How's THIS for a nano?

[diamondjim]

Long dumb story behind this one...
Just recently got back into salt water and setting up new display tank. I've been cherry picking live rock one piece at a time to get more variety and more hitch hikers. Got a so-so hunk of fuji but with a nice aiptasia anemone...I hadn't planned on doing much work with corals, so why not? Well not long after I nabbed a coupla hunks of top grade LR loaded with buttons and shrooms at a disgustingly low price I couldn't pass up...
Poor aiptasia's gotta go...kinda feel bad to off the poor guy just cause I changed the direction of the tank. I'm total cheap skate and have no desire to have tanks all over the house like before...but I've got these small plexi boxes with lids...so my mind goes wandering.
What I came up with was a tower by stacking 3 of the boxes...
Bottom has the smallest sump I could find...even that's a bit overpowering.
Center has aiptasia and the 1.5lb LR it came in on. There's nothing natural about the design...but fascinating the way the LR appears to just hang in mid-air.
Top has 10W 50/50 daylight/actinic bulb to bring up colors and coated on the inside with aluminum tape.
Also has tube in the back at water level to suck out sticky bubbles...a primitve way to do protein skimming.
Total dimensions: 24 inches tall. Water space is 4 X 4 X 16...probably WAY too small and will die straight away...just maybe this thing makes it. Thinking it might be very cool to have a box full of anemones.
Pic shows a drip pan...just in case it leaks, glue is barely dry on this thing. So far so good.
If it doesn't die, future mods: Paint lamp housing a solid color. Add styrofoam panels to bottom filter area to recycle pump heat, if needed. Unit has no seperate heater, kept warm by pump heat by-product alone. Glue entire unit to larger base for stability, though it don't wobble as is, very bottom heavy. Add cerith snails and smaller varieties if I find can them, small crabs and maybe a yellow tang.

If all else fails and aiptasia bitesthe dust anyways, no big deal, LR goes back in the big tank and I recycle the parts for future projects.

 

[matt b]

Originally Posted by diamondjim
Long dumb story behind this one...
Just recently got back into salt water and setting up new display tank. I've been cherry picking live rock one piece at a time to get more variety and more hitch hikers. Got a so-so hunk of fuji but with a nice aiptasia anemone...I hadn't planned on doing much work with corals, so why not? Well not long after I nabbed a coupla hunks of top grade LR loaded with buttons and shrooms at a disgustingly low price I couldn't pass up...
Poor aiptasia's gotta go...kinda feel bad to off the poor guy just cause I changed the direction of the tank. I'm total cheap skate and have no desire to have tanks all over the house like before...but I've got these small plexi boxes with lids...so my mind goes wandering.
What I came up with was a tower by stacking 3 of the boxes...
Bottom has the smallest sump I could find...even that's a bit overpowering.
Center has aiptasia and the 1.5lb LR it came in on. There's nothing natural about the design...but fascinating the way the LR appears to just hang in mid-air.
Top has 10W 50/50 daylight/actinic bulb to bring up colors and coated on the inside with aluminum tape.
Also has tube in the back at water level to suck out sticky bubbles...a primitve way to do protein skimming.
Total dimensions: 24 inches tall. Water space is 4 X 4 X 16...probably WAY too small and will die straight away...just maybe this thing makes it. Thinking it might be very cool to have a box full of anemones.
Pic shows a drip pan...just in case it leaks, glue is barely dry on this thing. So far so good.
If it doesn't die, future mods: Paint lamp housing a solid color. Add styrofoam panels to bottom filter area to recycle pump heat, if needed. Unit has no seperate heater, kept warm by pump heat by-product alone. Glue entire unit to larger base for stability, though it don't wobble as is, very bottom heavy. Add cerith snails and smaller varieties if I find can them, small crabs and maybe a yellow tang.

If all else fails and aiptasia bitesthe dust anyways, no big deal, LR goes back in the big tank and I recycle the parts for future projects.
hhmm

 

[luvmybizz]

all i am going to say is that i would have never thought of something like that, but i guess i give u perks for having a creative mind!

 

[stayloki]

You're so nice. I usually squirt mine with joes juice.

Very cool tank though; I love how the rock is hovering!!!
Are you thinking of adding any other livestock, or is that just going to be one spoiled aiptasia?

 

[diamondjim]

Thanks...oh yeah, total cost of parts= $20...I had everything else laying around the house.

 

[diamondjim]

Originally Posted by StayLoki
You're so nice. I usually squirt mine with joes juice.

