# Tank for moss and emersed growing - DONE :)



## Tony Swinney (23 Nov 2009)

Hi

I've designed a 'growing' tank, which will have several compartments for moss / plants which will be submersed, plus two larger compartments for emmersed growth of plants.

Its going to be built out of acrylic, and a friend has already computer cut all the pieces for me at his work.  My first question is what is the best stuff to use for gluing the acylic tank together ???

I have aquarium sealant, but it doesnt mention acrylic on the instructions, just glass.  Will this be OK to use ?

Heres a sketch of the setup (the heat cable may not be used, but is an option) ...







Any thoughts appreciated !

Cheers

Tony


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## JamesM (23 Nov 2009)

*Re: Acrylic tank for moss and emmersed set-up*

Silicone simply wont adhere to perspex...



> There are three basic types of adhesive for acrylic. The first and most common is the thin watery solvent type that you can buy from EMA in tins or smaller bottles from model shops. It's usually based on trichloromethane, dichloromethane or chloroform. It can be applied to joints by paintbrush and the capilliary action draws it into the joint where it dries by evaporation. It's good for general fabricating where there are close fitting joints and for laminating relatively small areas, a 44" passenger pod being the sort of thing it's good for. It will also stick ABS and Styrene so you can use it to stick on all the accessory panelling neatly. It's not good for laminating large sheets because it needs to evaporate to work and this is obviously inhibited with large sheets. It's also a bit tenacious for thin styrene so use it sparingly with a small brush or otherwise you can find dimples in your panels weeks later as the recently dissolved plastic dries out thoroughly and shrinks slightly.
> 
> The second type is called Tensol cement and comes in two forms, air drying and catalytic. Both look and smell the same, basically a thin syrupy clear liquid. As the type suggests, one is air drying and the other sets by chemical reaction when it's mixed with it's respective catalyst. The air drying one is good for general fabrication but doesn't set quite as rigid. I mix it with EMA solvent adhesive to really thin it and use it on the wooden cores of the leg pods. It thins it sufficiently well to soak into the wood but not so thin that it doesn't grab the perpex sheeting that the blocks are being clad in.
> 
> ...



http://www.eagletransporter.com/forum/s ... .php?t=169


You should find bucket of the stuff on eBay, or via Google Shopping  

Always test a small area on a off-cut beforehand


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## Tony Swinney (23 Nov 2009)

*Re: Acrylic tank for moss and emmersed set-up*

Thanks for that James, lots of useful info there     I'll let you know how I get on

Tony


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## Tony Swinney (27 Nov 2009)

*Re: Acrylic tank for moss and emmersed set-up*

I got both Tensol 70, and Weld-On16 today, so will do some practise plastic welding tonight, and hopefully put it all together over the weekend   

Tony


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## Tony Swinney (27 Nov 2009)

*Re: Acrylic tank for moss and emmersed set-up*

So the testing progressed quickly to building the proper tank   

I now have the upmost admiration for folks who build acrylic tanks for a living - its very tricky stuff to work with !

The "adhesive" actually melts the acrylic, so that the 2 surfaces to be affixed melt together into one piece.  This means there is no margin for error when it comes to placing the pieces together, and no room for sloppiness, as you cant wipe this stuff off - it starts to melt the acrylic instantly.  The edges of the acrylic that are to be mated together also have to be perfectly smooth and square if theres any chance of gaining a watertight join.  I found the Tensol 70 easier to use than the WeldOn16, as it is thinner and the capillary action means it draws itself into the joins.  The Weld-on is a thicker substance which I've used around the base joints as you can build it up more, to form a stronger seal.

Luckily for me, this is only for a storage / growing on tank so I'm not too worried about the finish, but of course I'd like it to be good   

This is where its at now - this is the base, and front panel facing towards the wall, plus the 2 end panels and a couple of strengthening ribs too:





Tomorrow I'll add in the central divider and "moss compartments"   

Tony


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## JamesM (27 Nov 2009)

*Re: Acrylic tank for moss and emmersed set-up*

Good start bud, you're flying along!


