jball1125 Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Is it time for pics of the new zoas yet? Quote Link to comment
buddythelion Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I've altered the pic a bit, hopefully it helps! Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 Is it time for pics of the new zoas yet? Thanks for the interest. I'll see if I can get close-ups this weekend. I've altered the pic a bit, hopefully it helps! Yes, that's a bit more true to color. Thanks. Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 Losing fish is never fun, so I created this simple front lip guard: Since most fish swim straight up against the glass before launching out of a tank, this lip guard should help. Unfortunately, a crack developed during construction so I'll have to construct another one. And, the new, and hopefully final fish addition, a Bicolor Pseudochromis (Pictichromis Paccagnellae): Quote Link to comment
jball1125 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Great job on the lid man. The new addition is a beauty! Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 Great job on the lid man. The new addition is a beauty! Thanks. The Bicolor is an attractive fish and this one looked particularly healthy. They're also tough as nails... Quote Link to comment
JR! Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 perfect addition to the tank. that lip looks awesome too. Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 perfect addition to the tank. that lip looks awesome too. Thanks. Regarding the lip, the cool thing is that the two thumb screws just happen to be perfectly level to the top of the front glass, making for perfectly level support. The replacement I make will have better fit'n'finish. Dottybacks have always been one of my favorites, but they are one mean customer. In this tank, it's really got no one to terrorize (so far, it completely ignores the Barnacle Blenny). Quote Link to comment
buddythelion Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Lip looks awesome, those dottybacks always scare me. Except for the Springer's, those are really cool looking! Looks like the LEDs are messing with your photos. I recommend downloading Google's Picasa (Free), it's what I use to edit my photos to look more representative of what they actually look like. Color temperature feature is amazing! Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 6, 2012 Author Share Posted September 6, 2012 Lip looks awesome, those dottybacks always scare me. Except for the Springer's, those are really cool looking! Looks like the LEDs are messing with your photos. I recommend downloading Google's Picasa (Free), it's what I use to edit my photos to look more representative of what they actually look like. Color temperature feature is amazing! Yeah, it's tough to get accurate photos now with the LEDs. Thanks for the tip regarding Picasa. My first fish way back in the day was a Purple Dottyback, so I know what to expect. This one and the Barnacle Blenny have had a few sprats and it's really cool to see the tiny Blenny's effective threat display against a much larger opponent. Quote Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 That is not an easy shape to cut out! Nice job! Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 6, 2012 Author Share Posted September 6, 2012 That is not an easy shape to cut out! Nice job! Especially in a garage with just a hack-saw, a drill and a few files. Improved 'Version 2' coming up soon Quote Link to comment
owenj Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Especially in a garage with just a hack-saw, a drill and a few files. Improved 'Version 2' coming up soon Looking forward to this. Great looking tank! Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 8, 2012 Author Share Posted September 8, 2012 'Lip 2.0': Most important thing to keep in mind is that acrylic is brittle (witness my first attempt), so remember to support the piece properly when working on it. If you don't have fancy power tools, no worries, just need a few simple tools and a few 'tricks'. Tools: Vice, Hacksaw, Drill (w/3/16" drill bit), Flat File, Round File Started off with a piece of 14.75 x 3.5 x 3/16" acrylic. Traced the pattern for the back part and started to drill holes, being careful not to drill holes below the traced line: Continued all the way around, keeping holes close together. Next, used the drill to take out the material in between each hole and used the hack saw to cut any vertical or horizontal lines: To end up with this: Grabbed a round file and filed down to the traced line: Fit the lip onto the tank and traced the front, bowed contour: Used the Hacksaw to cut the front contour: Ignore any sharp curves as you can get these easily with a file later. 1-1/2 hours later...all done: From what I have witnessed over many years, most fish that jump dart up the aquarium wall before launching themselves into oblivion. Having a 1" or greater lip around an open top tank can go a long way to keeping the fish where they belong...in the tank. 1 Quote Link to comment
jball1125 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Cool, thanks for the tutorial, I might have to end up giving acrylic a try because my plexi glass lid keeps warping. Quote Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I can't believe you did that without a jig saw!!! Second one looks great! Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 9, 2012 Author Share Posted September 9, 2012 I can't believe you did that without a jig saw!!! Second one looks great! Thanks. Truth be told, I was just too lazy to dig out my work bench, set it up, find the jig saw, find the clamps, move the car out of the garage... I had the plastics store use a buffing wheel on the front edge so it's nice and shiny Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 9, 2012 Author Share Posted September 9, 2012 Cool, thanks for the tutorial, I might have to end up giving acrylic a try because my plexi glass lid keeps warping. Hmmm, I think you'll find that Plexiglass is actually Acrylic: http://www.hydrosight.com/technology/polyc..._vs_acrylic.php Quote: 'Acrylic on the other hand is often called Plexiglas. Plexiglas ® is a trademark by Roehm and Hass.' If Acrylic doesn't have sufficient support it will warp. Either more support is needed, or if not possible, thicker Acrylic can be tried. If the top side and the bottom side are identical, then you can flip it over every so often to balance out the warping. Quote Link to comment
jball1125 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Hmmm, I think you'll find that Plexiglass is actually Acrylic: http://www.hydrosight.com/technology/polyc..._vs_acrylic.php Quote: 'Acrylic on the other hand is often called Plexiglas. Plexiglas ® is a trademark by Roehm and Hass.' If Acrylic doesn't have sufficient support it will warp. Either more support is needed, or if not possible, thicker Acrylic can be tried. If the top side and the bottom side are identical, then you can flip it over every so often to balance out the warping. Ooops, than I guess I need thicker acrylic. I have actually been flipping it over every couple days but it begins to become a pain after a while. Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 9, 2012 Author Share Posted September 9, 2012 Naw, this was nothing much, but thanks Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 This is what happens when one has only one Hermit Crab...and no large snails. Tank itself is near algae less. When I scrub his shell clean next week I'll have a 'nutrient export system' Quote Link to comment
longbeach Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 You really should DYI for for the hamster bottle stand and then pm me the link so I can copy you. :P :D Quote Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Nano sapiens said: This is what happens when one has only one Hermit Crab...and no large snails. Tank itself is near algae less. When I scrub his shell clean next week I'll have a 'nutrient export system' Mini algae turf scrubber! Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Mini algae turf scrubber! You got it! There's a whole mini-ecosystem going on in there Quote Link to comment
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