My custom 2.5 minibow, inspired by doncb

[mikecoscia]

OKay inspired by Doncb's 2.5 (http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=60382), I decided to give it a shot myself.

 

Of course started out with a 2.5 Minibow, an AC30, and a 20watt 50/50 pc

 

Here is the modded AC30 which I am going to use as a fuge.

 

For the 2.5 hood I trashed all the hardware and made my own brakets for a better socket and CPU fan. Here is the stripped down hood with the brackets installed and hood painted white for more light refelction.

 

Close up of the brackets I made.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y248/mike...ow/DSC00496.jpg

 

To make the bracket for the socket I took a standard lamp bracket that are used in recessed lighting I believed, picked it at home depot. Anyway I just dremeled off the sides and glued it on. I then screwed on a ceramic socket, since it can take more wattage and heat then the cheap one that came with the hood.

 

For the fan I went as big as I could go to keep everything nice and cool. I had to dremel out the whole back of the hood in order to fit it. The bracket is just made out of a piece of metal I found at a local hardware store. Just cut it to size and drilled some holes in it. The light socket is also grounded to this. To control the fan's speed I also installed a fan regulator I had lying around in a box of old PC parts. Oh and of course and old 12v charger I found to power the fan.

 

To make sure the fan was secure I drilled some notches on the top, which the plastic area that I cut out slide right into like a track, so along with the screws the fan is nice and secure, and easily replaceable should it ever die.

 

Here is everything wired up. Noticed I used quick connect crimps, again so I can easily pull out the fan and swap it with another one if it ever goes on me. There is one thing I am unsure of, you can see I brought the power line for the fan in through the right opposite of the light socket. I am thinking about moving it to the otherside. Not sure yet.

 

All closed up with bulb screwed in.

 

Rear shot of the hood and filter.

 

Top shot. I also rigged up a skimmer that I saw in this thread here....http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=94369&st=0&gopid=877847&

 

And finally the front shot all done.

 

 

The only thing I have to do is get some plexi cut to to cover it all up. I will prob get that done in a few weeks when I go back to work, have one of the shop teachers do it for me ( I am a high school bio teacher). Anyway what do you guys think? I am going to be putting this in my class room in a few weeks when school starts, already made some frags from my NC6. Can't wait =).

 

 

Sorry here is that last shot, did not know there was an image limit...

 

[irishtexan]

Good Job with the mods! When will you be adding LS/LR?

 

 

 

texx

[Reef Casa]

I want to mod my AC to become a fuge like yours. After you cut up the grey piece that holds the filter stuff what do you use to make it stick the way it is? super glue?

So far it looks really cool.

[aquakevem]

nice modding skills.. makes me wanna start one

[mikecoscia]

Good Job with the mods! When will you be adding LS/LR?

texx

 

Not for at least 3 weeks, once school starts.

 

I want to mod my AC to become a fuge like yours. After you cut up the grey piece that holds the filter stuff what do you use to make it stick the way it is? super glue?

So far it looks really cool.

 

I used aquarium sealant, however it wasn't sticking well, so switched over to plain old super glue and for some extra holding strength molded in some aquamend epoxy.

[irishtexan]

Ok cool. Can't wait to see it setup!

 

 

texx

[HAMsmith]

Kudos my friend, sweet mods!

[BckPckr]

Forgive my ignorance, but what's the eggcrate in the bottom of the tank for?

[mikecoscia]

Forgive my ignorance, but what's the eggcrate in the bottom of the tank for?

 

Oh just for supporting the live rock when I finally do put it in.

[doncb]

Really nice!

[Phixion]

I should send you my MiniBow 2.5 I picked up today, to go to town on it for me, lol! Awesome work though, looks well done and solid!

[mikecoscia]

I should send you my MiniBow 2.5 I picked up today, to go to town on it for me, lol! Awesome work though, looks well done and solid!

 

Hehe, thanks man. It really didn't take me long once I bought all the parts I needed. Maybe an afternoon. I still need to cut the acrylic lid, I had a hard time doing it a few days ago and screwed a piece up. I need more rpms to prevent it from chipping all over the place. I think I am going to try using my dremel instead. I will of course post when its done and when it's finally setup.

[irishtexan]

Ok I have 2 ?'s:

 

1st- Did you totally gut the inside of the hood so the bulb could fit, and did you have to move the thing that you screwed the bulb into?