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## Tony Swinney (28 Nov 2009)

*Re: Acrylic tank for moss and emmersed set-up*

Cheers James     I got the rest of it put together this afternoon, just leaving it to cure over night before a leak test tomorrow.  Excuse the crappy iphone pics, but it gives you an idea !

Tony

The full tank, with lids in place: 





This pic shows one of the back compartments, that I'll keeping mosses in.  Each will have a water inlet like this one


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## JamesM (28 Nov 2009)

*Re: Acrylic tank for moss and emmersed set-up*

Cool  Not a lot of room for access to the moss chambers though, or am I wrong? What filter are you using bud?


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## Tony Swinney (28 Nov 2009)

*Re: Acrylic tank for moss and emmersed set-up*

Hi James

There are 5 moss chambers on the left which are 12cm x 12cm so I can just get my hand in there.  Each moss is going to be on a branch within the chamber, so you can just lift the branch out    The other two moss chambers on the right (I made it a bit different to the drawing) are 22cm x 12cm as i might use these for storing submersed plants aswell as mosses.  All these chambers will be 230mm deep with water.

The front 'trough' is for emmersed growth, and is partially split in two so that the left half will have 100mm of substrate / water, and the right half will have 35mm of water in it.

I'm not going to run a filter on this initially.  Instead I'm going to use a garden watering timer to open the valve on my RO / HMA storage tank and let 20 litres fresh water in every morning (thats about a 75% wc).  The old water will run out to waste as it tops up.  I have a spare eheim 2026 which I could add to this easily if I find it needs it, but I dont think it will. 

Any thoughts and advice are welcome (from others aswell as you James   ).

Cheers

Tony


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## glenn (28 Nov 2009)

*Re: Acrylic tank for moss and emmersed set-up*

cant beleive i only just noticed this!    it looks a very cool project tony and you must be excited as to weather it will all come together and work for you, it must be handy having a friend with access to machines that can do that sort of stuff!
good luck to you with it, im excited for you


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## Tony Swinney (30 Nov 2009)

*Re: Acrylic tank for moss and emmersed set-up*

Thanks Glenn, this certainly wouldnt have happened without my mate doing all the acrylic for me - well worth the bottle a bottle of Bushmills   

The leak testing is complete, and it passed    so its now in situ, and I've just trialed the water system too.  The overflow weirs are working great, and it looks like the garden timer will work a treat too, adding fresh water once or twice a day.

The inlet pipework has one small leak to resolve so I'll get onto that tomorrow night.  I'm thinking of installing the heat cable in the front 2 compartments and the 2 larger rear compartments as these will house potted plants, so I'll probably add a covering of gravel too just to hide the cable and give a flatter surface  

Cheers

Tony

Just filled:




Overflowing the front weir:




The whole system running, and overflowing:


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## andyh (1 Dec 2009)

*Re: Tank for moss and emmersed growing - DONE *

Hey

That looks very proffesional!

Cant wait to see what you can grown in it!

Are you going to do a journal?

Andy


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## JamesM (1 Dec 2009)

*Re: Tank for moss and emmersed growing - DONE *

I want one!


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## Dan Crawford (1 Dec 2009)

Super cool Tony, absolutely love it!


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## AdAndrews (1 Dec 2009)

beastly 8)


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## viktorlantos (1 Dec 2009)

wow nah that's a top qual DIY project.
can not wait to see the plants grow there.

great work mate


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## Stu Worrall (1 Dec 2009)

Top build tony, looks really good!  You have to change your name to Moss_Farm_Tonser now


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## Tony Swinney (1 Dec 2009)

Thanks guys    I'm looking forward to getting it stocked at the weekend   



			
				stuworrall said:
			
		

> You have to change your name to Moss_Farm_Tonser now



Or perhaps RottingMoss_Farm_Tonser depending on its success   

Tony


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## Graeme Edwards (1 Dec 2009)

Bitchin mate... As always Tony, when you do something, you do it right....make me sick    

Love ya work mate...respect.


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## John Starkey (1 Dec 2009)

wow tony thats a nice looking propogater,i wish you all the best with this project,i am sure it will work with your loving care,  ,
regards john.


