twichstile Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 I have read many of the DIY AC70 fuge projects and have been wanting to do this myself for some time now. This last Saturday was perfect, went and had a big breakfast with friends then went surfing on my new Fish (no pun intended, lol) got home and had a few hours to fill so I topped the day off with a fun and rewarding DIY project. I have been pricing out all my options with my 20L. From AIO to Sump + AC fuge, to Sump/fuge + closed loop...... Long story short: The $0 AC fuge and robbing my 55's(FOWLR) Koralia 2 was the cheapest and quickest !!! Here we go I started off with some odds and ends, I used one of the Wal-mart checkout isle flashlights (which was one of 4 that i had laying around and the battery was dead). I grabbed an extra light fixture leftover form a ceiling fan re-place/upgrade and finally an old extension cord that was already a 'wounded soldier' In a matter of minutes I used a air cut-off wheel to remove a tiny section to make this fit like this The parts fit soo snuggly that i seriously considered NO glue or silicone! Also, the baffle would not go all the way down, creating a gap for water flow at the bottom "Holding its own" And for mechanical filter I used the OEM piece of sponge. It did need to be cut. Not too long after did I realize that the filter was difficult to remove....... So I pulled it all out to discover my problem: Fixed that right quick! Next on my mind was getting that flow down, so like other projects I've seen I 'nipped the bud' That'll tell em' ! Next was the top/cover. I wanted a couple of holes in it for unobstructed light transfer and for the hopeful future of adding a mangrove. For this I put the safety goggles on. (excuse the messy garage....Its not mine) I know what you are thinking...cause I thought it too!! Time to get somethin that will leave a nicer mark. I know!! Router!! After getting tired of listening to the router buzz..... Maybe I'll be able to hear my grandkids.... Router Done! There is a place where the lid cracked! It was my fault, I turned the router on while it was touching and it was just too thin in that spot. I super-glued the piece back in; and while I was at it, I 'tack welded' the two basket pieces in place. Now the light! I pryed one of the light sockets out of the fixture, I did it carefully as I wanted to retain the tabs' integrity because I was planning on using them. First, a hole in the center of the back panel. I whollowed it diagonally and then used the knife to smooth it out. While I had the light like this, I broke all of the tabs out that you see and drilled holes at the rear (which will be the top) for heat dissipation. Now the reflector! Good ol' foil! Double thick! I wrapped it around a glass light guard(prolly the one that went with ceiling fan) Then I put in the light recepticle and folded the tabs out. Viola! Then I cut the extension cord and hooked it up using the wire clamps from the fixture Then for the light to be stable and sumwhat secure I used the cut off wheel to grind out a lil' groove for it Then, I used a bulb from a reading light I bought from Lowe's months ago. It had to be more than coincidence that I discovered that the OEM bulb was 6400K Installed! I put a bag of Chemi-pure, Purigen, Chaeto and though the pic doesnt show it, today I added about six pieces of rubble from 3/4"-1 1/2" Link to comment
andru24 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Looks good... Now fix your dog's evil laser death eye! Link to comment
twichstile Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 The difference in flow is significant!!! Im thinking I'm down to about a 1/4 of the full flow > 50gph. This works cause' 3-5 X 20g is 60-100gph The fuge light is on a reverse photoperiod Trickling. Top View Bonus: Full Flow FTS Thanks everyone for all of your help and wisdom! Looks good... Now fix your dog's evil laser death eye! Thanks andru24 yeah I was gonna, jus lazy. It woulda been cool though....she is part catahoula. She has one blue eye and one brown Link to comment
PoopCola Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 haha good build tank looks good so far Link to comment
Needreefunds Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 nice DIY I used to drape some floss sheet ( batting ) over the fence for extra mech filtration. Worked well and helps keep tiny chaeto bits out of the display. Link to comment
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