Leaderboard

During the evenings over the last few days, I painted the base boards for the tanks and installed them on the rack (sorry no photos as I usually paint them after work and was too tired by the time I am done). The show day holiday in Brisbane yesterday provided a good opportunity to work on the rack. While it was a holiday in Brisbane, it was business as usual in Logan, which suited me perfectly as I could pick up the foam and plumbing bits without taking time off work. I was so excited when I got home and immediately went about to put things together, hence I forgot to take more photos while I was working on the plumbing. I moved the frame to the lounge and after installing the sump return plumbing to the top and middle tier, I couldn't resist myself and had to install a tank and some foam temporarily just to see how they look together. Sorry for the low quality photos... the tank is on the left on the middle tier. You can also see the painted base board for the 4ft tank on the bottom tier. 20mm stainless steel strainer to 25mm drain. I am planning to run 12 sponge filters from a circuit constructed using 19 mm poly tubes that will be driven by a Resun LP-20 that is placed on top of the frame (top left in the photo below). The LP-20 is placed on a piece of carpet to help further dampen any vibration. A closer look this morning... the poly tube that runs across the length of the rack is for air while the other is for sump return via 19mm poly tubes reduced to 13mm inline taps. This goes to the air pump (not connected yet). Greatly appreciate any comments or suggestions for improvements. Thank you.

Just setting up a tub for outside. Is the sandpit sand from Bunnings fine to use?

Ohhh getting close to having the tanks running now. Exciting. I like the white paint. Always used black myself.

Yeah should look good once it fills out a bit, liking the way it is at the moment.

Some plumbing bits have been ordered and is in the post. I find Dural Irrigation to be well priced and free post to boot. What better way to get things done from the comfort of my home in this cold winter weather. The base/insulating foam has also been ordered and they are now ready for pick up. I went with Koolfoam Ultra for both aesthetic and superior insulating reasons. It is supposed to be 35% more efficient than white EPS. Hopefully, the grey coloured foam could double up as a tank background as well. The cold winter weather has not done much to spur me on. It is after all much warmer to sit in front of the computer for our first SKF auction than to work away in the garage. However, @buck's recent post on his rack journal inspired me to get my butt moving again. Let the painting begin. I forgot to mention in my earlier post that the undercoat/primer-sealer I have selected was Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 from Bunnings. This was recommended to me by the staff for my application as It is water based, has low odour and has mould and mildew resistant properties. 950ml cost $26.90 and covers 10m2. Paint wise, I chose Dulux Aquanamel Vivid White Gloss paint to match the interior trimmings of the house. 1L could cover 16m2 and I bought 2L which cost $67.45 from Bunnings. Since I already have an undercoat, I intend to apply only 1 coat of paint to the frame and double coats for the exterior MDF claddings for a smooth finish. This was the make-shift paint shop. Let's just say the family wasn't impressed the garage was occupied for an indefinite period of time. I am extremely happy with the paint. It has minimal odour and being water based, cleaning up was extremely easy. Next step, once the paint is dry, is to move the rack in place and proceed with plumbing. Mods, I have provided some links and mentioned some businesses which I believe do not compete with our sponsors. However, please remove them if they are not allowed. Just to clarify, I am not affiliated to them in anyway.

That is one lovely shrimp :) Green Babaulti is native to my country - India, and I am more than happy to see people across globe also keep them with so much interest. Hope I am not derailing your thread, but attaching one crappy mobile phone image of them, I clicked recently.

I keep natives. I cull based on colour.

I sell my girls for more then my boys

I bought some crack on the weekend

My threadfin rainbows live in a 4ft tank with cory catfish and Borneo Suckers. The threadfins are usually quite shy and quick to duck back into the plant life once they see me ready with a camera. So I cheated a bit and fed them to get their minds on food instead of the big scary black camera. And of course they had to all be hanging around the darkest corner of the tank.

Some more sneaky shots, that I managed to get before my water addicted cat jumped up on the tank to get a drink, guaranteed to freak out even bomb proof fish.