MrZ2u Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Long time lurker, former freshwater geek. I had planned on getting into the marine/reef world about nine years ago and collected almost all the tanks and gear I needed we got pregnant with twins. Having a 2yr old and two more on the way nixed that plan and in fact, it pretty much killed the upkeep regimen my 200gl African tank was used to getting. Suddenly it was lucky to get top off much less decent cleaning and water changes for a while. If it weren’t for accidentally getting a female yellow lab the tank would have just died off long ago really. Just no money and/or time to keep it up the way I did single and/or without kids.A little more than a year ago we sold our house and moved to a new one. We decided to build so we had some logistics to deal with to say the least. One was that 200gal tank. It sat on concrete because when we put in wood flooring we put it in around this thing rather than moving the beast. In prep for selling I took it down so I could fill in the hole and avoid that hassle later. We figured we were going to be apartment dwellers for a few months after selling and before the new house was finished so logistically it made sense to sell off all this gear cause moving it once was more than I really was excited about and moving it twice, well, F no. Too much else going on to mess with it really. About this time last year we were moved but still unpacking and settling in really. I was itching for a tank again. Thinking a small one in my office for now and maybe something larger down the road when everything we own has found its place. Kiddos were given one of those “seen on TV” “self-cleaning beta tanks” for Christmas so we went to Petco for some gravel, betas and a bottle of prime. I saw this little 6.25 “Arc” AIO tank they have there and its dimensions are just about perfect for the place I have in mind. Started lurking here and saw the possibilities. Well one thing lead to another and another year passed with no forward progress till this past Monday. My wife had yellow lighted the oldest perhaps getting a chameleon at some point the other day so I was in Petco again looking at costs of stuff and they had the 3.7gal version of the tank I wanted in an “open box” for $25 so I reflexively just picked it up. It was missing the pump which is a minor problem and I was likely going to replace it anyway. I also planned on replacing the included light so I was looking at a lot of different options. Then yesterday I was at a LFS looking at livestock and they had a RMA for one of the lights I was considering! It had a broken mounting arm and, well, I was really thinking of not using that anyway. Picked it up for $30 even! New pump and heater on the way and soon we will be ready to start filling it up! I’ll have tons of questions and will come off argumentative at times cause in text it seems that way…its not. I am impatient but know it so that’s a start. I prefer to build it myself whenever I can and that is frequently in many cases. I think the DIY aspect of things is what draws me to certain hobbies. Others include brewing my own beer and building my own guitars…and lately quite a bit of cabinetry that the builder either wouldn’t do or wanted obscene premiums to do. I may embark on some Arduino or RasPi projects for ATO, temp and light control soon as well…cause I am not busy with an ever-growing list of projects I want to do already or anything. Link to comment
jolee0722 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Congrats and welcome to the hobby! Link to comment
MrZ2u Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 The goods…The mounting bracket is broken but were it not this is where it puts the fixture…about 3in from the rim of the tank.Without the bracket it can sit right on the rim…just barely. The fixture is mounted to the glass with four screws so my plans were to make a whole new top anyway cause I don’t really like the way the included one works with its little mounting tabs. So, anyone have any practical experience with the WavePoint Blade HD I have here? It’s 18 watts, 6x Super Blue and 12x 10,000k Daylight and they are switched independently.Think having them right on the tank or off the tank a little…any opinions? Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 None of the photos work, did you move them accidentally within photobucket? Link to comment
MrZ2u Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 None of the photos work, did you move them accidentally within photobucket? not accidentally moved...mistakenly moved before posting them The glass to which that fixture is mounted seems gratuitously thick and heavy. Probably contributes to the breakage. Its definitely gone. Probably going with acrylic in its place. I think I will make it a little larger than the tank and route out a channel so it rests on the edge and covers the whole of the tank. How much airflow does anyone think it needs? I want to minimize it for evaporation control I think but cant just cut it all off. Link to comment
shawnd08 Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 That's a decent little tank. I have the same one, been running almost 8 months now. I ended up removing the built-in filtration and utilized the entire 3.7 gallons for display. Ran a 80gph pump to bring water into a little fuge with 3 chambers I created. I think you can have a lot of fun with this small tank and can deffinetly make it your own with some diy mods and add ons. Good luck, I'll be following along to see how it turns out. Link to comment
MrZ2u Posted December 26, 2015 Author Share Posted December 26, 2015 Got a few more needed items to get started. Picked up a little ATO overseas that has two floats. Instructions say two in tank for redundancy or one in tank and one in reservoir to protect pump. Thinking the tank makes more sense. Link to comment
