🕘 Reefin' 9 to 5 - Office Nano Contest 🕔

[seabass]

ENTRY DATE REMINDER:

 

 

November 30th is the last day that you can qualify for the contest.

 

 

Reefin' 9 to 5 - Office Nano Contest is brought to you by:

&

 

[StinkyBunny]

 

23 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Deep blue isn't in business anymore though? Don't see them no Amazon. 

I don't have an Amazon account so I can't comment. I have one of their slim heaters and it's been doing a great job. Weipro makes a 25W heater with a Ti shell instead of glass. I buy mine from Fish-Street. I just looked, the last heater I bought was 2016. 😳

 

 

[Tamberav]

Looks like the Deep Blue is still on ebay so I can go that route. I have a pinpoint monitor somewhere and it's cheap. 

[seabass]

4 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Looks like the Deep Blue is still on ebay so I can go that route. I have a pinpoint monitor somewhere and it's cheap. 

The eBay seller had one 15W Mini left ($12), so I grabbed it:

DEEP BLUE HEAT STIX MINI 15 WATT SUBMERSIBLE HEATER FREE SHIPPING

You should get it by 10 Nov.

 

This 15W heater should work fine in my 5 gallon carboy.

Note: There are 30W and 60W versions still available.

[Tamberav]

Ya, my plan is to go with the 30w and he has a few. My house gets pretty damn cold in winter. 

[StinkyBunny]

On 10/31/2021 at 8:56 PM, Tamberav said:

Looks like the Deep Blue is still on ebay so I can go that route. I have a pinpoint monitor somewhere and it's cheap. 

Deep Blue/ Seapora is an ABSOLUTE Charlie Foxtrot. That company has changed hands 4 times in the last 12 years. Just know that whatever you buy, you're on your own. For the most part, their products are good. I've been trying to get one of the heater manufacturers to make a flat Ti shell, so far, no takers. 😞

[Tamberav]

3 hours ago, StinkyBunny said:

Deep Blue/ Seapora is an ABSOLUTE Charlie Foxtrot. That company has changed hands 4 times in the last 12 years. Just know that whatever you buy, you're on your own. For the most part, their products are good. I've been trying to get one of the heater manufacturers to make a flat Ti shell, so far, no takers. 😞

 

All good. The heater was only $10

[seabass]

9 hours ago, Tamberav said:

All good. The heater was only $10

I believe he was saying that you won't get any help from the company if there is a problem, and not that there's an issue with the actual heater.  The simple design and lack of a thermostat greatly limits what can fail.

 

Not only do thermostats add to the physical size of the heater, they also provide additional points of failure (with stuck on failures usually being more disastrous than the unit not turning on).  These always-on heaters have little to go wrong, as they are primarily just a simple heating element.

 

Negative reviews are usually due to individuals not understanding that they are always on.  People must figure that these heaters should be able to maintain an ideal temperature without considering environmental changes or even the size of their tank.  They must simply drop it in a small fish bowl and wonder why it overheats their tank and kills their betta.

[StinkyBunny]

When Eheim spun off Jaeger, the quality went into the crapper. I bet if I looked over at the farm I could lay my hands on an old heater that's marked Made in West Germany. I have a canister filtre that I still run today that's marked that way.

[Tamberav]

I honestly don't have many issues with Jager's. They are not super accurate so you need to adjust for that and when they fail it has always been in off position. I probably have about 6 right now I use for DT's, mixing, or QT's. I did have two cobalt's fail in the on position and they cost double the price. Never again with those!

 

I am not sure an affordable super rock solid stand-alone heater exists in 2021. My IM one has been really solid so far but those cost an arm and a leg. 

 

I do hate how things are not really built to last these days. It is a waste of resources and a waste of landfill space. 

