SDartifex countertop extension [retired]

[SDartifex]

Awesome pics!

Thanks! I try to get my money's worth with that kit lense

 

Man, that gorg is incredible.

I know I love it, and its growing like crazy! It's already grown over about an inch of dead skeleton (not visible in those photos). I'll have some before and after shots when I take some photos tomorrow.

[SDartifex]

I meant to get the photos up yesterday but I just got lightroom and have been getting cozy with the interface so there a little late. Anyways here ya go

The good:

 

The bad:

 

The ugly:

[img=http://i.imgur.com/EQryfoO.jpg

 

Full system shot:

 

Fuge:

 

I had to starve the gorg for a while to get this shot without polyps extended, and I lost the other photo of the skeleton; but about 50% of this is brand new growth

[NanoTopia]

You have some nice colour happening there, keep up the good work, those corals will get big soon!

 

I like your tank layout, great pix

 

Christine

[RollaJase]

Gorgeous system, love the fuge .

[SDartifex]

You have some nice colour happening there, keep up the good work, those corals will get big soon!

 

I like your tank layout, great pix

 

Christine

 

Thanks, I've been watching the colors come in on these guys and its really exciting. I haven't really had great colors since I have been keeping relatively high nutrients to encourage growth, but the the recent bryopsis changed that. Now that I've lowered NO3 and PO4 so low I'm really impressed with how fast there coloring up.

 

The layout is pretty messed up right now since I've been purging the tank, but with crisis averted it will soon to my satisfaction again (and with sand for gods sake )

 

Gorgeous system, love the fuge .

Thanks! I really gotta get some green and blue in the fuge to add some color, but the local stores have either been a total fail or

"not for sale" in that department lately.

[SDartifex]

[JR!]

i have some extra ati bulbs that i dont need if you want them

[SDartifex]

Anyone know what ATI's policy is on bulb warranties.

 

i have some extra ati bulbs that i dont need if you want them

What kinds? I have an extra purple plus to fill it with for now, but I need an actinic or blue+

[JR!]

pretty sure i still have 2 blue+ 1 coral+ and a purple+ you can have all of them if you wanna pay shipping.

[Rehype]

Beautiful shots sdart! Its coming along very nicely

 

Love that fuge BTW

[SDartifex]

pretty sure i still have 2 blue+ 1 coral+ and a purple+ you can have all of them if you wanna pay shipping.

That's would be awesome, thanks friend! Send me a PM with details on the cost and I'll get it to you, and a little for your trouble

 

Beautiful shots sdart! Its coming along very nicely

 

Love that fuge BTW

Thanks Hype, I'm glad to see you like the tank! I try my best to keep up with you and Asureef with the photos, but my gear can be a little limiting with just the canon kit lense and a 50mm 1.4. Once I get my equipment squared away I want to invest in a nice pice of glass though and see if I can get anywhere near the shots you two get

[NanoTopia]

pretty sure i still have 2 blue+ 1 coral+ and a purple+ you can have all of them if you wanna pay shipping.

That's really cool JR ! Reefers helping reefers.

[JR!]

That's really cool JR ! Reefers helping reefers.

alway glad to help if i can. sd has been a big help to me.

[SDartifex]

JR is too kind honestly, but I'll be watching his thread and look for a way to get him back for this awesome kindness

[JR!]

JR is too kind honestly, but I'll be watching his thread and look for a way to get him back for this awesome kindness

thanks man <3

[SDartifex]

Soo I started my auto feeder build.. I put together a nice little magnetic stirrer out of some old computer parts and a coupe items in the clearance section of the local Walmart. I'm still working out the kinks (mostly stabilizing the stirring rod) but so far I'm really happy with it. The third pump on my marine magic is being used to get the food in tank. I need to get a good preserving system going now that I have a decent delivery mechanism.

 

I had a possibly brilliant (likely not) idea of using UV-C radiation instead of refrigeration to keep the food from spoiling, but I'm not sure as to whether it would cook the food.. My plan would be to mount a light directly above the food container and have it run on a timer so it would re-sterilize the food every hour or so. From what I've read about commercial systems for food processing it should work quite well being equivolent to a class 1 unit capable of destroying most viruses. But I need to find some info on whether or not it will break down the nutritious elements of the food in the process. Any advice or helpful links would be appreciated!

[metrokat]

Beautiful pictures Dart. The signature on them looks great.

[NanoTopia]

nice little magnetic stirrer ...

