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New tank for Mimius

Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Messages
73
Well here are a few pics of the tank in progress. It is 36" L x 30" W x 20" H so it is about 95 gallons. The overflow has been drilled to accept a 1.5 inch PVC standpipe with a strainer on the top of the standpipe. Black plastic covers the overflow to hide the standpipe and to match the back of the tank (painted black). There are two 1" holes in the back panel for the bulkheads and loc line returns. The loc line will have nylon attached to the outlet.

The overflow is screened by two pieces of eggcrate material sandwiching a square of filter material. The "nuts" that secure the uppermost eggcrate is above water to discourage exploration. After all, it is possible for a very determined cephalopod to unscrew the four bolts, remove the top eggcrate, remove the filter material, slip though the bottom eggcrate, slip through the standpipe strainer, then into the sump. However, the eggcrate is a very tight squeeze to get out.

The lid is glass with insulation urethane as a seal. It is held in place with strips of industrial velcro. It will also be held down by brackets from the light lid. If need be a lcoking mechanism can be installed in the future. Let me know if there is anything I missed. Thanks for the imput.
 

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Looks great. I like the acrylic countersinks for the bolts. How easy is it to turn those nuts? If you're worried about Mimius twisting them off you might experiment with putting an ever so tiny dab of rubber cement on the bolt before you screw it on. Maybe see if you can get it tight enough so that you can get it off but reduce the chance of Mimius noticing that it can turn if he grabs it by accident and becomes intrigued.

Its good to see some DIY pictures!

Dan
 
Thanks Dan, I might try that approach. Alternately, I might try gluing some of the filter material to the nut itself as Mimius hates the "feel" of the coarse material and it is so porous that the octopus cannot use suckers to grip it. I'll keep posting the progress as I go along. Must concentrate on packing for the move to the new house, so the stand and actual set-up will have to wait for a month or so.

Actually, come to think of it I could get rid of the nylon bolts completely and use a peice of 1/2 " diameter pvc pipe. The pipe would attach to the top eggcrate screen and the other end would anchor into a female slip coupling glued to the underside of the glass cover. That way, there would be no way any animal could raise the top eggcrate screen unless the lid was raised.
 
Just another couple of shots to show the updated octo proof overflow. The black strainer stops the top eggcrate from moving side to side or up so the eggcrate can only be removed when the lid is open. Best of all it doesn't stop water flow and there are no bolts to fuss with. Takes two seconds to remove the top eggcrate and filter material once the lid is opened.
 

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Hi Ian

once this is up and running and you have given it a good test with an octopus, might I suggest that you consider this as a subject for an article for TONMO.com?

It is one area where we get a lot of questions

cheers
colin
 

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