Hunting Washington Forum
Community => Taxidermy & Scoring => Topic started by: blindluck on December 14, 2013, 09:38:45 PM
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I can't find a fish tank heater that goes to 110 deg for the degreasing process, any advice would be great.
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You won't find a fish tank heater that goes to 110 degrees out of the box. It's possible to over-crank some models to get the heat up to 115. There is a great post on Taxidermy.net about it: http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php/topic,319518.0.html (http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php/topic,319518.0.html)
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A friend of mine built a beer keg washer and had to heat the caustic solution. He searched the internet and found an article about how to make a heater using a water tank element and a plastic P-trap to make a heater that hangs on the tub of caustic solution and is powered through an on/off switch. He uses a digital temperature probe in the solution to monitor the temperature. It could probably be powered through a thermostat if you won't be there all the time...
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you really don't need that high of temp 78-80 will do. give it time. in colder weather it will be longer. the bacteria just need warm enough to incubate. Most microbe incubators are not all that hot just time to get the bacteria the food and conditions and they will proliferate and start the break down process. Does require a strong nose.
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Thanks for the tips. I had been reading Michelle taxidermy thread on maceration and degreasing, she talks about degreasing at 110 and using 200-250 watt tank heater. Maybe she has altered it but has not mentioned it in her posts.
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The heater my friend built with the P-traps just hangs on the side of the tank. He used a fiberglass laundry tub, so he didn't want to bore a hole in the tank for the element. Being a caustic solution, he didn't spare the silicone to seal it, either. The keg washer he built works great, and was $27,000 less than a commercially made one.
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Interesting, thanks.
