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outcold720's 2.5 minibow build


outcold720

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well here it is

my first pico

 

I planon having another 2.5 gallon behind it as a sump/fuge the main tank will have 2 holes drilled in the sides one for the overflow and one for the return I still have to figure out how im going to do that though..

 

I got the 2 x 13watt kit from http://www.ahsupply.com

 

I modded the hood first and so far its the only thing Ive done

 

I completly gutted the whole thing out and cut the original brackets out using a soldering iron and I cut a hole in the back part where the original wires come in for a fan.

 

heres a pic

inside.jpg

 

I mounted the fan using three bolts that just screwed in. I didnt put it all the way down becuase the hole I cut wasnt flush so I raised the fan a bit.

I put electrical tape around the edges so it would only suck air from the inside of the hood.

 

fan2.jpg

 

I then made a reflector out of aluminum and I rivited it to the back and glued it to the front I left some space between the reflector and the top of the hood for heat issues

 

reflector.jpg

 

then I made a bracket out of aluminum angle for the light sockets

lightbracket2.jpg

 

and mounted them onto the light by drilling a hole and screwing them in using the screws that came with the kit

socketwithbracket.jpg

 

I wired it all up before I mounted them in I put the ballasts in the base of the tank

ballast.jpg

 

and here it is now

insideofhood.jpg

 

I mounted the brackets to the side of the hood using rivets

siderivet.jpg

 

I had the wires coming from the base to the hood like so

backshot.jpg

 

and finally with it on!

insideofhoodon.jpg

 

I still have to wire the fan and the future moon lights Im going to mount in it

 

thats all for now

thanks for looking and let me know what you think

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Looks really good! Great DIY. One suggestion: add some aluminum foil to your reflector. It makes rippling light lines in your tanks.

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Hey thanks

Ill definitly look into that tinfoil Idea

 

Here’s a pic of the sump I drew up

post-20917-1159921971_thumb.jpg

 

Any suggestions?

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I would be careful with aluminum foil. Maybe people have reported that the salt will corrode the foil and it will drip into the tank slowly poisoning your corals and fish.

 

The extra reflective value from aluminum foil is not worth the trouble of the possibility of poisoning your tank.

 

Just my $.01 (after taxes)

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  • 2 weeks later...

how much space is between the hood and the back edge of the tank? i need to know if i can fit a whisper power filter on it. without serious initial modding.

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Hey thanks

Ill defiantly look into that tinfoil Idea

 

Here’s a pic of the sump I drew up

post-20917-1159921971_thumb.jpg

 

Any suggestions?

 

Try reflective mylar available at hobby shops and / or hyrdponic shops rather than foil.

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I just baught a 2.5gal mini bow from wallmart... totally teal .. aha ..

 

The 20watt screw in coralife 50/50 bulb would be great in this tank also right?

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it would be good but it wont fit

 

youll have to take out the stock socket and put in a new one...

check out some of the other minibow projects for pictures

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The extra reflective value from aluminum foil is not worth the trouble of the possibility of poisoning your tank.

 

A plain white painted canopy/light housing has been shown to have more reflective value than foil, since you can never get the foil perfectly flat and other reasons. I think it actually absorbs a good amount of the light also, or at least scatters it all which a way.

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  • 8 months later...

so I figure I should give this thing an update

 

I haven't done anything at all really since I started this thread which is a real shame

 

but my girlfriend and I were talking today and she wants her own little tank so I figure this would be the right tank for it so I'm gonna finish it and set it up for and all that

 

so I will finally be updating this thing sometime

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I made the sump yesterday I left out one of the baffles since I thought that it wouldn't be needed and it took up more room I did a pretty messy job with the silicone but I don't really care...

post-20917-1184736265_thumb.jpg

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chaostactics

ummm just some suggestions

 

for the cheap stick with the reflector you have now. but scuff it up if you can it will become more shiny. Also I would really really really recommend NOT mounting your ballasts under the tank. One.... it will add unwanted heat to the tank, and two will make the bottom of your tank brittle over time. Just a thought.

 

I like the fuge it's neat.

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hooligan_78
how much space is between the hood and the back edge of the tank? i need to know if i can fit a whisper power filter on it. without serious initial modding.

