DIY stand build

I have been building this stand for my 24" * 12" * 12" aquarium. It is constructed from 1 1/2" * 2 1/2" "studding" timber for the 4 uprights. These are screwed to 2 frames, top and bottom, made from 2 3/4" * 3/4" timber. Once secured, 8 upright pieces made from the same timber as the frames, are screwed to the uprights to fill between the top and bottom frames.

I will clad the stand with 3/8" plywood, leaving a gap top and bottom at the rear for electrical and tank connections. Also I will create a door at the front to allow access to the equipment.

The stand is 23" wide, 11" deep, 35 1/2" tall. once clad, the dimensions will be the same as the footprint of the tank.

This stand design is by Joey, The DIY Fishkeeper, whose Video instructions can be found on his YouTube Channel....

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM9oZkV3tGJuUUhgZaiGZkQ

Flora Base Pro substrate - Invertebrate Aquarium

24th May 2017

I have added a litre of "Flora Base Pro" substrate to my invertebrate tank. It raised the substrate level by about 5-10 mm. The plants are more secure now.

I have started dosing with 1ml of Easy-carb and a couple of drops of Easy life Profito fertiliser. The plants are starting to look fresher so hopefully they will soon start to grow more. 

The Flora base is expensive, but seems to be a superb substrate product. There was virtually no clouding of the water and because the beads are small, they bedded well around the plant roots.

Bournemouth Aquarium visit.

20th May 2017 

I really like this lovely open-top Amazonia aquarium at Bournemouth Aquarium.

Plant growing advice

19th May 2017

Plant growing advice…

Jake at Romsey World of water store recommended this website for advice regarding aquarium plant growing…

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/index.htm

It appears to be very useful.

Emmersed Plant growing

12th May 2017

These are my sickly looking Anubias plants. They are not happy in a tank so I thought I would try growing them emmersed. Apparently they will grow ok if you keep the humidity high while they get used to the move from underwater to an air environment. I will update again in a few weeks.

Update 2 Garden Water Feature

12th May 2017

My water feature filter is now working.

After a couple of issues, I have now managed to get my pool filter system up and running.

The main problem was that the power head pump was delivering too much water to the filter, causing it to overflow. The pump was a 500 litre per hour one, also the output regulator was missing. I found a 400 litre per hour one in my spares box that had a regulator and I substituted this one.

I also replaced the filter outlet hose with a 3/4″ hose and shortened it to be no longer than required. The level in the filter now seems to be stable so I will see if it performs OK.

I am using the filter as a mechanical filter, i.e. no bio or chemical components, as I have no fish in the pond.

Update 1 Garden Water Feature

12th May 2017

My homemade pond filter up and running supplying my garden water feature.