Wingy Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Hi. I have been lurking and reading up for the past few months and figured it was time to stop wishing and start asking questions. I have no experience aside from a gold fish in a bowl as a kid which is both good and bad. So here is the situation. I have a corner cubicle at work and well away from main walkways. There is very little movement in my little corner and the only room sounds I hear is the person on the other side of the partition using the keyboard or mouse. I have been given permission to have "something" on my desk under the following conditons/rules. 1. No more than 1 gallon in size. (I might be able to push it to 1.5 gallons by tricking the eye) 2. No larger foot print than a 8 x 11 sheet of paper. 3. 1 electrical outlet for personal use. (I think i can hide a power strip by mounting it to the underside of my desk.) 4. Must not be heard at a distance of 2 feet. 5. Must have a lid or cover. 6. Nothing alive. ie no fish, insects, reptiles or animals. 7. Anything containing liquids must be taken home over weekends, vacations or out of office periods of more than 24 hours. 8. Odor free. My thought is a cylinder shaped container of some sort that i could slide into a thermos jug or insulated box, for stability and temperature control, and take home on weekends. Given the work requirements/restrictions especially on noise is this even possible? What are your thoughts and ideas? Quote Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Do a Jar Pico. They are extremely simple, beautiful, easy to maintain and can be taken home. Go look on the Home Page at the tank of the month (bowl of the month) for the perfect example of what I'm talking about. SO doable and fits all your requirements. Quote Link to comment
flatlandreefer Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 My hesitation would be the requirement of taking it home over the weekend, maybe somebody else has expierence with this Quote Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Bowl or Jar Picos can be taken home over the weekend, they're very portable. Quote Link to comment
Wingy Posted April 14, 2017 Author Share Posted April 14, 2017 9 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said: Do a Jar Pico. They are extremely simple, beautiful, easy to maintain and can be taken home. Go look on the Home Page at the tank of the month (bowl of the month) for the perfect example of what I'm talking about. SO doable and fits all your requirements. I have seen the jars and bowls. They are what led me into asking my employer for permission. Will an air stone or filter be to loud? It cannot be heard past 2ft and there is almost no background noise in my corner. (The supervisor on the other side of the wall once complained that my mouse clicks were to loud.) Quote Link to comment
SeaFurn Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Nothing alive? That doesn't give you any options. Even a moss ball is "alive". If they'd let you have something alive then you should check out the shrimp bowl when you are looking through the Bowl of the Month thread @Weetabix7 recommended. Meets all the criteria except for #6. You'd just want to keep them in acrylic container with a lid that seals so you can take it home with you. We're talking no maintenance, no sound, no hassle. Quote Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Yeah, you do kinda need to know how they're defining "alive". As far as sound from airstone or airline, not sure, haven't tried it. @natalia_la_loca, @SeaFurn, @Rain24, @Lula_Mae, what do you guys think? Quote Link to comment
SeaFurn Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Airstones would probably help reduce the sound of bubbling water but it's the air pump that's gonna be the problem. Air pumps are loud. I use a Whisper 40 on my bowl and whisper it does not! And it vibrates the table it sits on. I was using a smaller air pump at first and even that was load. If the boss is disturbed by mouse clicks, an air pump is going to sound like a jack hammer! Quote Link to comment
Wingy Posted April 14, 2017 Author Share Posted April 14, 2017 14 minutes ago, SeaFurn said: Airstones would probably help reduce the sound of bubbling water but it's the air pump that's gonna be the problem. Air pumps are loud. I use a Whisper 40 on my bowl and whisper it does not! And it vibrates the table it sits on. I was using a smaller air pump at first and even that was load. If the boss is disturbed by mouse clicks, an air pump is going to sound like a jack hammer! That's what I was afraid of on the noise. I wonder if I could build a muffle box for it. A trip to Petsmart might be necessary to satisfy my curiosity. Quote Link to comment
