A level design project

[1bennet1]

I am going to be starting by A level design project next year and I basically have to identify a problem; solve and then manufacture a solution. I really want to base my project on fish-keeping.

Basically I want to know what you guys think is wrong with things on the current market....and what is a pain in the a** to do and could be made easier

My main point at the moment is emptying and filling a fish tank, but the python has pretty much tackled this, so not entirley original.......

So any feedback would be greatly appreciated

 

[quintessential]

How about designing a non leak tap that could be at the base of a tank for draining purposes......

or has this been done ?

 

[BigC]

Adjusting water to the correct parameters for a particular species of fish. In order for them to breed and the eggs to be viable, can be a right pain in the butt. Not to mention time consuming.

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

this might semm silly but all the wires attached to the lights really bug me, no idea if you could do anything with that kind of thing?

or maybe some kind of thing to simulate the movement of teh earth realative to the sun, and how the light changes thoughout that day?

no idea how you would do that short of a seris of lights on timers

probably of no help to you but still

keep us posted i love reading thses kind of threads

 

[OohFeeshy]

Something to get thorough heating of the tank. My heaters are RUBBISH.

 

[1bennet1]

Quintessential - I really like your Idea of housing a non leak tap at the base of the aquarium so water can be drained easily..!! Few problems though, it would have to go above the substrate...or would it?? Could the water leak down through the gravel..?? Anyway that is a very good idea..thank you!

Big C - That also seems like a good suggestion but is far too hard for someone like me to do!!

One-Trick-Pony : I have already thought about how many lights provided with fish tanks are innadequate to grow plants to any successful level. The inclusion of your idea of having a series of lights that cycle through the daytime is a very good one to keep fish happy...... thank you!

OoohFeeshy - I really have no idea were I would start in designing a new heater for a fish tank..!

 

[Ed4567]

I'm not sure how much electronics you do, but if you can how about some sort of control system. For example for temperarature, have a temperature probe in the tank and have a system so that if the temperature is:
> 80F, turn on a fan in the tanks hood
< 78F turn on the heater
>82F turn off the lights


edit: spelling

 

[Dubby]

Here are a few ideas:

Automatic tank cleaner -
- cleans gravel
- changes water
- tops up with necessary chemicals (water conditioner, plant food etc.)

Automatic algae scrubber
- scrubs glass

Fry detector
- gives warning when fry are born

Early warning detector for failure of heaters, filters etc.

 

[Ferris]

I'm not sure how much electronics you do, but if you can how about some sort of control system. For example for temperarature, have a temperature probe in the tank and have a system so that if the temperature is:
> 80F, turn of a fan in the tanks hood
< 78F turn on the heater
>82F turn off the lights

Now that is a good idea, climate control for fish. Worth considering.

 

[orientmatt]

oh no not A level dt coursework, thats a right pain in the a*rse! sorry to be pessimistic but i guess we'll have have another post like this the night before its due lol!

anyway, i think a good problem to solve would be something in the way of ensuring that you dont destroy the tank and the gravel when youre filling it up with water-as this is always annoying. Or instead some way to make topping the tank up easier-eg. stopping splashes down sides of tank or wall/prevent disruption of fish whilst topping it up.

good luck cos with dt coursework ure gonna need it!

 

[ncjharris]

Have a search on here bennett, there was someone a while ago who was looking at the same kind of thing, but more around automating some of the tasks that fish keepers have to go through.

In the end I think the conclusion was to look at something else, as automating most of the tasks takes away what fishkeeping is all about.....but....there were some good ideas banded about.

The guy was Scandinavian I think, not that that is much help!

Thinking about it, it may have been in general chat, so may not be findable!

 

[keane]

Here are a few ideas:

Automatic tank cleaner -
- cleans gravel
- changes water
- tops up with necessary chemicals (water conditioner, plant food etc.)

Automatic algae scrubber
- scrubs glass

Fry detector
- gives warning when fry are born

Early warning detector for failure of heaters, filters etc.

Would this not just take a lot of the fun out of fish keeping??

I look forward to my weekly maintenance schedule. Water changes, gravel/sand vacing etc etc, filter maintenance.

It's nice to know I am having a "hands on" approach to keeping my fishes habitat as perfect as possible.

Back on topic....a device, electronic or other, that could automatically and accurately monitor your water readings (pH, Ammonia, Nitrite etc) would be useful to save the manual, not always so accurate testing.

Although, I suppose there are software programs already that do this .

steve

 

[Opcn]

I think automated algea removal and automated top up would be the two easiest ideas to work on, the tap in the tank bottoms already been done

 

[1bennet1]

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 ?!??

 

[hellohefalump]

"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

but isn't that what the manufacturers of Biorb were trying to do??

Personally, I'd like a heater that is also a cooler (if it doesn't already exist) so if room temparature gets too high, the thermostat makes it cool the water instead of heat it.

I don't know if this already exists, but how about an aquarium that runs off only one plug? But with each component (lights, filter, heater etc) having it's own switch? Kind of like with theatre lanterns - the socapex cable splits off at the dimmer so that you can unplug an individual light?

How about a substrate which helps plants grow but is cheap?

A permanent test (like a thermometer in that you can always just glance at it to check it because it's always there) for nitrite, nitrate, pH, kH, etc would be good. Some kind of device you put in the tank that measures parameters constantly without leaking chemicals into the water would be good.