cutting clay pots

rfb · Post by **rfb** » 12 Jan 2006, 22:23

does anyone have any suggestions on how to cut clay pots.I thought that I had seen something here but I cant find it.Any help is apprieciated thanks

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 13 Jan 2006, 09:57

There's several ideas in this thread:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... hp?t=13197

--
Mats

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 13 Jan 2006, 15:45

For terracotta pottery the trick is to soak the pots.....you can sawthem with a regular saw or hacksaw or even drill holes in them, IF the pots are soaked!

I soaked mine in a bucket of water for 24 hours, and when sawing put them back in the water again and again.

saw a bit, wash & rinse, saw a bit, etc etc.

Works like a charm, I did NOT use any electrical tool, except for a regular drill to make some holes. the bits in that drill were old wood-bits and a few small bits for stone and metal (be prepared to waste those, they get blunt quickly).

A few examples of my handiwork:

terracotta pot with hole in it, so it can be used as a high cave, or in this case as a spawningcave with marbletrap.

terracotta pots sawed in 2 halves, lengthwise; so they can be used as one-ended tunnelcaves.

rfb · Post by **rfb** » 14 Jan 2006, 04:59

well I used the dremel and I got a tile cutting bit,all was going the best i have seen so far until,the bit went flying off to some place.i had success and when i find it I will try soaking the pots and see if that might work I think that soaking and sawing as stated might be the only way but iwant to try and see if it will work just for fun,ill let you know how that goes

pictus_man_77 · Post by **pictus_man_77** » 14 Jan 2006, 10:24

what fish is that in the last pic? he looks like he is smiling!

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 14 Jan 2006, 19:12

A mouthbrooding Phyllonemus typus.

edit: weird! the pix don't work....

bugger

well, anyway; the same pix are in the catelog under "phyllonemus".

pictus_man_77 · Post by **pictus_man_77** » 14 Jan 2006, 19:19

cheers

troi · Post by **troi** » 14 Jan 2006, 19:51

sidguppy wrote: terracotta pot with hole in it, so it can be used as a high cave, or in this case as a spawningcave with marbletrap.

It looks like the pot tray is under the pot and above the marble trap. What does the tray look like--are there holes or a funnel or anything be can't see?

TIA,

troi

SynoSteff · Post by **SynoSteff** » 15 Jan 2006, 08:37

I think that tray you are seeing under the pot is just a bit of an optical illusion from the glass

When trying to make rough entrance and holes in my terracota pots i usually fill them up with sand and bury them in sand with only the bit i want to break exposed. I then use a hammer to break the bit off. The sand helps support the rest an prevent it from cracking too. Works most of the time

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 15 Jan 2006, 09:54

It looks like the pot tray is under the pot and above the marble trap. What does the tray look like--are there holes or a funnel or anything be can't see?

optical illusion!
it's just a glass bowl with marbles and a terracotta pot on top.

the funnel-method does not work, because Synodontis eggs are sticky

.
the writers of the article on this site mention that they drew it up, but never tested it.....

I have, several times, and it doesn't work: the eggs stick to the sides of the bowl and the marbles.
So I usually replace a bowl with fresh marbles every day (if you wait longer, the eggs develop fungus), and manually 'roll' the eggs off the marbles and the bowl into a mesh-contraption.

SynoSteff · Post by **SynoSteff** » 15 Jan 2006, 17:00

Can you explain your mesh contraption cause mine dont work so well at keepin fungus away. Just made a DIY egg tumbler and trying it for the first time today with my nigriventris eggs. At least they not sticky

troi · Post by **troi** » 15 Jan 2006, 20:46

SynoSteff wrote:Can you explain your mesh contraption cause mine dont work so well at keepin fungus away. Just made a DIY egg tumbler and trying it for the first time today with my nigriventris eggs. At least they not sticky :)

I saw your clip of the egg tumbler; let us know if you find the current ok. That said, I wonder if a good current, as from a mini spray bar or just water thru an air line, over the eggs on the marbles would keep the fungus from developing? It must be touchy business to roll the eggs daily.

troi

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 15 Jan 2006, 21:51

A current is the idea.

since I cannot "draw" on the PC (I'm allergic to those kinds of software, and it somehow leads to me destroying the PC with a sledgehammer), and my camera's broke as well, it's kinda hard to explain.

I have made a setup with 3 'tanks': a 50G, a 1foot long plastic tank and a 6" mesh-breeder.

the big tank holds the marbletraps, several PVC pipes and the breeding group of Burundi-petricola's.

I took the small "mesh"-breeder, and put it in the bigger plastic tank wich is housed in a 50G tank. the plastic tank is attached with 2 rods to the top of the big one; it 'hangs' in the water, with the edges above waterlevel. the meshbreeder hangs in the same manner in the plastic tank.
The plastic tank has many drilled holes in it as well.

Now the Eheim empties IN the meshtank, wich drains in the big tank, and ofcourse the filterINlet of the Eheim is in the big tank. All 3 tanks have snails in them; ramshorns and trumpet. these 2 species do not eat healthy developing eggs or fry, they DO eat empty egg'shells', nonfertilized or dead eggs and dead fry!

I put eggs wich I harvest daily from the marbletrap in the meshtank. In the meshtank as well as the plastic tank as the big tank. So the eggs never have to go through a "change" in waterparameters. eggs as well as tiny fry cannot handle those. Also, I do not have to use any anti-fungus medic or any other chemical substance. I just do regular waterchanges.

The harvesting should be done daily, because the water in the bowl is stagnat, and often the syno's poop in the marbletrap as well; together with nonfertilized eggs, semen and foodleftovers this quickly leads to bacterial growth, wich leads to oxygenshortage, wich leads to dying eggs or fry wich leads to fungus.

Still with me?

I feed the fry in the meshtrap with freshly hatched babybrine and powderfood. leftovers are spilled trough the mesh and/or eaten by the snails. the snails below the mesh in the plastic tank also clear this out.

A contraption with only a meshtank doesn't work, because of the adults (!); they 'suck' both egg and fry right through the mesh, and destroy any breeding attempt.....petricola's DO rob eggs or fry, and often -without a marbletrap- the others feed on the eggs 1 pair is laying.

that's it

SynoSteff · Post by **SynoSteff** » 16 Jan 2006, 05:58

Damn, i think i get it. Hehe.

Sounds pretty ingenious to me. Could you describe those snails to me? They sound like they are a winner in the system. Hehe. I got those little cone shaped snails. Those the right ones?

I'll keep this in mind. Good description

If i get bored i can try draw somethin and see if i actually did understand. Hehe. But i think i did. Thanks for the info

toddnbecka · Post by **toddnbecka** » 28 Jan 2006, 09:21

How about a small sponge filter in the bottom of the marble tray? I'm thinking it would keep water moving over the eggs, and collect the fish poop, etc. that ends up in the tray.