jason the filter freak May 27, 2007 Share May 27, 2007 I had some stuff lying around, and got some other stuff in trade. I've always loved mantis shrimp, I've always wanted to diy something... so off we go! Supplies so far: 5.5 Gal AGA tank Sheet of clear acrylic 2 Coralife 50/50 Actinic 03 /10,000k bulbs [Main lighting] Double sided socket (scavanged from a 10 gal incandescent hood) Home Depot 6,500 k daylight bulb [Fuge lighting] Various PVC pieces Tube of perfecto aquarium silicone Penguin 1140 Power head Digital themometer (Displays time, records daily high and low temps, has an alert that sounds if tank gets above 82 f or below 72 f) Digital timer (For the main lights, the fuge will stay on 24/7) Marineland Digital reminder (Remind me to keep up on water changes, basic maintance, etc) (I'll probably ditch this though.) Can of Krylon fusion paint (Black of course) Hopefully this will make for good pratice for the tank I want to build for my mother. As well as give me some new skills, and hopefully a beautiful mantis tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak May 28, 2007 Author Share May 28, 2007 Here's the next step. Creating the flow and eventually the filter. Forget LocLine. I'm gonna make my own flow diffusers Here's the finshed product. I don't exactly know how to show it but it creates great and dispersed flow. The powerhead is a very trusty penguin 1140 Surface aggitation... I like! A last parting shot Well thats it for today. Tomorrow I glue in the overflow provided the tank passes leak test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbuf May 28, 2007 Share May 28, 2007 Tagging along to see your progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak May 29, 2007 Author Share May 29, 2007 Thanks james! No one else is curious? :( I'm dissapointed, if you're following along speak up. I'm going to try to make this more interesting. Also if you have any questions feel free to ask. Since I'm trying to save money here, I used what acrylic I had laying around. I'll just make it black with the Krylon Fusion later Heat + Acrylic = Endless world of possibilities I don't have any of the fancy tools that Jeff (NAGA) or Dan (Dandy2700 sp?) have availble to them nor the experience or paticence, so the cuts aren't the straightest. I've used so far, drill, dremel tool, saber saw, heat gun, solidering stick?. I seem H-E-double hocky sticks bent on burning down my house. Stay tuned for more. Thanks, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsaavedra May 29, 2007 Share May 29, 2007 Along for the ride... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak May 29, 2007 Author Share May 29, 2007 I got impatient... heres some more work, and a preview of things to come Those of you who waited will be rewarded... not that it was that long. Thanks raff for the support Here's what it's all about... flow. Also the filter/overflow chamber is nearly complete! I decided this big of a filter chamber was taking up too much tank space... ...So i cut it down a bit (about 1") The U shaped piece of acrylic, sits on these braces right here, and allows me access if I ever need to remove the power head for servicing. Off to paint! Boy I'm tired Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger May 29, 2007 Share May 29, 2007 very cool project, just wondering what do you plan on using for filtration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC May 29, 2007 Share May 29, 2007 you know what I think of those lights =) but that tank size doesn't leave you with a lot of options. Did you think about drilling that tank, to give you more room inside? You have mad DIY skills, I can't wait to see the final product. jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Ric May 29, 2007 Share May 29, 2007 Excellent project! 'Ric PS Don't get one too big - a Mantis shrimp like the one at NZP can break aquarium glass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia May 29, 2007 Share May 29, 2007 Very cool project. Looks like you are going to have excellent flow in there, possible sandstorm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rascal May 29, 2007 Share May 29, 2007 Very cool. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kngfisher May 29, 2007 Share May 29, 2007 very nice.....great ideas.....and great pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bludevil12 May 29, 2007 Share May 29, 2007 Watching along Very nice work so far!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawns May 30, 2007 Share May 30, 2007 im certainly intrigued! cant wait to see everything together! