DIY – Egg Tumbler

DIY – Egg Tumbler
By Kevin Reimer (KWAS) – February 2008 [email protected]
Air line
Use a clothes
peg or clamp
here to keep
line in place
End cap
Uptake tube
Air stone
Uptake tube
connector
A shorter tube
was used here
for the photo
Nylon barrier
Egg chamber
Nylon barrier
Bull’s eye
Sponge
filter frame
& base
There are many different types of egg tumblers and I’m by no means
claiming to be the originator of this design. I’ve read articles on the internet
in the past, created several different types, and have concluded this is the
best DIY (Do It Yourself) egg tumbler. It’s relatively inexpensive, easy to
put together and use. Most of the parts are interchangeable or usable for
other tasks; you might even have the pieces and parts now as I had what I
needed kicking around in boxes. I now keep a close eye on those “junk” /
“grab bags” of used pieces and parts at club auctions looking for uptake
tubes and connectors ;- )
Early versions I created got dirty quickly and would no longer have enough
lift to tumble the eggs. The next generation required replacing media over
the intake when dirty which was time consuming and accident prone. I was
using under gravel filter uptake tubes and connectors and finally realized
that these fit perfectly on the ‘bull’s eye’ (the top piece) of a sponge filter.
Moving this egg tumbler to the top of a sponge filter was the perfect
solution!
These egg tumblers are a must have in my fish room. I keep pieces on hand
at all times in order to create a few of these at any given time. I had an
albino bristle nose pleco male push eggs out of the cave onto the tank floor.
Using an egg tumbler I successfully saved the eggs and raised the fry to
juveniles. A tumbler can help you in a situation where you want to save fish
eggs or when you strip a cichlid of her eggs for one reason or another.
If you breed fish give this style of tumbling eggs a try. You’ll find this
inexpensive and quite customizable. Perhaps you’ll find an improvement on
the next version.
What you’ll need:
1. Air supply, air line, air stone, and a plastic valve or a means in which to control the air volume
2. A sponge filter with a ‘bulls eye’ or top that fits an under gravel filter uptake tube
3. An uptake tube from an under gravel filter, a hack saw or a knife in which to cut the tubing,
120 grit sandpaper or similar, and a connector piece used to fit two tubes together
4. Uptake tube end cap (optional) and a plastic clothes line clip or small clamp
5. Nylons / pant hose and scissors to trim
6. Kitchen baster – to move eggs from a bowl to the tumbler egg chamber
Notes:
¾ If you’re unable to locate any spare or used tube connectors you can purchase a Hagen ‘Power
Head Stem Set’ for about $6.50
¾ Use a brand new sponge – they’re cheap and new is the cleanest
¾ If you have a spare tank that’s free of fish and dirt you can opt not to use a sponge filter, use
another end cap in it’s place and mount the tumbler to the tank with a suction cup holder from a heater
¾ I prefer a #4 sponge filter because of the size of the sponge. However, smaller and also shorter sponges can be utilized.
¾ Using a standard 20 gallon tank as apposed to 10 gallon tanks will provide you with more control of the egg chamber flow. The
height of your tank or rather the length of your intake tube (under the water) will dictate the amount of draw the bubbles will create
inside the egg chamber. I have successfully used shorter sponge filters in smaller tanks but find they dirty much quicker.
¾ It’s not fun trying to fit a connector piece over a tube with the nylon when both: a) you’re working at the water surface because
there are eggs in the chamber and b) you’ve got a ‘weird’ piece of tube that will ‘never’ fit. I’ve attempted this ‘on the fly’
construction and learned I cannot reach another precut tube or a bowl to place the eggs (i.e. the hard way).
First Steps: (Preparation ahead of needing a tumbler)
1. Cut two pieces of intake tube. One piece about 6 – 7 cm for the egg chamber
and another piece which will reach close to the water surface. Remove all
rough edges and burrs from the cut ends of the tube with sandpaper.
2. Dry fit all of the pieces together and confirm that the unit’s height will work
in your tank
3. Remove the ‘bull’s eye’ / top from the sponge filter, pull a nylon taunt over
the bull’s eye, push the 6 cm egg chamber tube piece onto the bull’s eye with
the nylon in between
4. Cut the extra nylon away while pulling the excess away from the tube
Usage / Next Steps: (Once you have eggs in a bowl ready for tumbling)
5. Place the sponge filter base in the tank, remove as much air as possible from
the sponge and assemble the filter minus the bull’s eye and first part of the
egg chamber
6. Place the eggs, using the kitchen baster, in the egg chamber while holding it
partially in the water
7. Holding a nylon taunt over the top half of the egg chamber push the tube
connector in place and then cut the extra nylon away. All the while holding
the eggs in the chamber under the water.
8. Put the bull’s eye with the populated egg chamber onto the top of the sponge
filter
9. Fit the remaining tube, air line, stone, and end cap. Use the clothes line clip
on the airline to control how far down the air stone will sit. You don’t want
the air stone sitting on the nylon as air will get trapped on the other side of
the nylon affecting the draw in the egg chamber.
10.Turn on the air and adjust so the eggs bounce gently. Watch that you don’t
use too much air so the eggs don’t pull to the top. Spoiled eggs will become
lighter and will end up at the top away from the good eggs.
Step 3
Step 4
Step 6
Step 10
Step 7
If you have any suggestions or would like more details, please don’t hesitate to send me an email.
All photos by Kevin Reimer