jumper Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 after all this time and numerous water changes i thought its time for me to make a barracks. i purchased a metal shelf and some irrigation gear, as i put my order for the hydroponics gutter thing, they have told me only last friday that they are not ordering those anymore as the supplier do not have them anymore. taking that into it. anyone has any new ideas on how to make a simple barracks that would run a sump/ filtration? i have thought about buying some shorter height plastic containers and driling holes on the side for the excess water into the sump. but those would not look good and might have too many sealing problems. basically i am trying to cut down on the bottles WC as much as possible as those are the things that are taking the most time outa the hobby. and since i might not have that much time available soon, i have to make a simple solution and yet maintain this awesome hobby! i have 2 Lt bottles for the barracks, each has 14 cm diameter. So std rain gutter will not hold them properly without too much metal cutting. and still because the bottles will fit too snuggly in the gutter it might obstruct the water flow. help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howlsn Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 This is what I did for my 'el cheapo' barracks made from guttering, plastic sheeting, irrig line & cokebottles. Barracks sit on a table on a 20cm plank of wood raised slightly one end & guttering cap on the highest end. I laid plastic sheet inside the gutter as water treatments in water can tend to corrode guttering. Also plastic sheet along the back so no spills onto the table where the bottles holes overflow. My coke bottles have holes in the back so water runs out rather than spills over top & in power failure they don't run dry. Coke bottles fit in well. Irrig. poly suspended with uprights & wire secured to wood plank. I didn't cap the other end of the guttering, water just flows off it into my filter system (bio balls, filter wool & filter carbon) then into the sump which gets pumped back out (heated). Runs 20bottles fab for me & cost me minimal. I've so far had no issues with the system. Those I know that jump, I just got cheap clear rigid platic or caterer size margarine container lids & drilled holes in them & drilled a bigger hole for dripline with a slit so it simple slides on & covers the top. Hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumper Posted January 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 actually that is pretty nifty! i like the card idea too! looks nice n neat . justa question what happens on each end of the gutter/plastic ends? and how the water spills back into the sump? sorry tried to follow your line and i think i got lost in that part. at the same time, i found this guy that makes glass and he is making some 600 X 170 X 100 with a drilled hole on the side for me. hopefully that will fit into what i missed out on the gutter thingo. and it came out cheaper too ! now i have to wait until he finishes putting it all together and then off to bunnings to buy some piping to make it all fit together. i think i got next weekend already planned out as it sounds :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 Cool barracks Howlsn :thumbs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howlsn Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 justa question what happens on each end of the gutter/plastic ends? and how the water spills back into the sump? sorry tried to follow your line and i think i got lost in that part. What I did was just bought a gutter from bunnings with the matching metal cap for one end (raised end) & siliconed it in place. The water flows down the gutter & runs off the other end (well drops off the other end as it hasn't enough volume/speed to gush off) in a steady trickle for about a 2inch drop into a filter system in my sump. It's a dead simple design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BayBettas Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 Fantastic barracks Howlsn! More pics please. Cheers Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howlsn Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 Will get more pics tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howlsn Posted January 15, 2007 Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 O.K got some pics. The design is really simple so if you want to do similar or want sketched plans let me know happy to help. It is cheap & when I used to breed 10yrs ago had 4 of these & will be doing a second shortly. I'll break it down price wise too. I got a 2m length of Galv. guttering + a cap for 1 end at bunning ($16total) I was going to use plastic guttering but had a heap of thick clear packaging plastic here so decided to lay it in the gutter & up the back for splash back & to stop the water touching th gal. metal as some water treatments etc. can react/corrode it. Just a pic etc. of the cap at the raised end of the gutter...it is sealed with silicone. (I have some jars with juvies temporarily sitting it the gutter that aren't part of the barracks) Now the gutter sits on a 20cm wide 2.1m long plank of timber (that I covered in Alum. foil that sits on the table & is raised 4cm (chocked up) under the end furtherest from the sump. I screwed some uprights (8in total) to the plank (scraps of whatever was around in my metal 'junk pile' that would work) to support a wire which would hold my pvc hose + the splash backing plastic. You can see the wire/hosing/plastic etc. in this pic. I have IAL in the water hence the water colour plus getting more bottles ready for 2nd barracks. planks/uprights etc. all free for me. I used 13mm pvc irrig. hose with rigid screw in 'sprinkler/mist' irrig. uprights, plus a few elbow joiner & a shut off tap so I can shut it down instantly then crawl under table to turn off pump. all up irrig stuff cost $12. from bunnings. The Sump....the water flows off the end of the gutter & onto Bio Balls, then filters down through filter wool, carbon & more filterwool (filtration cost me $10) it them drips into the 40l sump ($7) which has a 150w heater ($8 from AOA), IAL in a mesh bag & a 1000l/hr pump $20 AOA. The barracks are 2l softdrink bottles with the tops chopped off. In the back of the bottle I drilled a series of holes about 3cm from the top, in the side of the bottle that would face the back so the water spills out the holes, runs down the bottle & into the gutter. It just took some minor tinkering to get the pump & flow return back to sump right while keeping a steady but not strong flow into each bottle, but it was pretty easy. I can run 20 barracks reliably & just top up sump daily in the heat with 5-10l water & in colder months WC 25% of the sump weekly. Maintenance wise other than water top ups & param checking, I just siphon out the waste from the bottom of the bottles 2-3times a week depending on how messy they are. I take all bottles out every fortnight &wash the gutter for caught waste etc. & have ample supply of bottles so I can put a clean bottle in & scrub the others fortnightly without much drama. I check the filter wool weekly & change when needed, replacing carbon every 3-4wks. I don't use tops on the barracks as haven't had any of the current 18boys try to jump. I put my barracks in a room that gets the first morning sun so the fish get about 1/2hr sunlight when the sun comes up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumper Posted January 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 amazing! so simple and effective! iwish i had some scraps of anything to do anything with as well . my family has this tendency of throwing everything and anything away... that really helped , thanks for the effort!! :cheer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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