[Maas101]

Can I get a rule clarification please.. I Have a 30 x 30 cube aquarium which holds ~24 litres which I intend to drill and build a custom sump. The sump at operating water level will hold about 8 litres giving 32 litres total or ~8.5 gallons. However in order to avoid overflow when power is cut the sump as a container needs to hold around 14 litres which added to the full tank volume would then be ~10 gallons which is over the limit is it legal? Wouldn't want to be cast out as a rule breaker 😀

[aclman88]

1 hour ago, Maas101 said:

Can I get a rule clarification please.. I Have a 30 x 30 cube aquarium which holds ~24 litres which I intend to drill and build a custom sump. The sump at operating water level will hold about 8 litres giving 32 litres total or ~8.5 gallons. However in order to avoid overflow when power is cut the sump as a container needs to hold around 14 litres which added to the full tank volume would then be ~10 gallons which is over the limit is it legal? Wouldn't want to be cast out as a rule breaker 😀

@seabass for official response, but I think that would not be allowable since total system volume is over 9.5 gallons, and total system volume is the amount of water a totally full system is capable of holding.  It would be the same reason why someone couldn't use a 10 gallon tank and just not fill it the entire way.  Either way, I will let seabass give official clarificaiton.

[seabass]

4 minutes ago, Maas101 said:

Can I get a rule clarification please.. I Have a 30 x 30 cube aquarium which holds ~24 litres which I intend to drill and build a custom sump. The sump at operating water level will hold about 8 litres giving 32 litres total or ~8.5 gallons. However in order to avoid overflow when power is cut the sump as a container needs to hold around 14 litres which added to the full tank volume would then be ~10 gallons which is over the limit is it legal? Wouldn't want to be cast out as a rule breaker 😀

I'd need more information to answer definitively .  But remember we're using total capacity versus operating volume to determine volume.  Plus, I didn't allow a tank that was only 38ml under the limit (actually 38ml + a half gallon under 5 gallons), so I'm going to strictly abide by the rules.  Staying withing the allowed volume might require some creativity, but it's also part of the contest.

 

Tank:

For tank size I'll accept the stated capacity from the manufacturer.  So if the manufacturer states that it's a 24 liter aquarium, then the stated capacity would be 6.34 gallons.

 

As an alternative, we could plug the inside dimensions into the approved tank volume calculator.  So if the inside dimensions are 30cm x 30cm x 30cm, the tank itself would hold 7.13 US gallons.  However, if 30cm x 30cm x 30cm are the outside dimensions, and if the thickness of the glass is 5mm, then the inside dimensions would be 29cm x 29cm x 29.5cm, or 6.55 US gallons.

 

Tank with Overflow:

Adding a sump complicates the calculation some, as drilling the tank will reduce the amount of water it can physically hold.  And obviously, an external overflow box would add capacity, while an internal box would not.

 

I measured the water level in my tank with an overflow.  The level was 1cm above the bottom of the overflow's teeth.  Therefore, if I were to compute the capacity of a tank with 29.0cm (length) x 29.0cm (width) x 29.5cm (height) internal dimensions, that had an internal overflow with teeth that were 5cm below the tank's rim, I'd consider the new internal dimensions to be 29.0cm x 29.0cm x 25.5cm (or 5.67 US gallons).

 

Plumbing:

3ft of 1/2" return tubing would hold 0.03 gallons

3ft of 1" return pipe would hold 0.12 gallons

 

Sump:

I get that you wouldn't want your sump to overflow if power to your return pump were to be cut.  However, for the sake of this contest, we'd have to compute how much saltwater it could potentially hold.  Again, we'd go to the tank volume calculator to determine the maximum volume that it could hold.

 

An allowed work around would be to drill an emergency drain in your sump.  The new height of the sump would be measured at the bottom of the hole.

You could plumb this hole to a 5 gallon bucket or to a floor drain.  If you are still a little over, you could section off a small section of your display tank to reduce its capacity enough to qualify.

 

Possibly hold off on the sump until the contest is over:

Obviously the tank would qualify unmodified and without a sump.  So for the duration of the contest, maybe you could use an external filter (canister, HOB, etc).  Then after the contest is over, you could add your sump.

[seabass]

13 hours ago, aclman88 said:

It would be the same reason why someone couldn't use a 10 gallon tank and just not fill it the entire way.

I'd allow the emergency drain loophole in this case too.

