Hi Guys,
Earlier in the week I told you about one of our members sharing there recent project with us. Eric Corcoran or (Eric Irish Bettas) has been busy building his own fish shed. I have to say, Its got me thinking about building my own shed now...
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With a recent house move, Eric was delighted to learn that this 8ft x 10ft steel shed came with the house, giving him the chance to set up his own fish shed.
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| First of all Eric poured the floor with concrete and a sheet of waterproof plastic underneath. |
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| Next Eric dug out the trench for the water and electricity and drilled holes in the shed for the water |
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Eric went with the 50mm kingspan insulated boards for all round the shed including the floor. He used 1inch thick plywood over the insulation on the floor In order to hold the weight.
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| After getting the electric cables into the shed, next up was solving the problem of insulating it. He considered bonding the insulated boards to the shed but in the end came up with the idea to use lengths of steel for holding up ceilings to make a sort of cage inside the shed in order to stop cold spots where the insulation was going to be bonded to the shed . It also allows air to circulate behind the insulation. |
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| Once the floor was complete and the steel up it was time to insulate the rest. Ceiling 1st and then the wall as the wall would support the ceiling. |
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| To add some extra insulation after the kingspan was up the inside was wrapped in thermal wrap. |
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| Once that was done Eric put some lino down on the floor with it coming up 3-4 inches on the wall in case of accidental spills. |
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| Next up was to get the sockets , light and sink plumbed and wired. |
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| Once that was done it was time to put the stands together. After some advice from a friend, Eric chose to paint the tanks blue to bring out the colours of the fish. |
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22mm electric pipe was used for the air ring powered by a Blagdon koi air 65 which is plenty of power for the size of the shed.
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| For lights Eric ordered some strips of led from eBay and put them under the shelves of the stands and put them on timers. |
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Heating the shed with a oil filled radiator on a plug in thermostat set at 25C was the best option.
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With everything built and in place, the only thing left to do was to fill the tanks and decide on the fish he wanted to keep.
In his own words:
I really enjoyed putting the fish shed together. Hopefully it'll last many years to come and ill get the chance to keep and breed many wonderful fish.
Id like to thank Eric for sharing these photos with us and giving us a peak at whats been keeping him busy.
Thanks for reading and if you have anything you would like to share with the Lothian Fishkeepers, get in touch either on Facebook or by emailing lothianfishkeeper@gmail.com
Bye for now.
