Counter current Protein Skimmer

Posted by on January 20, 2012 No comments

Heres a little gif I made showing how DOC (Dissolved Organic Compounds) are removed from your aquarium using a counter current protein skimmer.

Water is pumped in from the aquarium via a water pump placed either in the sump filter or the aquarium and directed into the skimmers’ intake. Air is pumped into the skimmer via an air pump and an air tube. The hose is run down inside the skimmer from the top, at the bottom of the tube there is a lime wood air stone. When water rushes in from the top of the reaction chamber, it collides with the air bubbles rising up from the bottom. The DOC’s attach themselves to the air bubbles and are carried up to the top of the skimmer. The bubbles with the DOC’s attached then spill over the top and into the collection cup. Enjoy!

Skimmer gif

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Small DIY Refugium Light

Posted by on November 25, 2011 No comments

I needed a refugium light, one that was only about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide. I needed it for the refugium section of my DIY 5.5 gallon all in one reef tank (build posts coming soon). here are pictures of the light being built.

This is a plastic outlet box I picked up at Lowes for 3 bucks.

Housing

I drilled a hole to fit the bottom of the bulb through.

Here’s the light bulb inserted through the hole.

A small piece of a reflector from the scrap heap of fishtanks past

Inserted into the housing

Completed!

I wired an old piece of extension cord minding which side of the wire was positive and which was negative. The bulb is a standard compact fluorescent bulb I got from Lowes. its  a 6500K and only cost 6 bucks.

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How Does a Wet Dry Filter Work

Posted by on November 13, 2011 No comments

A wet dry filter sits under your display tank and water is either siphoned down via a u-tube and weir box or through a predrilled hole in the tank and plumbed straight into the wet dry. However, the water gets to the filter, once there nothing beats the effectiveness of the wet dry filter. below is a simple animation of how the water flows through a wet dry filter.

The first stage is the spray bar and top plate. The top plate can be Plexi-glass with holes drilled in it, or a piece of egg crate cut to size. on top of the plate sits some type of filter pad. to catch large debris. The water then flows through the bio-balls. Bio-balls, once cycled become filled with beneficial bacteria vital for a healthy aquarium. when the water passes through the bio-balls two things happen, it picks up that beneficial bacteria, and also because the bio-ball section is not submerged the water flows through like a water fall and becomes oxygenated. The water then flows over a couple of baffles to eliminate bubbles, then into the return pump section where it is pumped back up to the tank. strong return pump

Wet dry filters are easy to make yourself. You can design them to suite your needs. you can add more baffles for more micro bubble control. you can place your protein skimmer and heaters in a larger return pump section. any way you design, as long as you stay true to the original concept a wet dry filter will give you years of clean healthy aquarium water.Wet Dry Video

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Some updates on my nano

Posted by on February 27, 2011 No comments

I’ve added some more rock to the tank. I purchased some more zoas, polyps, & mushrooms the tank is looking pretty full. I am waiting for an order of zoas to arrive in the mail, which should be a nice addition when they get here. I removed the water bottle skimmer a while back ( with the amount of water changes i really didn’t need it). However After all the new additions I put the skimmer back on the tank, and boy did it skim. What a great little skimmer. Check out the build here . Here are some new pics of the tank.

Full tank shot 5.5 gallon nano 2/27/2011

Full tank shot 5.5 gallon nano 2/27/2011

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Heres one of my DIY Wet Dry Filters

Posted by on February 4, 2011 1 comment

Here’s one of my DIY Wet Dry filters that I built for someone. I used a 10 gallon aquarium and a 5 gallon aquarium for this build because I was limited by space. It has 5 gallons of bio-balls and a top shelf optional filter pad. The return pump in this filter is a mag 7 submersible pump. This little filter kicks ass!

The spray bar

Filter with mag 7 submersible pump

5 gallon bio-balls

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New Light Fixture

Posted by on November 29, 2010 No comments

Here is a picture of my new light fixture. this new LED bulb and new light fixture are worth every penny.

New light fixture

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New LED Light

Posted by on November 8, 2010 No comments

The new LED bulb I ordered arrived today. I ordered the Ecoxotic par 38 spotlight bulb. I don’t have a nice fixture yet, so I have the bulb screwed into one of those clamp on work lights temporarily. I bought a desktop lamp fixture from home depot, but it accepted a different type of bulb, I’ll have to return it. They didn’t have anything else at HD, but I’ll keep looking and post pics when I find the right fixture. With the temp lighting set-up, the LED really gives a great shimmering effect in the water, thumbs up. Only one complaint, It really is a “spotlight”, The beam shoots straight down and leaves the right and left sides a little dim, even in my little 5.5 gallon tank.  I might have to buy one more bulb and find a fixture that hold two bulbs.

New LED Light

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Small water bottle Protein Skimmer

Posted by on November 2, 2010 No comments

I know with the amount of water changes I do (1 gallon a week) That a protein skimmer isn’t really necessary I figured it couldn’t hurt. heres pictures of my DIY water bottle nano protein skimmer, but first the cost breakdown;
water bottle            $1.00 x 2
airline                      $ .30
Air pump                $8.99
wooden air stone $2.00
——————–
for a grand total = $13.29

and it really works!!!!!

Water bottle

Cut the bottom off the water bottle

I drilled a hole and squeezed airline through

The Collection Cup

small water bottle w/bottom cut off

Water bottle skimmer Collection Cup PVC Neck. about 5 inches

PVC Neck Glue to bottle

All set up. It Really Works!!!

… and here’s a Video of the skimmer working.

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LED Lighting

Posted by on October 27, 2010 No comments

After switching to a new nano tank, I’ve decided that a new light is in order. Currently I am using the small 18watt 50/50 PC that came with the 3 gallon pico, I have added another 9 watt PC full 10,000k that I had laying around. I need to come up with a nice fixture that looks good and omits the correct lighting required for the corals maximum growth. I’ve chosen to do a DIY LED fixture, I have been scouring the internet and have found tons of DIY projects on how to build an LED light. I still haven’t figured out the exact specifications of the light I will build. So far, here’s what  I’ve come up with; I am going to use 16 or 20 LED’s 50/50 white and blue. with no optics the LED’s will direct the beams straight down.

If anyone has any expertise in this field, or just some input I can use all the help I can get.

Update: I may pick up one or two of these LED bulbs from marine depot

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5.5 gallon glass reef tank

Posted by on October 25, 2010 No comments

Here are some pictures of the new 5.5 gallon tank. I went with glass because of how easy it is to scratch the acrylic when scrapping coraline algae off the walls of the tank. I am very aware that the Hippo tang will out grow this tank in a relatively short time, however we couldn’t resist her when we saw her at the LFS. I have three kids, just try and tell them they can’t have Dory for their little tank. She will be moved into a much larger tank when she grows. I have to say they do look awesome in the tank. Now I have to work on getting some nice corals to really make this tank pop. Before I do that I will have to upgrade the lighting The tank has an 18 watt 50/50 PC, okay for softies and I mean okay, not okay for anything else.

5.5 gallon 2

5.5 gallon 3

5.5 gallon 4

5.5 gallon 5

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