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new wooden hill stream tank (constr jrnl)

312K views 368 replies 156 participants last post by  wimvanvelzen 
#1 · (Edited)
hi all,

In this hill stream paludarium thread I mentioned that I find the concept good, but the execution can be taken further (especially larger!), to create more different pieces of stream, enabling the keeping of more ´normal´ fish species like tetras. I also want to create walls that are less vertical and more like a slope (at least at some places).

At the same time my wife and I discussed the fact that we could do with some more space in the living room, where this paludarium is situated. And as another room in the house became available (due to change of work), the decision was made to replace the two existing tanks with a large one in a dedicated room.

Here is a Sketchup picture of the room with the new viv.


Dimensions of the viv will be 215cm at the left end, 280cm at the other side and an inner height of 135cm. The depth is 95cm at the left side and 70cm at the

right side. The two ´legs´ are positioned at a bit more than a 100 degrees towards each other.


To get a better idea what I wanted I did a lot of sketching, like this one:

In the final design the room under the tank is used and covered by some sheets of plywood.


Artist´s impression of the tank; I use the back window to create some depth (the window faces North, so the light will be rather diffuse)



Beneath the actual tank there is room for making RO water (to be mixed with a bit of tap water), automatic water refreshing and a large (160x50x50cm) tank in which four large pond pumps will be placed, that are essential for making a hill stream tank.




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September last year I started the constructional work (which I plan to end at about June this year). The material used is a good 18mm plywood, which will be

covered with epoxy and glassfiber mats.

The best start of course is to have an empty room...



(Before this I painted the wall with some moisture resistant coating.)

I glue the plywood pieces with Poly-urethane glue (don´t know the English equivalent) - even if I wanted, there would have been no space to work with screws.




Part of the automatic refreshing system: a small pump, pumping water to the drain regularely, which will be replaced by a 3:1 RO - tap water mix from the

reservoirs.



The tank through which the water will flow back to the large pumps. There is a biological filter inside, like used for large fish tanks.



Where the water will flow back to the pumps:



Packed in foam, to avoid loss of warmth (by the way, the pumps will act as heaters):


The right part is higher as part of the ´hill´ and to enable access to the pumps in the tank:


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The walls behind the tank are covered with styropar sheets for insulation:


The standing plywood back:


Dividing the part for the lights and ventilators (the holes are 40mm in diameter and will be covered with wire mesh)




A lot of holes for the pipes (here the ones that will bring the water back from the pumps into the tank):



I sawed the pieces of plywood behind which the glass windows will be placed (45cm high and then sliding ones on top).


Inside, below the lights (the boxes at the end are to place some ventilators for circulation inside the tank):



Between the pumps and the tank I place some taps to regulate the amount of water flowing through each pipe. In the picture they stand above the floor, but once glued they will hang under the tank. Pipes are 40mm in diameter. The total pump capacity is 19000 liters an hour (5000 US gallons), although some is lost because of the height to which the water is pumped.


At these points in the rear end of the tank, the water will flow back to the reservoir under the tank:



In the left side there is another pump under the tank for a waterfall at that side:






I hope the pictures help you to understand what I am doing - I feel my technical English is lacking a bit...

Questions, suggestions and criticism is very much appreciated. Some way this is quite an adventure as there are so few examples of this type of tank building (I fortunate enough to get the help of the man behind this tank, Hans Pietersma).
Any input is welcome!
 
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#37 ·
This is quite the undertaking! Makes me feel comfortable about doing a large display in a reno house. Please keep your progress updated on here.

If you didn't live in the Netherlands, I'd have no problem giving you this:

I'd imagine shipping would be quite high. Good luck!
 
#39 ·
Well, nothing sexy to show but I did some important things. Here are the pictures!

I put multiple layers of epoxy and glassfiber (for the waterpart, the landpart just one layer) in the tank. As you can see I am not a tidy working craftsman :(







I think that everything is watertight - I´ll test that this week for the lowest few inches. After the front windows are glued in, I can check the entire system.
I also added 25 points for a dripping system near the backwalls and 60 in the lid. The last ones are to mimick the after-rain effect in a forest where large drips just fall at irregular intervals. For real rain, there is much more needed of course!
The system is called Micro Drip, by German based Gardena. I expect to run in 15 - 30 minuts each day, according to need.
I will make the orange parts black, btw. Looks rather ugly now!

When standing in front of the tank, you cannot see the lid and dripping sytem. When seated, you can. Well, that is trade off I am prepared to take!





You can see 2 of 4 ventilators, meant to provide internal circulation (wind). Of course I´ll put some maze in front of it as well as in front of the round ventilation holes.
 
#41 ·
I would love to! I am afraid I won´t have any time left - enjoying my own tank every day :D

The dripping system is meant for gardens, greenhouses etc. It has been used for vivariums as well, esp for Chameleons, but not very often (as far as I know). Most froggers here prefer high pressure misting systems in stead of mimicking rain.
 
#44 ·
hi Nick,

it is just a regular 1300 US gallons / hour pond pump. The system is made to work with the regular watertap pressure, but works on these kinds of pumps as well. The distance between the pump and the actual dripping points is about 6´ height, so I needed quite a strong pump.

As it is designed for tap water, this system works aquarium water equally well - no need for RO water like in the high pressure and fogging systems.
I will place the pump in a filtering mat to avoid particles getting in the system.

The pump is placed in the sump beneath the tank.
 
#45 ·
As it is designed for tap water, this system works aquarium water equally well - no need for RO water like in the high pressure and fogging systems.
I will place the pump in a filtering mat to avoid particles getting in the system.

The pump is placed in the sump beneath the tank.
Are you worried about ammonia levels in the water burning the plants/herps?
 
#46 ·
I am not really worried, but some additional filtering (the entire hill stream system works as a filter) won´t do any harm I suppose.

Would I not have been able to pick up a used biological filter with pump for little money, I would have done without (my present hill stream tank has no additional filtering and seems to have no problems).
 
#54 ·
As promised, some pictures of what is going on (not that much actually...)

First of all I glued the PVC beneath the tank and put epoxy on the floor of the RO department and the department to be used for breeding the frog food.

I also hang the fans (they are hanging to avoid vibrations) and made some mesh wire frames.







Mesh wire glued on top of the ventilation holes and painted the sides white for better light reflection:




The first pieces of glass are glued in with silicone (I accidently changed the orientation of the pieces in the corner ... I had to cut them loose and fix it again this morning):







While testing the new fans I felt that they do move a lot of are, but not really in one direction - not really a windlike effect. This fan would:



But, well, not really suitable for use inside the tank. It will have to work behind the tank's back!



Made a hole on the right side. I can choose to put a mesh wire frame and the fan there or a piece of matt glass to let daylight in.



The front glass pieces are ready to get glued, but first a few pieces of epoxy will have to dry. To be continued later this week...


 
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