DB Fishy Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 So I wanted to have a desktop aquarium at work, and I wanted to get into Reef keeping so i decided to try a little experimental tank first... something I could piece together bit by bit. This project got a bit crazy though but I think I've got most the issues worked out and the tank is now cycling. I was inspired by a few tanks I has seen just googleing around. The tank started with a .5 gal beta tank which I divided off into a small sump section. The plan was to add some filter media a heater and a return pump in there. I also ordered some LED's and Drivers and Switches to rig up a LED light system on some aluminum heat syncs I pulled off an old flat panel TV power board. lastly fearing too much heat being generated by the lights I cut the lid and installed a 12vdc PC cooling fan. The heater and fan are plugged into a temperature controller. So far only the fan has needed to come on. I noticed quite a bit of evaporation from the tank during testing. Before testing I thought I could do a manual top off every couple days or so since I would not be in on the weekends or if I was on a work trip. After seeing the amount of water loss this didn't seem practical so I rigged up a automatic top off system. The top off is triggered by a float switch with is connected to a relay board the will power the pump in the fresh water reservoir to refill the tank as needed. inside the box is a power strip that everything is plugged into with a light timer and the relay board for the ATO. I picked up the rock from the beach on a recent tip to Hawaii. Thought it would be a nice reminder when I looked at the tank. 3 Quote Link to comment
tdannhauser30 Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Cool little experiment, looks nice Im not sure what you want to put in there but if anything swims or crawls you might want to put a grate or mesh or something in front of the overflow, Really a creative little setup ya made there! Quote Link to comment
ajkochev Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Nice to see another .5 gallon pico! 1 Quote Link to comment
DB Fishy Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 44 minutes ago, tdannhauser30 said: Cool little experiment, looks nice Im not sure what you want to put in there but if anything swims or crawls you might want to put a grate or mesh or something in front of the overflow, Really a creative little setup ya made there! Thanks... probably just corals but that is a good idea. Definitely a work in progress. Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Welcome to NR is this your first tank? 1 Quote Link to comment
DB Fishy Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 18 minutes ago, debbeach13 said: Welcome to NR is this your first tank? I have kept a 50 gallon fresh water aquarium off and on (mostly on) since high school... 20 years ago. This will be my 1st SW aquarium with a big system planned sometime down the road. Quote Link to comment
sadie Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 looks good so far, welcome! 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 Welcome to the community @DB Fishy, thanks for sharing your new pico reef! You've built a really neat little custom system here, what do you plan to keep in it? I'm curious to know more about the LEDs you used as well. Quote Link to comment
DB Fishy Posted June 18, 2018 Author Share Posted June 18, 2018 3 hours ago, Christopher Marks said: Welcome to the community @DB Fishy, thanks for sharing your new pico reef! You've built a really neat little custom system here, what do you plan to keep in it? I'm curious to know more about the LEDs you used as well. Thanks, I planned to keep only corals... maybe a shrimp or a snail but it is really to small for fish. (I thought about a yellow goby but do not really know anything about their swimming habits or space requirements... their size makes them seem attractive for this tank but i don't think it would be best for the fish). The LED's are a 10W hybrid 10000k and royal blue bulb. I have a second Bulb that is Royal Blue and UV wavelengths I got them on Alibaba express: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5pcs-10W-Square-Actinic-Hybrid-Cool-White-10000K-Royal-Blue-450nm-UV-395nm-High-Power-LED/32410729718.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.2a014c4dbHMPGi I attached them to a Heat sink that I pulled out of a flat panel television. I used a 12 vdc power supply and a 10 watt led driver to power the led with a 12VDC power supply https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10W-DC-12V-24V-LED-Constant-Current-Driver-Power-900mA-High-Power-Led-Hot-Sell/32798713164.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dmbpyHi Don't know if it right but it seems to be working. 1 Quote Link to comment
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