My possible return

[PicoSavvy]

Well considering last night I bought a cheap Jebao to mess with a couple of ideas I got. So I decided to design a simple system on my cad program. Now just waiting for the stuff to arrive this will be another slow build probably won't be officially up until next year due to possibly having a flight for work a couple of month from now and it being a bit of a long trip to long to leave it in the care of someone else. But I figure I would start a thread to have people suggest any tips or possible problems they see in the system. The tank is around half a gallon as I always wanted a sub gallon pico and my first attempt was a horrible failure as the bulkhead design I did was loud as all hell to the point that I had to take it down because I could not stand the noise. The cabinet is a small IKEA cabinet which will house a freshwater (1/3 of the capacity)and saltwater(2/3 of the capacity) container and the Jebao that is all. 

Tank:
Half gallon 6 inch long X 4 inch wide x 5 inch tall
Stand:
IKEA cube cabinet
Lighting:
Diy build housed in an old Nanobox frame I have laying around
Equipment:

Jebao DP-4s with a custom controller for ATO and AWC

Flow pump will either be a custom magnetic coupling based or a cheap 52gph one I already have.

Float sensor.

Freshwater and saltwater container

Rock:
BRS dry live rock
Substrate:
Mame sand I have laying around

 

 

[PicoSavvy]

Bought my 2nd reef related thing in years. A small madison float switch looks butt ugly(brown color) but it is the smallest I could find.

5/22/2020 switch arrived even tho the color is ugly I will admit it is quite small.

[Reefkid88]

Lets get this thing rolling !!! 

[PicoSavvy]

I am still waiting on snail mail say stuff should arrive in august

[PicoSavvy]

Noticed I haven't posted my other equipment. The nanobox frame, diametric magnets, new motor to test because the old one was too powerful, and the dual propeller design for flow. The API bottle is for size comparison.

Noticed people putting ketchup in their tank so I did the same

Still no sign of the doser I order seller said it could take up to 70 days so we will see.

[Christopher Marks]

Sooo tiny! Thanks for the update @PicoSavvy!

[PicoSavvy]

No problem^^ So today I was surprised with a set of diamond bit and didn't really have any slim glass pieces to test them out so the tank was a test piece and this happens. Doesn't really affect my plans I can just 3d print a bulkhead for the PVC to insert the doser tubing but there is something funny about seeing half a gallon with a 3/4 drain. My regret is not drilling it on the other side.

Flow is good tho a little to good

If anyone is wondering glass thickness is 3.80mm or 1/7 of an inch.

[PicoSavvy]

Well got a refund for the dosing pump I bought on eBay 80 something since I bought it and still hasn't shown up so plans had to be adjusted, started tinkering with the idea of all in one so I did this basic design. The hole in the center is for a 1/2 inch bulkhead for drainage if I decide to do awc. I will probably 3d print it that is why it is shown cut in half even tho my 3d printer is big enough to handle it together I feel splitting it will give a better result and I will just epoxy the 2 half together.

[Reefkid88]

I'm excited to see how that diy pump does for flow. 

[PicoSavvy]

Magnetic coupling based pump are actually very simple the only real issue is the mount design as it needs to be a low friction a simple ceramic shaft is always an option and so are more expensive ceramic ball bearing. I just haven't gotten around to 3d print the new mount for the new motor to test the flow. But now that the plans have changed to aio thanks to shady eBay seller I may not even need it the return pump may be already too much since it is half a gallon after all. 

[PicoSavvy]

So a little update I managed to get a Mame ato for a good price, so I readjusted my design once again to allow for it to be mounted. The 3/4 drain is connected to a 3d printed cube with 2 other hole one is for the awc and the other one is the drain which will have will send water back to the tank with the 1/2 return it has. The cube also has enough space for a 2nd float switch.

 An inside look the bottom bulkhead is for the awc it will have a tube inside to

match the display area water line and the one on the side is the drain for the return

Flow test

[PicoSavvy]

Well like I mentioned in the "Official Lifegard Aquatics Crystal (AIO) Aquarium Club!!" thread my little sub gallon pico took a dive to the floor thanks to my tail wagging buddy. I did order a replacement but who knows how long that will take to get here. So in the meantime, I bought a Lifegard Aquatics 4.14, and then a couple of days later I saw their 3.8 model and order that one also, to see which one I would like more. Until I make up my mind I will just be waiting for black Friday to order the stuff I have left to get and hopefully by December it will be wet. I will say I already have an aquascape for the 3.8 in mind I been looking to try to do a floating reef. But I do like the dimensions of the 4.14 more just don't have an aquascape idea for it.    

 

Yes, I got mame skimmer for both ready. You can never have too much mame.

 

[Reefkid88]

Yessssss !!!! I cannot wait !!! 

[PicoSavvy]

Salt arrived today, this should keep me from worrying about running out of salt for some time. I am holding out for brs yearly black Friday sale to see if their dry rock goes on sale planning to buy between 15 to 20 pounds of it. I also need a hydrometer because the one I had has a crack on it making it unusable and a bottle of bacteria, I am split between Dr.tim or MicroBacter7.

 

[PicoSavvy]

So my rocks arrived yesterday and I went to town with one of the pieces by drilling a 1/2 inch hole more than halfway thru it to insert an acrylic rod to make my floating aquascape. The only part I am lost on is where to attach the rod too? I know I will need to glue it to a base to spread out the load more but I would like to avoid using silicone to attach that base to the back wall. The 2nd option is to use a pedestal but I think it would look too intrusive in the small tank.

[farkwar]

On 11/7/2020 at 4:27 PM, PicoSavvy said:

Dr.tim or MicroBacter7.

Both

[PicoSavvy]

Aquascape done. One single rock with a 1/2 inch acrylic rod down 2/3 its length attached to a 3/4 inch thick acrylic base that then slims down to 3/8. If you are wondering what those smaller holes in the acrylic are for, well that is me over engineering simple stuff I plan to run a bead of silicone thru them to get a stronger hold on the acrylic. 

 

[PicoSavvy]

Another update. The aquascape has been gel superglue and silicone in place. I am waiting 7 days until I start leak testing again and cleaning of the silicone as I did get a little bit of it onto the side panels. I also bought a file set to widen the weir slot. 

Blew are quick photos of the progress.

1.

2.

[JR!]

updates? @PicoSavvy

[PicoSavvy]

@JR! No happy updates the peninsula false wall shatter on me completely don't know what caused it. Blew are some of the bits.

 

As for the Lifegard 1.2 I drilled and plumbed it but like always work is getting in the way and I have been procrastinating on it but recently my roommate bought it from me as he want to start his first saltwater tank so we will see how that goes even tho I see myself ending up being the caretaker of it. He is still stuck on the same part I was stuck on which was the aquascape deign for it, since I designed this tank to be attached to a sump I had this crazy idea of a modular aquascape where I would use frag tiles and attach them to the back and overflow walls with magnets and whenever I get bored of it I just take the tile out with the corals on it put it in the sump/frag tank and swap it out with another one. But I think he may go with a more traditional aquascape.

It still uses the stock nozzle setup.

As for the 4.1 it is just sitting no plans for it currently.

[Reefkid88]

That is a bummer.

 

 But the drilled 1.2 is absolutely amazing !!! Can't wait to see it up and running.