DIY tank divider (horizontal) for breeding guppies in a 14 litre tank

[14litre]

After losing 2 batches of guppy fries , I have seeked and gotten some advice from another post.
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...(for-bare-tank)

Then I went to google for breeding net /mop and came across this interesting diy tank divider.
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/d...ividers-21866/
Using the similiar concept, I have made a horizontal divider instead.

Things that I have used:
Multi-purpose mesh (plastic) - bought from DIY shop
Cable tie - bought from hardware shop
Suction cap (8 nos) - bought from LFS

Using cable tie and suction cap to form up the divider


How the the suction cap was fixed


Front view of how the divider will be placed


Top view


Close up view from the front


Pending work:
I still need to cut a small hole at the corner of the mesh, to make room for the sponge filter tube.
I have yet fill the tank with water to see whether the suction cap can holdkthe mesh well or not. *fingers crossed*
If it holds well, I will be getting mosses to put at the bottom of the tank and on the mesh also.

FAQ
Q. Why don't you buy a off-the-rack breeding net / container?
A. I have a small tank (14 litre) and the smallest breeding net/container is too "big" and obstructing.

Q. Why did you use suction cap instead of the binder (as shown in the tank divider link)?
A. I was worried that it will not hold well and I am reluctant t/ use silicon to fix it permanently. Furthermore, I was not able to find such binder with a flat side. The binder that I found comes with a curve side, which makes it difficult to "hold" to the side of the tank.


I will post more update once I had the pending work going.
For the time being, do you guys think this will work?

[diazman]

Looks good. Probably you may need to worry about the sides. Scare the parent may get stuck.

[14litre]

Looks good. Probably you may need to worry about the sides. Scare the parent may get stuck.

Thanks for your feedback, bro.
I have used the remaining cut mesh to make this Vertical Rising (on the Length side), was trying to cut cost.
I will have this changed so that it cover up to the end/edge of the mesh.

[14litre]

This is the modified version and I have tied spikey mosses to it.


close up view of the "upper deck" (where the mummy guppy will be).


close up view of the "lower deck" (where the fries will drop onto, hopefully).

[diazman]

Thanks for your feedback, bro.
I have used the remaining cut mesh to make this Vertical Rising (on the Length side), was trying to cut cost.
I will have this changed so that it cover up to the end/edge of the mesh.

Actually you can just snug in some sponge at the sides

[14litre]

Actually you can just snug in some sponge at the sides

Thanks for sharing this, bro.

Actually I do have some openings on the side and I have just fix it by snugging some sponge to it.
Good tip!

[14litre]

This initial divider was "flimsy" and the more I look at it, it does not really look pleasing.

So I have bought eggcrate to make another divider.
3 small eggcrates in total, which can be joined together.
This is how it looks like after cutting it to size and tying plastic mesh to it.


It can be separated into 3 parts.
I have thought of using 2 parts of this to "convert" it to a vertical divider at a later stage, which I have plans to breed betta (for fun only).


This is a close up of the joint.


On the lower left corner, you will see a cotten string, which I will use it to hang this divider in the tank.


This is it, quite a simple divider actually.
Time to put it into the tank.
This is going to look better than the previous one, much sturdy also.
So excited to drop it into the tank..
and here you go...
TADA!!


WHAT!!! eggcrates float!! damn it!
Why must this happen to me always??!!
ok, my mistake, I have thought eggcrate will sink all this while.
luckily I still have some pebbles lying around and managed to sink the divider down as seen below:


A close up of how the divider was hung:


A full tank view.
I am using a betta to help cycling the tank. 2 more weeks before the female is due for labour, should be in time for the tank to be fully cycled.


A close up of the bottom, I have spikey moss, pelia, mini nana and some kind of ferns I think. Hopefully it will "create" enough food for the fries in time to come.


Everything looks good now.
Very pleased to have everything completed, I went to clean up the mess.
Just when I was about to sit down, put on relax mode to enjoy my new making, what??!! where's my betta??

What? It managed to find its way to the bottom??!
Looks like it found a "escape" route from the side of the divider.

I have "sealed" it by squeezing some sponge to it (diazman, thanks for your tip!)
Let's see how you going to escape next time.


okay guys, that's the fun for now.
I will provide another update on the 2nd week of Aug, hopefully I get to save all (if not most) of the guppy fries.

[14litre]

Good and bad news!

My female guppy gave birth (earlier than expected) and all the fries were saved from eaten up. To be exact, the mummy seems to be too tired as you can see from this video, that she is taking rest at the bottom.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC6bIGB5VIw

I don't know how effective is this divider, but I can see that the fries prefer to swim to the surface of the water. So I guess all the fries will be eaten up still, if the mummy is swimming around actively.

This is how it looks like after moving the mummy back to the main tank, and the removal of the divider.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftGDiTsFBps

and the bad (or sad rather) news is that the mummy died the day after.
She remained restless in the tank till motionless the next day.

[diazman]

sorry about your loss bro..

How are the fries faring? Hope they are good

[14litre]

sorry about your loss bro..

How are the fries faring? Hope they are good

So far so good.

Those that survived the first day ( about 12) are swimming actively, to the bottom of the tank aalso.

I just bought a bag of java mosses and built something new, will try to post a new tthread on it when it's a successful setup. Hehe.