 

 

I have a Whisper 10 on mine. 2.5 Minibow. The cutout isn't quite large enough, but the filter sits on the side edges of the cutout. It makes a slight pain because you have the slide the whole lid out from the filter to take it off, but a minor inconvenience compared the space it opens up not having the submersible filter.

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so Ive done a few new things to it.

 

I got the original tank of my mums friend and it was really really scratched up so I didn't want to use it.

 

my friend bought one awhile ago and used it for a week and then decided he didn't want it any more so its been sitting in his closet since then so I got it from him its pretty much scratch free its great

 

so I painted the background blue and I drilled the holes for the over flow and return

heres the fts

FTS-2.jpg

 

and heres a picture of the plumbing

plumbing.jpg

 

I'm going to cut larger slots in the overflow and I'm not using bulkheads. Ive still got to install it but Ive been having trouble finding 1/2" pvc pipe here for the return I got all the pvc parts when I went to the states back in the fall since you cant get them up here at home depot or any store like that

 

I got some blue LEDs for moon lights there meant to be put on car windshields I cut off some of the housing for it so the light would be distributed better

 

moonlights.jpg

MIA.jpg

 

I'm going to making a 15" by 15" by 8" tall stand to house the ATO reservoir and the power cords to keep it all tidy and clean looking

 

I mounted a fan in the base to help reduce heat from the ballasts and I had the lights running the the base fan and the hood fan running today and the tank bottom and hood was cool to the touch which is great and the fans are reallly quiet

 

I found some really strong tiny magnets in my basement so Im gonna attempt at making my own magnet cleaner

 

Ive ordered a float switch so hopefully Ill get water and some rock in this thing by next weekend

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  • 1 month later...

okay so I set the tank up tonight at my girlfriends house.

I didn't take any pics since it was all cloudy and we haven't got any live rock. a LFS is getting a huge shipment in of awesome live rock tomorrow so hopefully we'll get some good pieces soon.

 

the original pump I got was 117gph and it was way to weak so I bought another one thats 300gph and its good except its a bit tooo powerful so I had to wedge the intake up against the glass a bit to slow it down.

 

the only problem I have is that the overflow is letting a lot of bubbles in and its really noisy. I drilled a hole in the top part like a durso and I started out really small and kept going larger and it didn't help at all its actually making it a bit noisier. so is there anything I can do to fix this?

 

thanks

and Ill get pics up soon!

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PICS!!

 

I put in a small piece of rock that my mums friend got for my when she was in Florida. its pretty cool looking

post-20917-1188536877_thumb.jpg

 

from the side

post-20917-1188537016_thumb.jpg

 

with the little stand. its actually white it just looks weird.

post-20917-1188537111_thumb.jpg

 

and all the friggin bubbles

post-20917-1188537141_thumb.jpg

 

it is set up on a window sill but its a north facing window and there isn't ANY direct sunlight so I really don't think it will be a problem. plus her house is always at a constant temp of 24 degrees

 

there should be rock in it in the next few days hopefully

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avalanche1201

just some rubble in there...it will help control the air bubbles when it hits (in theory it will)

 

Im really liking this, how does the over flow work? Just water goes and gravity takes over?

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Very nice Mods! How are your temps? Are you worried about heat transfer from the ballasts in the tank base?

 

A filter sock makes a great bubble trap, but needs regular cleaning every few days. LRR needs no maintenance, but isn't as effective at stopping bubbles.

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well we got live rock today its pretty sweet stuff Ill get pics up when I get back home since I'm going out soon

 

yeah I was thinking of using a filter stock and I planned on getting a bunch when I went to go get LR but I totally forgot when I was there cuz i was just so excited to get the rock sooo I'll get some the next time I'm out.

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pics!

 

post-20917-1188622193_thumb.jpg post-20917-1188622279_thumb.jpg post-20917-1188622222_thumb.jpg

 

and heres a picture of the overflow

post-20917-1188622247_thumb.jpg

 

the elbow in the tank has teeth cut into it so its used as a surface skimmer then it flows into the pipe that goes through the tank wall and down the the vertical pipe into the sump. theres a hole drilled in the top of the T I did this hoping it would act as a durso standpipe but it didnt do anything at all so yeah.

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avalanche1201

so its all gravity basically....very cool. I might have to do something like this on my 3gal pcio.

 

You could also try tossing in some filter floss down there, and get some egg crate to keep it in place, could also work

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