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Moonlight pool


jbowser

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I like to give a little "tank" I build a go and this is just the push I needed to actually do it!

 

Tank:

DIY acrylic shallow cube, dims are 12x12x4,5" (30x30x11cm).

My first acrylic tank so not perfect..., but I did flame polished all the edges and overall I'm really happy with how it looks!

 

Filtration:

I have an aquatic nature flow 200, probably will be running filterfloss and chemipure elite in it or I will make a little fuge down the road and add a flow 60 with chemipure.

 

Heating:

I have a hydor 15W heater laying in the tank with the filter running to see what temp it will settle on in my bedroom, I hope it won't be necessary to build some sort of thermostat.

 

Lighting:

I will be building a simple fixture with 4 4W GU10 bulbs, I will mix in some withe leds (either 4x 3b1w or 2x 3b1w and 2x 2b2w)

 

Livestock:

A pretty maxi mini will be the center on the volcano rock and some easy to keep corals around it and on the sandbed. Maybe I will get a pair of porcelains or a group of 5 sexy's

 

April FES and FTS:

725d4a2d.jpg

 

27fc3759.jpg

 

Jb

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The first FES:

7a219d41.jpg

 

I need some advice! I have 3 HOB filters, a AC70, a aquatic nature flow 200 and the flow 60.

I would like to use the last one on this little tank, but I don't know if it is normal that all three filters make a really annoying humming sounds...

I removed the lid, I greased the impeller and I added some foam (really dense, which is used under bigger tanks) between the contact points of the filter and the tank, but still the filter and the tank (I think they resonate...) make a humming sound. It is to loud to sleep comfortably in the same room..., which is a problem because this tank is in my bedroom.

 

If I don't find a way to make the filter+tank less noisy I will probably have to buy another tank and make a sump out of this one. That would be really cool, but also complicate things a lot more...

 

if anyone has some tips I really like to here them!

 

As far as livestock goes, I gotta get one of these in there!

71bcb814.jpg

This is my maxi-mini under rather white light, but under only blue its freakishly fluorescent! really pretty!

And probably a trio of sexy's or a pair of porcelains.

 

Let me know what you think ;)

 

Jb

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Wow, what a score for a food container! Pleased to have you in the competition. I'm currently working with dallas so we can come up with the best method for scoring this competition. I love the diversity of tanks we are going to have here!

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I went to Ikea today to look for a light fixture with a goose-neck to gut :P

But instead I stumbled upon a little desk lamp with a clamp and a 3W led inside!

Of course it was a warm white led, but after 15 minutes or so i got a nice light fixture

 

3cc36300.jpg

 

And here is the moon beam in action

1a6129ee.jpg

 

I will have to rig up my 3W dimmable driver, but other then that its done!

 

As far as sounds goes, I made the rattling sound stop, but I'm not sure if I want the 50 hertz AC hum in my bedroom...

 

I'm considering 2 options if the HOB doesn't quite down:

1) sump it

2) try to make some sort of diy vortech style pump and loose the HOB

 

I think I will try number 2, but I'll have to hurry I guess xD

 

Jb

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@ MetaTank, Yeah the lamp is really nice! I wanted the black version, but they only had the white one in stock... But I must say that it blends in nice with the color of my wall.

 

Here is the link to the ikea lamp http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80169636/

 

I'm still not sure about the flow/filtration...

I ruled out the "sump it" option, because I really like the location the tank has on my desk.

So I am considering a canister filter, either something like the hydor prime 10 or maybe fabricate something myself (easier then a diy vortech), but I have read a couple of times that canister filters and SW don't really work, is this true and if so why?

 

Jb

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@ MetaTank, Yeah the lamp is really nice! I wanted the black version, but they only had the white one in stock... But I must say that it blends in nice with the color of my wall.

 

Here is the link to the ikea lamp http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80169636/

 

I'm still not sure about the flow/filtration...

I ruled out the "sump it" option, because I really like the location the tank has on my desk.

So I am considering a canister filter, either something like the hydor prime 10 or maybe fabricate something myself (easier then a diy vortech), but I have read a couple of times that canister filters and SW don't really work, is this true and if so why?

