ajmckay Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 I'm tagging along! To bad I cannot buy that exact same jar..., but for sure I will be looking for something similar, plastic and about 3/4g right? I will be using a 4W GU10 led on top of the lid for lighting and I'm thinking of a way to add flow, I got a neat idea but not really simple anymore then... Jb Hahaha, I hear you. Why can't you get the same jar? It's $5 at your local Target store. Now if you're outside the US the jar is made by Anchor Hocking, so you might be able to find one of their distributors where you live. The jar is 1/2 gallon and it's glass, with a metal lid. Regarding the complexity of the system, that's completely up to you. I'm doing this as a sort of experiment, so I want to keep things as simple as possible (it's easier to keep track of with less variables). But I also want something aesthetically pleasing to put on my desk at work to take my mind off things every once in a while. Because it will be at work I don't want it to be overly complicated, large, or loud. I am going to add lights to mine, but only a simple LED one. I found a guy local to me that is going to sell me some of his leftover LEDs after a build. I'll probably just go with 1 NW at a really low current, probably 300mA. All I want the light for is to provide enough light to support the photosynthesis of the algae. Link to comment
Whys Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I'm thinking of a way to add flow, I got a neat idea but not really simple anymore then... Ever see one of these? You simply grasp the bottom and the heat from your hand and resulting thermal pressure, makes the top portion appear to "boil". It would produce flow when grasped, or conceivably with a beta-bowl heater. Non-mechanical. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Yeah those are neat, I had one when I was a kid. I'm not sure a jarquarium ecosystem would benefit from such thermal swings though! A betta bowl heater is a great idea though to provide heat, if needed. I'm thinking that I should be fine though with no heat, since the items I have planned to stock are found even in temperate waters. Link to comment
Whys Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Yeah those are neat, I had one when I was a kid. I'm not sure a jarquarium ecosystem would benefit from such thermal swings though! A betta bowl heater is a great idea though to provide heat, if needed. I'm thinking that I should be fine though with no heat, since the items I have planned to stock are found even in temperate waters. Oh I wasn't thinking of rigging the whole jar that way. Not sure it could be easily adapted to a jar specifically. I was just suggesting that one could devise a similar thermal driven device as some kind of attachment, thus would only slightly warm a small reservoir of water that attaches by a small tube. One could rig the tube in a similar fashion as an air-pump driven under gravel filter. The beta bowl heater could remain exterior to the apparatus, placed under the reservoir. Then when it clicks on, the small tube will "boil" (bubble) and drive the under gravel filter. I can't say for certain it would work, but every instinct tells me it's doable. Anyway, just a thought for non-mechanical flow. Seems ideal for a sealed system. Put anything in the jar yet? Link to comment
ajmckay Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 Okay, gotcha. Nothing in the jar yet, although I have started to collect things from my sump. So far I have: 3 amphipods 2 small bristle worms (found a huuuge one too!) 2-3 asterinas 3 spinoid worms They're in a temporary holding salsa jar. The only thing I need to do, other than finish collecting the livestock, is finish the light. Tomorrow I will put in an order to digikey for the stuff I need to make my LED driver, and I found a guy locally who will sell me some of his left over LEDs. So I would venture to guess that next week I will probably start the thing up officially. I also need to stop by my LFS and see if I can find some suitable rock rubble and maybe a different variety of algae. Link to comment
Whys Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Sounds good. Now tell me you have a camera. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 Oh fo sho' I have a camera... Nothing special but I can take decent pics. What I really want sometime is a microscope... Nothing fancy, but accurate enough with good lighting and good magnification capabilities. Link to comment
Whys Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Look at AmScope. They're a good place to start, just don't rely on any of their digital cameras on the trinoculars. They make scopes, not cameras. Here's mine. It'll blow you away. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Oooh, I like this one... Too bad I'm poor... http://www.ebay.com/itm/STUDENTS-MICROSCOP...=item2c5e360d56 Now if I could find that one for half that then maybe I could pull the trigger... Then again do I really need something like that? would something like this work just as well? http://www.ebay.com/itm/40X-1000X-STUDENT-...809512734021570 Or this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/40X-640X-Student-B...=item5d32524694 Oh, and BTW I like the scarface reference Link to comment
Whys Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 All depends on what you want to do. The point of a trinocular is it allows you to attach a camera. Great for documentation and publication, but not necessary, unless you need to provide proof of your work to a peer group. For my own part, I wanted a trinocular because there aren't a whole lot of venues in which I get to share my experiences with others, and it allows me to do that online. Seems like most reef keepers are naturally attracted to the finer details. In terms of research, it mostly serves to let me know what it is I don't know. Getting a close up look at baby brine shrimp really helped me to understand why I need to feed my larvae every 12 hours instead of 24. Seriously, just looking at their development under a microscope made it so obvious. Pj didn't even have to tell me. Link to comment
