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Chris' Creative Container Pico!


cnseekatz

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2 hours ago, Coral_chef said:

Looks like a decent size

I'll check the volume tomorrow. The opening is slanted, so I'm guessing 1-1.5 gallons or something like that.

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Design Phase:

 

My SketchUp skills are limited, but here's the idea. I'm going to build a base out of barnboard/weathered shiplap, and then create a custom industrial looking lamp with copper pipe. The pipe will secure to the base, and be held down by the weight of the bowl. I will run the electrical wire through the pipe, and install a socket on the end, pointing down onto the bowl. 

 

The height of the lamp will depend on what I decide to stock in the bowl, and the size of the bulb I go with. I think the PAR38 bulbs are pretty big, so this could be a pretty tall setup.

 

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Construction Phase:

 

I found some "weathered" boards at Home Depot, and cut one up to create the base. 

 

Note: It took me more time to pull the chop saw off the shelf than it did to cut the wood. :)

 

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I measured the volume of this bowl and it's a lot smaller than I thought. 1 gallon full to the brim with nothing else in it. So, I'll probably have 1/2 - 3/4 of a gallon of water when all is said and done. Yikes.

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GunslingerGirl
24 minutes ago, cnseekatz said:

I measured the volume of this bowl and it's a lot smaller than I thought. 1 gallon full to the brim with nothing else in it. So, I'll probably have 1/2 - 3/4 of a gallon of water when all is said and done. Yikes.

Hey go small or go home.

 

I think one of the mods should make that our catch phrase lol

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Lamp Construction

 

My concept was to create a custom lamp to house my PAR bulb, so I purchased some rigid copper tubing and fittings. I was going to solder it, but I like the idea of it being able to swivel out of the way, so I dry fit the pieces, and they're very sturdy. 

 

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Cutting copper pipe is really quite simple. You just need this handy little tool.

 

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I raided the electronics department at Home Depot for parts to build my lamp. The cord feeds up through the pipe to the socket. It will be controlled by a simple timer. I realize this thing looks extremely tall, but the plan is to drop it down to an appropriate height when the bowl is stocked. I am planning on having some rock above the water line, and some terrestrial plants, so depending on what species and size, I'll adjust the height of the lamp accordingly.

 

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1 hour ago, cnseekatz said:

I raided the electronics department at Home Depot for parts to build my lamp. The cord feeds up through the pipe to the socket. It will be controlled by a simple timer. I realize this thing looks extremely tall, but the plan is to drop it down to an appropriate height when the bowl is stocked. I am planning on having some rock above the water line, and some terrestrial plants, so depending on what species and size, I'll adjust the height of the lamp accordingly.

 

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I like it!  Very cool industrial look.

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Completing the Setup

 

Today I reworked my copper lamp to shorten it a bit, and I also added a "T" fitting to allow me to run the pump wire inside the pipe as well. This required me to cut the cord and splice it back together on the other side of the pipe. After that, I went to work completing the terrarium tank setup.

 

1. Laid down 16 ounces of Miracle Mud for a mangrove friendly base.

2. Laid down 1/2" of dry sand (the kind you accumulate when you clean your sand-bed and it stays in the bottom of your Home Depot bucket for months because you don't want to throw it away, and it's too messy to put back into your display) to keep the mud down and look pretty. I put an additional red solo cup full of sand from my existing tank on top.

3. Positioned a Red Mangrove seedling I've been struggling to grow for about a year.

4. Positioned a few cool looking pieces of dry live rock, including two with some cool built in bivalve shells. 

5. Stuck the baby power-head in as inconspicuous a spot as possible, and adjusted the flow so it wouldn't be a disaster.

6. Filled the "tank" with just under 1 gallon of pre-mixed salt water.

7. Stuck two pre-soaked Tillandsia (aeranthos & tricolor) on top of the exposed rocks to complete the the island. These have to stay loose so they can be removed and soaked on a weekly basis. I'm not sure how they'll do under the PAR bulb, so we'll see!

 

I have no heater in here right now. I'll need to monitor the temp as best I can and see what it does. Now we cycle! I haven't done a full cycle in a few years. Should be fun, considering I have very little pre-seeded material in there.

 

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4 hours ago, justjoshinya said:

I like it that's the look I'm going for a mangrove island scape look, will be following along

Thanks! It'll be interesting to see if the mangrove responds to having Miracle Mud.

 

4 hours ago, Boggers said:

That looks really good. I need to work on my stand a bit more to get a theme going with the tank as well.

Your tank looks legit. What's running up through the spigot?

 

3 hours ago, gena said:

Give me a fricken break!!!!!!!  Me slow down????  This looks AMAZING omgomgomg

 

Nice work, Mr. Pico :bowdown:

That's it.  I'm out.  You win :lol:

Oh please.... ;)

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Really like the half aquarium half terrarium theme some people are going with. 

2 hours ago, gena said:

Give me a fricken break!!!!!!!  Me slow down????  This looks AMAZING omgomgomg

 

Nice work, Mr. Pico :bowdown:

That's it.  I'm out.  You win :lol:

Basically. What gena said lol

 

3 hours ago, cnseekatz said:

 

3. Positioned a Red Mangrove seedling I've been struggling to grow for about a year.

 

 

 

@cnseekatz one year?!?! I added a few mangroves to my IM10 about two months ago. Still no leaves growing but the roots are a few inches now. How long did the leaves take to show up?

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