3 10gal tank incubation experiments

[silverfilly]

Ok the fish tank thread got me woundering. I have at least 3 10 gal tanks that Im not using. I was woundering what would be the best. I am going to set them all up and suround them by 3 sides with cardboard and use styrofoam for the tops,

Tank 1

Going to put a 100 wat bulp in a desk lamp with an adjustable arm a towl on the bottom and a bowl of water.

Tank 2

Fill the bottom of the tank with water and set 3 bricks in and put a mesh screan over them with a fishtank water heater in the bottom.

Tank 3

Put a heating pad in the bottom or under neath the tank, not sure yet, any sugestions? then put a towl in and put eggs on top of towl with a bowl of water.

I have 2 doz mixed breed eggs in my LG right now and tomorrow night will be day 3, I will transfer them after candling to discard obviouse bad eggs and then I will split them up in the 3 tanks.

 

[timbofarms]

Cool test. I'll have to keep my eye on this thread.

 

[A.J.'s]

i know it can be done.. my grandson took one egg home with him and put it in a paper towel and set it by a lightbulb..it hatched. i was amazed
and i feel certain the heating pad would work. just make sure it is low enough and enough padding between it and the eggs, not under the glass tho.. i betcha it would work..
id like to subscribe to the test when you get it started. good luck. aj

 

[happyhens]

Hey, back off my idea! LOL Just kidding, we can share notes

I'll be looking forward to seeing how yours turns out, I was planning on doing something similar to idea #1. For idea #2, I don't think I would trust the aquarium heater to be the only source of heat for the eggs, doesn't seem to me like that would work to well. If I did go that route though, I would have to be 110% SURE that no chickies that hatched could fall underneath the mesh and drown. Since I have 2 10 gallon tanks, I am considering turning one into an incubator and the other into a hatcher, so I can incubate eggs at different stages. I have mixed flock that is laying about 4-6 eggs a day, so I will have plenty of mutt eggs to practice with, plus some purebred silkie eggs. This is going to be fun!

 

[Patch of Heaven Farm]

Oh that sounds really interesting!!! Good Luck!!!

 

[happyhens]

A.J.'s :

i know it can be done.. my grandson took one egg home with him and put it in a paper towel and set it by a lightbulb..it hatched. i was amazed

Wow that is amazing! How neat. I bet he was excited!​

 

[silverfilly]

Sorry happyhens, all this talk and I have 3 and my bators are full....I NEEDED more incubators! I did try to be polit enough to start my own thread instead of highjacking yours, please forgive me

Ok, Tank one update already, this might not work! Already 124 degrees..lol, so I took the top off, I did not use the styrofoam, I used foil thinking i could get more heat well I did

Ill leave the top off and raise the lamp. we will see

 

[Bettacreek]

Careful with tank setup 2. Most heaters won't heat past 90 some degrees, and even if they claim to, knock at least two degrees off of it. You may have to see if you can use two heaters or something. And, make sure that they're the adjustable ones, not the crummy "pre-set" ones that are supposed to keep it at 78F (but rarely ever do, lol).

 

[happyhens]

Quote:
Don't be sorry! I was just kidding, I'm sure this isn't an original idea anyway lol. I am setting mine up tonight, but I don't plan on plugging it in just yet because I don't trust the thermometer that I have right now. I need to get another one, or maybe two while I'm at it. Besides, I need to be saving up some eggs to try. I wonder how many will fit? Maybe a dozen (some are silkie eggs, the rest are standard sized eggs)? Good luck, and be sure to keep us updated! Maybe you should try a bulb with a lower wattage? I was planning to use a 60 watt bulb, and switch to a 100 watt bulb if the 60 wasn't enough. And maybe you can raise the bulb a little so not all of the heat goes into the aquarium/incubator. Good luck!

 

[Hecate]

What about using a heat rock in the bottom of the tank to keep temps up. I am not sure how hot these get, but they are used to keep temps comfortable for reptiles, and are not submersed in water. I am going to test one out this weekend and see how it does in my developing aquarium incubator -- I'll let everyone know the result.