xxBETTAxx Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 i decided to make a drip system on a table instead of shelves as i have a 21month old that is in the fish room as much as me..i got the table at hydroponic shop.It is 630mm x 1100mm i built an extra stand that fits underneath to help support the weight.I also ran 13mm tubing in channels that are molded into the table to help insulate the water a little on its way down to the filter.well here are some pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 Thanks, Troy! Have you had any fish jump out of the top of the bottles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxBETTAxx Posted May 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 not yet there is a fair distance from the flow out tubes to the top of the containers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 Thank you, that is a great Idea! If you don't mind, could you let us know how much the parts set you back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fighter boy Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 my god i am insprired.... might make one soon. gotta find somewhere to put it though. as i have a 3 and 4 year old brother and sister... well done.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxBETTAxx Posted May 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 i had the filter,heater and pump the other parts set me back about $250 but i was lucky to find alot of the bits and pieces at bunnings on sale and saved a bit there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 I like that it's a completely closed system which minimises evaporation. Well it would minimise evaporation if you had lids. My barracks drains into a gutter which loses water through evaporation rather a lot. I might ditch the gutters in favour of draining it the same as you're doing. Does every bottle have 2 airline tubes for the outflow? Why is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxBETTAxx Posted June 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 yes Bettarazzi they do all have 2 outflow tubes one is more for safety if the lower one blocks for some reason.And as for lids i will be building one big lid from perspex that covers all the containers instead of having a lid on each one i just havn't got around to it yet :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 Ahh.. ok, didn't notice that they were at different levels. I have two outflow holes in my beanie boxes for the same reason. Used to only have one but I would wake up every morning to find water leaked everywhere. Finally worked out that when the lights are out and the fish are asleep they gradually floated towards the outflow hole and blocked it. None of them drowned because when they woke up to take a breath they'd move away from the hole. Drove me bananas for quite a while until I figured out what was going on. Now there are holes on opposite sides and one higher than the other. Have you simply glued the airline to the bottle? Is it just silicone? Or something stronger? Are you using some kind of barbed connector to attache the airline to the black outflow tube? How easily can you remove a bottle completely from the system? Sorry for all the questions. But I think it's interesting how other people solve some of the issues with their systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxBETTAxx Posted June 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 (edited) Ask as many questions as you like im happy to answer.I used a soldering iron to put the holes in the bottles and found it gave a nice tight fit for the air line then used silicone just to make sure they wouldn't leak. I drilled holes in the black outflow tube a little smaller than the airline is thick and just pushed the airline tube streight into it that way if i need to remove a container it just pulls streight out.If the container is staying out i can run a small length of airline from one hole to the other to keep the water flowing otherwise when the pump is on the water fountains out of the holes that are not being used.Hope that makes sence. When i make my next one (hopefully soon)i was going to only have one outflow tube and was just going to have a hole higher for safety but after reading how your fish would cause you problems at night i think i will stick with 2 tubes as i havn't had anything go wrong like that as yet. One thing i do do when i turn the pump on is let it run for a minute or two then turn it off for a couple of seconds then back on that way if any of the containers aren't draining the suction that happens when the pump goes off for a few seconds gets them draining right away.When i first put it together the only problem i had was random containers wouldn't drain some times when i would first turn on the pump and i would squirt water into the outflow tubes with a syringe to get them going but found turning the pump off then on was much faster and easier. I used those barbed connectors (bunnings garden section) for the flowin tubes. Edited June 11, 2009 by xxBETTAxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 I'm guessing that because the black outflow tube is only 13mm it's easy for air pockets to occur thus stopping the airflow. If the tubing was bigger and there was a constant amount of air the outflow would act more like a drip. This is behaving more like a siphon I think. But hang on, when you talk about the pump, do you just mean the inflow pump? You don't have another pump attached to outflow, do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxBETTAxx Posted June 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 just one pump(in flow)i did want to use a thicker outflow tube but the 13mm tube fits flush in the moulded channels so i was kind of restricted other wise i would have had to make a false floor in the table to keep it level or just had the outflow air lines run streight into the table and drain through to the filter via fall (slight angle in the table stand). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 Great design How well does it stay heated? What's the room temperature? What temp is the heater set at? What's the bottle water temp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 I've found that once all the water is heated it stays pretty stable because the water is constantly moving through the system. If you're using an appropriately sized heater for the volume of water it shouldn't be different to heating a single large tank. Is that the same with your system, Troy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 Well I wonder how much the high surface area affects heat loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 I'm guessing given the amount of evaporation I have there is a lot of heat loss as well. That means the heaters (I use a couple) have to work a bit harder. But I reckon once Troy puts his lid on, the difference wouldn't be that great. Troy, apart from the channels that the outflow tubes sit in, what other benefits are there with using the hydroponic table? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxBETTAxx Posted June 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 Stefan i have the heater set at 27 as for the room i run a heater in it at night at the moment cos i have a fair few jared that don't fit in the system i think it sits around 22 as for the containers i really havn't checked but i will tomorrow. Bettarazzi i looked around for some type of table or tub for a while and couldn't really find anything that suited my needs then i drove past a hydroponic shop and it was sitting out the front.I went in and talked to a guy and told him what i wanted to do and it was perfect. It is made to take a fair amount of weight has a lip around the edge so a stand was easy to make has nice high sides and was only $70 or $80(without the stand).The molded channels were a bonus.Also the size is perfect for me to reach over and have access to all the containers from one side. Also i had my mate from my LFS build me a mini reef filter system that could run a couple of hunded liters of tank.So when i want to expand the system(next week i hope)i can just drop another pump in and off it will go.Ill post a couple more pics of it tomorrow to show the filter....I am hoping to have a day in the fish room with the camera lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 Ahh... the LFS mate. Everyone should have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxBETTAxx Posted June 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 lol i actually have 2 i went to school with a guy that owns a shop that specializes in salt water stuff and my other half went to school with a guy that owns one that specializes in cichlids.They both now have a few nice betta thanks to me :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxBETTAxx Posted June 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Here is the updated set up: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killimike Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 The perspective makes me feel like I'm falling! Who needs drugs... That is a great set up, and huge! Plenty of room. Are they mostly males? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxBETTAxx Posted June 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 It holds about 85 fish now and i think there is about 50-60 males. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killimike Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 That is seriously epic! With 85 fish jarred, or bottled and tabled as the case may be, I can see the advantage in labour saving systems. Are you planning on extending any further? On another note, do you find it challenging to work w so many fish, in terms of breeding etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxBETTAxx Posted June 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 These 2 tables run of one pump and heater if i did expand it i would need another mini reef so this will do for now plus the room isn't to cramped at the moment.I plan to build a nice divided tank for my adults next... As for raising so many fish it is so much easier with the system than when i just used to jar them and stuff.As for breeding them i find it most challenging deciding what to try to breed next and then getting them to lol... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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