My Latest Diy Project

[James Squire]

Hi all,

I thought I might share with you all my latest DIY project. My new fry tank.

Background: My Bristlenose Plec recently gave birth to 29 little wigglers. They have since been living in my floating breeder trap which they were soon to grow out of. Hence the requirement for a fry tank.

Idea: Being the tight@ss that I am I didn't want to spend any cash in setting up my fry tank. I decided to use the out of service 2 gallon I had in the cupboard as the tank but was unsure what to do about the heating and filtration. Then all of a sudden my high school physics came rushing back to me and I developed my cunning plan. I could use the heated and filtered water from my 30 gallon and cycle it through my fry tank using a small pump, a syphon and the laws of equilibrium! Brilliant! I already had the tank, I had a small submersible pump lying around, all in needed was a bit of tubing and I was done!

I now have this all setup and running but have not yet taken the photographic proof. I will do so soon and post pics when I have but for now there's a silly diagram below of what I have done.

Here's how it works. A small submersible pump is pumping the water out of my fry tank and into my community tank. Then the water is replaced in the fry tank automatically via the syphoned, water filled 'bridge.' Either end of the 'bridge' is covered with mesh to prevent fish from travelling between tanks. As long as the flow out of the pump is lower than what can be acheived via the syphon (ie. always have much larger hose for the syphon than what is attached to pump) then the water in both the tanks will always equalise.

See diagram:

I'll post photo's when I have some. Note that in my actual setup I also have an airstone in the fry tank to both oxygenate the water and for extra water movement.

Cheers for now,

JS

 

[iairj84]

Seems like an interesting little project... Looking forward to seeing pics!

 

[andywg]

Very similar to the overflow syphon principle used for people too scared to drill a tank.

One problem might be that eventually air bubbles can get into the syphon. It might never happen, and would take ages to cause a problem, but it may be that eventually the syphon does not move enough water.

One way this is often solved is to have a small hole drilled in the syphon and then to have a piece of airline go into the inlet of the pump, so that any air is pulled in through the pump and replaced by water.

 

[James Squire]

Alright... Here's the pics:

Notice that as a precautionary measure the water pump is mounted a little over an inch off the bottom of the tank in case the pump runs too fast. This way there will always be water left in the tank for the fry even if the syphon is blocked.

Here's one of the little buggers happy in his new home:

Cheers for the comments guys and thanks for the advice Andywg, I'll keep an eye on the air in the syphon and perhaps modify to suit as you suggest,

JS

 

[andywg]

I can't really see from the pictures if there is room, but there is another problem to have an eye on.

As well as the fry tank draining, if the main tank doesn't have enough spare room above the water line and the syphon breaks, it may flood the main tank.

I would have the inlet about an inch or two from the surface of the fry tank for safety's sake, but I am ultra paranoid about these things.

 

[tropicman]

Nyc looks ace to me pal nyc bristles as well

 

[Davver]

Exellent!... Have thought about doing something similar in the past. I have to , however, congratulate you on your innovative use of DVD cases!! Beautiful fry too!

Dave.

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

Do u reckon this idea would work if u had a pump in the Main tank and one in the small tank ?

Both running at the same speeds ?

i've got two spare under water pumps and wanted to do this

 

[andywg]

Do u reckon this idea would work if u had a pump in the Main tank and one in the small tank ?

Both running at the same speeds ?

i've got two spare under water pumps and wanted to do this

No

The pumps will always be at slightly different speeds so eventually one tank would flood into the other. You need to have a syphon to get the water one way,ar with a pump going the other (or drill a hole in each and connect with bulkheads and pipes).