Re: Heating for smaller tanks etc

by **mickelmass** on Sat Feb 06, 2010 11:38 pm

Cheers for that incognito. I was pretty sure it would be OK but it doesn't hurt to ask.

That tank you just mentioned are the ones I think I was looking at on eBay this evening, about 30 or 40 something litres! They are new, just recently out aren't they? A tube with either a clear or blue acrylic colour in them and the LED lights change automatically as you just said and isn't there LED's actually in the acrylic sides as well as overhead?

When I was reading about them, I couldn't quite undertand what they were on about with the LED's but now you have just cleared that one up for me? I saved a couple of them in my eBay watches as I was thinking of buying one in a few weeks? I think they were around the £140-£180 mark, depending on whom you purchased it from and Aquacadabra were the most expensive - as per usual! Yet he is the one I seem to get most of my aquarium stuff from! I have spent over £200 with him in the last few weeks but I just can't be arsed to keep scrolling through everything on eBay, so I just get everything from one seller and hopefully save a bit on p&p? Not with him though! I must be mad? Smile

registered · by **Vandraco aka Bronzecat** on Sat Feb 06, 2010 11:44 pm

mickelmass wrote:I must be mad?

You're not alone there...............we all are lol!

by **incognito** on Sat Feb 06, 2010 11:50 pm

i dunno about the newest ones ( got mine 1-2 yrs ago)

i've two biubes.. both clear acrylic but as far as i'm away they've brought out blue tinted ones too now.

I think they hold 40 litres.. mine were around £100 price then

Check online general retailers.. they usually cover postage once you're over about 35-50 quid.

you also get biorbs which are smaller and not so suitable because of the smaller water surface areas ( for bettas anyway).

you can buy the led light bit on it's own.. has lots of programmable light functions.. daylight for 12 hrs and off.. daylight then moonlight etc.and you can place it on top of a basic drip tray without probs if not used for it's main purpose.. but they do need the biube/orb power packs which run both the led light and will also power a din socket air pump

by **mickelmass** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:13 am

Cheers for that! I will have to look into the LED light pack etc as the lighting in my 60L is only an energy saving tube with a white and blue side to it. I don't know if it is especially made for aquariums or if they are just the usual off-the-shelf jobs but I have never seen an off-the-shelf energy saving tube with a blue and a white side, so maybe just made for aquariums?

The aquarium doesn't have a drip/condensation tray with it and the inside of the lid can get quite a bit of condensation on it. I think it's from the heat of the water as the tube doesn't really get that hot and I was looking into a way of getting some sort of moonlight LED system in there? I did get a set of three blue LED's in a small silver enclosure, with the centre LED pointing down and the two outside ones, pointing out sideways, which I think would look quite nice but they are not really sealed and I am worried that if any condensation gets into them, they might blow?

Although, the plug adapter that they are attached to, has a slide switch on it so that you can lower the volatge, thus dimming the three LED's, so I wouldn't think there would be much of a voltage going through it anyway and it would be a good 6" away from the water, stuck onto the inside of the lid with silicone sealant. They guy I purchased it from on eBay, said to try sealing the whole small enclosure with silicone sealant, which I tried but was so very fiddly (that silicone is evil stuff to work with!) and rather defeats the object if you are going to cover the LED's up with sealant? Do you have any ideas at all please incognito?

by **incognito** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:26 am

you could easily stick a biube/orb light to lid but they aren't cheap.

might be worth jus getting a drip tray you could cut to suit your tank?
then atleast the moisture shouldn't condense on hood?

I've never seen white and blue energysave so it must be aimed towards aquarium use.

silicone is a knack.

surfaces to stick need to be 100% dry... but use a wet finger/gloved finger to smooth it. might take a few wettings of finger to go round 360 degrees.

where you want to stick needs to be 100% dry

to spread it neat you need moisture ( on finger/fingers) and it won't stick to you but where it's dry (tank/cable/leds)

have plenty of tissues or a rag to wipe hand between spreading.

by **mickelmass** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 1:27 am

I remember seeing the guys years ago, putting the building type silicone (mastik is it?) to seal the skirting boards and the floor in my bathroom. They did it just as you described it. Put a bead of the stuff where they wanted it and just licked their fingers and wiped it right over the long bead of silicone and it just sealed and set it after a couple of days in a nice concave seal that was hardly noticable. It was quite clever how they did it but they had been doing it for years though, so knew the score.

Yes, I think I will just do that. Get one of those platic drip trays that you can get for the oblong tanks and cut it to size. It will be a bit awkward though as the 60L is bow-fronted (or panorama as they like to call it) and the lid sits inside the frame, not outside it. But I will have a go and I am sure I will sort something out as there is just enough of a lip for it maybe to sit on?