 

 

2nd- What were the supplies that you used to wire the fan, and where did you get it?

 

 

 

Thanks!

texx

[tmendeol]

Woot, woot!!! NICE!!! Ah, the beauty of sharing information...helps the hobby to improve one tank at a time. Your tank looks sweet!!! I too was totally inspired by doncb when I followed his thread...and Argent's Here you are improving what's been done previously...I love it!

 

I would highly suggest doing a mock run of your tank with fresh water before you setup with sand, rock, etc. The reason being is that when I did a mock run of my setup the AC20 sucked the water down too fast and made loud slurp/gurgle noises. I had to drill a total of six holes (with I think a 3/16's drill bit) to get the flow to a point where I was happy with it. I do notice that you have at least one relief hole drilled towards the middle of the skimmer pipe. All I'm saying is to make sure that what you have is sufficient before it's too late to pull it out and fix any issues you may have with it.

 

Also, if you turn the flow all the way down on your AC30 and it's still too much...not sure if you've read this but...I've read that you can drop an impeller from an AC20 into your AC30 and **poof** less flow. This is another thing that is easy to do now before you setup the tank, if you even need to do it, rather than after.

 

Now, I assume you're going to run some sort of macro algae in your fuge modded AC30 (I love that mod)...so, you might want to think about getting a fuge light on there. I've been trying to think of what may be the best type of light and I'm starting to lean towards 1) some type of LED array or 2) some really small incandescent light...I'm trying to see if there's one small enough to mount over my AC20. Any help on that quest guys???

 

Sorry for writing a novel and I definitely do not mean to offend you in any way...these are just some thoughts that came to mind

 

-Tim

[Phixion]

The impellers from ALL AC filters from the 70 model down are interchangeable. The 110 and up have different sized shafts I read.

 

For the filter, did you have to cut the hood and for it to fit, or was it the perfect width?

 

Also is the light now controlled by just unpluffing it, or did you rig a switch?

[mikecoscia]

 

I also relocated the wires for the fan speed adjuster, I did not like them where they were currently located, to sloppy looking.

 

 

Now on to testing and hopefully next week I will get some live rock and get this sucker running!

[ReefApprentice]

Looks awesome

Nice DIY

[mikecoscia]

Ok I have 2 ?'s:

 

1st- Did you totally gut the inside of the hood so the bulb could fit, and did you have to move the thing that you screwed the bulb into?

2nd- What were the supplies that you used to wire the fan, and where did you get it?

Thanks!

texx

 

1.) Yah the hood is totally gutted. The reason being the stock fixture had to be replaced has it is only for 15watts, the pc I used is 20watts. The stock fixture easily comes out with a few screws, however most of the area under neath it was raised pieces of plastic that supported the stock fixture, that had to be all dremeled out to make room for the new cermaic fixture.

 

2.)The fan I used was from an AMD CPU heatsink. I never use stock heatsinks/fans for my computers so I had a few lying around. These fans are great cause they are low profile and pretty quiet. The speed controller happened to come with some of my aftermarket computer heatsinks/fans. I usually just leave my pc fans on full blast so never installed them. You can prob buy them indvidually if you look around. Check out compusa, maybe that have um.

 

 

Woot, woot!!! NICE!!! Ah, the beauty of sharing information...helps the hobby to improve one tank at a time. Your tank looks sweet!!! I too was totally inspired by doncb when I followed his thread...and Argent's Here you are improving what's been done previously...I love it!

 

I would highly suggest doing a mock run of your tank with fresh water before you setup with sand, rock, etc. The reason being is that when I did a mock run of my setup the AC20 sucked the water down too fast and made loud slurp/gurgle noises. I had to drill a total of six holes (with I think a 3/16's drill bit) to get the flow to a point where I was happy with it. I do notice that you have at least one relief hole drilled towards the middle of the skimmer pipe. All I'm saying is to make sure that what you have is sufficient before it's too late to pull it out and fix any issues you may have with it.

 

Also, if you turn the flow all the way down on your AC30 and it's still too much...not sure if you've read this but...I've read that you can drop an impeller from an AC20 into your AC30 and **poof** less flow. This is another thing that is easy to do now before you setup the tank, if you even need to do it, rather than after.

 

Now, I assume you're going to run some sort of macro algae in your fuge modded AC30 (I love that mod)...so, you might want to think about getting a fuge light on there. I've been trying to think of what may be the best type of light and I'm starting to lean towards 1) some type of LED array or 2) some really small incandescent light...I'm trying to see if there's one small enough to mount over my AC20. Any help on that quest guys???

