Loach Island 2.0 for the river tank

[Keith Wolcott]

Cool!

[chefkeith]

I finished building the structures for right half of the island.

It's basically a mirror image of the left half.


My cat, Zenith, inspected it. She said that I still have to reinforce the right side before moving on.


Inside the perimeter of the island, there will be plenty of space for the fish to rest. This is where I'll put many lengths of 2" pvc pipe. The loaches love the snug fit of the pipes when they sleep at night.


The main cave will provide plenty of cover for the daytime activities.



The design of the structures is very flexible. If my tank were higher, I'd build another level like this-

[MonsterFishRescue]

You do some really cool work! I like it a lot! Wish I had the patience!

[chefkeith]

I was getting anxious to see what the driftwood would like so I screwed in some pieces.

Looks like I need just a few more pieces to fill in blank spots.. This is going to look so much better once it gets painted.

[MonsterFishRescue]

What kind of screws are you using?

[chefkeith]

What kind of screws are you using?

1 1/2" pan head phillips stainless steel sheet metal screws

[chefkeith]

Added a few more pieces of driftwood. I think this should be enough. I don't care much for how the fake plants look, but they give me a good idea of where I can put real plants, like maybe some java fern.

[chefkeith]

TFG- Hey, I finally got a pic of myself wearing the MFR Marge shirt.

[andyroo]

BAMBOO !!
Heaps of bamboo: many sizes, many orientations, full of holes. Piles of bamboo bits. Epoxy directly to the island or pile up on the bottom.
Everybody's favourite.

[MonsterFishRescue]

I think I should just hire you to come and make me a background!

Nice shirt That's awesome

[chefkeith]

BAMBOO !!
Heaps of bamboo: many sizes, many orientations, full of holes. Piles of bamboo bits. Epoxy directly to the island or pile up on the bottom.
Everybody's favourite.

I like that idea. Anyone know where I can find bamboo? I've never seen it being sold locally.

[chefkeith]

I think I should just hire you to come and make me a background!

but your tank is so big that you'd need a crew of people to build a background for it.

[andyroo]

Re: access to bamboo, call an interior decorator. Any one worth their salt should have a bulk-supplier, though you need so little (to make even a massive structure) that full mark-up price shouldn't be a drama. Don't get smoked or chem-treated product. Raw.
That or buy the seeds for springtime for one of the big spp from a garden store. It's just a grass. You should get a full crop in the second year, far more then you could ever use. Some species may be controlled as potential invasive species.
A

[chefkeith]

I reinforced the right half of the island with concrete. I also cut out some cave holes in the island.

To cut out the holes, I drilled a bunch of small holes around the perimeter of where I wanted the hole. Then I hit the inside edge of the drilled holes lightly with a hammer until the hole was knocked out.


There probably is a better way to make large holes in cement board, but this way worked pretty good. One problem was that I went through 4 drill bits because the cement board dulls the sharpness of the bit quite fast. Also I'll have to fix a few of the holes because 2 turned out a little to large.

[MonsterFishRescue]

Do you have a jigsaw? If so you can buy a blade specially designed for hardie products