A level design project

[quintessential]

It sounds like you guys are talking about a ful BMS (business management system) for your tanks, well, Seimens and Torre Andover make the controlers that would do the job. It is basicaly a small computer that fits inside a box.

You have to hard wire from this to the sensors that are fitted into the tank. this then could feed the various parameters of anything you want, ie. no3, no4+, ph,gh etc. back to the controller.

The controller and the wiring are no problem but the cost of the sensors would be far out of reach for all normal fishkeepers.

If you could get this far then it could be sent via a network back to your pc and be looked at anytime very simply by clicking an icon.

The hardest part would be to make any adjustments automaticaly. This would mean some Heath Robinson equipment so that you could alter say, the ph from your pc.

Personaly I like the idea of remote monitoring but would still prefer the hands on approach to fixing the particular problem the the system tells you about.

To go one step further, if say the ph spiked the software could throw up an alarm, if this was audible then you wouldn't even have to be infront of the pc.

Quint

 

[tuna]

could create an assult course for fish with food as their prize, to test their memory and problem solving skills.

 

[Chaz]

An obstical course!!!

my fish have troble swimming through a cave letalone an obstical course

 

[hellohefalump]

I wonder if anyone's ever tried to find out a way to keep pirhanas with neons?

 

[Dubby]

Thanks for all the feedback...!!

Basically I pitched all the ideas to my design teacher, and he said that none of them were substantial enough for a whole project and suggested that I "design an aquarium that needs no maitenence at all" !! I said that it was practically impossible......however there could be an aquarium that needs very little maitenence like water changes every other week....filter material changed every 3 months, if the filter was large enough, and so on

I know that for most people it takes the fun out of Fish keeping, however there is definatley a market for people who want a Tank with the smallest amount of maintenece e.g Offices

so what do y'all think ?!??

I can definitely see lots of utility for a low maintenance tank or better still a device that can be fitted in any tank that makes it low maintenance. Possible uses like you have said - in offices and also the LFS could rent the device to people when they go on holiday!!!

I guess the primary functions it will need to perform are:

- clean up waste material
- top up water
- auto feed

The algae cleaning could be tackled in a different way - use UV to scrub the water thus minimum/no algae.

So it now becomes a feasible project!!!

 

[houndour]

Maybe not a substantial enough project but maybe possible to include in overall project is to design a decent hood.

I find it sooooo annoying that everytime I add something I have to cut holes out of my hood!!

 

[Fishy411]

how about a remote control algae cleaner?

 

[Jen]

One thing I hate doing it lugging the hose around my house when it comes time for a water change - much better than the buckets of dirty water, and the jugs of clean.... but still.

Eventually when I have a house and a permanent tank, I will take on a plumbing project that brings pipes under the floor right by my tank and then I would only have to have a small hose to go to the in/out. Hopefully I would have a holding tank somewhere on the line that would sit and de-chlorinate the water.

Maybe you could look at developing a plumbing system that could heat the water and would have an open tank for dechlorinating, and then another systme that would take the water out as well. It would have to have a pretty powerful pump to be able to move the water up a floor, unless it was in a small room nearby. It would really only have to be like a 40 or 50 gallon holding tank (depending on the size of your tank, and how often you do water changes.