Thunderstorm

Hiya Yes the water level indicator could be changed to do that, instead of switching the buzzer, use it to switch a small relay which in turn can switch a solenoid that is connected to a hose. Thanx Peter

Hiyas Someone might like these circuits. Ones a water level indicator, the other is a water sensor. The water level indicator circuit could be modified to include a solenoid that turns on when the last LED is lit and turns off when at the top mark again. anyway hope someone can find a use for them Water Sensor click here Water level indicator click here Thanx Peter

hiya. Yes i have an overflow in my tank, what i have is some tube up the inside of the tank about an inch from the top. This runs through the bottom of the tank, Im still playing with different overflow ideas and returns, my best one so far is my split tube overflow / return spray bar. I dont have a pic of it but i do the tank. It should display below so you can see the tubes through the tank. Ignore the date on the pic, camera date is wrong One on the left is the overflow, the right one is the return, both go through the bottom. My combined spraybar / overflow idea i was goning to put driftwood over hte tube as it would basicly be a hoop and then plant java fern or something to it. On an exisitng non drilled tank, maybe use a over the side overflow and use a valve on the pump to match the flow. Caryl - Yup, when i change plants and fish from the 2ft the light will go over the plant section on the sump. YEars ago i made a plant filter, basicly it was a thing that sat on top of the tank and had channels in it that i had plants in, the water flowed in these channels and hten overflowed back into the tank, worked really well, was hte only filtering i had on that tank. So i just thought i would combine all that into a sump and see how it goes. Thanx Peter

Hiya Buzzy. On my 6FT im building im having a sump. See pic below. Water comes in the top from tank, over the drop plates then into the first chamber which will be filled with scoria, then out the bottom of that chamber to the next one which will be filled with basiclly the stuff from inside a duvet, Dacron is it?, then it over flows into the next chamber which will have a planted section of crypty stuff then out that hole to the pump. I still have to plumb it all up but should work well Thanx Peter

hiya Ok sweet as, dont wanna get in trouble lol Thanx heaps

Hiya If i wanted to buy some plant from ebay (usa) what rules and regulations are there before it can be shipped to NZ? Or can it be sent if it was a once in a blue moon thing? Thanx peter

Hiya I was going through my stuff over the weekend and come across a few schematics for controllers and thought i would share them for those that are electronicly minded. Threre is a CO2 controller Computerised Timer A thermostat. Just Click Here to veiw the images. They are quite large as i left them that way for clarity so those on dialup be patient Thanx Peter PS these are not my designs, just schematics i have collected, credit goes to the designer.

Hiya Some pics of my CO2 setup Just click on the pic to enlarge. Thanx peter

Hiya I use a little plastic needle valve on my system. Its set for about a bubble per second depending on yeast fermentation progress. You can get them from ya LFS. Setting it up is tricky i found as you have to wait untill the yeast is brewing nicely to get enough gas coming out to play with. I'll take some pics of my CO2 system and post them up tomorrow. Thanx Peter

hiya breakaway : Thats good about your algae, Im still fighting with BB (thanx to using a phosphate sp? rich fertiliser) in my 2 ft but its slowly dying off. Update on my 6 ft tank, finished off the plumbing tonite and tested it, well ggeeezzz lol, some may remember i was going to use a small spa pool pump. uummm lets just say im looking for another pump lol. The flow was awesome, prolly wwaaayyy too much for a planted tank, might have been ok for a multi return marine tank but the noise ggeeezzzz, 747's taking off come to mind, had my girlfriend on the phone at the time and she said "if ya gonna use that pump im not staying the night" lol I know some of you will laugh shaking ya head as you read this but hey, i had to try it lol Thanx Peter

Hope ypou dont mind but i added the bigger picture for you for a clearer view Thanx Peter

hiya suphew : Do you have a pic of your soda stream bottle idea? This is what im playing with at the moment. I have everything but cant find a suitable device to hold the little valve in the bottle open. I am playing with the idea of using the soda stream valve thing that the bottle attaches to and holding it open with a rubber band, then the flow will be regulated by a small regualter an needle valve then off to the diffuser / bubble counter Thanx Peter