 

Jb

 

Myth, just run LR rubble/carbon in the canister and clean it out weekly

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If you remove the lens on the desk lamp, you will find a little pcb with a few components and s cree like warm white 3W led. After unsoldering the wires and removing the screws I could solder the wires back on my 3W brigdelux led and fortunately the screw holes match up to the standard 20mm stars! I added a 45 degree optic I had laying around to get a tighter beam (which is what I'm looking for with this tank).

 

The adapter that came with the light says 4V at 0,75mA and 3W, but I think it isn't a constant current driver (the extra components on the led star probably did that) and the lamp got too hot for my liking so I rigged up a dimmable 3x3W driver I had laying around, but I'm running it at 100% all the time.

 

a757a337.jpg

From left to right: the old led star, the driver I'm using now and the old ikea adapter.

I will be changing the driver to a 230AC input version.

 

I have added black sand to the tank, but my iphone can't handle the blue light so I will have to play with a dslr to get a decent pic...

 

Jb

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If you remove the lens on the desk lamp, you will find a little pcb with a few components and s cree like warm white 3W led. After unsoldering the wires and removing the screws I could solder the wires back on my 3W brigdelux led and fortunately the screw holes match up to the standard 20mm stars! I added a 45 degree optic I had laying around to get a tighter beam (which is what I'm looking for with this tank).

 

The adapter that came with the light says 4V at 0,75mA and 3W, but I think it isn't a constant current driver (the extra components on the led star probably did that) and the lamp got too hot for my liking so I rigged up a dimmable 3x3W driver I had laying around, but I'm running it at 100% all the time.

 

a757a337.jpg

From left to right: the old led star, the driver I'm using now and the old ikea adapter.

I will be changing the driver to a 230AC input version.

 

I have added black sand to the tank, but my iphone can't handle the blue light so I will have to play with a dslr to get a decent pic...

 

Jb

Nicely done with the lamp, looks very nice. Great little mod. And I know what you mean about the iPhone not handling the blue, my iTouch can't handle the blue either, and it's 4th gen! I think I need to look into getting a free phototography app.

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I'm considering to change my livestock plans.

Due to the small size of this tank I don't think it would be smart to put a maxi-mini and a couple of sexy's in there... They need to be fed...

 

And nems like aiptasia can handle a lot more (that is pretty handy if you forget a top off or when your late with a WC)

 

But, I dont know how aiptasia will look under just royal blue..., maybe I will have to switch to nw or maybe use the GU10 bulb again and mix some colors (I have royal blue, blue, neutral white and soon also red)

 

The tank will get salty and rocky when my lfs gets some LR in again.

 

Jb

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This isn't really an update yet..,

But I'm considering to change the tank I'm using is that okay?

Or should I start a new thread for that, It will still be in the contest.

 

I also have "found" a new place for the tank! I will reveil that when I get home!

 

Jb

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I completely changed my mind!

 

The tank dimensions are based on rehype's shallow cube, just cut all his dims in half and you get a 12x12x4,5" tank :D

 

The scape will be based on a volcano, so a little part of the LR will be above the water level and a smaller island for some more corals.

 

Well here are some pics for now, FTS:

fe139bce.jpg

 

FES:

a3e588ed.jpg

 

I will probably just fill him tomorrow and add some sand and a little piece of LR from my running tank.

So I will just be a month behind on most of you....

 

Jb

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Well it is update time...

 

I just couldn't decide what to do with the shallow cube and I also didn't know where to put it...

And as far as I know we can still change equipment until the first of may, so I made another big change!

 

my desk was looking rather empty and I really love the look of all the small cubes so here is mine:

725d4a2d.jpg

 

6" cube, 1/5" acrylic

Filter is an aquatic nature flow 60

The lightfixture will be modified, but contains 2 neutral white leds and 2 royal blue led and 1 blue led, I could also just use a 4W GU10 bulb with 3rb and 1nw to honor the title of this thread a little...

 

I have a super nice piece of rock, but it is not LR nor is it cured... I believe that when you add vinegar to a piece of rock and it starts to foam that you shouldn't use it in a reef, right? Well I used a 6% vinegar solution (only thing we had at home) and I couldn't see any bubbles, but I could here a slight sizzle...

Does this mean I can't use this rock?

 

61c7074e.jpg

tank with rock, filter and light, just need to find a small enough heater...

