saltyshoe_nano Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 what are these "other mods" ? Link to comment
robmacy Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 what are these "other mods" ? stuff to mod Aquaclear filters into fuges, custom hoods, light conversions, etc... Link to comment
saltyshoe_nano Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 that sounds sweet you might be getting a few pms from me lol might! Link to comment
constantocean Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 figure out how to make me a 35 watt HQI/MH fixture for my pico for around $80 and we'll talk =) Link to comment
robmacy Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 figure out how to make me a 35 watt HQI/MH fixture for my pico for around $80 and we'll talk =) I'll put it on my honey-do list. Link to comment
robmacy Posted January 25, 2008 Author Share Posted January 25, 2008 Update 1/25 Just ordered parts for a DIY Metal Halide hood. It will be a 70w HQI with electronic ballast and 20,000K bulb. Also, roughed up th sides of the 2.5g AGA sump and will paint this weekend. Keep this one locked in folks. I'm going to a frag swap next month to get a few SPS to add. Link to comment
constantocean Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Update 1/25 Just ordered parts for a DIY Metal Halide hood. It will be a 70w HQI with magnetic ballast and 20,000K bulb. Also, roughed up th sides of the 2.5g AGA sump and will paint this weekend. Keep this one locked in folks. I'm going to a frag swap next month to get a few SPS to add. where did you manage to find a 70 watt in 20,000K i looked and loooked and looked all over the damn internet and could only find 20s in 150watt Link to comment
robmacy Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 Here's the beginnings of the MH light fixture that will grace this beauty. Dimensions are 12.5" x 6" x 3.5". It will house a 70w HQI powered by electronic ballast (remotely). There is a slot in the bottom to slide in UV glass. I'm deciding how to vent/cool the thing. Maybe fans, maybe vents, maybe both. Once assembled, the fixture will get a coat of high temp black paint on the outside. 2.5g AGA sump update - painted both sides flat black. Link to comment
yardboy Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 hey, is there any way to paint the pvc pipe? so it isnt sticking out so much? like painting the back and sides of the tank to make it stealthy?? JW incase I do copy Use purple PVC primer/cleaner to paint it. Makes it look like it has corraline on it and actually promotes corraline to grow faster. Link to comment
robmacy Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 here is the replacement overflow/skimmer and 2.5g sump/fuge combo. i plugged the bottom of the 2" overflow so that it acts the same as a "overflow box" and has the u-tube siphon on it. the sump will sit directly behind my 2.5g display tank and the overflow will run directly over the two tanks and into the inlet chamber. as you can see, the water flowing through the inlet to the fuge chamber is in the middle so it creates current through and up. the outlet chamber has bubble trap baffles. i'm toying with the idea of putting in two micro return pumps on a wave timer to simulate wave action. but in a 2.5g... will it really matter?! not sure. Link to comment
robmacy Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 Update 2/7 - I'm scrapping the metal hood idea and going with a Regent floodlight MH conversion. I got a ballast from Ballastwise and 20,000K bulb from eBay. Test fired the bulb yesterday and it works flawlessly. Nice blue color too! I'll suspend the floodlight over the tank with some conduit or some kinda free-standing frame. Link to comment
Loosey Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Update 2/7 - I'm scrapping the metal hood idea and going with a Regent floodlight MH conversion. I got a ballast from Ballastwise and 20,000K bulb from eBay. Test fired the bulb yesterday and it works flawlessly. Nice blue color too! I'll suspend the floodlight over the tank with some conduit or some kinda free-standing frame. how do you figure how high to suspend it above the tank so its still effective but not so bad on evap? just trial and error? looking forward to pics. Loosey Link to comment
IceTurf Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Update 2/7 - I'm scrapping the metal hood idea and going with a Regent floodlight MH conversion. I got a ballast from Ballastwise and 20,000K bulb from eBay. Test fired the bulb yesterday and it works flawlessly. Nice blue color too! I'll suspend the floodlight over the tank with some conduit or some kinda free-standing frame. i'm going to do something similar soon, do you find the light system getting hot? Link to comment
robmacy Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 Loosey & IceTurf I will post progress as I build it. The best way to introduce MH lighting is by placing the corals low in the tank and working them up. Since a pico doesn't allow for that, I'll be initially positioning the light high up and lowering it slowly. I'll make sure to watch evap and tank water temp as well. The unit will be suspended over the display and fuge so the light penetrates more volume of water than just the display tank volume. Link to comment
UCLA.irie Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 I read ya loud-n-clear on that one! If there's enough interest I have a bunch of other mods for picos and actually considering becoming a sponsor of NR.com. One stop shop for pico goodies including all-in-one kits minus the 2.5 AGA (cuz shippin glass isn't my cup of tea). this sounds like a great idea! i just started a pico about two months ago, and they really do make you go mod-crazy Link to comment
robmacy Posted February 16, 2008 Author Share Posted February 16, 2008 Update 2/15 I decided to scrap the 70w metal halide. It's WAY to much light for little tank. I fired it up and I can tell it will just be overkill. The light would need to set about 18 inches above the tank and I don't have that kind of space in my home office. Back to the drawing board. BTW... all the retrofit HQI parts I have are for sale in the hardware selling forum First come, first served. Link to comment
robmacy Posted February 29, 2008 Author Share Posted February 29, 2008 UPDATE 2/28 lighting changeup. decide to go with this little puppy from catalina aquarium 39w total (3x13w) and chose 2x 10000K & 1x Actnic. Also bought the legs for it. It's a little wide, but since my tanks are back-2-back, I can position it using the other tank. I'm also going bare-bottom with black base so I can up the flow for SPS. I don't want the substrate blowing in the corner. All of the live substrate will move back into the fuge area of the sump along with mixed macro and rubble rock. stay tuned! Link to comment
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