Anyway, I have a feeling that the three LED's are not going to do much anyway being that the tank is quite deep and LED's don't show up much in more than about 6" of water, unless they are immersed? I suppose I could always get a plastic/rubber strip of the 8, 10 or 12 LED's sealed in a strip especially for aquariums (so they say) as they are all sealed and can actually be used underwater? I have a set of three that I got to light my three shelf wall unit with in the lounge and they look really good in blue in a wall unit? I just stuck those in with double-sided, heavy duty sticky tape but can't do that in an aqauarium, mores the pity? Oh the things we do for our fish! Well, some of us anyway? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] . Cheers once again!

by **mickelmass** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 1:41 pm

Well, I finished off the 24L partitioned aqaurium in the wee small hours of this morning & (I think) it looks quite good? It's not an expert job as I am totally useless at anything remotely to do with DIY but I am quite pleased with the outcome. I have posted a picture (just the one this time) as I don't know if the heater and/or filter are placed correctly?

Please excuse the plastic plants! I got them cheap at my local 99p shop, 4 x large or 4 x small in a pack, so I purchased about 6 packs I think? They looked quite good for 99p. I don't use plastic plants in my aqauriums & these are just for effect as plastic plants are no good for Betta are they? I put the silica sand back but I have no idea if is OK as a Betta substrate (deffo not spawning tanks I know)? I can soon dig it out and put "that dreaded gravel" in it's place if I have done it worng?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

registered · by **aly_starh** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 1:54 pm

tank looks great! good job!
Plastic plants can tear a bettas fins, so silk or live is preferred. Smile

registered · by **Wilsonnw8** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 2:00 pm

Wow the tank is looking really good!

registered · by **Vandraco aka Bronzecat** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:57 pm

Good job well done [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **mickelmass** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:23 pm

Thank you. It will look even better when the Gold and Blue/Green Irridescent female Dragon Plakats arrive, hopefully in about a fortnight or so? I think there are 10+ being delivered (more than I actually expected) by a friend of mine who breeds them? I also have another tank, the same is the above one, but I am awaiting delivery of the partitons, heater and filter for that one, so that's another job to get done next week.

I do have a brand new Elite Mini filter (a really short, stubby looking thing) doing nothing but it looks like it's a bit to much on the small side to me? It says it's for aquariums up to 20L but it only has black carbon filter medium in it. No small white or blue sponges, just the black carbon sponge?

I also have a few of the Wilkinsons plastic 11L tanks ready for them as well, just as a temporary measure until I get the others set up. Those Wilkinsons 11L jobbies are excellent value for money at just over a fiver each and they make ideal holding tanks or even a fully set up aquarium as you can put a heater in them and being a harder persplex/acrylic type plastic, the heater doesn't damage them at all!

registered · by **Netty** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:50 pm

Nice job Mike.....you're getting somewhere now [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **mickelmass** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:21 pm

Thank you Netty! Yes, gradually getting there at last. Though goodness knows what the hell I am going to do with all those Dragon Plakats (I think thats what he said they were?) that my friend has for me and all females at that? They are the last few left from his last spwawning and he very kindly kept a few back for me.

Can I ask a couple of questions if you don't mind please?

One: I presume that it is OK to use silica sand with Betta but obviously not in a spawning tank? But other than that, both males on thier own and females in groups or on their own, can have silica sand in their tanks?

And two: I know I can get all the help and advise I shall probably ever need on here but could you recommend a god book about keeping, breeeding Betta etc., please? I probably won't learn anything from it because, as I said, I can get all the help I need on this forum but it's just handy to have a book like that purely for reference purposes as I might need to know something urgently and I am not online? It's also very handy for something to read when I am either on the "the abomination" and/or in hospital. I hope nobody is offended as it would only be for reference? Thank you.

registered · by **Vandraco aka Bronzecat** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:32 pm

Hi

Yes, silica sand will will be fine with the bettas thumbup

There haven't been that many books written about the betta and spawning in recent years that i know of, but will have a look around Very Happy

registered · by **aly_starh** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:34 pm

IMO, the best betta spawning 'books' are reading peoples journals.

registered · by **Vandraco aka Bronzecat** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:35 pm

Not sure what this one is like, but its written by the owner of BettySplendens

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by **mickelmass** on Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:29 pm

Thanks for all that advise and help people. Yes, I suppose looking through their journals (does that mean diary's in the UK?), would be good but if they are diary's, then they are for the diary's owners eyes only - apparently?

I will take a loook at that book in a minute but it all looks rather American to me? They tend to have to do everything differently, so the book probably will be as well? Looks quite interesting though?

I went to my local library the other day and they only had four books on tropical fish between them in all the four or five Medway Libraries and two of them were those two big old crap ones that Herbert R. Axelrod wrote (mainly about himself) that I used to use as a door wedge! I didn't expect to find anything on Betta anyway as there are not that many books primarily on one species as it's all covered in the general fish keeping books anyway but thanks again.

The temperature in the BSB Nano tank is now steady at 80-81. The partitioned tank is gradually getting to the same temperature and the community tank has always been about that anyway. Those Visi Therm heaters are excellent, well, the couple of 25w ones I got are. They are so nice and neatly compact and you can visually set temperatures with the built in temperature scaling. I think I shall stick with them in future? Right, off to bed now as up at five for cab picking me up to do my four hours of purgatory on "the abomination"! Thanks again. G'Night!