Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
D.I.Y Aquarium Rack
The rack is designed to support six 72 litre tanks, 60x40x30.
Have a look at my plan below and you will notice that it’s impossibly chaotic.
When it comes to price, this thing has been really cheap to construct so far. Almost all of the materials have been scavenged and the only things that have been bought was some sockets, cables, nails and the wood stain. Most of the wood for instance was discarded bits from fencing.
Here are some photos of the joints which might come in handy for someone is thinking of building their own:
Melander
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Here are the "flaps" and sides fitted. At this stage it really becomes apparent how wood works in that each piece had to be cut out individually due to minor differences in each opening.
The exterior of the rack has also been sanded which made a huge difference.
Melander
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Close up of the connection, one of these is fitted at each level of the rack.
Painting in progress:
The woodstain is from one of the local German supermarkets and is a chestnut colour variant, I have applied three layers and am quite happy with the result, turned out much darker than I expected though.
Melander
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I dismantled the rack prior to painting it and as I was doing so numbered each joint of each beam with a permanent marker and also made a sketch plan including the numbers.
Without this It would be a nightmare (and not in a good way like the old Venom classic
) to put it back together again.Melander
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I have to say this before I forget it;
I dismantled the rack prior to painting it and as I was doing so numbered each joint of each beam with a permanent marker and also made a sketch plan including the numbers.
Without this It would be a nightmare (and not in a good way like the old Venom classic
Melander
I'm glad you did say that Melander as my first thought when i seen the pic of it dismantled was 'oooh that's gonna be tricky to piece back together the way you had it' but fair play,you were organised
The best of luck with the project and as you seem organised and not stupid like me,i'm sure whatever room the rack will be housed in it will be totally insulated.....It took a cold snap and an extremely large electrical bill for me to realise i'll never be 'half' insulated again
Ger
What do you call a three legged Donkey?
A Wonkey....duh ha
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Melander
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Haha John, always have to be one step worse:)
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Here's a photo of the whole thing up and running:
I'm very happy with the result so far, it sort of allows for more tanks in regular rooms as it blends in quite well as a piece of furniture rather than just random tanks all over the place.
Left to do:
* Add a styrofoam sheet to the back for insulation
* install more lights
I'm also planning on replacing the four upper tanks that are 54 litre for four 72 litre, Bart kindly built the two lower tanks for me and it's amazing how much difference 10cm in width makes to the tanks.
Melander
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John- "looks like something I might have drawn, but more accurate"
Haha John, always have to be one step worse:)
Location:
N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
ITFS member.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
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The two middle tanks have now been upgraded to ca. 70 litre, I put together the tanks myself (pre-cut) which is a first. The might not be as tidy as the ones in the shops but they do they job.
Allot of these things seems like sorcery until you actually try.
Just the two upper ones left now.
Andreas
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"The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you.They're freeing your soul."
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