Hmmm, yes, well..... I was at Pet Barn last Sunday because we needed to buy from straw and more food for the rabbit (who's name is Basil btw, I'll put up some pics later) and I was looking at the fish tanks they had there. Not so much the tanks that they had for sale, but rather the tanks that they put all the fish that they have in. It's weird, because I've seen a dozens of these set-ups, so I don't know why this particular time prompted me to change my tank design, but it did.

I've decided to change the design of the built-in filter to more closely match those used by the fish-shops. If you haven't seen them, they use a second tank located underneath the primary tank as the filter. for this second tank I won't build it myself, in fact if probably won't even be an actual fish tank, but more likely just a suitably water-tight plastic container. No point in making a pretty tank when nobody will see it. So even though the design looks more complicated, I actually think it's simpler (I hope). Ok, enough of me rambling, here's my updated design:

There will be a little run on the floor of the tank that will take water from near the front of the tank and fill up the left section in the Input/Output at the back. Obviously it'll fill to the water level of the main tank. Water will then overflow from the left section into the pipe in the middle of the section. The pipe will then take that water by gravity to the top of my filter tank, just under the main tank. The water will then trickle down through the filter media in the main tank, by gravity, to the bottom of the tank. A pump will then pump the water from the bottom of the filter tank up to the right section in the Input/Output, which will the overflow back to the main tank area. I hope that all made sense.

Let me point out some of the highlights of this tank design, if I may;

• The level of the water in the main tank is fixed by the level of the top of the pipe in the left section, any extra water in the system will be in the filter tank. Unlike our current tank, this will mean that the new tank won't ever have any water level visible, even when the water drops a bit from evaporation. Unless the water level is so low the filter tank becomes empty, of course, but then I've got bigger concerns, namely the overheating and blowing up water pump.
• When the pump is turned off, the right hand section will drain back into the filter tank, but then that's it. The filter tank could then be completely removed for cleaning. This will make cleaning the filter SO much easier than having to reach over the back of the tank.
• The reason I decided on the extra effort of the in-floor out-take is that now water flows from the top-back to the front-bottom of the main tank, ensuring there's no stagnant areas of water. Most commercial filters have their out-take and in-take right next to each other, which is a stupid design. All filters at fish-shops, however, have a design like this, with the in-take and out-take as far away as possible. Also the out-take will be covered by gravel, so making it very pretty isn't really necessary.
• Since the new back section of the tank only is for taking water out of the tank and returning it to the tank, it doesn't have to fit all the filtering media like before. This means it can be made smaller, giving more access to the main tank area for putting in things like scenery.

I hope you enjoy my new and improved awesome fish tank design. Now it's about time I actually got around to drawing up the stencil and bought the bloody stuff.

Enjoy everyone,

Bob

On a completely different note

I thought I'd share with you people a little thing that's been kicking around in my mind recently. That thing I would like to call the "Physics theories are chicks" analogy.

For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, well..... hopefully you'll catch on to most as I go along. For those of you who do, and that's a depressingly large portion of you, please giggle along with me and feel free to add your own.

Newtonian Physics: Is that chick that... well.... yeah she's kinda hot, but just seems a bit over-rated. I mean.... EVERYONE knows her, everyone makes such a big deal about her, but at the end of the day, is she really THAT good? I say no.

Lagrangian Physics: Is Newtonian Physics's younger sister. Except that unlike Newtonian Physics nobody seems to know about her which is really weird, because only a pretty cursory glance will tell you that she's HOT!! So much hotter than her older sister. She can do all the same things her older sister can, except she's more graceful, more elegant, and easier. You can't help but feel that if only more people knew about her, she'd completely out-shine her older sister.

Special Relativity: is that cool chick that's way fun to hang out with, just don't let things get too serious. She's pretty damn cute, and you two can just kick around talking crap for ages. Everyone seems to know her, and reckon she's pretty cute, but not many seem to know her well. Most people just know her name and that's it. Awesome chick right? Yeah, just don't get too close. Try and get serious with her and she rounds on you, and then it's just a massive pile of headaches until you decide it's better to just stay friends.

General Relativity: Special Relativity's younger sister, but unlike Special, General's a complete bitch! It's a shame, because you know that underneath the nasty veneer she is a VERY FEAKING cool chick. Problem is the second you try to approach her she'll start spouting weird shit at you and you're better off just turning around and talking crap with her sister, even if she's not as cool.

Maxwell's Electromagnetism: Elegance wrapped up in hot. You wish all chicks were this easy to get on with. Everything she does she does with such grace, and you enjoy every minute you spend with her. Only problem is she does lack a bit of depth, and after spending a bit of time with her you find yourself thinking that despite her grace she just lacks a certain something. It's about this time you wish you were talking to Quantum Physics or one of the Relativity sisters instead. But damn, what she can do.... HOT!

Quantum Physics: She's the chick who sits in the corner, and everyone's a bit intimidated by her, even most of the guys who hang out with General Relativity. Yeah, you know she's cool, but you really can't quite decide whether she's hot or ugly. Most people decide ugly and go chat with some other chick instead. Thing is the more you talk to her, the more you come around to her way of thinking. Sure she's really different to the others, and that makes her hard to get to know. It also means that most of the other girls don't like her at all. But take it from a guy who's been getting to know her for several years now; she never stops being a bit bitchy at times, but she is VERY cool, and after a while you start to realise her unconventional appearance contains a certain elegance and beauty.

Well I hope you guys enjoy this. Please let me know your thoughts. I considered getting on of you to post it on Seb's blog, so maybe it should get re-posted over there.