MeepNand Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Why not just use a few 5mm leds? 10 cool whites and 10 royal blue will be all you need. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Thanks for the comments Whys. I honestly haven't used a microscope since high school (my university studies were in business). So really I'm looking for a microscope that can allow me to increase my knowledge in these tiny organisms. To be able to identify algae on a microscopic level would be pretty neat. Of course you can probably find images online, but it would be so much cooler to have your own slides... Same thing with some parasites and worm species. It would just be cool to be able to see that stuff. Why not just use a few 5mm leds? 10 cool whites and 10 royal blue will be all you need. Well I found a local guy that will sell me some 3w LED's for $2... then I'll spend $4 on the rest of the parts I need so it's only about $6... I actually priced it out with 5mm LEDs and an array of 10 or so was a little less, but it would involve a lot more soldering and also I'm not really confident in the color temperatures they provide. These high power LEDs are pretty well documented as to their suitability for reef tanks and their coloration too. I'll only be running the LED at 200mA, but still that's like 10 times the power of a 5mm LED array. Link to comment
Whys Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 So really I'm looking for a microscope that can allow me to increase my knowledge in these tiny organisms. To be able to identify algae on a microscopic level would be pretty neat. Of course you can probably find images online, but it would be so much cooler to have your own slides... Same thing with some parasites and worm species. It would just be cool to be able to see that stuff. Imagine trying to decipher the entire plot of a movie by looking at a handful of still shots from the most significant scenes. As to microscopic algae, still shots won't tell you which ones you have in your tank. For that, you need a microscope. But yeah, it's mostly just cool. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Completed my digikey order! I chose the cheapest shipping though so it might take a few days to get here... I've decided to make the following LED circuit: http://www.instructables.com/id/Power-LED-...-current/#step1 I got resistors to experiment with running the LED's at 150mA, 200mA, and 250mA (at those currents I shouldn't need any heatsink and the plan is to transfer as little heat as possible to the water. I also found out that the LEDs I'm getting are from LEDgroupbuy (bridgelux brand 3w). Link to comment
Whys Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 It needs to either have a continues exchange, or it needs to stay sealed. I don't see a way around that. I correct myself! Here's a thought... two rubber valves, like the kind they use on basketballs, plus two syringes. Insert an empty syringe in the out-valve and your dose of whatever on the in-valve. This would provide the ability to perform a highly controlled water change/dose, without breaking the seal inside the jar. Not certain I'll try it myself, but I thought it would interest you. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 That certainly is an interesting thought... Since I don't know where to buy those little rubber valves it could be something as simple as a piece of air tubing siliconed into the lid extending into the water and clamped on the outside. To access the tube then all one would need to do is attach a syringe (the kind without a needle) and un-clamp the tube. Dang... this is a good idea... But I don' know if I want to try it in this one or not... My first thought is probably not though. Link to comment
Whys Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Yeah, glass tubes with screw valves is what they use for lab flasks. I think they sell rubber stoppers with two side-by-side quarter inch holes, just for this purpose. I still might look into the rubber valves myself. As long as it doesn't hurt the function, I have a preference for the form. btw, ever hear of an iceprobe? Link to comment
ajmckay Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 Updates you ask? Well I've been a little busy trying to win the LEDgroupbuy video contest, but I managed to get something pulled together in the meantime Behold! 1 NW bridgelux LED (60 optics) and 1 RB bridgelux LED (120 degrees) run at 200ma wired in parallel on homemade driver With this light I think I'll be much better suited to keep algae alive... Link to comment
Whys Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 1 NW bridgelux LED (60 optics) and 1 RB bridgelux LED (120 degrees) run at 200ma wired in parallel on homemade driver With this light I think I'll be much better suited to keep algae alive... I don't know what you just said, but... Pretty light... You'll have to educate me on LEDs sometime. I don't know nearly enough about them. With this light I think I'll be much better suited to keep algae alive... You wouldn't want to under do it. Give algae enough light and you can build an atmosphere. Posting your pic to the Show Case... Now bring on the flow! Link to comment
coachfraley Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 I would like to see an mp10 in there Link to comment
MeepNand Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I would like to see an mp10 in there +1 Updates? Link to comment
ajmckay Posted August 27, 2012 Author Share Posted August 27, 2012 Haha, no MP10, but yes the jarquarium is still running. It's not nearly as pretty as it was to start though. Most of the inhabitants have died off, with the possibility of a few small worms surviving. The jar is sealed so the water level has hardly changed. The chaeto for whatever reason didn't grow well in my light. I'm not sure if it's oxygen requirements are too high, or if it's just an issue of too much/not enough light. The inside glass has a film on it that makes the whole jar look a little murky. So overall, my setup was probably more of a failure than a success, though I did learn some about the stocking levels and which animals can tolerate that sort of environment. First to go were the asterina stars. Then the amphipods vanished. They actually hung on for a while though, at least a month. The worms and such are hard to gauge. Some of them probably died off, but I think some of them may still be alive. The chaeto is pretty much dead. I'll post some pics of it later on tonight. Link to comment
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