steve-s Posted October 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 stompa is spot on, its the black irrigation poly-pipe, the clips are great because they are 100% plastic and can be used inside the tank without contaminating the water and you can really tighten them down quite a bit with some pliers, you can also get elbows, t-pieces and all the usual joiners for it. All plastic, all available at Bunnings. The SCWD connects to 3 quarter inch pipe but I found I had to heat up the ends of the pipe with a cigarette lighter to get them on as the SCWD connections seem slightly oversized, after they had cooled they were a really firm fit. I didnt post any more pics because the tank pretty much looks the same as the last photo posted but you talked me into it. Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 Putting the hose into boiling water should soften it enough as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 sweet thanks for the info on the pipe guys... Tank is looking good.... but is that still a piece of calupera (sp?) i can see in there :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-s Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 but is that still a piece of calupera (sp?) i can see in there :lol: Yes it is, I spoke to Pies about it (who supplied me with the rock) and he assured me it is sawgrass calupera and shouldnt be too hard to get rid of. Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Yes it is, I spoke to Pies about it (who supplied me with the rock) and he assured me it is sawgrass calupera and shouldnt be too hard to get rid of. Cheers, Steve Sweet as, looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-s Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Well, finally starting to come together. A few changes, firstly I have got rid of the power compacts and replaced them with a 150W 14000k halide, then I built a hood to accomodate the aforementioned halide. Also added some coral and a small anemone (thanks Pies ) Some pics: Front tank shot: Leather: Hood is bigger than tank. The light inside Need to add some cooling fans, probably a couple of PC fans. From the side The hood (or shroud) still needs some tidying up as you can see. Anemone, Phymanthus sp. I think. Need some nice colourful mushrooms and zoos now. Oh and a fish. Parameters: Spec Gravity: 1.026 pH: 8.4 (little high) Alk: 2.2 (little low) Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate all testing zero. I am going to add a skimmer after christmas, probably go for the new deltec mce300. Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Cool!! I have some of those rock flower anemones and one has just had a baby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiuh Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 great Nano....love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-s Posted November 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Thanks guys for the comments, I absolutely love the anemone he is my favourite. Now I've added the 14000k bulb you can really see the colours. I am a bit concerned at my alk levels though, they are certainly too low. My pH seems a little high but always have trouble reading those bloody test kits (my pH pen is back in WA, picking it up along with my refractometer when I go back at xmas). I dont supplement ca at all at the moment but now I have added some coral I will probably need to, however I will not dose anything until I can test for it and I dont own a ca test, anyone in Wellington/Hutt area know of a pet shop which would sell ca kits, I have been to a couple but as they deal in freshwater they dont stock them? Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 150W halide on a 30 litre tank...!!!! I have a 150W halide here right now, all i need is a bulb (which i could get off trademe right now for $35) and my 30L will be sussed... Hmmmmm :lol: Tanks looking nice Steve!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-s Posted November 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Heat is going to be my main concern, it's already getting up to mid 28's (from 27) after 6 hrs of the lights being on. Not sure what it will do if we actually have a warm day (hasnt been a problem in Wellington so far ). I am going to fit a couple of PC fans into the sides of the hood for cooling, hopefully that may help. Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Haha year heat will be the major problem. I have a pc fan running on my tank everyday nw because the temp just gets too high, and i only have a 15w light :lol: Evaporation is the major thing for me now since i have the fan facing the water, I am topping up 2 litres daily.... I am seriously considering making another tank a little bit bigger than the 30L i have now, and using my halide on it, and my seio m620 which is coming in the mail :bounce: :bounce: 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelifaxNZ Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Hey Steve, well done. Very nice. Get those fans in ASAP. That's what's heating the water. Make sure you have it extracting the hot air out. Don't worry about blowing air in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-s Posted December 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 That prompts an interesting question. Is it better to have the fans: 1. extracting the hot air? 2. blowing air on the water surface therefore increasing the evaporation rate? or will both create the same level of airflow and have an equal effect? Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted December 3, 2006 Report Share Posted December 3, 2006 Good question, but I guess theres no point blowing air across the water if theres nowhere for the heat to go. I do both on my tank, extractor fan running all day to remove warm damp air from tank to outside, and two fans blowing over water controlled by temp controller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-s Posted December 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2006 The entire back of the hood is open and about 2 inches from the wall so there is a large area which air can circulate in and out of the hood if a fan was installed. I was thinking I could use 2 fans, one on either side. One sucking & one blowing to create a through-breeze. I just wasnt sure that if the fans werent running directly on the water the cooling effect may not be at its maximum? I really didnt pay attention in physics.......well what do you know, some of that learning would have come in handy :lol: Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Hey steve. Just one question, Where abouts is the ballast for the MH located in your setup??? Im going to be using my MH on a 38 x 38 x 38 cm tank soon, and i am going to make a hood sorta thing similiar to yours.... thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Outstanding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-s Posted December 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Where abouts is the ballast for the MH located in your setup??? My tank is in the garage on top of an old PC server cabinet, the ballast is fixed to the inside of the cabinet underneath the tank, this is not always possible because generally the cable which runs from the light to the ballast is notoriously short (esp if using a shopfitter halide like me), I was lucky however, the cable was long enough......just. You also need to think about ballast v water - I am confident that even if the tank overflowed or cracked that there is no way any water could make it to the ballast even though the ballast is underneath the tank. - It's kind of a common sense thing really but worth thinking about. Cheers, Steve PS: I would recomend you look at fans/cooling before adding the halide, I have been a bit slack in gettign around to doing it and my tank hit 30deg last night at about 8pm, as soon as I noticed I turned the lights off and the temp dropped back down to 28 within half an hour but I will probably be fitting a fan tonight. I dont think there will be any long term damage but another hour later could have been a different story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Ohk. Im thinking of making a box sort of like yours, but have the ballast located inside of it, probably above the reflector part.... I already have a fan running on my tank (on top of my modified HOB filter) So will get another one to put into the hood.... Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-s Posted December 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Outstanding! Thankyou, couldnt have done it without you That anemone is fantastic, the experimental acro didnt make it but the monti frag is going well, polyps are extended and are showing a tinge of green. My photography skills or lack thereof are preventing me from posting some macro shots. Cheers, Steve PS - I haven't forgotten that I still have your bucket. :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-s Posted December 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 but have the ballast located inside of it, Keep in mind that locating the ballast inside the hood will further compound the heat issue, those ballasts give off a fair bit of heat. Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Yer it will affect the heat issue, but because you can only have a maximum of 1 m of cable between the ballast and light, im not sure if it will be possible to have it anywhere else.... Is yours mounted on the side of the cabinet? up underneath? flat etc... got any pics of it mounted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 AND, how far off the water is your halide? What would you reccomend for a tank 380 high?? Sorry for all the q's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-s Posted December 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Mine is mounted inside the cabinet on the LHS, towards the top. The cabinet is of metal construction so I just screwed the ballast to it with a couple of self tappers. Sorry no pics but I'll try to remember to take some tonight. I have my light mounted about 20-25cm from the water, I wouldnt go any closer than this because of heat and it would also reduce the spread of light, I didnt want to go higher because of the size of the hood, it already looks very top-heavy because the hood is so large in proportion to the tank. Your tank has 8cm of additional height on mine, personally I'd look at mounting so that the light is about 30cm above the water level which is where I would have preferred to have mine if the hood didnt look so bloody stupid at that size. Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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