mxpro32 Posted December 26, 2002 Share Posted December 26, 2002 thats pretty cool how you redid the divider. along with the surface skimming you have the added benefit of your display tank not showing signs of evaporation. your back section is probably the only part where the water level goes down. am i right? that is how i want to make my next acrylic tank. Link to comment
glazer Posted December 26, 2002 Share Posted December 26, 2002 Good Lord.... well this made for some interesting reading. The um, Alife and Times of Twins Guy ..... three pages of mostly you and that TGboobert (he calls me "grazer") yackin'. I missed all of it.... as in never saw this thread. Oh yeah, and you said I called you "buddy" in a PM? Hmmm, was this before or AFTER you sent me money for the skimmer?.....lol Oh I'm just a jokin' wit ya... yer a downright okay dude there TG Well anyway... the tank looks really cool, I gotta be honest with you though.... everytime I have thought about chasing one of these things down and buying it, it's so wierd... I come across a thread like this one... and go hmmmm, do I have the patience and stamina for it, but yet they are so mesmerizing. I think I'm starting to develop and unatural attraction to curved glass. Actually I think I have an unatural attraction to any glass or clear for that matter vessel holding water... Momma always said I was speshul! Anyway.... nice job on all the refitting, retro-ing and adaptations to turn an all-in-one nano into a, a , a.... well all-in-one-nano! hehehehe Got's to get me some dem seeeeeeexy shrimps! Link to comment
Twins Guy Posted December 26, 2002 Author Share Posted December 26, 2002 mxpro-you're right the back compartment water level does fluctuate a lil with evaporation while the main tank stays constant! if the tank weren't in our living room i'd setup a auto-top off system-but we don't have room for a reservoir or more cords, hoses etc. and glazer-you called me buddy before i paid you! it must be real! for those interested in these tanks i would say buy yourself a workhorse 2 ballast. they seriously are super cute, silent, and once you figure out the crap wiring plan fulham provides its an easy retro. the stock magnetic ballast runs extremely hot and leads to tank heating and excessive condensation in the hood. that's why they include a loud ass POS fan, that i broke in less than a month. the ballast went out shortly thereafter. the new workhorse ballast runs much cooler and IME can be used without the fan-word to the wise-always have an extra bulb on hand for each fixture! it will minimize stress to your animals and it will allow you to complete all your projects and not have to wait for a replacement for the bulb you broke while retrofitting your workhorse! going to the "reel reefer's store" today, Dirks-this jedi master who lives in red wing-i've heard its worth the drive! we'll see what i can come up with! Link to comment
rickjg Posted December 26, 2002 Share Posted December 26, 2002 Hey Twins Guy, Were did you find the workhorse 2 ballast, and how does it work with the original bulb? I like the surface overflow I wish I had sealed the back partition with silicon before the tank was setup. Was the original top overflow to small for the flow? Surface scum algae is the only major problem I have with my ALIFE. I ended up using a paper towel most mornings to remove the scum. Link to comment
tgrupert Posted December 27, 2002 Share Posted December 27, 2002 you know you have a problem with surface agitation when ditoms grow on the top of the water. Blazer knows all about that. Link to comment
Twins Guy Posted December 27, 2002 Author Share Posted December 27, 2002 hey rick-i got my workhorse from a place called aquatic reefs (http://65.186.172.81/index.html?loadfile=c...catalog7_0.html) The workhorse 2 is rated up to 35W and works perfect (with the original bulb)! the workhorse 1 is rated to 28 and should theoretically work but a search on fulham.com gives you the 2 to power a 27W PC. may have to do with amperage. anyways, there's really no price or size difference between the two. all you'll need is a few orange wire nuts, some misc screws and some creativity for mounting it, and a grounded power cord (i hacked the female end off of one of those flat plug cords-worked well-and still fit out the notch in the back of the hood). as far as the overflow goes-i never was able to seal up the back compartment completely enough to witness much surface skimming. i think some water was coming in those top slits-but they're so thin i think the film just held on the suface in the main tank (like the guy who holds on the the door frame and won't let go no matter how hard you pull on his legs-looks like he's superman-ok tough analogy) anyways during my tanks break in alot of rock die off lead to alot of green-and i too had green on the surface. i put a HOB filter on the front of the tank temporarily and aimed my return water directly at the surface and still couldn't pierce it (couple hundred GPH!)-thats when i really got frustrated and decided to redo things. HTH! Link to comment
rickjg Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 Got my new Workhorse II ballast today. It installed with no problem and works great. Thanks for the tip. Rick Link to comment
rickjg Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 Had to post pic with light on, too Link to comment
Twins Guy Posted January 3, 2003 Author Share Posted January 3, 2003 nice work-glad the ballast worked well for you! did your ballast crap out like mine or was the switch heat or efficiency motivated! looks like your shield has some warping (maybe it doesn't?)-mine too-the bulb clip broke free and the hot lamp kinda melted it! (before i switched ballasts). just fyi-i haven't run the fan since i wired the workhorse deuce in and i've had no heat problems! if that things gets obnoxiously loud you might be able to get away without it. or maybe you've got a really quiet one in there-if so let me know where you got/found it. Link to comment
OxInYourBox Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 I just got my Workhorse 2 ballast in as well. I got the cube style vs the long style. No difference besides shape. Perferct timing to as my ballast crapped out on me b/c of heat (ambient around 72 degrees 24x7 and a crappy exhaust fan ) so tonight it's rewiring time and I'm going to burn the ballast and fan. My shield has warped as well from the heat. Link to comment
rickjg Posted January 4, 2003 Share Posted January 4, 2003 I switched ballast just to cut down on heat, but the light looks brighter with the new ballast. My shield didn't melt, I reworked the reflector to light the back of the tank better. I removed the reflector over the ballast area. I think it was over the ballast to protect the shield from heat. I hooked the fan to the switch and direct wired the ballast because the light is on a timer. Now I can switch off the fan to compare the temp. The fan is a CPU fan from PC Club. It is much quieter than the original fan. I also switched the pump because the original was loud and had low flow. I used a Rio that looked just like the ALIFE pump, but had twice the flow. Link to comment
tgrupert Posted January 4, 2003 Share Posted January 4, 2003 I've been thinging of modding myself. I would ad an extra 27 watt lamp and use an external ballast. what does y'all thinkk about that idea? i also was thinking of different bulbs like using a 27 watt quad with some actinics. or I could use a MH where the ballast goes . would I be safe with a 70 watt and the fan they supply? also does anyone know where I can get a 27 watt actinic? it would be a killer alife if it didn't melt the plastic. Link to comment
Bob McGee Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 Hey Twins Guy, After reading about your trobles with the rear comparment, would it be easier to just rip out the whole back copartment and just utilize the extra space for the tank? Link to comment
Twins Guy Posted February 27, 2003 Author Share Posted February 27, 2003 hey bob- i really like the idea behind the filter they built in just wish it functioned more along the lines they designed it to. i don't think there's anything wrong though with removing the filter media and leaving the plastic divider. that's how i originally set mine up but opted to gut it and replace it with the black acrylic overflow (i really wanted surface extraction). removing it altogether would prolly work although on my unit the filter compartment was "wrapped" in black matting so some work would be required to remove that, or maybe not i guess-might look funny though. depth (front to back, NOT top to bottom) is always good, especially in a reef tank! let us know what you decide! tg Link to comment
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