lpiasente Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 Yuk what a terrible mess to clean. You can buy containers of crystals that absorb the moisture. I can't remember what they are called, sorry. (probably crystal zorb or something) I have used them in the past on my winow sills. I would get them from safeway or hardware stores. Happy cleaning :blush: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted May 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 I think I'd need a helluva lot of crystals. The windows look like someone chucked a bucket of water at them. It's actually dripping down and collecting in puddles on the window sills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jusdeb Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 I think there called closet cà mel or damp rid or something silly like that amd in the long run will cost a small fortune.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted May 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 Yeah I think the crystals and humidifiers are really designed to remove general moisture as a result of humid weather conditions. I think it's a totally different story if you've got heated fish tanks actively causing the humidity. As soon as you dry the air more moisture will replace what you just took out. I'm hoping covering all the open tanks and beanie boxes will make a difference. I'll monitor it over the next few days. But I need to get those windows cleaned off first. I've got a dinner guest coming this evening so I don't think I'll be doing much in terms of fish stuff. I agreed to cook some time consuming Malaysian dishes and it won't go down well if I change the menu at this stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 I think I remember you saying it was difficult to open the window, but this sounds really bad, you need ventilation! Don't spend much time in their unnecessarily, because you might catch a respiratory infection from inhaling fungal spores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpiasente Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 Mmmmmmm malaysian. What time would you like us there? I will even clean your windows while I wait for you to cook my dinner!!!!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpiasente Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 Could you place them near your books just in case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jusdeb Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 A lot of the mould removing cleansers have stuff in the formula to reduce the growth of mould growing back...might be worth while getting this type of thing to slow it down a bit at least. Did you say dinners ready lol??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted May 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 Yes it might be a good idea to place the crystals near the books. Dinner was at 7pm Plenty of leftovers, come on down Not sure how much will be left by the time you get down here Deb. Actually Leanne isn't a 2 minute drive away either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted May 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 I think I've brought the humidity problem under control by turning off the reptile cords in the gutters. It means the only heating is now in the sump. The water that returns the sump cools quite a lot. The beanie boxes are sitting at about 24 deg at the moment. I'm tweaking the heaters in the sump to bring it up a couple of degrees. I'm hoping to get the beanie boxes to be 26 deg without too much evaporation and humidity being caused by the gutters. Now I just have to clean the mould off the walls.... bleeaagh... not looking forward to that job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettc777 Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 You just need a terrestrial version of a Siamese Algae Eating fish lolol Is there such things a Siamese Algae Eating cats? hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythicbetta Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Hi Mike, Great set up. Love the shelves....seems a few people have found the Bunnings starter packs. ........I have them too but I was lazy & didn't treat mine .......just another "to do" job. However your drip & gutter system is smashing! I had thought about setting up a drip system but had *not a clue* how I'd do it, but this ones got the creative thoughts going, I think I'd end up with the moisture problem too! Have you thought about installing an extractor fan like the ones for the bathroom in the fish room and vent it to the outside it might help deal with the dampness issue and best of all you can get them from Bunnings! Cheers Jane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted May 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 I thought about the extractor fan but the reason it works in the bathroom is that the cause of the humidity in the bathroom, ie the shower, doesn't produce the humidity the whole time. So the shower stops and the fan helps extract humid air and allow fresh air to replace it. But in the fishroom the gutter doesn't stop unless the entire system dries out. So the humidity is being constantly replenished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 Hi Mike, I was just about to order all the plumbing for some barracks, but not sure what to use for a gutter. What did you use? Have you come any wide gutters, trays so you can fit a couple of jars across? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 There wasn't a lot of choice of gutters at Bunnings. These were the only PVC ones. They only just fit the beanie boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 *sighs* Woke up to find the sump empty and carpet very wet. This is the second time it's happened. I think there's about 80 L of water soaked into the carpet, which is surprisingly absorbent because the wet area is not that large considering the amount of water. The first time this happened I couldn't figure out where the leak was. But this time I think I've figured out what happens. I found that the hose had detached itself from one of the pumps. This was the case last time but I thought it happened when I turned the pump back on. My theory now is that the little taps which supply water to the beanies get clogged with algae, diatoms and whatever muck that doesn't get caught by the filter. I had noticed that the flow rate seemed to decrease over time... actually a very short time. Anyway I reckon that the pressure builds up and the hose eventually pops off the pump. Water then shoots up horizontally, hits the lid of the container and escapes through the corners that have been cut out for the hoses. :thumbs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettc777 Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 That sucks! Might as well waterproof them room fill it with water and the whole room can be your fish tank! saves worrying about the carpet hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 ROWFL (rolls on Wet floor laughing). Now there's an idea. :thumbs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2jdaze Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted November 1, 2008 Report Share Posted November 1, 2008 Bump, for the people who wanted to see fishrooms :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 How's your system going now Bettarazzi? I need to do something similar, already a fan of the bunnings shelves, they make great guinea pig condo's too! Is there any particular tips you can give, or things you'd do different now that you've had it running for a while? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted December 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 Get the biggest pump you can find. And much bigger than you think you need. I ended up having to use 2 pumps. You can always rig up some kind of release tap if there's more pressure than you need but if you there's too little you simply have to get another one. I neglected to check the levels when I was putting it together. And the whole thing slants the wrong way, ie away from the downpipes instead of towards them. You need a minimum of 20 cm space above each container otherwise there just isn't enough room to net out a fish without having to remove the entire container. If I did it again I wouldn't have the 3rd row. And ideally organise it so I can get at the containers from 2 sides rather than just the front. I don't like the corner. It's just annoying to get around. There's a lot of evaporation from this system which isn't ideal. I've got an idea in my head of making some covers for the exposed areas using the plastic corrugated board that I use as cards. Now I just have to get around to making them. In general the system works really well for me. I sometimes have to use coke bottles when I have more fish than will fit in the barracks. It's always a relief when the numbers go down again. I'm thinking about repeating it on the next shelf down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Thank you for that! It's so good of you to share your experiences, it will save me a lot of time and money too, so I'm very grateful. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettabreeder Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Bettarazzi, Have a "dumb" question - I know the water goes in through the drip tubes, and the water flows out as overflows at the top. How does this method remove the "gunk". I suspect I tend to overfeed my fish - they produce a fair amount of "gunk". Do you reduce the amount of feed, or, am I missing something with respect to waste removal. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted January 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 I just let the gunk break down naturally. The toxins released by the poop as it breaks down dissolves in the water and is then handled by the filter in the sump. Some of the solids will float out of the boxes and make their way to the filter. But this isn't all that important to me. I'm not trying to remove solid waste completely from the system. So it makes no difference whether the poop is in the box or in the filter. Regardless of where it is the ammonia that's released still dissolves into the water and is dealt with by the filter. The solid waste that doesn't float out of each container eventually breaks down into fine particles. I don't find there is much build up of solid waste or gunk in the bottom of the contaners. I just had a look and the most there is would fit into about a 5 mm square. And a lot of boxes don't even have that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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