Hiya Yes, what catbrat said heres the diagram i promised Its a bit rough but it gets the idea across Thanx peter

Hiya Yes you can just drill 2 holes in teh bottle top and silicone the tubes to it instead of the rubber stopper. Also stagger the tubes a bit on the inside. I'll make a quick diagram for a clearer idea Thanx Peter

Hiya also to avoid stuff from the CO2 reactor blocking the airstone, i use a 2nd bottle with a rubber stopper in the top with 2 holes in it. In one hole is the tube from the reactor and the other hole has a tube from the bottle to the tank so any nasties coming from the reactor drop harmlessly into the 2nd bottle and not into the tank. The rubber stopper i got from the school i work at from the science dept but im sure they could be sourced elsewhere. Thanx peter

Warren : wow kewl. thank you for the DIY section Chimera : I wasnt meaning all posts, i said some posts, I guess what i was trying to say didnt come out right, Im not much good at that, but anyway tiz trivial and doesnt matter. I come here because its a kiwi site which helps sometimes espicially when sourcing parts and services. Maybe meet up with a few fellow hobbists to look at setups and exchange ideas etc. Want a visitor one weekend chimera? im up your way most weekends and during the week at night sometimes too Thanx Peter

hiya I come here for one reason, to read and share knowledge of the aquatic hobby. Im still resonbly new here only having joined up recently and reading a few months before i joined but have noticed that some posts here resemble the rubbish that goes on in trademe land which is a shame. This board should be filled with knowledge, helpful hints, helpful DIY tips (DIY isnt that bad ya know), there even isnt a DIY section (if there is, i have missed it and im sorry. At first glance it seems to be a few rich kids trying to out compete each other with "i paid $$$ for this and $$$$ for this" which isnt really what its about i feel. Anyway enough from me, i have a setup to finish and want it to be circulating and heating tonight so i can test those systems. cyas thanx peter

Hiya This article may help. Click Here Thanx peter

Hiyas Just been looking at some of the tanks at the AGA contest entries. Some awesome looking tanks there. I been getting some ideas for my own tank anyway heres the link for you to look at 2004 Aquascape contest Thanx peter

hehe i was gonna post that too but thought better not :lol:

Hiya breakaway Im using 2 x 20W Power Glo. I did have 2 x 15W energy savers bulbs as well but took them out. On my big tank im not going to use the ones from the fishy shop, after reading about lights on here im just going to use normal fluros in the right light range which i will have to read up on again :lol: What made your algae go away? Those are nice guppys, im not a guppy person but those are nice Thanx peter

Hiya Caryl uumm those purplish blobs are :oops: BB algae. I usually razer blade them off now and then but have lost my blade. But they are slowly dieing so may just leave it on there a while. DEATH TO THE ALGAE mmuuuuaaahahahahaha uumm yeah :lol: Thanx peter

Hiya Ballistic I am in auckland, prolly a tad far for some kribs. thanx for the compliments, i been fishkeeping off and on over the years, always wanted a large fully planted tank, have been resonbly sucessful with the recent smaller one so now on a bigger challenge. oh also ignore the date in those pics on the 2ft ones, i left the batterys out of the camera too long and didnt reset the date / time but they was taken today. Thanx Peter

Hiya scholesy The software will be limited to a certain type of controller but yup once i have it all done i will gladly describe how i did it at the moment i only have the controllers for the lights but will add more as money permits for temp etc I have started a thread here as a kind of log for my progress on the whole project, now that i finally got the pics off my camera. Thanx peter

Hiyas I havent posted for a while and finally got some pics off my camera for you to look at. Click Here there is some pics of my lil 2 ft planted where my kribs breed quite happily, its a bit algafied from using the wrong liquid fertiliser at the start, but since have bought some excel flourish and the algae is showing signs of dying off with red/brown tinges after 2 days, i usually razer blade the front panel but have lost my blade. There is some pics of my 6 ft tank work in progress which should be up and running soon, hopefully if all goes to plan, its going to be a planted tank transferred from the 2 ft and the 2ft is going to a new home or may use it a krib breeding tank. I need to practise taking pics of tanks lol Thanx Peter