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Diy Journal, More To Come


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#1 Bickley

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 02:34 PM

Finally sold off most of my tanks and fish got down to a 6x2x2 and 4 footer and now have decided I need more again lol So to start of with built a 4x2x2 2 tier stand which will be housing a turtle (terms and conditions by missus) lol and bottom tank bristlenose breeding tank which later on I'll be building my own undergravel filter system for.

Made the stand out of old timber slats from a bed I was going to chuck out

Just used a trusty $79 drop saw from bunnings and my 2 makita drills I started my apprenticeship with lol abit flogged out now a days

I used 2x 100mm chipboard screws in each end to assemble the top and bottom frames together

Then used another 2x 100mm chipboard screws into the front and back rails along with 2x 50mm chipboard screws into the side rails for each leg

Last but not least I positioned the middle supports and fixed them in place using another 2x 100mm chipboard screws per end. I put the top 2 supports on the flat so 2 light units can be fixed underneathe without being visible. Both tanks will have foam then 20mm thick marine ply under them so more then enough support


Quite a easy little task saved heaps of money (actually cost me nothing) and was done in a hour. Now just need to get the light units and wired in (riggers job lol) and 1 4x2x2 tank for the top

Still to come:
DIY lighting set up
DIY undergravel filter system
DIY Sump setup (make a sump for my 6x2x2 and plumb it all in)
Final Products On Diaplay lol

Edited by Bickley, 11 October 2011 - 09:57 PM.


#2 STEVEGREEN

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 03:23 PM

ummmmm silly question , how are those screws going to support that bottom tank ??? 500kg odd

should that have not be recessed into the leg maybe or am i trying to over-engineer

cheers
Steve Green

#3 Bickley

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 03:42 PM

Good point didn't mention bottom tank is only 15 inch wide hiding canisters behind it lol I thought about notching legs but built my 6x2x2 the same way and no problems been up for couple years and still as solid as when built. And the top tank will have the 20mm marine ply resting on top of legs. I thought this would be solid enough...But I checked to be safe the screws have a weight rating of 45-50k Psi(pounds per square inch) and my calculations show there will be roughly .434k psi. Or have I got something wrong there ?

Edited by Bickley, 12 September 2011 - 04:49 PM.


#4 STEVEGREEN

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 04:49 PM

its not about being solid.

its about the "shear" strength of the fasteners (screws)

"Shear strength in engineering is a term used to describe the strength of a material or component against the type of yield or structural failure where the material or component fails in shear. A shear load is a force that tends to produce a sliding failure on a material along a plane that is parallel to the direction of the force."

when ever i have made a stand , i have always used cuphead bolts , these bolts are what are used to build jetties

photo of your screws would be good but im picturing 8Gx100mm

cheers
Steve Green

#5 Bickley

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 04:52 PM

8 gauge 100mm Edited other post with weight rating ext

#6 scottyhooton

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 06:14 PM

i used 8g screws , but i used about 6 on the joins to legs wink.gif and i put the legs inside the frame


#7 Bowdy

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 09:24 PM

im no carpenter but the timber looks very thin. is it strong enough to hold 600kg on there ?

#8 Bickley

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Posted 13 September 2011 - 03:03 PM

Decided to buil my own undergravel filter for my 4 foot bristlenose tank run by a power head rather then airstones.
Things needed:
4x 1 meter lengths of PVC pipe
1x 1 metre length of black retic pipe (to connect to powerhead)
7x T-pieces
6x corner pieces
PVC cement
Hacksaw
Powerhead
note I changed plans so needed more T-pieces lol
First off I measured the overall sizes and worked out how much I needed to deduct for T-pieces and corner pieces. I also set it in from the front and sides just enough to allow gravel to cover it. then cut 1 of each size and used them as a jig. Once everything is assembled try it in place and make sure it fits nicely before glueing it together. I layed it out on newspaper on a table to glue so I could make sure it didn't dry twisted. I made it in 2 pieces joining at the T-piece for the power head.


Once it's all dry I flipped it over and used the hacksaw to put slots 1/3 the way through every 15mm roughly all the way round. I decided to go slots as I thought drilling holes would be more likely to block up and it would be easy to do but I learnt if you have a cheap hacksaw buy spare blades saves going back to bunnings lol

Finally cut the black retic pipe to size connect to power head and T-piece

Now just need to let it cure and get a powerhead...




#9 scottyhooton

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Posted 13 September 2011 - 04:46 PM

nice work , let us know how it goes

#10 Riggers

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Posted 13 September 2011 - 10:50 PM

Wow, you have been busy!!

#11 Bickley

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Posted 13 September 2011 - 11:38 PM

Every day I'm tanking tanking lol

#12 Bickley

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Posted 15 September 2011 - 05:29 PM

Was laying down looking at my tanks last night and decided I can't stand the look of a bit of zucchini on a fork. I looked up veggie clips and don't like them either so decided to make my own.
Just grabbed a couple skewers out the draw the handy silicone and some gravel from the tanks (dry of course)

Layed some gravel down trying to keep it as flat as possible, siliconed it up then squashed the skewer down and added more silicone ontop

Then the messy part siliconing every little bit one by one and pushing into place lol Finally your left with this

I've left the skewers long so I can try them out and make sure there heavy enough. If they are then I'll chop the excess off and silicone 1 more piece over the end to cover skewer
Tryd and tested worked a treat even heavy enough to just aim were you want it and drop doesn't float of to the side like a folk smile.gif

I'm stoked looks heaps nicer... Just keeps it a display tank

Edited by Bickley, 22 September 2011 - 02:13 PM.


#13 Bickley

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Posted 11 October 2011 - 09:54 PM

Finaly started my sump and plumbing. Built the standard double s bend overflow out of 40mm PVC piping from bunnings.

PVC cemented it all together so it runs flat along back of tank and added the plumbing to suit my sump. Typically I ended up short by 200mm so back to bunnings I go lol

I put fly screen over the end of piping then put vent cap over the top and trimmed off excess to stop fry getting sucked out of the tank. Also used a threaded piece on the end vent pipe so it can be removed for cleaning or repairing purposes.



Just have to finish off sump now. Got all media just have to silicone in new divider as the one I has has a small crack in it and waiting for a mate to drop off a heavy duty pond pump for the return. From memory it was something like 10,000 L/ph so going to be super filtration on the 6x2x2 lol

And ofcourse while I was at bunnings and playing around I thought I would make one of your water changes Steve lol problem is if you leave that one join dry for swivel it blows off under pressure so I just cemented it lol


#14 Riggers

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Posted 17 October 2011 - 07:43 AM

Nice brother it's looking good as!!!! smile.gif

DIY the crap out of it!!!!

#15 Pattison

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Posted 07 April 2017 - 09:04 PM

how did using the s bend overflow work out? what size timber did you use for stand?






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