As some of you might have heard...I had 2 tanks crack on me a few weeks back. One Saturday morning when I entered the fishroom for maintenance, I noticed one of my tanks with a breeding pair of trifasciata had only about 10cm of water left, and the water was hot as hell (because of the low water level, the heater couldn't turn off) So I moved them to another tank...only to have the tank I moved them into...crack the following morning (different shelve on the rack) #BadApistos Most important thing tho...the pair of Trifasciata is 100% fine and the male cleaned out a cave for the female late yesterday Anyway...not sure what caused the tanks to crack. Was it the extremely cold weather and the heaters inside that caused the tanks to crack, was it a weak spot in the glass that just had enough, the pine boards warping, who knows... The large amount of water caused some damage to my shelves...and I saw them starting to split apart Not wanting to risk any damage to my other tanks, I decided to invest in some kitchen countertops. Figured they are thicker, stronger and sealed to be waterproof. As I was playing with the idea to install LEDs into my racks instead of the tubes for a while now...I decided that while the tops are off...the install of the LED's would be easier. So 2 weeks ago, we (myself and @skua went to go shopping) Fixing the strips to the tops: Due to me sealing the edges of the countertops and waiting for the glue and silicone to cure...installation was not going to happen immediately...
Fast forward 2 weeks to this past weekend... The rack (minus some cracked tanks ) as it looked prior to work starting: Replacing the bottom pine with a countertop. As there wasn't any LED's to be placed onto this one, I did it on Thursday evening: Bottom tanks on new countertop. Looked a million times better...and it is WAY stronger:
So Saturday morning came and Pieter rocked up early for what was to be a long day (mostly because I'm an idiot and searched for more than an hour for my sidecutter)...and it's a one-man job. So @skua did most of the work alone with me just standing around and passing things on... So a quick photo of the rack with the old tube lighting: Testing the first set of LED strips after @skua fixed them to the counter top: And the a shot just after the second and top tops where added to test the lights: At this point @skua left...as his work was done (5hrs later) and I had to drain a few tanks and move some fish to put the last rack in. Photos of the COMPLETE refurbished rack will be coming soon. So in closing, just want to thank Pieter (@skua) again for all his help...think he's sick of all the times I've said thank you over the past 2 days . If it wasn't for him and his help I never would've gotten to this point
Hi, Glad the leaks were spotted and the refurbished rack looks great If I may ask, what power supply do you use to power those LED strips?
I hope so...lol Wouldn't put it on my display, as Pieter advised me that they wouldn't be sufficient. But for my breeding tanks with mainly moss, anubias and bucephalandra they 100% (at least from what I've seen in his fishroom) Using a 20A power supply for every 10 strips (1.5A x 10)
Now that looks great! Clever move on the granite look-alike tops - I have one in my kitchen and I spill a lot of stuff, not once did it act up from so much liquid on top. Smart move over to LED - now you'll save even more on power consumption. I don't see any timer plugs for the lights though - do you have them installed or should be investing in one? PS. I don't think it was the apistos - my theory is that your boards were uneven and the weight of the water tried to distribute evenly with the fish moving in, probably caused the cracks. So hopefully that will sort out your problem in the long run...
They are there...have about 4 timbers running in my fishroom. You'll see one in the rack photo on the top right corner I know the apistos didnt crack the tank...they harmless (specially the trifasciata)...just "easier" to blame them than to blame myself
May work for that then. My breeding tank just has an old T5 and a very yellow burnt light cover, did make a clear one and it didn't seal so I almost killed myself there. A very clean build, I like it You guys keep baby stuff. I'm gonna get worried with my polys lol, need a stronger lid
Everyone has their taste, I'm likely going to end up with some big and small tanks. Some of my fish may have 10+ years ahead still. You should see how empty my wallet is lol
