Labcat

A couple of years ago I invested in some clear acrylic sheets, 3mm from memory.

I cut them to the size of the exposed sides of the tank in the patio and placed Velcro strip around the edges. This holds the acrylic very close to the glass but not against it. Glass of course is a good conductor of heat, but acrylic is not and nor is the air between them. It's like double glazing your tank. You can leave it there for the winter and still watch your fish, turn up your lights if you think it makes the tank a little bit dimmer.

It's not perfect but it will take the worst sting off you power bills.

Its tough being impatient. All that angst and energy spent railing against the rest of us. Ducking and weaving to get in front. And at the end of 15km of freewway you're only 90 seconds ahead the 'slow coaches'. Damn.

I've had them for a while now, and was wondering when, if ever they'd get the mood.

Phenochilus Tanzania, holding a brood....

Young fellows, you've got a long life in front of you. Tony Abbott is one man who is going to contribute to make that life so much harder in years to come. Australia is stuck in a time warp. Living in the 20th Century age of fossil fuel industry we will be poorer for it while the rest of the world treats us as a pariah. Investing in renewables could turn Australia into a clean energy powerhouse rather than an ex-mining backwater. We had a tax that was steering in the right direction. TA was too cowardly to take back the tax concessions that to us all the made the carbon tax work. It would have demonstrated his lie too well. Thats why we have govt deficits weighing us down.

Rant over.

I have a dream.

 

When the government stops paying me for the power I send them, just 4 or 5 years away now - in comes the hopefully then much cheaper batteries....

 

Click, OFF.

Sadly I won't be able to make it this weekend. Really disappointed.

Anyone interested in cheap tickets I have 2, and they must go by Tuesday evening or they will be wasted.

I'll sweeten it with a colony of Ps Elongatus Mphanga, as they will require too much maintenance while I'm away.

Hundred dollars the lot.

Very, very.... disturbing.

If you don't want to drill the tank.

 

Poly drip irrigation tube arranged thus will siphon it out.

 

 

 Drip overflow.jpg   21.43KB   7 downloads

Well.... winter has been and gone - officially at least. 

 

Here's how the experiment went.  The home-made solar panel worked of sorts, it just wasn't big enough at first and my workmanship was not sufficient to make it completely air-tight.

 

If the joints suck in air then the panel empties overnight, then the little solar powered pump couldn't get the water up and over the height of the roof in the morning.  I got over this by re-routing the canister filter flow to help it along and that worked well.  The panel was too small however and in June I had to install a 200W heater to provide a 'floor' temp of 20C.  Not bad considering we're talking a 770L tank outside in the winter - and it was still thermostat 'off' much more than it was on.

 

Then mid-winter all of a sudden it couldn't keep up on the cold nights.  I realised eventually that the ground temperature had dropped below 20C as well (2.5m down in the ground) and I had to divert the flow from the ground coils, then that was fine too.  At the same time I rebuilt the panel (again), this time out of all PVC painted black and then that worked better too.

 

Now it's early spring and the electric heater seems not to run at all anymore, the tank is maintaining about 21.5C.

 

Have I saved money?  No, not yet.  Has it cost me a lot to set up?  No, just a a fair bit of time and effort to set up and learn from my mistakes.  Next winter, touch wood, I’ll just be to just plonk it back on the roof and away it will go.  Maybe start a bit earlier in the season so that the ground might start from a warmer state.

 

The next project might be a tank rack in the shed, in which case there will definitely be a similar larger set-up on the roof.  It will be easier in fact, because the water won’t have to rise so high.

 

Cheers,

 

L

I

They sold me my first Cichlids that got me into this.  Still have some of them... including an "African Butterfly Cichlid" that we named 'Madam', who turned out to be a Brasiliensis.

 

Sorry to see them go.

Well SamBo88, you'll just need a bigger tank. You'll like that. Then you will get some more nice fish, 'cause they're cool. And they'll grow bigger. And, running out of tank space, you'll need more and bigger tanks....

Apparently, if you understand that pollution and deforestation are affecting the planet's climate system, then you are a climate change advocate.

 

I'm not an advocate.  In fact, really, I would like it to stop.....  please?

Call me old fashioned, but found some Pink Floyd again after many, many years. 'The Wall' is scary when you actually listen to the lyrics....

Ichthian Arachnaphobia

 

http://www.abc.net.a.../19/4027820.htm