ajm

Following on from my filter thread the other week, here is the stand taking shape. It will need to support about 1.5 tonnes

Anyone know where/if you can get 1" ply in 8ft lengths? I know 6x4 is standard, but I need a piece to cover the top at 8ft x 2.5 ft and I want to keep it all one piece if can help it!

Redkop

I must have missed the other thread ajm [or deliberately ignored it] so have suitably replied on it

p@ul

You can get 25mm ply/blockboard from most builders merchants m8,will be expensive though.Have you though of 22mm floor boards clued and screwed down then just sand em up m8 will work out cheaper

ajm

Cheers Paul,

Floor boards is an option, but I'd like to keep it all one piece for the added rigidity. 1.5 tonnes of water, sand, wood and fish all over the floor justifies the extra cost in my view!

Can you get that 25mm ply in 8ft lengths then?

David Lock

4 x 8 is standard isn't it??

p@ul

8x4 is standard yes m8 not 6x4

ajm

Sweet, that makes life easier then!

p@ul

Probably looking at £30 odd for 25mm m8 so not over the top expensive

ajm

Excellent, I'll still be well within budget then! I have spent less that £100 so far on timber brackets, bolts etc.

Was quoted £700 to have one built by an aquarium cabinet maker!

p@ul

He was a robbing bugger

ajm

Right... the frame is complete!

If anyone is wondering about the cutout in the back length, this is to make room for the plumbing in/out the tank which is drilled at the back of the base.

mj

8'x4' 18mm MDF sheets - £10 at B&Q


just double it up and apply a good dose of glue between the sheets. when they are screwed down to the frame it will be super solid.

chaos.

Looks like a nice effort.

How many pihranas can you keep in an 8ft/2ft tank?!
Thats fookin massive.
I've always pondered about setting up an aquarium, might just do it one day!!!

David Lock

Looking good - heavy stuff water! Hope you don't have a cellar My pal who built a big tank designed it so that it had a slow but constant drip feed from the cold water supply along with an overflow going to an outside drain. This meant he never had to do any water changes and when he cleaned the gravel it would just lower the water level and the drip feed would fill it up again in 24 hours or so. Filling very slowly meant no chlorine or temperature problems. I'd like to do that but location of my tank rather prevents it. DL

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

Blimey!, you must love that old goldfish

ajm

Its something I thought about and is definately the way forward, but like your situation, plumbing would be a nightmare! Water changes don't bother me too much as I use a huge water butt and a pond pump.

Interestingly people trying to grow specimen size fish say they get good results using this system with constantly refreshing water. It is thought that fish may secret a growth inhibiting hormone that helps to restrict overcrowding. Despite seeing this mentioned time and time again I havn't actually found any definate research that proves this however, it may be a fishkeepers old wives tale! If any one knows any literature on this I'd be interested in seeing it!

Cheers for the tip! Do you think it would be ok getting wet though? MDF can go a bit squishy can't it?

The tank is due to arrive tomorrow evening (no way the stand will be ready in time ). The guy who made it is delivering it himself so I'll also get his opinion. The good thing about acrylic is that it is much stronger than glass and will forgive a bit of sagging or uneveness. One of his demo tanks is 20ft long and supported with several box sections, leaving 1m gaps totally unsupported!

General rule of thumb is 20 US gal. per adult piranha, so about 18 or 19. I will not be stocking it that much though. Maybe 15 tops.

No expense spared!

David Lock

I think MDF would need some sort of proofing. I've used it outside after a good dose of green fence paint (forgotten name). I'd use ply and varnish. DL

mj

true, MDF don't like water.

don't get it wet!

super_si

so whats off in or have i missed it

ajm

getting there.... (I suppose I'd have more time to work on it if I didn't have to educate townies in the fox hunting thread! )

Top, back and floor on. I've got some nice pine tongue and groove for the sides and 6 solid pine doors for the front. The cutout in the top is for the filter plumbing as the tank is drilled in the base. You can see the filter on the base (one I made earlier)



and yes, I am aware the curtains are minging! Thanks Diablo!

David Lock

Well if you get fed up with the fish you could empty it out and have a couple of stuffed foxes in there

Be a trip down memory lane for the future

ajm

Right.... decided it would be easier to finish off the stand after it had been moved into its final resting place, so got the lads around and 4 of us managed to get the stand positioned and the tank onto the stand!

Spent 2 hours widening the holes in the tank to fit some beefier tank connectors. Basically I needed to take a couple of mm off all round the holes.... in 15mm acrylic. Since the holes are already cut, and I only have access to one side, clamping some wood over the hole on which to centre a hole saw was out of the question, so it was down to abrasion, which is a nightmare because acrylic is very tough!

I tried:-

1) A semi circular hand file - waste of time
2) A circular grinding stone drill bit - just got clogged with acrylic
3) A small sanding drill bit (the kind made out of flaps of sandpaper) - did little more that polish up the sides of the hole
4) A metal rasping drill bit (side cutting drill) - the winner!

Even so, it took 2 hours of going round and round the hole before the tank connectors slotted satisfying through!

Managed to get the plumbing behind the weir sorted too.... that PVC solvent-weld is good ****, especially when the fumes congregate in the tank!

Here is the plumbing from the front, showing the weir covering the overflow with "Durso Standpipe" to stop gurgling and the return (smaller pipe) where water will be pumped back into the tank.


Viewed from the back


View from underneath

PG

looking good.
My Trigon 350 pales in comparison

ajm

Right.... things have moved forward the last few days!

LOTS of testing/tweaking, redid overflow, changed pump twice, had a flood but finally we are getting there!!!!

The carnage during testing!




Filter finally in place and plumbed in! (note how the black background almost completely hides the weir (box at the back of the tank with the overflow in)




The pump (3700 litres per hour) and heaters (2 x 400W) installed in the sump




The electrics wired up (apart from the lights which still need to be installed in the hood)




Just done a brief calc to see how long its going to take to get the water up to temp:

800W, 1200 litres of water, from 15 degrees to 29 degrees, specific heat capacity of water 4200 J/kg

(1200 x (29 - 15) x 4200)/800 = 88200 seconds

= 24 hours and 30 mins!!!

Not sure if I have the guts to let it run over night yet..... the longest its run is about 20mins so far....

Huxley

Go on you coward you don't normally hold back




Looking good







But if it goes pear shaped you will need these

ajm

LOL! Cheers for that!

I've already had one flood when a hose popped off during testing! I had to dive under the tank and put my hand across the pipe. Luckily some friends were round otherwise I would have been stuck under there all week!

Huxley

Now that would have been funny



You could have put that on you've been framed and got a few bob





One of my mate years ago before he moved used to have a tank about that sort of size, I used to spend ages gazing into the tank it used to take ages to clean it out, perhaps I should hint to HC to get one

David Lock

Can you not pre-heat some water to give heaters a head start and reduce time scale?

PG

I thought I was doing well addin the 2 wee lights on the underside of my stand



Looking good ajm !

ajm

I suppose I could have emptied the hot water tank into it.... that would make a bit of a dent in the timescale. I'm in no rush though, the fish aren't going in for a while yet.