Fish Tank PLAN!!!

Yes guys, here it is. After many a puzzling comment about the fish tank and chimneys and oxygen and dead fish and all sorts of things, I'm posting plans for the fish tank on here so you can rest at ease:

Alright, so there's the top view, and the side view, with a close up of the filter mechanism in the back.

Alright, so from the top, we have a right angle triangle with perpendicular arms 75cm long. The right angle (which will sit in the corner of the room) is empty to allow for cables to slide down the back. The next compartment out is the filter, which is built into the tank. Next is the area of the main tank, that is open to allow access to the tank. And the rest of it is the section that is covered by a perspex ceiling.

Looking at it from the side you'll see that the perspex ceiling is slightly tilted to help bubbles flow up the opening, and the access area and filter extend upwards into a short "chimney" which allows the water level to extend up above the level of the ceiling.

The filter is quite simple in design; there's some holes in the bottom right which allow water to flow from the main tank area through the back wall into the filter area. The water will then flow upwards within the filter through some filtering sponges. Above the sponges a water pump will pump the water across to the next compartment. The water can then flow up and down through various filtering media and other things (like water heaters and bubble rocks) until it's reached the left-most part of the filter. It will then flow up and over the perspex separating the filter from the main tank area, creating a small waterfall back to the main tank.

Before you people jump in and point out the flaws, yes I realise that the water levels I've drawn in the filter aren't level, and yes I am aware that they will level out. Please people, I know I don't know that much physics, but I know a little bit.

This tank plan has been very much inspired by the tank we currently have, however on a larger scale. Here's our current tank, for those that haven't seen it:

The "chimney" extends up within the burnt orange housing, meaning that when the housing is in place, you can't see the water level. You get a lovely uninterrupted view through the top into the water, and it looks awesome, as you can see. Lights are also held up inside the housing, and as is the filter. all cables run down inside the housing down the back of the tank, and come out down low and out of sight, very classy.

I will also build a similar housing for our tank hiding away the chimney, and also containing the lighting for the tank.

Ok, I'm not attempting the cantilevered design that this tank has (wouldn't recommend it with perspex) but I am bringing some improvements to the design. Namely I am tilting the ceiling of the tank slightly, so that air pockets down get trapped. One problem with this tank is that you get big air pockets in the highest corner every time you do a water change. Also of course I'm integrating a filter into the back of it, which will save a lot of money over buying an off-the-shelf filter.

Alright guys, hope you like the design, feel free to point out flaws now.

Bob

It's DONE!

Alright people, the moment you've all been waiting for..... the TV cabinet is complete! As I said last time, after I got the glass most of the remaining work was the cosmetic things. Thanks to Sally for helping out with the staining, those drawers has a lot of very large flat surfaces.

So a quick putty, stain, frost, and two drawer handles later, and it's all done. Hope you guys like the results, andagree with me that it's a damn sight better than the things it's replacing.

Well I certainly do, so who really cares what you guys thing anyways. I must mention that the glass looks substantially more frosty in person.

As you can see, I felt the need to include the radio in the pictures because, well, the radio is sitting right next to it so any photo of one really doesn't work without the other.

After all that, I felt that I was thoroughly entitled to one of these:

The next job, I hear you asking? Well Sal has ordered a rabbit, which means that the next and most pressing job will be to create a hutch for it to inhabit. After that the next job is the one you've been waiting for..... the fish tank.

I hope to put some more detailed plans of the fish tank up soon for you to peruse.

Have fun people,

Bob

Progress Report!

Okay, so...... It's so close to done I can taste it! Well not literally taste it, but metaphorically taste it. I personally wouldn't recommend tasting wood, it tastes like wood.

I completed the top drawer, now cut down to size so it neatly slips underneath the glass and the piece of wood supporting the glass. The front panels of the two drawers have nicely fit in with a minimal gap between them and a minimal gap between the glass and the top of the drawer.

Only things left now are a selection of little things, puttying, staining, putting in some right angle to better support the glass, putting on some floor slides so it doesn't damage carpet, and then I think we're done. Yay!

Awesome Steampunk Mouse

Hi Guys,

I'm not sure if any of you are into steampunk, or know what steampunk is, but I just had to show you this awesome mouse. Basically steampunk is a particular style, with lots of pipes and brass and generally giving the whole thing a very vintage but also techy look. Anyways there's a pile of people out there that modify various items (anything, really) to give it a steampunk look. Here's a mouse that a guy did, and I reckon it looks awesome.
Anyways, the full pictorial details of how he did it are found here. I recommend doing a quick browse through the images he's put up, it's pretty cool. He's even gone to the effort of building it a beautiful display box for it to sit in. Not sure it'd be the easiest mouse in the world to use, but I don't care.

Cya people,
Bob

The TV Cabinet's Glass has Arrived!

It's here it's here! Hooray! Ok, so I measured up and bought the glass for the TV Cabinet's top. After that it's been a very simple job of cutting to size and screwing in a piece of wood that will run down the middle of the cabinet, just underneath the glass. Now the cabinet has a much better level of rigidity, and we can start to see how this thing is going to shape up.







The glass that I bought was clear (as you can see) as clear glass is substantially cheaper than frosted glass. Later we'll put some frosting contact that we'll get from Sal's dad's business, and that will frost it up nicely for us, whilst still being much cheaper than buying frosted glass up front.
Next job is cut down the top drawer so it'll fit under that cross-piece of wood, finish the top drawer off, then it's on to prettying-up measures like puttying and staining.

Cyas, Bob