So as some of you know I work at an environmental charity with gardens full of wildlife and ponds, and last year (as I don't have the space for a while to set it up at home), I lent my 90cm aquascaper aquarium to set up an outdoor "pond tank" using stuff in the pond and some branches from a dead hedge for our lovely aquarium-y event, and so our students and visiting school groups could raise tadpoles and get a closer look at life in a pond from a different angle. There was no equipment on it at all, it just got a waterchange once a month with biweekly topups.
It worked really well, everyone loved it and the teachers said it was a great educational resource, and our event was sooo lovely too with pond dipping help from master of ponds @killi69 . Admittedly the event almost killed me it was so exhausting but it was the most beautiful day out with so many lovely fish friends involved. At the end of July before the end of term I broke the tank down and returned all the lovely baby froglets and newtlets into the pond again, and put the tank in storage without a hitch.
Last week while I was working from home a colleague tried to set it up again as frogspawn has been spotted... and of course one of the bottom corners managed to get cracked in the process. They only let me know after they'd tried to fill it anyway and had it leak
Very (very) annoying, but these things happen. To me it looks like quite a bad crack that couldn't be easily fixed, but let me know if you think it could - the dodgy corner could go at the back, and I could get a wood stand made that hides the bottom with thins trips of wood. As the tank goes outside leaking isn't catastrophic like in a house, but it does need to function!
So now I'm planning to fix this tank or source another second hand tank and set it up again, but this time I want to do things a little differently to try to reduce the chance of this happening again. I want thinking of setting it up permanently outside as I think the biggest danger point is storing it and moving it each winter, but I'm wondering if that will destroy the silicon over time? It could remain filled with water or be drained. Potentially I could do something like get a cover made to go over the top and sides during winter to protect it a bit more.
Has anyone got any experience in doing something like this or advice? Let me know!
It worked really well, everyone loved it and the teachers said it was a great educational resource, and our event was sooo lovely too with pond dipping help from master of ponds @killi69 . Admittedly the event almost killed me it was so exhausting but it was the most beautiful day out with so many lovely fish friends involved. At the end of July before the end of term I broke the tank down and returned all the lovely baby froglets and newtlets into the pond again, and put the tank in storage without a hitch.
Last week while I was working from home a colleague tried to set it up again as frogspawn has been spotted... and of course one of the bottom corners managed to get cracked in the process. They only let me know after they'd tried to fill it anyway and had it leak
Very (very) annoying, but these things happen. To me it looks like quite a bad crack that couldn't be easily fixed, but let me know if you think it could - the dodgy corner could go at the back, and I could get a wood stand made that hides the bottom with thins trips of wood. As the tank goes outside leaking isn't catastrophic like in a house, but it does need to function!So now I'm planning to fix this tank or source another second hand tank and set it up again, but this time I want to do things a little differently to try to reduce the chance of this happening again. I want thinking of setting it up permanently outside as I think the biggest danger point is storing it and moving it each winter, but I'm wondering if that will destroy the silicon over time? It could remain filled with water or be drained. Potentially I could do something like get a cover made to go over the top and sides during winter to protect it a bit more.
Has anyone got any experience in doing something like this or advice? Let me know!
