jason the filter freak August 5, 2007 Share August 5, 2007 Boy those 75 gal stands are roomy, you also possibly posses the worst picture of me on the internet. Any one who's wondering, I decided to skip going to gutair center. Thats a Desk top PC switch box ... a little old school but it'll work. ( QC Sticker on the unit said 2/93 as in febuary 1993... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mexicanjavafish August 7, 2007 Author Share August 7, 2007 Well I've got some pretty good news I think. My tank with three power heads and a Penguin filter running for 3 days now has stayed between 76.2 and 80.03... I'm excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsaavedra August 7, 2007 Share August 7, 2007 Well I've got some pretty good news I think. My tank with three power heads and a Penguin filter running for 3 days now has stayed between 76.2 and 80.03... I'm excited. Don't put all your eggs in one basket just yet; you still need to account for Lights, Return Pump, Skimmer Pump, Refugium Light and circ pump if you are using one and the high fluctuating temperatures that are still to come between mid-end Aug. Sorry I don't mean to step on your Mojo, but I'm very Happy and Excited to see that you are making progress. Raf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacetypes August 7, 2007 Share August 7, 2007 Ok, screw proper cycling, I've added my first fish already!! : deeeeefinitely kidding. haha . (ok enough kidding around on my part--my next update will be a serious one, not a joke...haha) Nice work, uploading from facebook I see lol. You get up to Exotic Aquatics at all? Id like to meet some other reefers my age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mexicanjavafish August 12, 2007 Author Share August 12, 2007 Sorry for the lack of updates everyone, it's been a painstakingly slow process getting everything set up and so far I have yet to do much else with my tank since my last update. But I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get good (but cheap--high school student budget) fans? The heat issue......so frustrating. Anyway, specifically I'm looking for....120 mm fans? Or whatever would work just as well would be great, and I was wondering if anyone knows of something like a wiring diagram to wire the fans to an old(ish) computer power supply? This is would be really great no matter what fans I'm going to use--I reeeeaaally would rather not get electrocuted trying to guess.....haha (new pic update coming soon) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite August 12, 2007 Share August 12, 2007 (edited) Theres no wiring to do if you use a comp pwr supply and comp fans. There are wires on the pwr supply box with connectors to connect to comp fans. You need to have a comp pwr cord - they don't come with the pwr supply. You should get the kind that has an on/off switch on it - the cheaper ones don't have it. You can get extensions to make the connecting wires much longer to give you more options for where you keep the pwr supply box. Just dont get the pwr supply or the connetions wet. Edited August 12, 2007 by treesprite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trble81 August 12, 2007 Share August 12, 2007 I suggest making friends with someone who works for CompUSA or Best Buy. They can get fans and power supplies real cheap because the "cost" price is nothing compared to what they sell them for (I should know, I worked at CompUSA back in my days in retail). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dschflier August 12, 2007 Share August 12, 2007 I actually have at least 2 of those type of fans which I got from a setup a while ago. I cant remember where exactly I got them and I have never used them but you could have the fans I have. When I get home from work today I will see how many I have. I also have some kind of cooling fan that I got from the setup I bought recently. I think it would work well over a sump. I will take pictures of what I have. The second fan I mentioned I will sell for $10 and the other ones I would give you free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman August 12, 2007 Share August 12, 2007 I'm sure I have a few computer power supplies around, if you need one. Oh, look! I have two more computers sitting here on the floor waiting to be erased and put in the trash. Yeah - I'm the computer guy, so all of my friends give me their old computers to destroy. I don't think either of these have any fans other than the power supply; but all of the newer ones do - so I'll probably have cooling fans hanging around in another year or two. Video cards now put out so much heat you have to have extra fans. You can get fans online - including some with LED's in them, etc. Just what you want to add the little 'disco' dimension to your tank. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal August 12, 2007 Share August 12, 2007 I've seen several posts where people are using (or want to use) a PC power supply to power their fans. In my opinion, this is like using a firetruck to water your lawn. It will work great but why use a big, clunky and power hungry box when the same can be done with a very small DC "wall wart" power supply? Most of us have several old ones hiding away in storage boxes. If not, they can be purchased from Radio Shack, WalMart and many other stores for a few bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite August 12, 2007 Share August 12, 2007 (edited) the very old power supplies are small - they can manage several fans and still only take maybe half the power as much power as newer ones. The problem is that they are so old that you wont even find them in the garbage. Edited August 12, 2007 by treesprite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal August 13, 2007 Share August 13, 2007 True, the older power supplies are smaller but they still use much more power than a wall wart and take up more space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite August 13, 2007 Share August 13, 2007 so can the comp fans connect to this wall wart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal August 13, 2007 Share August 13, 2007 Yes. Computer fans use DC current. All you have to do is figure out what they are rated (5 VDC I think?) and find a matching wall wart. It's only two wires, so try one way then the other until the fan spins and in the proper direction. If your wall wart is powerful enough, you can power multiple fans on one unit. I have one wall wart powering my DIY ATO unit and two IceCap 4" muffin fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC August 13, 2007 Share August 13, 2007 Fans are cheap, why mess around with computer power supplies so close to the water? http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...p;N=0&Nty=1 I picked up a small fan at target over the weekend for $6, zip tied it to my canopy and lowered my temp from 81 to 79. I might get another one to replace the computer fan I had rigged up previously. I think there was another post out here regarding the same little fan. jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbuf August 13, 2007 Share August 13, 2007 Fans are cheap, why mess around with computer power supplies so close to the water? http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...p;N=0&Nty=1 I picked up a small fan at target over the weekend for $6, zip tied it to my canopy and lowered my temp from 81 to 79. I might get another one to replace the computer fan I had rigged up previously. I think there was another post out here regarding the same little fan. jp Those fans you listed are very deceiving. The built-in brace that you use to connect the fan to the sump is only about half an inch wide, so if you plan on attaching to a tank, think again. You basically can only connect them onto a rimless sump/tank. I sent mine back. I wrote a "testimonial" warning people about this design flaw and they took it off of their review section. Very disappointing. I would expect more from that site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC August 13, 2007 Share August 13, 2007 Wow, how about that - thanks James. I use another thing I found there that was origionaly intended to organize power cables. I zip tied the PC fan to it, and it looks like crap and doesn't allow me to angle the wind to where it would be effective. jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite August 13, 2007 Share August 13, 2007 what are people who use the pc fans doing to hold them when there is no hood? Is there some kind of clamp or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mexicanjavafish August 14, 2007 Author Share August 14, 2007 Thanks everybody for the replies--that was really fast. I think I have the fan/heat issue under control for the moment, even though I'm sure it'll come up again. Right now what I really need to find is more sand for my tank. I have some but it's not enough to get started, so does anyone have any sand they'd be willing to sell me/know of where I can get good somewhat decently priced sand? I also have a pic update on my canopy--it's finished ... ... (okay so the update will be as soon as I finished uploading the pics....it's taking longer than I thought.... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mexicanjavafish August 14, 2007 Author Share August 14, 2007 So it took forever, but the pics finally uploaded... This is the canopy before anything was done to it--it's about six inches high and, you've all seen the pics, I'm not the tallest person ever. So adding the height of the stand&tank and the canopy, and taking into consideration what I lack in height, something had to be done! So what we decided was to alter the canopy so that it could be opened from the panel in the front instead of having a lid on top that lifted up (...the height issue...I'm short ) These are some of the corners used to reinforce the canopy--it kept twisting--and the hinges to be used on the back Random shot of what the back of the canopy looked like before it's remodeling One of the corners after being reinforced with......a corner.....(haha) The canopy being clamped to new lengths of wood so it could be drilled Almost finished with most of the supports in place so that it wouldn't twist anymore when i lifted it The finished product, with all the hinges and supports and such in place The finished product (sitting atop a 75g tank that isn't mine) shown in operation--it opens smoothly and will be a biiiiig help--I'll be able to reach the bottom of my tank now!!!!! (Thank you Jason ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman August 14, 2007 Share August 14, 2007 Very nice. I understand short... bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 August 14, 2007 Share August 14, 2007 Did you guys end up getting that G4X skimmer from Kevin Dillon? I had told Jason to go ahead and get it since I was out of town and the guy e-mailed me today saying it was gone... just wondering if you ended up with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mexicanjavafish August 14, 2007 Author Share August 14, 2007 Did you guys end up getting that G4X skimmer from Kevin Dillon? I had told Jason to go ahead and get it since I was out of town and the guy e-mailed me today saying it was gone... just wondering if you ended up with it. No, sadly I'm still skimmer-less....OH HEY. That would be another thing on the list of things I'm still looking for......can anyone help me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacetypes August 14, 2007 Share August 14, 2007 No, sadly I'm still skimmer-less....OH HEY. That would be another thing on the list of things I'm still looking for......can anyone help me? Looks good! Oh and on RC there are a lot of people in MD unloading skimmers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger August 14, 2007 Share August 14, 2007 (edited) I saw a euro-reef RC135 Recirculating Skimmer $475 shipped its a good deal on a used skimmer... http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...hreadid=1179216 Edited August 14, 2007 by yauger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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