Wingy Posted April 14, 2017 Author Share Posted April 14, 2017 I can see it now all manner of jars and air pumps lining my shelf while I test for noise and my parrot thinking I bought him his own jacuzzi tub. ? 2 Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 I think it depends on your air pump, at least in part. I have the little Whisper air pumps that come with Tetra's smallest in-tank filter (I buy the filters and just use the air pumps lol). I place the air pump on a washcloth or something to help reduce the sound. I also use a flow controller on the airline to turn it down, makes it pretty quiet. However, if your neighbor is complaining about MOUSE CLICKS?! That's persnickety. I might recommend a tiny powerhead instead, find one with silent operation and use that for your water circulation. A small jar/bowl or betta tank with lid would probably work fine. This is the filter I'm talking about. Most of the pumps have been quiet for me. Oh, and you can often find them at Walmart! Quote Link to comment
dolfanjack Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 (edited) You should think about a small vase with some live rock, macro algae, and some aiptasia anemones. I have one in a one gallon glass bowl with no filter, heater, or air stone and they do great. I also made my daughter one using a small (1/2 gallon) cookie jar with a lid and it is doing great too. Just a thought ,Jack. Edited April 15, 2017 by dolfanjack Added picture 1 Quote Link to comment
dandelion Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 2 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: I think it depends on your air pump, at least in part. I have the little Whisper air pumps that come with Tetra's smallest in-tank filter (I buy the filters and just use the air pumps lol). I place the air pump on a washcloth or something to help reduce the sound. I also use a flow controller on the airline to turn it down, makes it pretty quiet. However, if your neighbor is complaining about MOUSE CLICKS?! That's persnickety. I might recommend a tiny powerhead instead, find one with silent operation and use that for your water circulation. A small jar/bowl or betta tank with lid would probably work fine. This is the filter I'm talking about. Most of the pumps have been quiet for me. Oh, and you can often find them at Walmart! Even a small power head can put out quite some heat. I tried doing that in an experiment and my vase got up to like 90 degrees. Plus the "nothing alive" rule really rules out everything.... But I suppose you can do macroalgae like dolfanjack suggested. Water movement is to bring toxic ammonia to nitrifying bacteria to be processed into nitrate that is much less toxic. But algae themselves should be able to utilize ammonia as a nutrient store. You sure you don't just want to do a moss ball and a betta bowl? Probably much easier.... 1 hour ago, dolfanjack said: You should think about a small vase with some live rock, macro algae, and some aiptasia anemones. I have one in a one gallon glass bowl with no filter, heater, or air stone and they do great. I also made my daughter one using a small (1/2 gallon) cookie jar with a lid and it is doing great too. Just a thought ,Jack. Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 19 minutes ago, dandelion said: Even a small power head can put out quite some heat. I tried doing that in an experiment and my vase got up to like 90 degrees. Plus the "nothing alive" rule really rules out everything.... But I suppose you can do macroalgae like dolfanjack suggested. Water movement is to bring toxic ammonia to nitrifying bacteria to be processed into nitrate that is much less toxic. But algae themselves should be able to utilize ammonia as a nutrient store. You sure you don't just want to do a moss ball and a betta bowl? Probably much easier.... It's true, you do have to be careful about that. Wasn't thinking about that lol. Macros are pretty darn cool in their own right! Quote Link to comment
Wingy Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 I believe nothing alive means critters and creatures. Quite a few people have plants on their desks and small trees in planters on the floor which technically are alive. Shrimp would be perfect except that the are probably viewed as fish but it doesn't hurt to ask. 1 Quote Link to comment
Wingy Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 I went digging through my basement and garage to see what I could find to build a zombie box (muffler box) for an air pump. I have boxes full of various types of foam packaging, felt, and scraps of soft leather. I also found a box of quart mason jars. That find led me to wondering how a lid would effect the sound of the bubbles breaking the surface and if there would be any noticeable difference between glass, polycarbonate and acrylic. SeaFurn my parrot loved your video. He spent an hour wanting it replayed and trying to replicate the sound. If he keeps this up i will have to buy him a tablet and teach him to use it just to get a little peace. 2 Quote Link to comment
