Upgrade #1 4x8x2'

[houie925]

Heater's done and I'm wired for plugging a cooling device in the thermostat once the weather requires it. Pump is a 24v 0.8amp. Water is pumped from the hot output of my gas water heater through a 50' coil of 1/2" pex and back to the cold water intake. Thermostat is a STC-1000 set to allow the temp to go up or down 0.3C from the set point before it kicks on the cooling or heating device. So far it seems to be working perfectly but I'll update if anything changes.



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[houie925]

Well if it wasn't official before I think it is now. I have an ugly tank. The max ACR, or my application technique, didn't seal the edges of the plywood well enough to deal with the constant moisture and the plies near my pump's output started separating. I should have been keeping a better eye on it but I didn't notice until I saw a dark stain on the back of the tank. As a temporary solution I've wrapped some 2x2s in plastic and screwed through the top into the 2x2s. I'll leave that side of the tank uncovered for a bit and try to let it dry out a few days before I get the insulation back on. I should do the other side too but my fish time is up for today. Honey do list still has to get done.


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[csaechao]

wow, that's cool. nice dimensions! you should help me build one since your local. haha

 

[Big Dave]

So? How is the plywood holding up? Are you hooped?

 

[houie925]

Tank's doing fine, still has a stain but it's much lighter and I haven't re-insulated it so I'm sure it costs more to heat than it would otherwise but the gas bill hasn't changed noticeably. If I'd been a little more patient and put fiberglass over the edge rather than just sealing it I think it would have held up better. Planning on upgrading either this summer or next and will probably use pond liner. The max ACR wasn't hard to use and is holding up well on the flat surfaces but it was rather time consuming to apply.


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[Justin David]

yay

 

[houie925]

Thread is back from the dead. Updates, sand is out and I'm running it bare bottom, I sealed some 2x4s with resin to replace the plastic covered 2x2s and left a lip around the openings to support a lid or sheet of insulation. Haven't taken any pics of the repair yet. TSN is my biggest fish and is right at 24" so It's planning time for the next upgrade, likely a basic indoor pond around 6x12'


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[wednesday13]

Lookin good!...we need more pics than that lol. Bare bottom is the way to go with ur stock, keeps the tank cleaner imo... reminds me of my 9'x4' stock from 2010. Nice work!
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[houie925]

Lookin good!...we need more pics than that lol. Bare bottom is the way to go with ur stock, keeps the tank cleaner imo... reminds me of my 9'x4' stock from 2010. Nice work!
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Thanks.
I just grabbed a pic that was already on my phone and that showed the bottom. I removed the sand because I had a plant fall into the tank and a bunch of rock/hydroton mixture spilled. I would pick out the pieces I found but my hybrid would always find rocks I missed and swallow them. Since removing the sand it's a breeze to keep clean, definitely the way to go. Here's a pic of him with rocks in his belly, the rocks he regurged after I removed the sand, and an after pic. I'll get some updated shots up soon, of the tank and the fish.

 

[houie925]

New pics, finally.

Plants recently trimmed. Pothos was getting out of control and the banana was starting to block out the sun for the other plants. I removed probably 30' of pothos vines and cut the banana back to just one emerging leaf on the main stalk and a small sucker. Planning to replace the banana with a smaller variety. The taro is basically gone, the leaves start growing so tall that they are above the window and die off so there's just a small piece of that still growing. The African mask alocasia is thriving though not putting out a lot of roots.

Recent repair shown with loads of polyurethane sealing the edges of the plywood. Also my sump and the fluidized sand filter I'm about to add. It's a repurposed cartridge filter. Had to run it in reverse and insert 1/2" PVC in the "out" side. Pretty simple project. I had it running on my pond so I removed the sand, bleached everything, ran it for a while with a bleach solution in the water, scrubbed, ran some more with the bleach solution, rinsed, replaced bleach solution with sodium thiosulfate solution, rinsed, ran again with a new batch of sodium thiosulfate solution, rinsed again and now have it running clean water and fresh PFS. I'll probably do one more run with new clean water before I place it on the tank.

Also a Couple shots of the tank and fish. Still just the four cats in there and unless something really special comes along that's how it'll stay.


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