im sure some of you will remember seeing my soap dish before.


for those of you that dont have a fuge, its a fantastic way to add alittle cheato to your system. it keeps it under control, and prevents little bits of cheato floating around the tank.


recently i started fragging/trading some zoa's. problem is, i have a blue tuxedo urchin that seems to think, the only reason i frag zoa's is so he can wear them like a hat. he'll pick them up and cart them around the tank.

well heres soap dish use #2.
i added alittle eggcrate and placed my frag's inside. this has proved to be useful in a couple different ways.



it keeps my tuxedo away from the zoa's

( i keep it close to the surface of the water) it allows me to position the zoa's in the perfect local. i can simply stick the dish anywhere in the aquarium, be it right under the light or at the bottom of the aquarium.

my friend liked the soap dish idea so much, he found his own use.

breeding nets. he has fresh water fish. the main tank being a 55g and his breeding tanks 10g. when his prenant fish are ready to spit out the youngens, he moves the mother to the soapdish in his 10g. once released the fish can make thier way through the holes and into the 10g, while the mother is secure in the dish, ready to be relocated to the 55.

i've also used the dish for sea hare eggs/algaes they feed on (which never amounted to much other than a food source for my fish)


anyway, i was bored, thought i'd take the time to sing the praises of my little $3 suction cup soap dish. hopefully it will spark some idea's.

btw i purchased my soap dish from homehardware.

Neat idea.

Do you find yourself walking through a store thinking, "I bet I could find a use for that in my tank."? I know I do. It's a sickness I tell ya!

I do that.... Its a real problem when you look at a waving tree and think xenia or look at lichens on a rock and think coralline lol.

I do that.... Its a real problem when you look at a waving tree and think xenia or look at lichens on a rock and think coralline lol.

not just in stores and not just with reef tanks. i have alot of hobbies that pay my bills, and tend to find alsorts of things to use in ways they weren't meant to be used.

i'm forever turning files into knives, skids/pallets into custom guitars (alot are made from some very impressive pieces of wood.) heres one im working on now, the flamed maple is actually part of an old skid found at a friends foundry.
(still alot of work to do on this one)



i even have a broken ostridge egg im using as a bonsia pot

That guitar is sick!!!! You should sell it to me!

unfortunatly its a bass. which is fortunate for me, since i play bass

i purchased a 1978 fender music master, piece at a time off ebay ( seller had dismantled the bass to sell)

the only part i didnt manage to win was the body.
i figured since it wasn't gonna be 100% original i'd use it for a project bass.
still lots of work to do, but its coming along nice.
heres the very first i carved.

nice idea! i like it especially for the in-tank refugium.

if you guys like bass check this out


bass link

That fender is sweet too. You truly have a gift! I wish I could learn to do stuff like that.

Where did you buy the dish from?

homehardware (not to be confused with home depot), but walmart has similar products

formerly icyuodd/icyoud2 You my friend are a talented individual !

Your knives at top knotch and your carving skills leave me wanting to say "yeah right that was cnc'ed !"
NICE WORK GUY !!!

I bet those pay for the bills and then some !
Which they should!

thanks prop/justin i really appreciate that!

ask my girlfriend, she'll tell ya, im a dude with a thousand hobbies and no real career havent really worked in 10 years (knives,guitars,glass blowing etc are just fun things to do with my day)

truth of the matter, my only real talent is being stubborn if i dont get it right the first few times around, i just keep at it till i do.

now that's really innovative, and has given me an idea or two...

What an awesome idea!

ha ha ha my plan is working, i wont be the only crazy reefer with a soap dish in his aquarium

I think you're being modest. You're a truly talented individual! It's a wonderful thing to be able to make a living doing things that you consider hobbies. Makes for a much more interesting life!

well looks like i'm gonna need to buy a new hat, this one doesnt fit anymore (swelled head)

but thank you! i appreciate the kind words.

interesting life, thats an understatement. but then again thats another story all together.

thats a kool idea with the soap dish. i think im goin to try it. for my 20gL.

Just found the thread - same thinking:
I was using $1 soap holder in the similar way, photo is here, less clean after long use, green corraline may be.

where did you get them for a $1. inquiring minds want to know

btw love the macro tank. could i get the link for the vender again, its not working in your other post.

You would probably injoy airbrushing.I do

hey icy, for the skimmer, do you think a soap dish with chaeto on one side and then a sponge on the other side would work. is the sponge included with the filter box just a square that fits flat onto the outlet?

the overflow box is divided into 3 sections. section one houses the pump. it has overflow teeth to allow the water in. theres a partition between chambers one and two but its not water tight (1/4" gap on the bottom) chamber 3 is for the skimmer return, and its completely closed off.

chamber 2 has a large cut out in the bottom.

the idea, water leaves the skimmer filling chamber 3. it passes through a sponges and overflows into chamber 2.

the water can leave chamber 2 one of 2 ways.

bubble fill water overflows into chamber 1. bubble free water is drawn down through a second sponge and out the bottom of chamber 2. if any air makes it into this sponge, the 1/4" gap at the bottom of the partition
between chamber 1 and 2 allows the pump to draw it back into chamber 1.

its a very effective overflow box, if you can i'd try and fashion one out of some acrylic.


on the soap dish note, i picked up a few frags today, so i got myself a bigger soap dish

nice, i am going to try to just use one sponge directly on the output just so that I can decide its worth getting the actual box. the skimmer looks great so far though.