graftobny142 Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 You say, "Nothing alive. ie no fish, insects, reptiles or animals." And corals are animals. Inverts are animals. Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 26 minutes ago, Wingy said: I went digging through my basement and garage to see what I could find to build a zombie box (muffler box) for an air pump. I have boxes full of various types of foam packaging, felt, and scraps of soft leather. I also found a box of quart mason jars. That find led me to wondering how a lid would effect the sound of the bubbles breaking the surface and if there would be any noticeable difference between glass, polycarbonate and acrylic. SeaFurn my parrot loved your video. He spent an hour wanting it replayed and trying to replicate the sound. If he keeps this up i will have to buy him a tablet and teach him to use it just to get a little peace. The biggest concern with a box like that would be the possibility of the air pump overheating, I don't know much about it but have read that it's very important as apparently they can catch fire if they get too hot. 12 minutes ago, themummra said: You say, "Nothing alive. ie no fish, insects, reptiles or animals." And corals are animals. Inverts are animals. It's true but corals can be passed off as being something like "plants" since they don't usually move of their own accord. 1 Quote Link to comment
Wingy Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 Quote It's true but corals can be passed off as being something like "plants" since they don't usually move of their own accord. Absolutely and I have no problem in taking advantage of their ignorance. 1 Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 1 minute ago, Wingy said: Absolutely and I have no problem in taking advantage of their ignorance. Exactly... Now if you were to try an Opae Ula/volcano shrimp tank (check out https://www.petshrimp.com/, they have a forum devoted to them!) perhaps you could convince them it's a more humane version of those awful EcoSpheres that are so beautiful. If they'd be willing to work with you on that, it would be perfect as you don't need a pump of any kind with them. 1 Quote Link to comment
dandelion Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 2 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: Exactly... Now if you were to try an Opae Ula/volcano shrimp tank (check out https://www.petshrimp.com/, they have a forum devoted to them!) perhaps you could convince them it's a more humane version of those awful EcoSpheres that are so beautiful. If they'd be willing to work with you on that, it would be perfect as you don't need a pump of any kind with them. I was wondering if a TOM aqualifter would work. Think of it as an external powerhead: it pumps water outside your jar and put it back in. You can put a prefilter along the in-line to trap any gunk from reaching the pump. It puts out a low hum, but if you set it up on a Friday evening when everybody has left, they may not notice that white noise when they come back on Monday. But still it is extremely difficult to control the temperature when the water volume is so low, especially when you will not have any control over the office thermostat. In the summer they probably will turn off the air at night and your tank temperature can rise, and winter it can get too cold. Having to remove it every weekend would kill the deal for me as well. They may let you have an algae tank though, and those will likely be able to endure any temperature fluctuations. You can get a clamp on desk lamp and use it for work while you're at the office and shine it at the tank at night, giving you an excuse for a second electric outlet. Once you've had it for a while and looks good, they may let you have a little hermit crab. Quote Link to comment
Wingy Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 I don't think the temperature changes much during the week. I have a thermometer that shows a 12 hour history and see what the highs and lows are. 1 Quote Link to comment
Wingy Posted April 16, 2017 Author Share Posted April 16, 2017 My son is interested in the shrimp and suggested it as a birthday gift after I sent him the links yesterday. I think i will use cycling his to experiment with some of the pump/filter ideas I have floating around in my head. Quote Link to comment
SeaFurn Posted April 16, 2017 Share Posted April 16, 2017 On 4/15/2017 at 0:18 PM, Wingy said: SeaFurn my parrot loved your video. He spent an hour wanting it replayed and trying to replicate the sound. If he keeps this up i will have to buy him a tablet and teach him to use it just to get a little peace. Too funny! Just have your parrot check out the Instagram page and the video will play endlessly - and you'll lose your mind! Quote Link to comment
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