Continuous Drip System aka The Betta Wall

By Ken And Wanda Newby - Riverbend Bettas

PLEASE READ IT ALL BEFORE STARTING

OUR VERSION We first want to thank Scott Page from The School of Bettas. His students built a system like this which was posted on there website, that is where we got our idea. We had to do something, especially since nerves were getting short because of changing water ALL THE TIME!! The general idea is to supply your fish with clean filtered water continuously. Pump the water to the containers, then it over flows to a drain, drains through a filter into a sump to be pumped back to the containers. We started by mounting a x 4 x 8 sheet of plywood (good on one side) at the top of our basement wall. We used 2x4s for framing. Once the plywood is mounted and leveled, we painted it black. Then we laid out where we wanted the vinyl gutters. Starting at the bottom of the board at the sump end. We started with the bottom of the gutter mount hanging 1 below the bottom of the board (see fig.1) and marked the screw holes. With the drop the far end is only below the bottom of the board and mark this screw hole. We then used a chalk line, between the two marks, to mark our straight line for the mounts. You can then measure 12

up from each screw mark to mark the next line. Do this 2 more times for 4 equal measurements. We put the gutters on a drop towards the sump for drainage. We use 9 gutter mounts per row screwed on with 1 dry wall screws. Nine because the gutter not only is a drain, it also has to hold the weight of the 23 containers and their water. NOTE: Do not put the gutters into the mounts yet. After the mounts are up we start to mount the 5/8 recreational vehicle water hose to the board. It is easier to mount this now. The reason for using RV Water hose is because regular water hose does give off a slight toxin, where as RV water hose is FDA approved safe. We use nine PVC caps per row to hold the hose straight and 1 off the board. If there is any dripping from behind the emitter, it will drip into the container, not run down the board. Holes are drilled in the center of the cap for a 1 dry wall screw to hold the cap to the board and a hole at the top open edge of the cap for a zip tie. This is how we hold the hose in place (see fig.2). NOTE: When securing the hose try to make the blue line on it visible and as straight as possible. This will be helpful later to be used as a line to place the drip emitters. The top row of hose is mounted at the very top of the board. The other three rows are mounted at the bottom of each gutter mount so the hose just touches the gutter mount when installed (see fig.2). The end of the hose that is away from the sump is capped off. We use a 5/8 male hose end and a plastic hose cap. The sump end of the hose has a 5/8 female hose end. We screw a brass hose to pipe fitting here. We then screw a pipe to PVC female adapter onto the brass fitting. After all 4 hoses are installed it is time to start work on the gutters. First you will want to install the end caps. We use silicone sealer to put the end caps onto the gutters. Let this cure 24 hours. Now you will want to put the holes in the guttering for the drainage. The first 2 walls we built we put holes in the bottom of the gutter at the sump end. Now we put it as low as we can on the end cap of the gutter at the sump end. You will need a hole large enough for a PVC chase nipple to go through (about 15/16). Screw the chase nipple thru the end cap and into a PVC Female adapter. This will not seal tight so we used silicone sealer around the female adapter and the chase nipple inside and outside the gutter. Once that has cured you can now cut and place the leaf guards into the guttering (see fig.3) and put the guttering into the mounts. We lined up the ends of the guttering on the end away from the sump and let them hang over farther than the end of the plywood. They will snap in place. Now we will install the drip emitters. We have used GPH and 1GPH emitters, still trying to determine which we like best. Leaning heavily towards 1 GPH.

of PVC pipe. Then add a 90-degree elbow (see fig.5).

into the brass fitting, the other onto your sump pump. On the side of the T you will put in a piece of 2 PVC pipe, then a PVC ball valve, then a piece of PVC pipe, then a 90-degree elbow down to the sump and another 90degree elbow. NOTE: This elbow is not glued in so we can move the direction of the water at anytime.

