New Breeding Setup

[jld2112]

This project actually began around November of 2005 and I'm just now getting around to posting some pictures of the highs and lows of the whole process.

We had a closet in our 'computer room' that is pretty much empty. I had bee talking to my wife about setting up some tanks to breed clownfish in. She suggested that I use the closet to set the tanks in.

Here's the closet. It's about 66 inches wide x 25 inches deep.

After moving everything out I placed a couple of pieces of plywood supported by a 2x4 'frame' which was attached to the studs and then painted everything.

(The shelf is where some of the phyto setup is to be.)

Next came the phyto setup. The next pic is the original setup just after it was built sitting in our living room.

This pic is the current version taken tonight.

Next ... Plumbing and tanks ....

 

[jld2112]

Oh yeah ... The plumbing ... Well that 3 trips to the hardware store for sure !

Here's the original parts for the system. Go ahead ... ask me how many of these I used ... OK on 2nd thought ... Don't

I decided (for right now) just to put two tanks on the system.

Both tanks are connected to a sump that holds about 10 gallons so it's about a 25-30 gallon system.

WooHoo It's finally up and running ... But wait ... I see water coming from somewhere

 

[jld2112]

OPPS .... So that's what the PVC glue is for !!! LOL . I actually found two places that were leaking. The end caps of the 'up tube' were never sealed. Matter of fact they were just hand tight when I took them off. The other place was the connection between the 'bulkhead' and the elbow returning to the sump. But before I get into that let me show the 'bulkhead'.

OK ... Now I must admit ... My good friend jnowell took that picture of the bulkhead but it's the same parts Im using and the way I look at it is I'm giving him some phyto so I can at least steal his pictures right ?

OK ... Now back to it ...

All is going well as I drain some of the water off and fix the leaks. At least until I try and put the hose back on to the bulkhead ... that's when it happens .... SNAP !!!!!!!!!

(Insert many curse words here)

I decided to try and fix the tank .... No luck ... I ended up replacing the tank today and FINALLY have the system online With NO leaks so far (knock on wood) !!!!

The 2 tanks you see in the pics are bare bottom for now. Ran out of money (again ) so the sand will have to be added a bit later.

 

[ediaz]

Looks good,

The only thing I think may cause a problem ( last pic) is that the incoming water from the filter is to close to the overflow, you may want to extend the pipe all the way to the other side.

Good job and good luck,

Ed

 

[ohioreef]

Nice set-up. My ocellaris clowns laid their first batch of eggs tonight!! I've been looking around for ideas. I want to try to start raising them.

 

[mark97r6]

looking really good, are the 2 tanks for broodstock, or larvae?

Mark

 

[Larry Waughon]

It looks like you are off to a good start. Keep us posted.

 

[bededog]

Nice setup. What did you juse to drill the tanks? It looks like there are some cracks. I have been using a dremmel with great success. I found some threads on here telling how to do it. You might want to consider that in the future to eliminate the cracking problem.

Good Luck.

 

[jld2112]

Thanks for the comments folks !!!

mark97r6 - The tanks will be used for broodstock.

bededog - The tanks were drilled with a Dremel. I will be posting some pictures tonight of the pieces we used to do this. We've drilled about 8 so far between us with no problems. The cracks your seeing did not come from the drilling process. It came from me trying to put the tubing on the overflows and pulling on the glass. That tank has been replaced.

 

[mattydub]

Interesting...I hope that you aren't planning this for long-term however. That closet will be ruined in no time (<1year) by humidity/salt creep.

 

[Atticus]

I would keep the sand out of the brood stock tank. It serves no purpose and it will only cause you head aches.

 

[T Badd]

Very cool, JD. Can't wait to see some pics with something live in them. I sure miss living near there and getting to play with your and Jason's toys.

 

[jld2112]

Humidity ... Never really thought about it at all. Living in North Texas (Hot and Dry) it never came up, but it is a good point. I decided to check with our engineering staff at work. (I work for a very large HVAC company.) A few of the guys have seen this room and they said there would be no concern with the humidity in the room at all. This area of Texas have a very low relative humiidity most of the time anyway and with the way the a/c vents and returns in this room ... No Worries ...

Thanks for the comment though ...

 

[Dman]

Not worried about humidity in the room, but in the closet. It could get moldy in there in a hurry if you don't vent the top of it outside somehow.
Edgar makes a good point about your water circulation in the tanks, extend those pipes closer to the front and a little closer to the water line to minimize splashing.
Otherwise looks good
Dman

 

[Beng]

Hahaha, glad to see someone else using white pvc fittings as bulkheads.

Hey if you have any leaks using those white pvc fittings as bulkheads you can use a couple of "O rings", one piece on the inside and one piece on the outside of the glass, it works great.
It lets you screw the pvc fittings real tight to the glass.

Beng

 

[Dman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6715463#post6715463 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Beng
Hahaha, glad to see someone else using white pvc fittings as bulkheads.

Hey if you have any leaks using those white pvc fittings as bulkheads you can use a couple of "O rings", one piece on the inside and one piece on the outside of the glass, it works great.
It lets you screw the pvc fittings real tight to the glass.

Beng

You'll probably find that those bulkheads won't have the capacity you'll need when you try to turn up the system.

"O" rings work great on those type of fittings, I'm using flat rubber washers and PVC electrical fittings

Like this:

Dman

 

[jld2112]

Ed - I was thinking about taking the whole return assembly and making it 1/2 inch instead of 3/4 and adding an elbow pointing straight down. So you see any benefit in that or do you still want to see the return on the other side of the tank ?

 

[Luis A M]

I didnÃ"šÃ‚´t mean to criticize,but if youÃ"šÃ‚´re remaking anyway...
You could make it simpler using 3/4 hose,a T and 2 elbows.I would use a ball valve for each tank and yes,water in and out should be at opposite ends.
Your construction looks like my last crazy project,a DIY UV !

 

[Kathy55g]

Might be simpler to just turn the tanks around. Put the drains at the front of the closet, and leave the return from sump plumbing in the back, or visa versa.

 

[mattydub]

The reason he's suggesting changing the return line is so you'll get a better flow across the top of the surface, thus increasing the gax exchange and you won't have a slimy buildup on top of the tank. You want fresh water (read:clean/filtered/skimmed whatever) coming in and circulating around the tank as much as possible before draining back to the sump again.

The closet is the problem, not the humidity. It's just too small of a space to hold tank(S) long term. The salt creep (absolutely unavoidable no matter how your AC is set up) is going to ruin the drywall and the closet will be a mess soon.

HTH...