It's been 6 years since my last aquarium but now I find myself with a bare area in a camping ground reception that is crying out for one! The plan is to have a native stream biotope which I think will be more interesting for both NZ and overseas guests then tropical etc. The tank will be plywood / fibreglass not because of budget (it will work out more expensive then glass) but simply because I think it will be a fun project. It will be 155cm long and 60cm wide, since that is the largest I can go before it restricts access to get behind the reception counter. I haven't firmed up the height yet so at this moment guessing around the 500ltr mark give or take 50ltr's. Will keep adding posts to this topic as each stage is completed.

You can try UV sterilisation etc but a much cheaper option is to turn off the lights and covering up the tank for 4 days (black out). The algae will die out but plants are hardy enough should survive (the sad ones may take a bit more time to recover). Do some water changes during and after this time because as the algae dies off and rots the ammonia and nitrate levels will rise. Test your phosphate as well because a high phosphate reading may mean the algae is taking advantage of it and using up a lot of the other nutrients (nitrate's etc) before the plants can grab it. Plants will out compete algae if everything is in balance but if there is an excess of a nutrient (like phosphate) then the algae is more adaptable and will take advantage of it leaving none of the nutrients for the plants. So you can continue to use Flourish after the water has cleared but I would suggest thinking of the recommended dose as being the maximum and starting off with only 1/4 the amount. Keep increasing it slightly over the following weeks as the plants grow and keep pace with the dosage. If you really want to see the plants take off then use CO2 along with increased lighting. But the same thing goes as above - start off slowly and increase the CO2 and light to keep pace with the plant growth as too much too suddenly will mean algae will take advantage of the surplus.

Not sure of the Wellington area, but they are much easier to find at night. Spot light them in the shallow margins and you will be amazed on how many there are in places that are barren during the day.