Updates can be received upon request! To determine the spacing we used 6 beanie boxes. Placed them in the guttering (starting away from the sump) and marked the hose so the emitters are as close to center of the box as possible (see fig.4). Continue down the row moving the boxes into place. To drill the holes we used a 7/64 drill bit. Once you drill the holes then you can place the emitters by pushing and twisting the most pointed end into the hose. Then we put a piece of airline tubing on the emitter to just above the height the water will be in the box. Which will be determined when we cut drains into the beanie boxes. Beanie boxes will be cut later.

On the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hoses you will do the same except for one thing, instead of the 90-degree elbow put a PVC T on the end (see fig.6). Now cut PVC pipe to fit between the 90-degree elbow and the first T. Then cut PVC to fit between the top T and the 2nd T, then the 2nd and bottom T. Now cut a 2 piece of PVC pipe. This will go into the bottom T and then another T goes on the short pipe, this last T will be for a pressure relief drain.

PIPING NOTE: Do not glue anything till it is all cut and you make sure everything lines up. When you do start to glue you will use PVC Primer and PVC Cement. Now lets start the piping. Starting with the top hose, put a 2 piece of PVC pipe into the female adapter. Then put a PVC ball valve on, then another 2 piece

Take the last T fitting and on the bottom of the T fitting and add a 2 piece of PVC, then a female adapter. Now screw in a brass pipe to hose adapter (see fig. 7). From here you will use a piece of hose with 5/8 female connectors on both ends. One end will screw

The length of the 2 pieces of pipe will depend on where you want the water to go into your sump. This all will attach to the bottom of the T on the fourth hose. Once you make sure everything is where you want it to go, then start like a puzzle and glue! Now lets do the drain piping. You already have the drains cut into the gutter with the chase nipple and female adapter installed. Dont you? Starting with the top gutter you will need to determine where you will want the piping to go so that it will miss everything below. Again piece this together before you glue so that you will make sure it all clears! Now cut a of PVC pipe to the length you will need and place in female adapter. Put on a 90-degree elbow. On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th you will do the same except you will use a T fitting in place of the elbow. Now cut PVC to fit between the elbow and each T fitting. On the bottom T you will add a piece of PVC just long enough the clear the bottom gutter and add a 90-degree elbow to go back under the guttering. On this you will add a piece of PVC long enough to drain into the middle of the biological filter. Then add a 90degree elbow. So this will depend on where you want to place your filter, so we waited till we built and placed our filter to get the right length. If everything is where you want it, then go ahead and start gluing. ALMOST DONE! NOW FOR THE SUMP AND FILTER SYSTEM We used a 45-gallon Sterilite storage container for the sump (see

fig.8). For the pump we used a 1/6 HP submersible utility pump. The

quart I had you save? Did you? We need it now. Cut a 4X 7 rectangle as straight as possible (see fig.10). Now with the 4 being width, mark a line that is in on each side and on the left place a mark that is 1 down from the top and on the right place a mark that is 2 down from the top. Now draw a line between

hose you made earlier will screw right on. It can pump 20 gallon per minute with lifts to 20 feet. That is the reason for the relief valve. You dont need that much pressure, but you need the pump to run to its capacity otherwise it could burnout prematurely. We also installed a Visi-therm 200 watt submergible heater. We used the suction cups and placed it on the wall of the sump container making sure it did not touch the wall. Now after building all this we were told a UV sterilizer is a must!! Well, we had no way to put it in the system now. So what we did is purchased a Custom Sea life U2 Double-pass UV sterilizer (8 watt, up to 125 gallon). Then we purchased a Rio 400 Aqua pump (for ponds and fountains). The reason for choosing this pump was because the sterilizer needs a minimum of 35 GPH and a max of 150 GPH to operate properly, and the Rio 400 will pump 50 GPH with a 2-foot lift. We use the Rio 400 pump to pump the water through the sterilizer. We mounted the sterilizer to the side of the sump with the thumbscrews that came with it. We put the Rio on the bottom of the sump and bought additional hose to reach the sterilizer and for the outlet of the sterilizer to drain back into the sump under water. This will keep the sterilizer from getting an airlock if you want to turn it off. The filter system consisted of a 12-quart and a 20-quart Rubbermaid container with the Snap Toppers (see fig.9). The 12quart is for the filter floss. Turn the 12-quart container over to mark for

