Xmas Carnage & Chaos

[Redtailrob]

Geeeesus, what a couple of days.
Came home Thursday from work to find my 8'x3'x2.5 with a big crack in it across the back & the cabinet collapsing!!
Spent all day Friday quickly putting together two 4.5' x 3.5' ponds to rescue the fish- Only one loss and that was a large 10" Xingu Pike cichlid. Had to move Tigrinnus, Planiceps, Yarelli
On checking the fish house this morning the slippped tank seems to have pressed against one of the walls & compressed & cut off the Power to one side of the fish house.
Lost ALL POWER to my Tropical pond- an emergency rewiring has re-established power, needed a big water change & lots of buckets of hot water. Lost the following
x 1 TSN 16"
x 1 Vulture Cat x 20"
x 1 L.Longbarbis 24"
Remaing Xingu Pike of14"
A sad day, what a mess.
Remaining fish still look very touch & go, water temp had dropped to 64 degrees
Merry Xmas

[MatsP]

Sorry to hear. Best of luck rescuing what you've got left.

--
Mats

[JamieH]

Sorry to hear of your problems and loss any idea the cause of the first tank stand breakage?

Hope you get back to normal soon and dont suffer any more losses

[Richard B]

Sad news Rob

Hope things are geting better - any update?

[corybrummie2010]

Sorry to hear whats happened,hope everything will be alright at the end.

[andywoolloo]

I am sorry that happenned.

[Redtailrob]

Thanks for the comments guys.
Lost my remaining Xingu Pike & also one of my B.Yarreli 14"
Everything seems ok at the moment & the remaining fish have been split between 2 4' x 3' ponds which have been hastily set up with pond filtes plus additional aeration.
Cant keep them in these long term so need to sort something pretty dam quickly.
Any ideas people?
Was thinking of making a pond with Railway sleepers and then lining with a Pond liner.

[MatsP]

Railway sleepers would probably work - difficulty will be attaching them together. I would have thought a bunch of 2 x 4" and a number of 25mm plywoood sheets would be easier to work with. You can still use a plywood liner to keep the water in place. The key would be to bind the edges of the ply together, so you need some 2x4 under the tank to support the lower frame, and some cross bars at the top. 2x4 with so that the 2" side is along the ply, and sitting 4" out, one at the top, one at the bottom and one per 8-12" in between. Then short pieces in perpendicular, screwed through the ply and into the lengthwise 2 x 4.

Make sure you leave 4" at each end sticking out from the end of the ply and attach the short ends into these.

Here's a neat design, along similar principles:
http://www.jonolavsakvarium.com/eng_diy ... itres.html

--
Mats

[taksan]

Quick cheap and easier then a sleeper pond and liner

http://www.gatwickkoi.com/plastic-tanks.htm

[wrasse]

I've built a couple of part-raised ponds before using railway sleepers. Overlap the sleepers at each corner with each layer and drill vertically so that you can hammer steel rods through the holes. drill at the corners and along the lengths. Trap the top of the liner with a thinner timber capping that may be suitable for sitting on.
You pay a lot less by going directly to a timber merchant or maybe on-line. If you provide an accurate diagram a timber merchant may also drill the holes.

[MatsP]

I would have thought that sleepers are a fair bit more expensive than a Plywood frame. But taksan's suggestion is better...

--
Mats

[Viktor Jarikov]

Hi Rob,

Sorry, I was buying a house and land in FL and completely missed this.

Devastating! Speechless. Hold tough and get going, don't let it bring you down one bit, please.

Here's a neat design, along similar principles:
http://www.jonolavsakvarium.com/eng_diy ... itres.html

Wow. Speechless for a different reason. What a guy! Rarely does one see such a gem of diligence and care for others. I'd wanna be his friend forever. Thanks much Mats for bringing up such a site.

May be a good idea to reserve a corner of PCF to such websites, so to speak a hall of fame of DIY-fers and educators?