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## AdAndrews (1 Dec 2009)

Is this going to be for any species you fancy, or do you have a list of species already sorted that you would like to grow? or are you just going to try many different species and see how they fare?


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## Tony Swinney (1 Dec 2009)

john starkey said:
			
		

> propogater


  Mr Starkey you are a Star !  I've been trying to think of that word since I drew this thing up    



			
				Graeme Edwards said:
			
		

> when you do something, you do it right....make me sick



if a jobs worth doing....its worth making someone sick     I'll send you the plans Graeme   



			
				AdAndrews said:
			
		

> Is this going to be for any species you fancy, or do you have a list of species already sorted that you would like to grow? or are you just going to try many different species and see how they fare?



Errr, the last one I think !  The five small compartments along the back left are specifically for mosses - they wont have any heater cable in them.  The other ones are to try things in, hence the different depths, to give me a bit of room for experiment.

Cheers

Tony


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## George Farmer (1 Dec 2009)

What a pro!  

Nice one, Tony.  Ever the perfectionist, and I'm sure the results will reflect this.


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## Steve Smith (2 Dec 2009)

Awesome Tony!  decided on what mosses you're going to be growing?


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## JamesM (3 Dec 2009)

Super impressed with the build quality mate, really well done 

Do you mind if I ask how much your friend charged to cut the perspex?


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## Tony Swinney (3 Dec 2009)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> What a pro!
> 
> Nice one, Tony.  Ever the perfectionist, and I'm sure the results will reflect this.



Thanks George - I wish growing the plants was as easy as designing and building this !!



			
				SteveUK said:
			
		

> Awesome Tony!  decided on what mosses you're going to be growing?



Cheers Steve.  Initially there'll be mosses from my other tanks - -peacock, fissidens, taiwan, java, christmas and a couple of others that Matt has given me.  Also I'll try other plants from the main tanks too.  Just play around and see what works   



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> Super impressed with the build quality mate, really well done
> 
> Do you mind if I ask how much your friend charged to cut the perspex?


 
Thanks James.  Errr, he didnt    Hes a very good mate     I just bought him a bottle of Bushmills to say ta


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## NA-Fan (3 Dec 2009)

That looks awesome! 

I can't wait to see it in action!  Will UKAPS members get a nice discount if you sell on your mosses?!


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## Gill (4 Dec 2009)

That looks amazing, very nicely done


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## daniel19831123 (24 Dec 2009)

Any update on the moss growing farm? More PIC!!!


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## Tony Swinney (3 Jan 2010)

NA-Fan said:
			
		

> Will UKAPS members get a nice discount if you sell on your mosses?!



Of course   



			
				Gill said:
			
		

> That looks amazing, very nicely done





			
				daniel19831123 said:
			
		

> Any update on the moss growing farm? More PIC!!!



Thanks Gill.

Its kind of on hold for a while    I'm going to be working abroad for the next 5 weeks, so I wont be able to look after it properly.  The mosses will stay in there, as the daylight it recieves, plus the daily auto water changes should see them ok, but everything else has been removed.

I'll update when I return.

Tony


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## aaronnorth (3 Jan 2010)

very nice  
Only just seen this!


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## FishBeast (10 Jan 2010)

I love it! You have inspired me.


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## JamesM (25 Jan 2010)

Tony bud, any updates? Hows it working out for ya?


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## Steve Smith (25 Jan 2010)

Last I heard Mr Tony is overseas.  Looking forward to some updated pics myself


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## Tony Swinney (25 Jan 2010)

Greetings from Beijing !  Steve's right, I'm out here for another week, then a week in Dubai before heading home.  Once I get back I'll be setting this up again, so there'll be new pics   

Tony


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## a1Matt (25 Jan 2010)

Nice one Tony, I posted on the forum while in Peru last year, but Beijing beats that!
I am sure you will be missing your family, but hope you are enjoying the travel as well


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## TBRO (30 Jan 2010)

This is most interesting, a kin to Amano's Wabi-Kusa grower. I think it has the potential to be very beautiful as well as a good grower. Do you think you could have live-stock in it, dwarf frogs?  Do you still have the "big green moss" from me ?

Keep us posted,  Tony


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