 

I also like to hear from the judges if this change in plans is legal or if I should be disqualified...

 

Jb

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dallasprstn
Well it is update time...

 

I just couldn't decide what to do with the shallow cube and I also didn't know where to put it...

And as far as I know we can still change equipment until the first of may, so I made another big change!

 

my desk was looking rather empty and I really love the look of all the small cubes so here is mine:

725d4a2d.jpg

 

6" cube, 1/5" acrylic

Filter is an aquatic nature flow 60

The lightfixture will be modified, but contains 2 neutral white leds and 2 royal blue led and 1 blue led, I could also just use a 4W GU10 bulb with 3rb and 1nw to honor the title of this thread a little...

 

I have a super nice piece of rock, but it is not LR nor is it cured... I believe that when you add vinegar to a piece of rock and it starts to foam that you shouldn't use it in a reef, right? Well I used a 6% vinegar solution (only thing we had at home) and I couldn't see any bubbles, but I could here a slight sizzle...

Does this mean I can't use this rock?

 

61c7074e.jpg

tank with rock, filter and light, just need to find a small enough heater...

 

I also like to hear from the judges if this change in plans is legal or if I should be disqualified...

 

Jb

 

there is no problem with that! and i like that fixture btw...is it wrapped in carbon fiber or something?

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there is no problem with that! and i like that fixture btw...is it wrapped in carbon fiber or something?

 

Great!

 

Well it is wrapped in carbon vinyl ;) looks really nice!

I kinda changed my mind on the stocking plans, it will be mostly a mushroom/pally/zoa garden! So I might have to switch 2 a 4W GU10 bulb so that I could more easily change the light intensity.

 

For now I really need to know if I could use that rock..., it just sizzled a little when I added vinegar, will this rock leach harmfull chemicals into my tank or should I be fine?

 

Jb

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A little spoiler

 

e3cc3d74.jpg

 

In a week or so when I have some more time again I will finish this little controller!

 

Jb

 

Ps. I still need advice on the rock! it would suck if I just cycled it and in the end I can't put anything in there...

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i also used lava rock in my previous 5 gallon tank, and had algae blooms constantly!!!

no matter what i did i just couldn't seem to get rid of it grrr. eventually tore down the tank :P

 

my lfs told me that lava rock contains way more minerals than normal live rock, and that algae really loves this!!!

 

seemed logical :P just keep in mind a maxi mini can get 6 inches and it wil probably be your main tank inhabitant, but with a few sexy shrimp on top of it and some porcelain on the side, it would look hot XD

 

man you need to build me a cube like that with the lighting 0_o!!!

 

i'm in limburg, brunssum and saw on a dutch forum you live in den haag :) lemme know!! maybe we can work something out :D

 

good luck!!!

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i also used lava rock in my previous 5 gallon tank, and had algae blooms constantly!!!

no matter what i did i just couldn't seem to get rid of it grrr. eventually tore down the tank :P

 

my lfs told me that lava rock contains way more minerals than normal live rock, and that algae really loves this!!!

 

seemed logical :P just keep in mind a maxi mini can get 6 inches and it wil probably be your main tank inhabitant, but with a few sexy shrimp on top of it and some porcelain on the side, it would look hot XD

 

man you need to build me a cube like that with the lighting 0_o!!!

 

i'm in limburg, brunssum and saw on a dutch forum you live in den haag :) lemme know!! maybe we can work something out :D

 

good luck!!!

 

Yeah I've heard bad things about lava rock! But the rock I want to use isn't lava rock, but I don't know what to call it either... In some shops it is called white african rock or something like that.

 

Currently I'm having troubles with my HOB filter... I don't know why but after a while they start to rattle/hum... sometimes they don't, but now they do it again...

 

I might have to rig up some sort of DIY canister filter and make an acrylic lily pipe! I found a really easy way to make one! that would look really sweet I think and I won't be needing that much flow for softies only.

 

I don't know yet if I want a maxi mini, I would love a porcelain so maybe I will order a small one or try cutting up the one I have.

 

What do you guys think about throwing in an already cycle piece of rock with some corals/nem already attached to it? that would be like a 100% water change, but they should be okay right? I think I will go that route if I can't use the rock I have now...

 

Jb

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