Loach Island 2.0 for the river tank

[chefkeith]

I pretty much finished up this project this weekend.

Early Saturday I prepared the 85g tank for the clowns and I removed the water bridge.


I attempted to evict the clown loaches from the old island with just a net, but that didn't work. Not being able to get loaches out of the cave was the major flaw of this island design.


I figured I'd have to raise the island so that they'd get out of the main cave. I used some old water bridges to prop up island above the water-line. There were a few moments that freaked me out a little. Some clowns were still in the cave when I raised the cave above the water-line. I had to pour some water in the the cave, they slid out of the cave like they were on a water slide. It wasn't hard to net all the loaches at this point.
I did do a fish count and to my surprise there were 7 black kuhli's in the tank. A few years ago, I though I accidentally trapped and killed 3 of them underneath the island. They must of been stuck there since July of 2007. The 3 look like they shrunk a little bit, but they seem to be perfectly healthy.
Anyway, all the clowns were accounted for. I still have 43.



Now the next tough part, how in the world am I going to get this monstrosity out of the tank? It must weight about 150 pounds.
What I did was teeter todder each side of the island until I could get some buckets underneath it. Then I screwed a 1x12 wood board to my stand and I swiveled the island to the top of board, then I teeter toddered the island out and onto the floor. It was amazing that I didn't have to do much actual lifting. I just used good old leverage.


Clean slate now.


Setting up this new island was a snap. I put in the 2 bottom pieces.


Then the top pieces. Then I filled up the tank and went to sleep. In the morning I drained the tank, then filled it again.


Then I put some driftwood in the tank.


Then I put the water-bridge back on the tanks. Earlier in the morning I took the opportunity to paint the water-bridge black. This is a nice improvement. I don't think the clowns will be reluctant to use the bridge anymore when the lights are on.


One clown just swam threw the water-bridge into the rivertank just a moment ago.


That's about it for Today. Nothing but minor stuff to do like adding more of the sand back and getting some plants.

[MonsterFishRescue]

That's great! I just love the water bridges! Makes me wish I never sold my 265!

I'm very happy for you that everything went well! And don't you just love levers and fulcrums! LOL

[Keith Wolcott]

Looking good chefkeith! I'll be curious how well it all works. I think that you have a good design. Let us know how the painted water bridge works too as time goes on.

[chefkeith]

Keith- painting the water-bridge has made a huge significant difference. I've been watching the tanks for a few hours this morning and the clowns have swam threw the bridge hundreds of times already. Every minute another group of clowns is in the bridge. I've tried taking a few videos, but there is not enough light for the camera. I'll keep trying with the videos.

The water flow in this new island design is a lot better too because the entire perimeter of the island is above the water's surface. With the old island there was about a 2 ft section in the front center that was below the water surface and that impeded the water flow quite a bit. So I'm thinking that I might not need to use any extra powerheads with this new design. Good thing because my Koralia 3 pump quit working the other day.

[chefkeith]

This is the best video I've been able to shoot so far-

[chefkeith]

I got a better video. The loaches didn't like the extra lighting so I won't bother them for more video's.

[Keith Wolcott]

They are hard to see in the videos, but I caught a couple of glimpses of them rushing through. I'll have to experiment with covering mine up a bit to see if it has any effect.

[chefkeith]

Got a new video of the clowns in the river tank-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9kesD2P8zE

[chefkeith]

They are hard to see in the videos, but I caught a couple of glimpses of them rushing through. I'll have to experiment with covering mine up a bit to see if it has any effect.

Sorry about that. The video's do look really darker on my CRT monitor. They look a little brighter on my LCD monitor though.

[Keith Wolcott]

Great video! Your clowns are very happy and sure look good.

[chefkeith]

I htink my next project is to reinforce the concrete piers supporting the floor joists in the crawl space underneath the fishroom. Unfortunately, some of my aquariums aren't level anymore. More unfortunate, something has sunk into the ground about 1/2" since late January. The framing to my front door is out of square and the nails in ceiling drywall above the door are protruding out a little bit also. I'm hoping it's just the concrete piers that have sunk, but I'm afraid that the foundation has sunk also. I'm hoping I can make it level again if I jack up the joists and put some shims between the the piers and joists. I'm not sure what to do if the foundation has sunk.

It's too cold and wet to do anything now. I'll probably have to wait until Spring. Who knows, by then the joists might expand a little and the problem might fix itself. I think they usually expand and contract about a 1/4" during the coarse of the year.

Anyone else have this kind of problem?

[Diana]

Only a "Whew! It is OK" version:

If you put a marble on my kitchen counter it rolls North.
My 46 gallon bowfront tank in the dining room is out of level by almost 1/4" over 3'.
There are cracks in the floor and ceiling suggesting the addition part of the house is moving. (Kitchen was enlarged and dining room added on by the former owner)

I was getting ready to jack up the house and fix the problem, so I asked my son to check all over the kitchen and dining room with a level to see where the lowest spot is, and how much lower it is.

He put the level on the floor in several places, and found the problem was not the floor or foundation.

Former owner had not installed the cabinets plumb, level and square.
The house does shift with earthquakes, and swells and shrinks with temperature and humidity changes, and this accounts for the cracks in the ceiling and floor. My kitchen and dining room will not end up in Australia one of these days!
The tank is out of level. I think the dining room floor was not installed right, this area does show a minor but irregular change depending on how you position the level. Not in a way that suggests the foundation is sinking.

If the piers are actually sinking into the soil it may be better to add more supports (Spread out the weight among more piers) as well as shim up the existing problem ones. Are the existing piers deep into the soil or are they shallow? Could you dig them out and design them differently, so they span more area?

[Sue Tegland]

WoweeJowee! I caught the fish going thru the bridge, and your last video of the speed of those loaches. (The Boesmans are great too) This is quite the accomplishment.
That is some system, and to be envied.
I did think "now I hope he doesn't have to ever net those fish from TWO tanks"
And I sincerely hope your foundation corrects in the spring!
It is a joy to watch the whole thing.

[chefkeith]

Thanks Diana. Great idea about adding more piers. I'm actually using "dek blocks" that are above ground. I probably didn't do a very good job of setting them up in the 1st place.

Thanks Sue.

[Keith Wolcott]

I also think that setting up more jack posts on deck blocks is the easiest thing to do. That's what I did for my tank room. I got the jack posts and the 11 inch by 11 inch deck support concrete blocks (mostly buried) at Home Depot.

I would be surprised if your foundation has sunk. It is more likely that joists are sagging, but you will not know for sure until you get a look at it (especially why things are moving around your door).