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A core drill bit worked a treat, but they are so soft and easy to work that a screwdriver would make a small hole very easily. This is something that I am not concerned about as they are going to be in the fish house, out of bounds to most people and won't be at any risk from damage other than accidental.

One of the advantages of this system is that if a tank develops a problem it's a simple matter to take it out and replace it. All I would need to do is to stop the pump, drain the affected tank down, disconnect the inlet/outlet pipes and slide the tank out of the rack. If I wanted to do a repair, a temporary loop from the tank above to the tank below and the system is running again, or slide a new tank in and re-connect the pipes and it's on stream again.

Whichever way I look at this, it just makes so much sense that I can't understand why no-one has done it this way before! I can't be the first one to dream this system up, surely?

atmmachine816

Ok thanks, I'm just curious to how people do things, ideas for when I can do it, though that's a long ways away, parents wouldn't like a fish house. :

I'm sure your not the only one who's thought of this, just the only one online It's a good idea, similar to what I have thought of that would be effective. Your design is similar to what they do in stores around me, except theres is a bit more upscale. I'm thinking if it works for them should work for you.

susitna-flower

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incidentally, the two tanks are now supporting nearly 200 molly fry! When I moved the sailfin molly fry this evening I did a re-count and found that she hadn't had 98, but 109! I have also re-located the older ones that are just about ready to go. It will be interesting to see if they grow any more with the extra space they have now!

The idea seems to work well, and I have had the oportunity to re-think the plumbing and now have come up with a better way of doing the outlets which will overcome the problems of the screen breaking away from the side wall, so the trial was definitely worthwhile.

I can go out tomorrow and buy the bins for the main rack now and know exactly what is needed to achieve the results I want. It will also be cheaper than I first thought, since the plumbing is simpler and less involved than I first thought, and the racking will be simple to make too.

So, wall building, lining and electrics tomorrow, I hope. Should get time to make the bins up too, if all goes well. That will be the first side of the fish house almost done by the end of Tuesday, if I'm lucky!

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Now rack 2:

The betta barracks. 90 individual tanks, arranged in the same staggered pattern with sumps at the end of each run. These bins are smaller and much narrower so the rack will only stand out about 10" from the wall. each bin is divided into three sections with screens so I only need 35 bins to accomplish this setup. depending on the layout of the fish house, it may be possible to double this rack up and run two setups, back to back down the center of the room, enlarging the sump and sharing it between the two rows on each level. The capacity of each bin is around 4 gallons, giving each run a total of 24 gallons of fish space for 18 fish total. Could be a little tight if they grow out too much, but fine for the first three months!

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atmmachine816

They will have to have solid color dividers, tops for sure as they are jumpers and really you don't need deep tanks since bettas don't make a lot of use of them. What are you going to do with that many bettas, keep as many as possible?

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I think it's called being prepared! One sporn of betta splendens can produce 200 fry, half of which could be male. They need 3 months to grow out, by which time they will be killing each other if not separated. I intend to have at least 2 breeding pairs! Why do I need so many tanks?

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here I am working on the guidelines issued by Chickadee on the equipment needed to raise bettas, and I see no reason to argue with her on this. If it can be made possible during this project, why not build it in?

The tanks themselves are only about 9" high, so that will allow for 71/2" of water, ample for the requirements. The lids are standard with this particular bin, as they are designed for storing DVDs! It's amazing what you can find when you look!

Once they have developed, they will be sold on the same as the other fry.

atmmachine816

I figured such, well do enjoy that

COBettaCouple

impressive design, especially under such short notice! i'm especially interested in your betta splendens setup - it might be the ticket to us breeding angel with the perfect white platinum male.

armadillo

Wow, Tim! I can't wait until it's all done.

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The final phase for this project is the development of the breeding system. This is very different and an offshoot of something I did back in the spring.

these are a very radical design, as yet unique to the best of my knowledge. The design is below.

The principal of these tanks is simple. The crucial issue with labyrinth fish as a whole is water temperature and air temperature differences. With this system, the air above the water level is constant and the same as the water, since the top of the tank is sealed.

The water is kept at level by a vacuum created inside the top of the tank, a system I developed in the spring with the water column tank. These will be on a smaller scale than that, with a total water depth of 15", and a depth above the flute of only 6". Access is through the slot in the center of the tank, with water below and above the access.

The final dimensions have still to be worked out, as has the flow control and filtering, but it should be possible to connect these together in a similar fashion to the other racks, using a single sump filter for multiple tanks. The main difference here would be that each tank would feed directly to and from the sump with it's own pump system, so the setup will be much more complex. They will also need to be made of glass, which puts the cost per unit up a lot! this is a much more involved phase and will probably take a long time to complete.

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COBettaCouple

and we were just going to use the hurricane lamp method on the splendens breeding... that's an impressive design and i look forward to seeing it constructed. you really need to move to Denver and start operations!! (no ulterior motive like wanting to buy custom tanks from you ) .. it's within a day's drive of Vegas and you'd find plenty of casinos willing to launder their mob money through your tank designs.

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Thank you for the complement dave. It should be a very effective breeding system if the column is any indication!

Amnagrla

timg... what do you do for a living??

COBettaCouple

yea, i'd say that's turned out to be a 'mild' success.

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I am a Guest House manager in my spare time

armadillo

You should be an architect, or a design engineer!