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak May 30, 2007 Author Share May 30, 2007 THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR THE SUPPORT AND WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT!!! I decided that my first version of plumming was taking up too much space in the tank. So inspiration last night struck while sleeping, Dan's 54 corner gave me the idea... yea I dream about reefing... what of it? With out further delay, more progress! This design took up way less space in the tank, as well as looks cleaner in tank, and spreads out the flow a lot more. In the nano world every fraction of an inch counts. I used the dremmel to shave down the CPVC 90's as well as shave down the output for the powerhead to fit inside the CPVC, I will not use any glue on the CPVC though out the project so I can service the entire thing easily Here's for scale some of the shaved down CPVC 90's I cut off maye 1/4 of an inch! A lot! Ok so here's a fun game see if you can guess what my screw brain is doing now. Also a pic of my first casuilty of the project. Cutting airline tubing ,-- (Big Hint) with a box knife :( . So far blood and sweat have gone into this project... just need tears. In the event of a power outage I wanted to have temporary life support for the tank, via battery opperated air pump. I was at first just going to to put some airline tubing over the overflow and put a conventional air stone in the middle of the tank. Well... hmm a shrimp that can burrow though rock and loves to make space for itself... I can see it cutting though air stones and or tubing like a hot knife though butter. So I armor plated the air stone an moved it to the back where it will be hidden right at sand level and behind a rock... Of course I do realize if the Mantis really wants to he can cut though the CPVC too. In action More pics of the set up, this time with my trust hydor 50 watt heater, these things are awsome! and fit any where! Here's a pic of it all out of the tank Alright thats all for now. I'm off to glue in the over flow . If you have any questions by the way, feel free to ask. Stay tuned for more soon! Thanks for the support again! Regards, Jason the filter freak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak May 30, 2007 Author Share May 30, 2007 More, some of these are from last night a few are from today. Lets start out with a couple of pics of my work area... this would explain why my main tank looks like H-E-double hocky sticks. More parts went to paint Disaster!! This is why you shouldn't work on delicate projects early in the morning! Luckly I had a back up Apparenlty 5.5 gal AGA aren't tempered Installing the overflow, finally!! I wanted to be able to manipulate the rate of flow, so I DIYed a variable flow gate. Unfortuately the pump could not keep up with the flow through the teeth, so I came up with another design.I may go back to smaller teeth, but for now this is it. As soon as I find a nut, I'll be able to vary the height of the flood gate by loosing the nut sliding the gate up or down, and the tightening the nut back up. All I have now is a nylon screw from my RC airplane days, stupid Home Depot doesn't carry nylon parts! Here we go, all of it together in action! You can just see the top of the Hydor heater poking out Thats all for now, I need to do a little bit more silicone then I'm off to work! I'll do more tonight... stay tuned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger May 31, 2007 Share May 31, 2007 (edited) wow this project is totally DIY and its very functional... nice job! question though... is it okay to spray paint the PVC and put it inside the water? I thought that wasn't good for fish, coral, inverts ect.... I'm confused sorry noob here... Edited May 31, 2007 by yauger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC May 31, 2007 Share May 31, 2007 Jason you are a riot! You didn't even close the washer door before working on the tanks. Tha socket set is going to fall in any moment. I am dying. YAUGER!!!! Yes, you can paint the pvc and then put it in the tank!!! jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak May 31, 2007 Author Share May 31, 2007 The only paint I trust and would use is Krylon fusion, there may be others, but Krylon is the only one for me. wow this project is totally DIY and its very functional... nice job! question though... is it okay to spray paint the PVC and put it inside the water? I thought that wasn't good for fish, coral, inverts ect.... I'm confused sorry noob here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak May 31, 2007 Author Share May 31, 2007 (edited) Well, I made some progress tonight. Took me three hours of thinking and about 30 minutes of work to make a new overflow as well as an intergrated filter media chamber, that allows little to no bypass... Whoops forgot the pics Mocking it up install This time i didn't draw a grid I just free handed it A parting shot of my work space today If any one has any suggestions for anything regarding this tank... Let me know, I''m open to input Edited May 31, 2007 by jason the filter freak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger May 31, 2007 Share May 31, 2007 Jason you are a riot! You didn't even close the washer door before working on the tanks. Tha socket set is going to fall in any moment. I am dying. YAUGER!!!! Yes, you can paint the pvc and then put it in the tank!!! jp lol I thnk I'm driving you mad!! sorry.