Undertheradar Posted August 11, 2004 Author Share Posted August 11, 2004 good luck.. Quote Link to comment
mccorkell Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 UTR, are there any other diy's you have come up with? I built the Radar skimmer, and the battary powered auto top off is on my next list. By the way the skimmer works wonderfull, and thank you for sharing your ideas it helps make this hobby even more fun! Dave Quote Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted August 28, 2004 Author Share Posted August 28, 2004 Geeez, I have made a nano-reactor...stands...skimmer...top-off...diy halide with the regent fixture...plenty of refugiums...diy PC striplight (take 3" white PVC and slice it down the middle for a nice reflector)...for the most part I make things when the need them. Like using brochure holders that retailers use...cut them in half, drill them, and use them as overflow boxes. I have made tanks that are almost all DIY...in fact most of mine are. The only things that cant be DIYed are pumps and heaters (nor would they be worth it for obvious reasons). Recently I have had more need for little QT cubes, 3"x3"x4" that hang on the inside of the tank with multiple 3/8" holes drilled through. These make for a good area to introduce new critters...or do things like keep a pesky wandering anemone in...or do your shroom/ric fragging in w/o having the corals get lost. You get the picture. I am also going to make a 'coral shelf' You know, when you run out of room on the bottom or have some frags you need to keep near the top? Well, it is a 6" long shelf that hangs on the inside, but w/o high side walls so they get alot of current. Nothing too brilliant however... Otherwise, you will have to just do a search for old posts by 'wetworx101', and see all the crap that pops up. Quote Link to comment
suubz Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 sorry to beat a dead horse... but these stinkin' Duracell D's didn't even last a full month. Brand spankin' new batteries in this autotopoff, and I'm already on my 2nd pair of batteries. I think I may wire an AC airpump this week. Oh well... bye-bye batteries.... hello AC outlet. Quote Link to comment
sdbeazley Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 well duh. haven`t you ever been fishing with one of these things? They only last for like 8 hours. Quote Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 Something isnt right then...maybe a wire crossed or something. I have been using the same pair of batteries for the last year. Im telllin' you, something isnt right. My ATO comes on once an hour or so for anywhere for about a minute...cant see how anyones could wear out so fast unless there was something wrong with the batteries or wiring. Rather than trash it you could just wire in a 3V cell phone charger like I had shown before...works fine. Quote Link to comment
suubz Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 naw, wiring is correct... it simply doesn't have enough 'oomph' to push the water up the 3-4 feet up to the tank anymore. I replaced the batteries with the other 2 D's that came in the 4 pack... and there is enough power to push the water into the tank. I guess that they have simply worn out. Cell charger might be an option though. Quote Link to comment
Electrobes Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Just out of curiosity, not not use the aqualifter pump? It does 1/8th of a gallon per hour, and I am sure it could throttle back a little (Using an airvalve) to make that a smaller amount per hour without putting too much stress on the pump itself. Quote Link to comment
suubz Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 1/8th gal per hour?? doesn't sound too powerful to me Quote Link to comment
Electrobes Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 oops I goofed, it does 3.5 gallons per our, but I am wondering how much you could throttle it back before you start severely stressing the pump... Quote Link to comment
aaronfmd Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 i'm intersted in buying one for $20. Are you selling them? Quote Link to comment
REAKtion Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 What is the purpose of a float switch? I am a newbie..Thanks Quote Link to comment
REAKtion Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 how does it work and what is it used for? Quote Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted March 16, 2005 Author Share Posted March 16, 2005 I dont know how simple you need this, so please forgive if i make it sound too simple. In a reef, we have evaporation. That evaporation can be dramatic in smaller reefs and hurt the creatures because the salinity goes up pretty fast. So we need a way to add fresh water as it evaporates. As the water level at some point in the system goes down from evaporation, there is a little float with a switch inside of it. When the float is up, the water level is high and so no water is added. When the float goes down, it completes an electrical circuit, connected to a pump of some sort and a tank of fresh water that is activated, filling the tank up with water again until the float rises up and turns off the pump until next time. Quote Link to comment
REAKtion Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Thanks..I never could understand that..But I get it now. Thanks again... Quote Link to comment
CKC Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 Are you selling these bad boys yet? If so put me down for one! Quote Link to comment
bigbenji Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 I'll order one too, as my DIY skills are craptastic. I want detailed instructions though, since my wife may be hooking this up (needs pretty pictures). Quote Link to comment
ebacherville Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Well I ordered my switches, got a couple of them may add a top up to my FW tank also.. Thanks for the great info! Quote Link to comment
wave98 Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 UTR: I think the "Radar" that someone used as RadarSkimmer in one of the volumnious posts on your thread should "stick". Your patience and helpfulness border on the superhuman or "saintly". Maybe even remeniscent of the beloved M.A.S.H. charachter. I have followed the skimmer threads including the 45 page behemoth, and I am very impressed with your resourcefulness and diy capabilities ( tremendously informative ). I only have 6 mos. on my 30 gallon hex reef. This forum and your threads have opened up more information and avenues of pursuit in reefkeeping than all the research and investigation that I have done "everywhere" else. Thanks, and keep up "the fun"!:teehee: Quote Link to comment
Wetline Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 UTR: Your patience and helpfulness border on the superhuman or "saintly". I agree you deserve a pat on the back. You could be crowned the DIY king. Quote Link to comment
gabrito Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 can someone repost the pics of the auto top off??? Quote Link to comment
Wetline Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 http://www.floatswitches.net/autotopoff.html I came across this while looking for the float switch used in this DIY. This setup is a little more complicated then the one undertheradar (UTR) is walking us through. UTR's setup is just the switch, a battery operated pump, some airline and a reservoir to hold the top off water. I'll work up a simple diagram and post it later. This DIY is still on my to-do list so I don't have actual pics of the wiring with the pump and float switch but it shouldn't be too hard for you to imagine. Quote Link to comment
Wetline Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Auto_top_off.pdf Here is a pdf of the diagram. If anyone sees something that needs to be changed let me know. I do not have pics as this was drafted up from UTR's instructions. Quote Link to comment
Wetline Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Thanks. When the site got it's new look the old pics that were up didn't come back so I thought I'd do something productive with my time. There are more complicated top off's with a secondary float switch and relay and all that but I didn't want to get in that deep with my project so simplicity is good. Quote Link to comment
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