I have to see fully illustrated plans for this

[SDartifex]

Beautiful pictures Dart. The signature on them looks great.

 

Thanks! Back when I had more time for art I loved writing with a nice drippy mop, so when I found the font on adobe's site I knew it was the one

 

I have to see fully illustrated plans for this

haha no problem It was super easy honestly, took me all of 30 minutes to go from scrap parts to DIY stirrer. On top of that with an old drive, pc fan, and dc power supply laying around it cost me a whole $3.86! I'll put a write up together for ya and a couple drawings

[SDartifex]

[JR!]

o boy whatd you buy

[SDartifex]

All I'm gonna say it its super space saving

 

In other news I found out were able to have friends on here lol. I really should read the noob basics section of this forum, but I dont even know where it is

[SDartifex]

Ok so I am not the trained engineer my father is; so I cannot make legitimate technical drawings of a computer fan either on paper or with CAD software for you guys , sorry Christine. With that said I decided to document the process of building your own magnetic stirrer with photographs and answer any questions you may have.

 

First the basic materials necessary to build one of these:

• A good beer to enjoy while you work
• An old hard drive to be cannibalized or any "strong" magnet with a longitudinal field
• A computer fan or other fairly slow DC motor (preferably within a mountable enclosure)
• An appropriate power supply for your motor (I prefer the onces you can switch voltages so I can tune the motor to the speed I want with no extra work)
• Super glue
• Screws and washers to mount the motor with once built
• Wire strippers
• Electrical tape (or other means to insulate +/- and connect motor to power supply reliably)
• A driver with nessisary bits to dismantle your hard drive or a drill to drill out screws you may not have a driver for (most HDD's have small torx screws that require specialized electrical drivers)

 

Materials sometimes necessary:

• Spacers to distance your magnets field from that of your DC motor's

 

Optional materials:

• A potentiometer to control your stirrer's speed
• An enclosure
• Magnets (to be used as stir rods over a longer distance than simple ferrous metals)

 

 

 

Ok so now that you have an idea of what you need lets get into the process.

 

First you want to open up the casing of your HDD

 

Be aware most drives have hidden screws beneath stickers

 

Next you want to remove the actuator that the read/write arm uses to drive itself

 

This part of the drive is typically held together sheerly via the magnets enclosed within, you can see these magnets sitting in the center most region of the assembly (nearest to where the arms electromagnetic coil would normally sit)

 

These magnets are strong enough to give you a good pinch so procede carefully as you pry the top and bottom apart to expose the magnets. (A good flathead screwdriver works nicely for me)

 

Now that the insides of the assembly are easily accessible use your prying tool to push the magnets towards the edge of the plates and carefully remove the magnets from them. You should end up with two magnets that look just like this

 

Then double the two up, again be careful so you dont end up with a blood blister for a souvenir

 

Next we will take our fan and simply stick our newly harvested magnets to the center of it (no glue or tape necessary)

 

Do your best to balance the magnets in the center of your "drive motor" and give it a test spin to see if you need to adjust. (You want to have the least vibration possible at the fastest speed you can ge out of your motor)

 

This is the DC power source I had laying around to power mine and the quick tape job I used for testing the setup

 

At this point you may have noticed the magnets applied to the top of your DC driver may be impeding its ability to start on its own. If this is problematic for your application I recommend using spacers to distance your drive magnets from the DC motors coils and using super glue to attach them securely to the motors body. These spacers can be anything including paper or cardboard, as long as it is fairly lightweight and flat. (I had no trouble with this specific pair so I did not use any spacers)

 

Now that you have a properly balanced driver for your stir bar you want to mark the area the magnet sits on with a fine marker

 

Once marked you will remove the magnets from the motor and lay a dot of super glue to the center of your outline

 

Quickly replace your magnet and center it as much as possible in respect to your outline so to keep a well balanced driver.

 

CONGRATULATIONS! you are now the proud owner of a DIY magnetic stirring driver! Now you can mount this driver in and enclosure or directly under an area you intend to use the device in. The washers mentioned in the basic materials list are used to space your fan just far enough so the magnets you added are not in contact with the surface you are mounting your driver to.

 

Heres how I mounted mine in my tank stand

 

And a crappy shot of the food being stirred

 

I will try to get a decent video to show mine in action. I Hope this is helpful, let me know if you have any questions

[metrokat]

That is genius.

[Spirofucci]

Just saw your new fts and sump pics. WOW

 

Looks fnatastic and all that monkey sex down below.......love dat stuff.