Betta Bunkhouse

[lilmissruffcountry]

For thin plastics I use my old woodburner / soldering iorn to melt small holes but you could use these

http://www.mkmorse.com/step.html

http://www.professionalplastics.com/DRILLBIT

If you have a drill press

http://www.mkmorse.com/rm1.html

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Projects...name=Multi-Max Projects

+1

I completely forgot about being able to burn holes....

[PhishPhreek]

I've been thinking ....... why use valves at all ?

If you plumb it right, (one long series) you can use a timer to turn the pump on and off.
all you need is a big carbon filter to keep the chloramines out and you can do water changes automaticaly as often as you want.

Might want to put a check valve at the pump if the inlet is below water level.

FF where is that super carbon bottle info ?

Shoot, if your useing tap water through a carbon filter, you don't even need a pump..... just a hand valve.

[bettafan]

I"ll be using well water mixed with ro. I just want to hook it up and pump thru it twice a day with fresh water is all. and beannies are inherintly hard to clean becasue of the amount of them. I don't need to filter or put in additives other than some Aquarium salt. But I do need to be able to clean them easily thats the incentive here. Plus the barracks i have now takes up so much space in the room, I could utilize at least three other growouts, and hold 400 jars for sorting. and still have the center of the room back. I plan on redoing the entire fish room. but I really want to make sure this one is the last for a while. Its cuttin in on my breeding time. LOL

[PhishPhreek]

while a good baracks system makes water changes easier, I don't think a block of 25 compartments is going to be easier to clean the green slime off of. With the beanny boxes you can lift them out and soak them in a bucket of bleach or run them through the dishwasher but with the 6' long
one piece unit, its going to be a bear to get in there with a scrub brush and clean the front window......
I used this system for 6 months earlier this year.

http://tcbettas.com/21jars.html

But when I left the light on too long the green slime coated everything and it was impossable to clean just one jar. I tried taking all the fish out and filling them with a bleach solution for a couple of days. It worked but I had a no space to turnaround in my fish room until I finished.

I am looking of some inexpensive quick-disconects so I can remove one unit at a time for serious cleaning without having to shut all the other units down.
Everything I have found so far is just so oversize for my application and a lot more than I'm willing to pay.

Have you got any idea what flow rate you will need to lift crud from the bottom of one cell to the top of the next one ? this may be too much for the bettas ???

[bettafan]

well anything will have its set backs, as far as cleaning, I worried about the 1/8th divider area, but I was hoping that with enough water changes the green slime wouldn't be an issue, the other thing is, I use methblue to my water to keep plant growth to a mn. seems that I don't get the algea growth in my beannies, my big problem is with protien on the inside of jars, barracks, the stuff looks like clear jelly. easy to clean but funky for sure.
As far as the flow rate, I D K panero says it works, and I do have a fairly good pump, I wouldn't have it running long, and if it didn't suck the betta thru that little opening,I also believe for a few mins it is a type of exercise for the betta. I may build one unit and test it, but hey no guts no glory. ONce I swing its the thing that I'm gonna go with. I'm going with the assumption that as water flows thru it will carry it along. on the other hand, I can and probly will have to utilize my python to suck in some corners, my big attraction is turning the water on and waiting 5 mins and the water being changed, and the area for the betta to be bigger 6X6 rather than 4x4, plus out of the way, wall mounted. now that my system is getting older it does have some leaks that need addressing time to time, its getting old, big floods, I usually leave and it does take an hour or so to flush it plus its all shared water. I mean it works great but looking for a better way. It's one of those things, I need enough for at least 100 adults, adn there are only so many traditional ways to do it. as well I'm limited to room.

I have seen one similar to this design, it has a large filter system, plus UV built in , its huge, but the owner says its easy to clean and works well. he has cut back on betta so doesn't use it. the price is right but I would rather I think build my own. his is over kill has lots of water storage and filtration that takes up a lot of room. And room is somethning in short supply over here. :)