MrZ2u Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 This is taking forever to finish...Its been almost a year since I have made any progress. A canoe/camping trailer I have been building for over a year now has been taking up all the space in my garage making pulling out all the woodworking gear a hassle. Well the past two night I went thru the hassle cause I really want to get this thing running. I have finished sanding and prime but need to topcoat in matte black. These are not sanded yet...The front panel for the temp controller is held in place by rare earth magnets flush mounted and epoxied on the back side. I left the shelf the tank rests on short of the back so cords and such could be stuffed into the cavity below. Perhaps for a rear fuge at some point in the future if I decide to remove the internal one...probably not though.The top section covers about .75in of the tanks top to hide the waterline. Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Looks good, nice stand and canopy. Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Nice. Thats really sweet looking Link to comment
reeferbrownies Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Sweet setup, that wooden enclosure is beautiful Link to comment
Droy008 Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 wtf first post was from 2 years ago, is this being constructed by a sloth? BTW, very nice workmanship on that stand, seriously, top notch buddy! Link to comment
MrZ2u Posted January 14, 2017 Author Share Posted January 14, 2017 wtf first post was from 2 years ago, is this being constructed by a sloth? BTW, very nice workmanship on that stand, seriously, top notch buddy! Yes, well, not so much sloth but a father of three, one of the adult leaders in our BSA troop with a too long list of shows on TV, a stack of xBox games I cant put down, adult ADD and propensity to start a million projects at once and there is a physically large project in my garage that is taking up too much space and I have been working on it in my spare time as well...still am in fact...and its really been the biggest road block in so many ways! Gurr. Till this thing is finished EVERY other project remains in queue for the most part. I just forced this one which is why it exists at all. Mentally now though I am second guessing where I am going to put it and if I know me it will result in yet another project and of considerable hassle. All easily considered excuses of course but I generally call them reasons...your mileage may vary but you gotta admit this is taking up too much space Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Aw understandable. But pick a place for your tank and set it up. The maintenance will be limited if you schedule it on a particular day every week! If you decide you don't like it, don't have time for it, or it takes up too much room drain it and you're no worse off except then you know you can sell it worry-free. You clearly want to! Join us Padawan. Link to comment
MrZ2u Posted January 14, 2017 Author Share Posted January 14, 2017 Got the paint on, buffed and waxed and decided to make a video rather than more pictures... Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Wow you really do love DIY. I will be following cute tank Link to comment
MrZ2u Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 Full and testing the stability of the ATC and the Temp controller with just a live rock. Link to comment
fishfreak0114 Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Wow very nice setup you've got going there! that's some great woodwork Link to comment
GunslingerGirl Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Dang... I wish I had those woodworking skills. My grandfather was a woodworker and showed me how to build stuff as a kid but now that he's sick and can't watch me I feel like I would slice my hand off or the jig would fling something and break seventeen things lol Following along! You can do it! Maybe I missed it up there in the giant soliloquy... What are you planning for livestock? Inverts? Coral? Both? Link to comment
Sharbuckle Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Super cool pico setup! Link to comment
MrZ2u Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 So far in testing with the temp controller I think the light is perhaps a little bit of a heat issue. I have the temp set to 25.5c to approximately match what I observed the preset heater held pretty stable. I ran the light for probably more hours than I would in reality and it seemed to top out in the tank at about 26.3c I think 26.3c is a little warm? and its also more than the heater will maintain. I am going to put a fan on the light to see if that helps first but I may have to raise the fan as well. Anyone have any input based on the setup you have seen above and/or any experience with this particular fan? Another option is to raise the light to the cleats and also drill some holes in the "lid" to allow air to/from flow to the surface? Link to comment
GunslingerGirl Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 I keep my tank around 25-26c. As long as it doesn't get up much higher or change too fast you should be fine I would think. Link to comment
MrZ2u Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 I went ahead and removed the light from the cover I made that sits on top of the entire tank and remounted it to the glass it came with...which happens to fit in the channel I dadoed for the possible cleats just perfectly. Having it up off the tank a little has made the difference and now the temp controller is not in a constant state of "cool" when the lights are on. Rigged up the ATO to start testing it as well. Link to comment
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