Planning First Big DIY Systems
- Thread starter Ulu
- Start date
Tanks in the truck!
Tanks in the garage!
50mm thick Baltic Birch for tank stand material.
Part of my skateboard collection, mostly made of Baltic Birch and Canadian Hard Rock maple.
My lovely wife. I hope I can keep a lid on her grumblings until all this fish tank moving is done. Fortunately her new puppy pees in the house at least once a day so she can't complain about the aquarium smell.
Tomorrow she's going to watch me tear the guts out of her fireplace and bang down the back wall of the house!
Tanks in the garage!
50mm thick Baltic Birch for tank stand material.
Part of my skateboard collection, mostly made of Baltic Birch and Canadian Hard Rock maple.
My lovely wife. I hope I can keep a lid on her grumblings until all this fish tank moving is done. Fortunately her new puppy pees in the house at least once a day so she can't complain about the aquarium smell.
Tomorrow she's going to watch me tear the guts out of her fireplace and bang down the back wall of the house!
Well today I got the 30-gallon standard completely torn down including its sump, and I also tore down the 20 standard.
I set the former 10 gallon sump as a betta tank, and the 20 next to it as a sump for the 55 up above.
Right now I'm just aging the sump with two old HOBs, and it's not plumbed to the 55 yet.
I set the former 10 gallon sump as a betta tank, and the 20 next to it as a sump for the 55 up above.
Right now I'm just aging the sump with two old HOBs, and it's not plumbed to the 55 yet.
I'm still working on tanks and moving tanks and improving tanks and and working on the Ivy and the grow lights, but it's all coming together. I have not yet started on the new stand for the 125.
We demolished our entire sheet metal fireplace, and it appears we are going to remove the entire wood chimney for several reasons. I have no problem with this because I hate chimneys and fireplaces, plus we had to move the TV antenna off the chimney and I never liked it there.
Of course our progress on re-roofing & demolition is delayed due to rain. We never get rain in the middle of May. In fact, where I live there is virtually no rain between the months of April and December.
Happy the handy handyman is ripping out the bits. Bit by bit . . .
There's the remains of our fireplace insert.
The metal cap on the chimney was leaking and also there are termites and dry rot. This is the wood floor which holds up the fireplace insert. That's where Happy's size 13 went right through the plywood.
Today I am assembling Plumbing for both of the new tanks and when the rain quits we will start ripping down the chimney and fixing the roof.
We demolished our entire sheet metal fireplace, and it appears we are going to remove the entire wood chimney for several reasons. I have no problem with this because I hate chimneys and fireplaces, plus we had to move the TV antenna off the chimney and I never liked it there.
Of course our progress on re-roofing & demolition is delayed due to rain. We never get rain in the middle of May. In fact, where I live there is virtually no rain between the months of April and December.
Happy the handy handyman is ripping out the bits. Bit by bit . . .
There's the remains of our fireplace insert.
The metal cap on the chimney was leaking and also there are termites and dry rot. This is the wood floor which holds up the fireplace insert. That's where Happy's size 13 went right through the plywood.
Today I am assembling Plumbing for both of the new tanks and when the rain quits we will start ripping down the chimney and fixing the roof.
New prefilter for the 20g sump. That's a 4-inch coupler at the bottom and then ABS bell fittings & junk that I had from a previous filter project..
Here's the bottom View. That pink looking stuff is boat epoxy putty and it turns a funny looking color after a year in the fish tank.
I think it's that stuff they put in the food to make your fish brighter.
I think it's that stuff they put in the food to make your fish brighter.
It doesn't float . . . there's a hidden ziptie.
Monday the weather should be OK and the demo continues.
I set the African 55 up for riverine flow and got the Convicts out of the African tank FINALLY!
They didn't go far. Just down 3 feet to the 20g sump below.
Monday the weather should be OK and the demo continues.
I set the African 55 up for riverine flow and got the Convicts out of the African tank FINALLY!
They didn't go far. Just down 3 feet to the 20g sump below.
I bought this today and it's my first DC variable speed programmable pump.
but it's a cheap one at $130 plus tax at the LFS. I bought a slightly smaller one from chewy today for about $60 plus tax and it will be here in a couple days.
This one is the 4000 model and will push about 250 gph at 2 feet of head. 1050 at zero.
Right now I'm running it submerged and just pushing it through a 5/8 garden hose from a 3/4 barb fitting, and it also comes with a 1-inch barb fitting and has national pipe thread in and out. All the fittings have O-rings including the pump chamber itself, which will come off and rotate once you slide off the base plate.
It has a digital controller but the programming instructions are very sparse and the engrish is particularly wanting.
View attachment 137393
It took a little fiddling to figure out how it runs. First there is no power switch and when do you start it up it starts pumping immediately (unless you don't get it all plugged in perfectly and then you get an error message.)
I immediately got an error-07 but there is no description of what error messages mean in the "manual." I guessed right the first time though. Check the plugs.
That installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and operation manual (including performance charts and warranty card ) is slightly larger than a playing card. Get out your magnifying glass.
I could turn the speed controller no higher than 3 of 20 before it started to overwhelm my drain. That was never close to possible with the old pump.
but it's a cheap one at $130 plus tax at the LFS. I bought a slightly smaller one from chewy today for about $60 plus tax and it will be here in a couple days.
This one is the 4000 model and will push about 250 gph at 2 feet of head. 1050 at zero.
Right now I'm running it submerged and just pushing it through a 5/8 garden hose from a 3/4 barb fitting, and it also comes with a 1-inch barb fitting and has national pipe thread in and out. All the fittings have O-rings including the pump chamber itself, which will come off and rotate once you slide off the base plate.
It has a digital controller but the programming instructions are very sparse and the engrish is particularly wanting.
View attachment 137393
It took a little fiddling to figure out how it runs. First there is no power switch and when do you start it up it starts pumping immediately (unless you don't get it all plugged in perfectly and then you get an error message.)
I immediately got an error-07 but there is no description of what error messages mean in the "manual." I guessed right the first time though. Check the plugs.
That installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and operation manual (including performance charts and warranty card ) is slightly larger than a playing card. Get out your magnifying glass.
I could turn the speed controller no higher than 3 of 20 before it started to overwhelm my drain. That was never close to possible with the old pump.
