fishbites Posted January 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2012 Sump all done today - just waiting for the silicone to cure - should be fine tomorrow given the hot day we had today...... This is a simple sump - one intake chamber and an over flow chamber to use for carbon or purigen or macropore, etc.... then the main pump / heater / UV chamber.... First step - find some plastic pots to use as a stand for egg crate (easier than making ledges out of glass for the egg crate to rest on ) Space them out so they are able to take the weight of the filter medium that will go in above.... by keeping the filter media chamber above the bottom of the tank - you avoid having any corners of the sump where detritus builds up and causes hydrogen sulphide, etc..... Next cut the egg crate to size - amazing how easy this is with a dremel and a small cutting wheel... The egg crate is cut to the size of both chambers..... Time to insert the glass - one panel sitting on the floor of the sump and just at the left edge of the eggcrate... everything to the left of this glass panel is where the pump and heater and UV steriliser goes.... the main large chamber to the right is were the water comes through from the tank overflows and will contain a zeopad and 5kg of coral rubble.... the smaller centre chamber will allow for bags of carbon, macropore, filter wool or similar to be placed for various purposes..... The tape on the front glass is just to help me not make such a mess with the silicone and comes off immediately after the siliconing process is over..... the eggcrate is now a permanent fixture in the sump.... Tomorrow will connect up the final pipes to the sump and install the PondOne Shark 7500 Fountain Pump,,,, it has a dual outlet feature - so by turning a valve I can use it to pump water out of the sump via a hose to the garden instead of having to siphon the tanks for a water change.... I'll still need to gravel vac from time to time though but hopefully less than I have to with the other tanks.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted January 1, 2012 Report Share Posted January 1, 2012 This is a fantastic thread. Thanks for taking the time to do it Wayne. Well done. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted January 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2012 Thanks Paul Hopefully it helps anyone considering taking on an old rack of tanks and giving them a home.... Doing this thread was just a matter of remembering to take some pics along the journey - and then upload them at the end of the day..... should have done the same when I built the 4 x 4ft tank rack from scratch.... Just a note on cutting glass - if you're going to cut glass you can cut to within a fraction of a mm accuracy but make sure you measure twice and cut once .... I use a Toyo oil filled glass cutter (trade quality) and will never ever suggest anyone go to their local large hardware store for the cheapest glass cutter - tried them all and binned the lot - none were of a decent cutting quality until I got the Toyo from Lincoln Sentry - about $30 roughly but has cut so much glass since I've had it and it still cutting like new.... A good T-square and an accurate ruler are also a must.... to take the edge off the glass I use a diamond stone (takes seconds to take the sharpness off the glass).... oh and a good pair of running pliers (as opposed to swimming pliers ) is worth the money to be able to cut off small strips of glass easily.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted January 1, 2012 Report Share Posted January 1, 2012 Great work Wayne. I can vouch for the right tools for the jpob and the oil cutters are so great even I can cut glass with them LOL. I think this has been an insperational thread thenks for all your effort Cheers Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Yeah Kudos on the thread, I wish I'd seen the shots in post #26... (bloody average net connection) x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Amazing job Wayne. Thanks for the photos along the way. You may have inspired me to continue tinkering with my fishroom setup in 2012! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted January 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Thanks Les, Ness, Jarrod..... Jarrod you're up next then by the sounds of it will look forward to your fish room adventure..... Intake partition of sump now filled with coral rubble and bio cubes - at the top is a piece of egg crate and over that is a sheet of Zeopad (AquaOne product) which acts as a catcher for large pieces of waste and also helps with reduction of ammonia..... The water then rises through the middle chamber which can contain other filtration media such as macropore / purigen / carbon / anything else you can imagine..... The sump has been filled to about 5cm above the pump and let the pump run till full overflow starts running.... then turned off so the high water mark can be marked on the front of the sump - this is the mark to refill to if the pump is off.... fill higher than this and you risk overflow in case of a power failure.... Here is the first tank dressed up a bit - the substrate is coral sand.... rocks are lava rocks.... not sure on the plants - Matt might be able to ID them.... this tank will have my cyprichromis leptosoma Utinta Red Tails in it.... fingers crossed they like their new home.... Now to run the system in and check for any plumbing leaks..... dress the remaining tanks with a