drilling holes. We taped a piece of paper with a grid on the bottom, used a 1/8 drill bit and drilled at each cross point. On the lid there are 2 lines. We cut a hole out using a Dremel, with the mandrel #402 with an emery cutting wheel/sanding disc, and used the inside line for the guide. NOTE: Save this piece you will make a template with it later. We used quilt batting folded and doubled for the floss and placed a piece of stiff 10 count Plastic Canvas on top of the batting. The 20-quart is for the bio balls. On the bottom of this one we used a drill bit and drilled holes in it. On the lid we used the outside line plus a little more, took of the handles and made this fit real tight to the bottom of the 12-quart. You will see an indention on the side of the 12-quart container and that is where we fit it too. We then built a small stand to set into the sump to hold the biological filter. This is to raise the bio balls above the water level of the sump so they can get air, which is needed to build beneficial bacteria. You need 4- PVC side outlet 90s. The frame will be the size of the bottom of the 20-quart container. The height will be determined once you decide what level you want your sump water. Our stand height is approximately 11 tall. BEANIE BOXES Now we are ready to prep the beanie baby boxes! You will need 92 boxes and patience! Remember the plastic from the top of the 12the 2 marks. Using a Dremel with the mandrel #402 and an emery cutting wheel/sanding disc, cut the line and then clean the cut. This is the template for the drain on the beanie boxes. Now lay your template on the beanie box, lining up the top and sides. Remember the 1 is always on the left and at the opening of the box. Using an awl, scribe the line into the box. Now repeat this on the opposite side of the box. You will know you are right because when you look through the box you now see an X(see fig.11). Now using the Dremel and the disc cut on the line. Suggestion: Find something practice on first! to

Then cut from left to right, if you do this the acrylic will not build so thick and it will be easier to remove. Also it is best to cut both lines and then remove the shavings before cutting another box, because you

will find out that the more they cool, the harder it is to remove the accumulated acrylic. This cut will give you about a 1/8 slit for water to drain. Place the box on your Betta wall with the cuts on the left and right side. Now you have your first beanie box cut. You only have 91 more to go! THE WATER There is not really any special way to add the water. We wanted to know the total amount of water in the system. In case heaven forbid we ever had to medicate!! So what we did was added the water in gallons and kept a running total. Because, until the beanie boxes are filled no water will come back to the sump. But we did not want to overfill. Once the system was full we then prepped the water. Our system runs with 54 gallons total per system. We let it run for 2 weeks without fish. We watch for evaporation and found ours evaporates at 1 gallon per day. So we now add a gallon of dechlorinated water only, daily. The reason for this is all the other minerals are already there, so there is no need to add more. As far as how much water to run to the boxes, we timed the filling of the boxes at each end of a

row and tried to adjust the valves so the boxes would fill in 30 minutes. You may have to close the relief valve just a little also. There will be more water going to the closest to the pump and less to the farthest. So our top 2 valves are full open and the bottom 2 are slightly closed. ADDING FISH As I said earlier we waited 2 weeks before adding fish. This was just a preference for us, to let the water settle and get to the right temperature. We also decided new fish would not go on the wall until we have had them for one month. Once you add the fish you will need to watch the ammonia and the Nitrite levels. Because the nitrite levels especially will go up and fast. We used nitro-sorb and changed 10 gallons of water every other day. It is a slow process, because what is happening is the beneficial bacteria have not matured yet and so the nitrite levels go up. Once the beneficial bacteria have matured, everything should level off and you have a continuous drip system!! EXTRA NOTES! Some people shut the system off while feeding. This system does not create enough water turbulence to warrant me shutting the system

down. I have no problems feeding with it on. You will notice waste debris on the bottom of the container, but not as much as you would expect, in fact we were surprised! About a week after putting the fish in I decided I wanted the debris out. So we made a siphon tube using a 6 piece of hard plastic tubing and attached a 10-foot flexible clear tubing. We put the flexible end into the top of the filter, leaving out only enough to reach the farthest box. Then we primed the hose and started siphoning. To keep the prime I just pinched it between my fingers when I moved to the next box. That took about 20 minutes!! We do this once a week now. We have not decided when we will really clean the containers yet. We will update, as information is available! But we are thinking 6-8 weeks! THE END - ALMOST! Well, We hope you understand this information. If you have questions please feel free to contact us. I am sure we will add more as we grow. We hope as you grow you will find ideas and suggestions that may help you and us, and will pass them on.

