Shilo Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 At last, I finished my aquarium setup. I wanted to do as much as possible DIY to keep the cost down. It consists of the following: Tank I cheated here and brought 2nd hand. 91x38x39 125ltr. I was all set to make a wooden tank but couldn't get the glass or Perspex. The cost to make would have been close to what I paid anyway $60. Stand 5x5cm frame with 9mm ply base, top and back. This wood came from old pallets. The sides and front are 4mm Gaboon ply. The doors - 6mm Redwood ply (both left over from a kayak I built). Components Gorilla glued and screwed or nailed with finishing nails. Varnished (also left over). 4x hinges & 2x magnetic catches. Total cost <$20. Hood Again Gaboon and Redwood ply. 2x hinges. Total cost $10. I had to buy 2 sets of hinges (4) since the 1st packet was one screw short and the same screws weren't available separately Lights Refer Light Suggestion thread. Total cost $63. (includes the 30w bulb I had brought last month). Filter Experimenting with a Wet/Dry trickle filter. It consists of a clear storage cont filled with ceramic noodles and pumice. Flow through holes are melted into the bottom with a soldering iron. A 1kg honey container jams upside down into the top nicely. The lid of this container is drilled with hundreds of small holes to give the sprinkle effect. There is filter wool inside to catch any large muck. An irrigation pipe elbow enters the honey pot 3/4 up the side and is connected to 19mm clear pipe which runs up to the overflow. I plan to redo this system in the future and make one out of epoxy coated ply with a glass front. Rectangular plastic containers will be used as a "draw" system to hold the various media. Total cost $50 approx not including the honey Overflow For those who don't know what one is: Its a method of syphoning water from the tank to the sump while preventing water overflowing or the tank running dry. It also automatically starts the syphon again after a power cut. The water level stays the same whether the pump in the sump is going or not. There are heaps of plans on the web. I decided to make one out of epoxy coated ply since I couldn't get any Perspex. It consists of a external and internal box. The internal box has 2x rows of holes drilled around the top. It sits with the top just above the water level so 1 1/2 rows of holes allow the water surface to enter. I have spot glued Java Moss on it to hopefully disguise the outline. It's connected to the external box by a wooden "bridge". This container has a hole drilled in the bottom with a 19mm irrigation pipe connector going through it (silicon sealed) a 6cm long pipe is shoved on so it pokes up the middle of the box. Now the tricky part. A 30cm upside down U shaped bend of 19mm tube goes from one box to the other. One end must be below the level of the pipe in the external box. By filling both boxes with water and inserting a thin tube inside the U pipe to its highest point, you can suck out any air and have a continuous flow of water from the internal box, up and over the tank wall down into the external box. A lot of people complain about the gurgling noise an overflow makes. I can barely hear this one. Total cost $20 (pipe and connectors). Sump Made out of a plastic 20ltr cont with the top cut out. It contains the pump (Heissner HI-1000 submersible $49), heater and until the Wet/Dry cycles - a hang on back filter. The pump is connected to some 13mm irrigation pipe with various elbows and connectors to get the water back up to the tank and along to a submersed spray bar (more 13mm with holes drilled in it). The pump is rated at 950ltr per hour so allowing for head and friction it should turn the tank over 5 times an hour. Total cost $70 (pump and pipe system) CO2 System Using the yeast system in a lemonade bottle. I have injected the CO2 into the pipe just above the pump. Hopefully it will dissolve as it travels to the tank. Summery Grand Total $290 (some costs are approximate). Now I can see where all my money went over the last few weeks!! This cost doesn't include fish, gravel or plants. I'm very happy with how it turned out. It's obviously homemade but looks good enough to grace a lounge. A similar store brought system would be over $1250 (stand, tank and filter). All I need now are some large display plants. Cheers Shilo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 You also need a digital camera. Where are the photos!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldie Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 Good for you How is it all working out. What a lot of work and effort - the satisfaction is great though HUH??? Good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shilo Posted January 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 You also need a digital camera. Where are the photos!! Your right, I do! It'll be at least another month before I get to develop my film. How is it all working out. What a lot of work and effort - the satisfaction is great though Keep looking at it and thinking "I should have done this or that better" But there was no way I could afford this set up retail so DIY was the only way to go. So far most things working ok. Things I did wrong where: Don't expect irrigation connections to be water tight. Had to clamp some of the hoses and seal where the CO2 is injected. Pumice was not a good idea. Although I boiled, rinsed and picked out any wood peices, the PH has increased and I can only attribute this to the pumice. Will chop up some plastic tonight to replace it. The hood was a bit tight. I made it to the exact dimesions of the tank, but my building ability let me down. Should have made it at least 5mm larger. Slots instead of holes in the internal overflow box would have been better. The scum buildup on the water surface is not being sucked in as much as I would like. Easily changed. The fish seem happy with it. Noticed my X-ray Tetras behaving funny this morning. Turns out a couple were spawning Don't expect any young though since the others where in a feeding frenzy and most of the eggs where layed up at the overflow box where I had stuck some Java Moss Still they are the 1st fish I've had spawn. Now wheres that cigar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 As far as I know pumice is inert and it should not increase the pH at all. Also even if there were wood pieces left in the pumice they would be more likely to decrease the pH (but probably not very much) rather than increase it. I have some aquarium gravel that has quite a lot of pumice mixed in with it and it does nothing to the pH. I have actually put a small amount of bird grit in a 'hang on the back' type filter on this tank to keep the pH up and unlike pumice it has a very noticeable effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 I use pumice as well for filtration, does not affect the PH at all /Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shilo Posted January 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 Very puzzling. :-? Will keep taking PH readings. The only other things added to the system are plastic or epoxy coated wood. The epoxy was cured to the hard stage but I wonder if it still had some curing to go and thus affected the PH. Don't mind the PH level so much since it was 6.6 (same as the water used) and is now a nice 7. Its more the fluctuation that’s worrying. Thanks for the pumice comments, saved me wearing out a pair of scissors. Cheers Shilo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted January 13, 2003 Report Share Posted January 13, 2003 Just a small suggestion, - when you want holes in plastic, you should drill them; do not use your soldering iron. In fact, you shouldn't use a soldering iron to melt plastic at all. The volatile's in the plastic react with the special coating on the copper tip of the soldering iron. It causes the coating to be eaten away. Then the tip of the iron starts to disintegrate as the copper reacts with the solder flux when actually used as a soldering iron. Iron tips are *$%#@!** (very) expensive. I hope this help all you people who wonder why your soldering iron tip slowly gets eaten away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shilo Posted January 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2003 No worrys for me there, don't use it for soldering. I brought the iron for cutting sail and other nylon type material. Already filed the point to a chisel shape. No coating to burn off. Started to drill but the type of plastic the container is made of cracked to easily. But thanks for the tip (pun? what pun? ) Cheers Shilo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted January 14, 2003 Report Share Posted January 14, 2003 Hi Shilo A little hint on drilling plastic, perspex etc. Never use a new drill. It will either bite into it and crack it, or go to quickly in. If you are using a new drill then make the cutting edge blunt by using a fine file. The same principal applies to brass, copper etc. I am a fitter and turner by trade. I learned a few secrets in my time. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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