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rascal May 31, 2007 Share May 31, 2007 Jason: You may have already thought of this but I can't tell from looking at the pictures. What happens if the little holes in your filter chamber get clogged and can no longer keep up with the flow? Is there a way for the water to overflow from there directly into your return section without coming over the walls of the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak May 31, 2007 Author Share May 31, 2007 Jason: You may have already thought of this but I can't tell from looking at the pictures. What happens if the little holes in your filter chamber get clogged and can no longer keep up with the flow? Is there a way for the water to overflow from there directly into your return section without coming over the walls of the tank? Very good point, I thought about this last night. There should be nothing to get stuck in the overflow slots that will clog them up. But yes at any rate I'm going to add a fail safe. Thanks for the input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 June 1, 2007 Share June 1, 2007 You're going to be adding an awful lot of microbubbles to your tank with that overflow system. Your holes in the bottom of the overflow drip directly on top of the return pump (is that a Penguin powerhead?) and the pull from that pump will be enough to pull any bubbles in the water into the impeller. My suggestion is that you don't glue in the overflow section and instead use a sloped baffle that allows the water to slowly flow down into the sump area. You can even install a little chamber at the bottom that will trap sediment. Basically, think of making it so that there is a 45 degree slope that has at its highest point the tank wall closest to the teeth. From there, it will flow downhill away from the tank wall. At the base of this, it turns 90 degrees so that it's almost like a check mark. If you make this area large enough and below water it should theoretically trap a lot of detritus that is flowing down if it is heavy enough to avoid being swept away by the cascading water. Leaving it above water should give you enough of a break for the water to not churn up enough to knock the detritus out into your pump. This design will also channel water away from the pump and since your intake is closest to the overflow side, it should give microbubbles enough of a chance to dissipate. Even though I don't suggest gluing this in, I would suggest that it be snug against the wall that separates your "sump" area from the rest of the tank and also against the tank wall that is parallel to this wall. I would leave a gap, though, in the back corner of the tank so that air can escape from that area as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak June 1, 2007 Author Share June 1, 2007 You're going to be adding an awful lot of microbubbles to your tank with that overflow system. Your holes in the bottom of the overflow drip directly on top of the return pump (is that a Penguin powerhead?) and the pull from that pump will be enough to pull any bubbles in the water into the impeller. My suggestion is that you don't glue in the overflow section and instead use a sloped baffle that allows the water to slowly flow down into the sump area. You can even install a little chamber at the bottom that will trap sediment. Basically, think of making it so that there is a 45 degree slope that has at its highest point the tank wall closest to the teeth. From there, it will flow downhill away from the tank wall. At the base of this, it turns 90 degrees so that it's almost like a check mark. If you make this area large enough and below water it should theoretically trap a lot of detritus that is flowing down if it is heavy enough to avoid being swept away by the cascading water. Leaving it above water should give you enough of a break for the water to not churn up enough to knock the detritus out into your pump. This design will also channel water away from the pump and since your intake is closest to the overflow side, it should give microbubbles enough of a chance to dissipate. Even though I don't suggest gluing this in, I would suggest that it be snug against the wall that separates your "sump" area from the rest of the tank and also against the tank wall that is parallel to this wall. I would leave a gap, though, in the back corner of the tank so that air can escape from that area as well. I must be missing something? Or you're seeing something I'm not. The over flow which is adjustable as well as removeable has a built on filter media chamber which will run carbon, purigen, and a thin layer of filter fiber. I don't have any micro bubbles now even with out the filter media, at least that I've noticed, and I'm installing one more baffel above the intake to keep the cheato out of the intake so that as well will safe gard against micro bubbles. Ok off to the work shop time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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