 

So if it's physically impossible to fill the tank above the bottom of the drilled hole, you would be allowed to measure the height of the tank at the bottom of the hole.

[seabass]

2 hours ago, Maas101 said:

the sump as a container needs to hold around 14 litres

14 liters is 3.70 gallons plus 5.67 gallons for the display with internal overflow (with teeth 5cm below the tank's rim), plus 0.15 gallons for plumbing would be: 9.52 gallons.  That's only 0.02 gallons over.  Any number of small changes could get you that 0.02 gallons (like lowering the overflow a little, or a small change to the sump design, or even a 3/4" drain versus a 1" drain).  You're super close to qualifying.  I'm sure that you can make the needed adjustments.

[StinkyBunny]

*Scratches head* Did I just walk into math class? 😛

[seabass]

1 hour ago, StinkyBunny said:

*Scratches head* Did I just walk into math class? 😛

 

Let's see, so I just have to figure the metric conversions, subtract the displacement of the AIO chambers, add the volume in the plumbing...

 

Actually, I don't mind so much.  I'd rather people ask, than just assume that their system qualifies.

[Maas101]

I'll make it work, that stapler will be mine mwuhahahaha... Actually I stand precisely zero chance of winning but if I join it will kick my butt into gear to realise an idea I've had in my head for a long while but haven't had the kick to put it into action.

[StinkyBunny]

27 minutes ago, seabass said:

 

Let's see, so I just have to figure the metric conversions, subtract the displacement of the AIO chambers, add the volume in the plumbing...

 

Actually, I don't mind so much.  I'd rather people ask, than just assume that their system qualifies.

If I'd have had more lead time, I'd jump in. But with the inconsistency of air cargo I don't know if my specimens will arrive in time for the start. We'll see. What I really wanna do is a Chesapeake oyster reef tank replete with the gobies, blennies and minnows that inhabit the oyster reefs of The Chesapeake. I applied for the license to collect smaller than the legal size of game fish.

[seabass]

7 minutes ago, StinkyBunny said:

If I'd have had more lead time, I'd jump in. But with the inconsistency of air cargo I don't know if my specimens will arrive in time for the start. We'll see. What I really wanna do is a Chesapeake oyster reef tank replete with the gobies, blennies and minnows that inhabit the oyster reefs of The Chesapeake. I applied for the license to collect smaller than the legal size of game fish.

In theory, you could even stock it in the spring.  There are no deadlines for getting the tank running or stocking it.  You just need the physical tank before the end of the month (with a tagged journal thread and an entry photo).  We'd love to have you join in.

[seabass]

Don't miss out.

This November is the last chance to enter.

[Merthynia]

On 11/2/2021 at 9:04 PM, Tamberav said:

I honestly don't have many issues with Jager's. They are not super accurate so you need to adjust for that and when they fail it has always been in off position. I probably have about 6 right now I use for DT's, mixing, or QT's. I did have two cobalt's fail in the on position and they cost double the price. Never again with those!

Two older cobalts were what cooked my picotope recently! I’d never had a problem with them befor.

[LazyFish]

Theres not many heaters I do trust anymore...last one cooked my tank was a jager failed in on position. Also had one fail off once but that wasnt a big deal.My friends got fried by a hydor that failed spectacularly. It somehow shorted out while it was still running. It was glowing bright red and she got a nasty shock from the tank then it exploded when she tried to unplug it. I had a tetra heater that exploded once. A cobalt nearly cooked my tank first use but I caught it in time. I had an old idk jager or hydor maby that I liked but it quit working randomly was good for about 4 years actualy now I cant find that modle again. I once had an OLD used (came with the tank) it was an aquaculture or a hartz I think. Was a clamp on style heater I used at least 8 years not a bit of troubble with it. Untill one day I busted it by accident. 

They are not the same quality any more at all. Now I'm going heater less but I do have back ups with inkbird for emergencies.

 

[StinkyBunny]

I'd recommend anyone use some sort of controller, the quality isn't there and for some of you, the loss could be devastating.

[Tamberav]

Omg it’s so adorably small 😍