 

Sorry for writing a novel and I definitely do not mean to offend you in any way...these are just some thoughts that came to mind

 

-Tim

 

Tim,

 

No problem man I appericate the comments. Yah the tank will def be run for a few days. Besides checking flow and the rate of the skimmer I want to see how hot the hood gets while running all day and also how much it heats the water up. With the size fan I have installed though I don't think it will be an issue. Oh and I actually have three holes drilled in the PVC pipe.

 

Thanks for the idea about switching propellers never thought of that!

 

To start out I am just going to put some purigen in the fuge or something until I can figure out lighting options. I have some of those cheap azoo lights around, just have to rig something up to mount them too.

 

The impellers from ALL AC filters from the 70 model down are interchangeable. The 110 and up have different sized shafts I read.

 

For the filter, did you have to cut the hood and for it to fit, or was it the perfect width?

 

Also is the light now controlled by just unpluffing it, or did you rig a switch?

 

The filter did not fit in the back I had to dremel maybe about 1-2" - 3/4" of each side. You can see in the new picture where I had to cut it.

 

I don't have a switch hooked up as the light will just be plugged into a timer, which has a switch on it itself.

[Phixion]

Good deal, well the updates look sweet! I was considering maybe getting an AC20 instead since it would probably fit without cutting. I got a pre-wired lamp bulb holder from Home Depot this weekend so i can mod the lighting portion to accomidate the 20w CoraLife 50/50 bulb. Where did you get your's from out of curiosity?

[mikecoscia]

Good deal, well the updates look sweet! I was considering maybe getting an AC20 instead since it would probably fit without cutting. I got a pre-wired lamp bulb holder from Home Depot this weekend so i can mod the lighting portion to accomidate the 20w CoraLife 50/50 bulb. Where did you get your's from out of curiosity?

 

The fixture? Just picked it up at home depot.

[MiNiReFeRx]

tank looks great

[ktownbrown]

Forgive my ignorance, but I have a couple of queries =)

 

1. What are you using for a switch on the 20w fixture?

 

2. Will a porcelain socket similar to yours rated 660W/250V work?

 

3. What is the little round brass/goldish part in the pic with the bracket and socket?

 

your tank looks fantastic, working on my own, will post pics asap as am slowly building up parts. i really like your surface skimmer mod but not sure i'm going to that with mine.

[mikecoscia]

Forgive my ignorance, but I have a couple of queries =)

 

1. What are you using for a switch on the 20w fixture?

 

2. Will a porcelain socket similar to yours rated 660W/250V work?

 

3. What is the little round brass/goldish part in the pic with the bracket and socket?

 

your tank looks fantastic, working on my own, will post pics asap as am slowly building up parts. i really like your surface skimmer mod but not sure i'm going to that with mine.

 

 

1.) Nah didn' bother, going to hook it ut to a timer anyway.

 

2.) It's a little bit overkill you really only need 120v I believe. However it should work fine.

 

3.) Oh I forgot what you call them, but they are all in the are with the socket lamp brackets. I think they are called lamp nipples believe it or not.

[FishHeaded]

Hey Mike, I was reading your thread, and I think your doing a fabulous job. Great work! I just had a quick question: I am soon going to start my 10g nano and I am adding a 64w retrofit kit in my canopy, and with the fan that you have on your canopy, is it to fan the light to cool it down? Sorry for such a dumb question, i'm still a newb . Thanks for the help!

-Fishheaded

[mikecoscia]

Hey Mike, I was reading your thread, and I think your doing a fabulous job. Great work! I just had a quick question: I am soon going to start my 10g nano and I am adding a 64w retrofit kit in my canopy, and with the fan that you have on your canopy, is it to fan the light to cool it down? Sorry for such a dumb question, i'm still a newb . Thanks for the help!

-Fishheaded

 

Thanks man! I have been slacking I still need to order my heater so I can get this tank up and running...lol. Anyway the fan sucks the hot air out of the hood. There are vent holes on the top which is where the air is pulled in, you need those vent holes otherwise you just create a vaccum.

 

I will update this thread once I start the tank, hopefully within the next week or so, I have some other places my money is needed first. I just bought a trio of sugar gliders with my gf and I just keep spending money on treats and toys...lol.