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Go to the pet store and get Algae Destroyer Advanced. It's a lot simpler solution than a tray.
Also read up on algae. Normal causes are overfeeding the fish or too much light or overstocking. If you have enough live plants in the aquarium, they'll out compete the algae and use up a lot of the fish waste as fertilizer.
There's a lot of info on the web on keeping an aquarium.
I forgot to mention one thing in my previous post. Never, never,
*never*, believe anything they tell you at the pet store, especially if it's a chain. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but they are very rare.John,
I think they already make such an aquarium piece. My tank has a plastic base that is about 1/2" tall. The gravel sits on it just fine. It is two piece that allow it to be place in and removed. The back has tubes to help circulate the air in the water.
Mike > I want to make a tray to contain a thin layer gravel that will lift out of
??? I didn't say anything like that.
Wood shouldn't be a complete disaster, since boats and whiskey barrels are made from the stuff, and are meant to stay submerged continuously, for years at a stretch. Sanitizing would be the only conceivable problem. Couldn't you frame out the tray with yellow, drinking water grade CPVC pipe?
Why not use a vacuum siphon? We vacuum our gravel as part of the weekly water changes and haven't had any buildup at all.
D.
------------------------------------- Wood shouldn't be a complete disaster, since boats and whiskey barrels are made from the stuff, and are meant to stay submerged continuously, for years at a stretch.
------------------------------------------ Wood and fresh water are a problem unless totally submerged and deprived of oxygen.
Wooden boats typically throw salt in the bilge to convert any rain or other fresh water found there into salt water.
Wood and salt water coexist quite nicely.
Lew
Are you describing an under-gravel filter? It sure sounds like it. The tubes in the back are not "to circulate air in the water". They're designed to pull water up through the tube along with the rising air bubbles. this pulls water (and junk) down through the gravel where it biodegrades. those plates (usually) aren't durable enough to be lifted with gravel sitting on top of them.
Vacuuming may clean out a lot of the waste, but other than slowing the growth it won't do anything for algae.
The blind leading the blind. This is a woodworking group, so I won't post anymore on the subject, but I think you both need some basic fishkeeping education like that given at:
Yep - have a 1x8x12' in the shop. Cut down to 10' - used 2'. Veranda is one trade name of plastic bags with color and grain.
Hobby shops - those with models in them have building plastic in sheets, tubes, (round and square) and the like. Those big hobby shop stores on the www have them also.
Wood can poison the fish. Tanic acid could be leached.
Brass or bronze would also work. The latter in Naval if available.
Mart> >>> Make sure your glue is compatible with FISH.
That bog and river logs are oxygen free.
Fish require oxygen and it is pumped in with a bubbler, and water flow. That will cause problems. Plants and light will also generate O2 .
Former fish store boy (Mom and Dad owned) - and fish tank user up to
100 gallons. Now none, but want to get back some day.Mart> john hamilt>> I want to make a tray to contain a thin layer gravel that will lift
And every critter that is supposed to be an algae eater would rather eat meat. :(
So what is stopping algae growth in my gravel? Four years now and zero algae buildup with the only cleaning the gravel gets being its weekly vacuum siphoning. Whatever it is, I wish it would keep algae off the walls.
D.
Sorry. It was RonB who said it in the post before your, and being included in your posting I thought it was you. Sorry my mistake.
WHY NOT MAKE IT OUT OF GLASS? Glued together with the same stuff they sealed the tanks with? Or, even better, get some sheet plastic from Ace Hardware or Home Depot - they sell it as window glazing. You could also use fiberglass screening (in a portion of the bottom area) so as to let it drain easily as you remove it from the tank
You know how many different types of algae there are? Hundreds!
It's not the "nutrient rich" environment, it's the oxygen. There is not a lot of oxygen in water. Wood will last longer than the fish in an aquarium.
I don't know about 45,000 year old stuff, but I dug up a 100+ year old,
40 foot long, 3 x 12 that was part of a sunken barge out of the Allegheny river, which is very "nutrient rich" river supporting tons of fish and wildlife. Not only did it survive, it was hard as rock. Plenty of dock pylons are made of wood, including pine, and they last a long, long time.Personally though, I would use plastic in an aquarium if at all possible. Much easier to clean than submerged wood.
Which is essentially irrelevant when the question is "why isn't algae building up?".
D.
I agree completely with regards to the use it's being put. It's not going to be a completely anaerobic environment.
OTOH, wood harvested from deep underwater can be worked a hundred years after submersion.
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