few rocks and clay pots and other items to amuse the fish and me :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Fantastic job Wayne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted January 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Here's a final walk through of the "fish room" or a bit under half of my shed..... Need to move fish around a bit and glad wrap a few tanks to stop the "jumpers" .... find some more rock / driftwood/ etc.... Edited January 2, 2012 by fishbites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Oh wow - impressive! Thanks for the tour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Wow. :-). I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Excellent job!! How much space have you got as a corridor between the racks? I'm trying to figure out how closely I can get racks together in the fishroom I'm planning at the end of next year. Oops, that will in fact be this year... .... to take the edge off the glass I use a diamond stone (takes seconds to take the sharpness off the glass).... Is that like one of those knife sharpening stones? oh and a good pair of running pliers (as opposed to swimming pliers ) As opposed to running with scissors? *lol* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted January 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 Razzi the space between facing racks is 900mm The diamond stone is like an old fashioned sharpening stone only it has a diamond covered surface - you could sharpen knives, scissors, axes, etc with it.... running with scissors, dancing with wolves, sleeping with fishes.... take your pick :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted January 3, 2012 Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 This is a massive project, was your fishy setup just a bit smaller than this before? My god.. I'd never get out of there to get to work in the mornings! It's really impressive... how is this going to change your style of fishkeeping? more breeding? supplying LFS etc? And how many species have you got? i think you should just start charging admission and open the doors on the weekends from 9-5 ....we could get work experience kids in to do WC's.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted January 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 LOL @ Ness.... wasn't a bad movie that! Well I started wtih my 30 year old 2ft x 12 x 15 tank (bred my first Bettas in that tank).... then got a 4ft tank..... then 3 years ago the LFS was selling off an old rack of tanks cheap so I got that and lined one wall of the shed..... then got a 6 x 2 x 3 cheap but never set it up - really didn't want to have to go reaching that deep to arrange or do things in that size tank! then I got 'given' about 5 x 4ft tanks for couple of hundred .... so mid last year built a rack for 4 of them..... then swapped a 6 x 2 x 3 for the two new (old) racks I have just done up..... The whole setup takes less than one bay of my double shed... My style of fish keeping... hmmmm..... the wilds started taking over so now they have one rack of tanks all to themselves.... one rack for the American cichlids (wild mouthbrooders love convict snacks)..... one rack for the Tanganjikan cichlids.... and one rack for fry growout is the plan (until I buy too many fish again!) Alferady have 4 LFS's I can sell fish to if I want to so that will stay the same until 1 closes down (owner retiring) later this year Fish: about 30+ Wild Bettas: 17 i think you should just start charging admission and open the doors on the weekends from 9-5 Had thought of doing that at some stage just to sell off excess fish and plants.... ....we could get work experience kids in to do WC's.. I'm setting up a quick drain system of 50mm drainage pipe to siphon the water into and have a gizmo I made to put the water back in eadily.... less water all over the place too I'm sure!!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted January 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 After the cyprichromis, I next moved the Neolamprologus tretocephalus into their new tank - decorated with plastic plants and clay pots with 40mm holes drilled into them with a diamond hole saw (nice smooth openings and quick to drill) Within about 5 minutes of hitting their new environment the 5 of them congregated and the dominant female set about attracting the male - and both dismissed the other females or juvie males to the other end of the tank... even caught a typical cichlid courting liplock in this video.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted January 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 A few more Tangs have moved into the setup.... only one tank to go now.... still not sure how to decorate it but will wait and see what I decide to put in it.... These are juvie shellies - L hecqui / meeli (depending which school of thought you're from - one species or two) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Now that is cool I dont know much about them so will have to loook them up on the web Cheers Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted January 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Apart from them being skittish at times Les.... they are always up to something and their antics are fun to watch.... they are VERY good parents too..... one of the larger shell dwellers but still only about 7cm max size.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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