Dollarama - big chain $1 store.
superioreef.com - slightly inconvenient navigation, if you click on the name of the frag, it will show picture, possibly side-by-side with macroalgae. I asked him specifically about colorful algae.
Icy, if you know, how to keep dragon's tongue (or whatever this red lettuce-like macroalgae is) alive, and ulva too - please post. Somebody said to tuck piece into the rock, it will eventually grow from there - ulva just died. Red one was moved by flow into the LR - it was the last time when I saw it.

Very interesting solution for the overflow box - thanks for posting.

i think the skimmer is going to have to wait again . the soapbox idea didnt work and i dont think my diy venturi is that great either. I will have to try to get a venturi injection peice and then the box. the leak wasnt fixed all the way either. for some reason, skimmers have always been hard on me.

what is that you are using to mount your frags to? looks kinda like cement disks or something.

frag plugs (agaronite sand and cement)

i bought these from a local reefer. i was a test subject so i'm not sure if there on the market yet. he's developed/marketing a few products to make the hobbiests life easier, including his own reef buffet. (frozen mixed food)

Do you know anything smaller, than smallest soap dish (they come in 3 sizes), more opened grid for a better flow, and covered from all sides (lid?)?
I'm trying to find something to protect the smallest frags from fish, and place this in the highest flow, not only at the top of the tank.

Agreed.

homehardware?? ive looked at the wallyworld ones and they are smaller, only one or 2 sizes.... do you remember what BRAND it was??

sweeeeeeeeeeet guitars man.

also, im totally stealing the soap dish idea as well. no more cheato in my powerheads!

thanks reefgeek!

Got mine from wally world... 2.99 i think.

I just drilled about a dozen or more holes in it for more flow. It keeps the cheato right where I want it!

You know what ICY I just found a but load of those dishes for $0.59 cents at Miers grocery and department store.
( you guys ave a Miers right?)
Found them hanging on one of those gay clip racks they have randomly hanging around various isle near the canned goods.

I bought 5 of them LOL!!

THEY ARE GREAT for holding my frags and keeping them in order while bagging up orders. I can usualy fit 3 - 4 frags in one dish. Makes life easier when you can keep them in order.

yeah I saw them at the dollar store the other day for um $1. I was going to get one but it is pretty big for a 10g, maybe on the next trip to the store I'll pick one up.

i was thinking divided betta tank that has suction cups, goes in tank...or some sort of specimen container....since i cant find one the size i want.... i could dremel holes in it.....
but that bumps the price up to 5+ more

i have 3 sizes.

the smallest (top) was $3 the frag rack, $5.
i just ran next door to home hardware (30 seconds away) and snapped this shot. this was the largest they had, and the most exspensive (canadian prices) its alot taller


all were the same company and riddled with square holes. i havent found dollar store dishes yet,but i gotta tell ya, the home hardware dishes have top notch suction cups.
if you dont use the release taps, i could see you breaking the aquarium by trying to remove the dish.


how good are the dollar store ones?

prop unfortunately we dont have a miers (that i know of)

my largest dish would prabaly hold 2 large tins of spaghetti sauce.

the dollar store ones probably have junk cups, I will pick one up next time the wife is going (I hate that store).

Don't mean to sound critic, but when buying the same quality junk, I prefer to pay less (I hate all 3 kinds of stores equally), also this price makes it disposable.
Click to view attachment
In Dollarama they are of the same 3 sizes, never bought the largest, its slightly differs, smaller 2 looks exactly the same (but labelled as imported for a Dollarama chain).
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment
Additional function - nice parking space/perch for a lion (was in 20XH).
Animals appreciate plastic, this is half of year later with the different lion, 90g:
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment
Generally, this is a sleeping basket for a tassle file:
Click to view attachment
As for suction cups, can't say - after cleaning glass with the razor blade keeps much better. Now it's where the flow from Seio 620 (~600gph) reflects from the front glass and ~6" romboid fish pinches it with a lot of force, it holds.
Really, on slimey or coraline covered glass was worse.

Speaking about plastic holders in tanks: anybody knows something better than breeders box to hold tiny sexy shrimps safe and visible? No large holes, as in soap holder, of course.

lee's (not me, i spell it leigh ) specimen containers
http://www.petdiscounters.com/product.php?...=318&page=1

those look nice too

Bought this one recently, no flow inside at all. Also, it's narrow and deep, hand with tweezers will not reach bottom for a cleaning.
The only boxes with flow that I had seen, are in-tank refugium with pump and Beta Barracks, same size as specimen container, same problem.

Sorry for the hitchhiking the thread, but if in the wider meaning - using ready-made widely-availble plastic items for the tank's needs - could be to the topic.
Thanks.

I think the in tank fuge is still promising. I dont haveone myself since I have a HOB fuge.

no flow? try dremel!
i think the speciemin containers turn yellow not sure about the betta barracks yet...
ive even seen some spiffy looking plastic live bearer traps that might work (tom)

for now im using a 6'' 8'' deep restarunt lexan container
why pay 30$+ for an intank fuge?

Thanks for the input, have to think about it.

The soap dish gives me a wild idea. Imagine building a nano tank with just lots of soap dish (big and small) positioned in such a manner at the sides to capture as much light as possibel so that we can have zoos and mushrooms etc. The water flow will also be great as the water can swirl around these "open sides" of the soap dish.

i think thats what dude did

the soap dish has a new purpose in my aquarium. i glued some screen into the dish, and tomorrow i should be picking up 7 tiny bangii fry

i'll post some pic's when i have recieved the new additions.