SOURCES
Our feelings are that if something breaks we want to be able to get the item quickly. So here are the places that we got the supplies from: Almost everything came From Lowes Hardware. Including the 45-gallon container, utility pump and specialty tools. The small containers, Plastic Canvas and batting are from WalMart. The actual Aquarium items came from That Pet Place Phone : 888-842-8738 Web : www.thatpetplace.com The Rio 400 pump was purchased from Graystone Creations through eBay. Real cheap! The Recreational Vehicle water hose was purchased at Camping World (they ship for $1.00) Phone : 800-616-2267 Web : www.campingworld.com The Drip emitters (we bought the plus series emitters) were purchased through PlumbingMart.com Phone : 530) 891-8521 Web : www.plumbingmart.com The Beanie Baby boxes can be purchased through Plastic For Memorabilia Co. They are a good company and stand behind their product. You want the 4 X 4 X 7.25 Topload. Speak with Paulette and let her know we sent you! We have become good friends with her. Phone : 800-661-5111 Web : www.plasticformemorabilia.com

SUPPLIES FOR ONE BOARD

1 ? x4x8 Sheet of plywood - good on one side 2 x 4s for framing and mounting (Depending on location) 1 Pint of paint 4 10 vinyl gutters 36 gutter mounts 8 5 vinyl leaf guards 8 Gutter end caps 1 box #6 1 1/8 dry wall screws 5 Brass to pipe fitting 36 PVC caps 9 PVC to pipe female adapter 4 PVC chase nipple 2 10- PVC pipe 5 PVC ball valve 6 90-degree elbow 7 PVC T fittings 4 PVC side outlet 90s 1 each PVC Primer and Cement 1 tube Silicone sealant 36 4 long Zip ties 4 Male 5/8 hose ends 4 Plastic hose caps 5 Female 5/8 hose ends 1 1/6 HP submersible utility pump 1 45 Gallon Sterilite container 1 50 5/8 Recreational Vehicle water hose 92 1 GPH Plus Series Drip emitters 1 20-Quart Rubbermaid Snap Toppers container 1 12-Quart Rubbermaid Snap Toppers container 1 bag thick quilt batting 1 stiff piece of Plastic Canvas 7 count 1 200 watt Visi-Therm Heater 1 Custom Sea Life U2 Double Bypass UV Sterilizer 1 5 Gallon container of small Bio Balls 1 Rio 400 Garden pump 92 4 X 4 X 7.25 Topload Beanie Baby Boxes

STATISTICS
Cost over regular Betta Keeping: Approximately $450.00 per board Holding 92 Bettas = $4.89 per Betta Home Changing and cleaning 92 containers every 3 days = STRESS!

Payback by using the system: Water Change once per week instead of every 3rd day: PRICELESS Clean Containers every 6 weeks instead of every 3rd day: PRICELESS Give them the feeling of being in a 54-gallon tank: PRICELESS Better Continuous water conditions: PRICELESS Faster Growth because of the 54-gallon tank euphoria: PRICELESS Knowing they are under the best conditions possible: PRICELESS If you are operating as a business it is deductible: PRICELESS

SPECIAL TOOLS (other than basics)

PVC Pipe Cutter Dremel Set Chalk Line

CONTACT INFORMATION
E-Mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Internet IDs: mcdaddy96 & mcmama96 Members of: International Betta Congress Tri-State Betta Club Midwest Betta Club

THESE ARE OUR OPINIONS, YOU UNDERSTAND! AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!