Very cool tank though; I love how the rock is hovering!!!
Are thinking of adding any other livestock, or is that just going to be one spoiled aptasia?
I'm really hoping aiptasia will reproduce and I'll end up with a small colony. I've seen tiny algae eating snails in LFS tanks, I'll have to see if can pick up a few, as long as I'm certain what sort of snail it is. Maybe a small crab or two...something to provide a moving element.

 

[new2salt1]

I actually think this could be a great product. Tag it the "Stick-Nano," maybe 1/2 gallon with live rock covered in zoas. If done in a nicely laquered, screwable top and bottom with a tiny PH blowing water from the top, I think you could be on to something.
Keep at it, I love the creativity.

 

[peef]

I do like the hovering LR. Pretty sweet if you ask me! hope it works out for you.

 

[reefer545]

Why does the LR just "hang" there? Is it just stuck between the sides? If so, keeping it clean on the bottom may prove to be a pain.
VERY COOL IDEA !!! It looks like a new trend to me. Design and Patent. lol.

 

[diamondjim]

Yeah, LR stuck between the sides...but this version has bigger issues than cleaning under the rock...There is room that a soft pad on the end of stiff but flexible wire (like a coat hanger) could be manipulated under the rock without too much effort.
Back to the drawing board. Sump is just too powerfull, filter media is too limited and not getting the right sort of flow. Got an idea to build a gentler sort of pump from scratch that will evenly distrubte flow and include protein skimming. Need to ramp up filter media with my special blend too.
"Stick Nano" is cool...sounds like something you plug in your computer. You know...that ain't half bad...could run the thing off of USB for control and monitoring...swap out light for LEDS, pull that power from USB too...Hmmmmm. Monitor water quality, light timing and a web cam too? Wouldn't even be the craziest thing I've tried too build...
I'll have think on it a spell...

 

[diamondjim]

"stick nano" ver. 1.1 has been scrapped...long list of "whoops"'s. Mostly sump just too over powering....not to mention too much excess heat (and here I was worried about adding panels to the bottom to recycle heat.)
So I built a gentler water pump from scratch...actually scrap PVC, top to 2-liter Mt. Dew bottle, a bottle cap and one of the kid's old sippy cups. A simple skimmer, with an basic change...it sucks water from the bottom filter part and pushes it up into the LR part. It skims, it aerates, it pumps, it's easily servicable, it slices AND dices but it doesn't produce any heat. Room temp here is 68-70, would love to push tank up to 74-76, but where do you get a few extra degrees without boiling away such a small tank?
Then last night over too many beers the topic of alternate energy comes up and composting is mentioned as a possible type of home water heater. It dawns on me, maybe a well feed pot of plants could be used to generate a little heat in the soil. Surely there's got to bacterial processes going under the surface...
So finished ver 1.2 today...and planted it. Looks like something from grandmas knick-nack shelf for sure...better plants and non-sucking pot might help. But it IS an interesting idea...FREE heat for the tank. I have absolutely NO idea even if I can get the soil in the pot to generate heat at all...remains to be seen...
Stick Nano 1.2 with experimental bio heater and air powered water pump (i.e. no moving parts to jam or break);

 

[krista921]

looks awsome if nothin else haha

 

[new2salt1]

Haha, you are hilarious.
I dont think there is enough decaying matter in that soil to produce the kind of heat you are looking for.
When I temp acclimate new livestock (before I had extra heaters), I would set the acclimating tub (tupperware container) on a heating blanket. Set at the highest level, said blanket would keep the water at 76-78. Is the base capable of conduction? Could you set the base on a reptile heating rock?
Maybe if the frame was constructed out of steel you could do something like that??
Keep on nano-stickin'!!!

 

[diamondjim]

Bio-Heat: Nothing I love more than a lost cause...

Tank is only 1.1 gallons, I just have this "gut" feeling there might be a way to raise temp 4-6 degrees without plugging something ELSE into the wall. Hey, I built a water pump with no moving parts, maybe I can solve this one too?
Maybe I'm just a little crazy (a LITTLE???), but I'm just tired of plugging in MORE stuff, you know? I have plans on the drawing board now to swap lights on stick nano and reef tank to all LEDs, which are in turn powered by an outdoor solar panel...perfect day/night cycles all the time. I'll build that from scratch too.
If all else fails for heat and aiptasia can't take 68, I may switch over to atlantic coast rock anemones. Remember, I set out to house anemones, not build a micro reef...my "vision" is a box with about dozen small anemones gently swaying the breeze. I've already got a reef in the works in the other tank just 10 feet away...

 

[bg46250]

Originally Posted by diamondjim
"Stick Nano" is cool...sounds like something you plug in your computer. You know...that ain't half bad...could run the thing off of USB for control and monitoring...swap out light for LEDS, pull that power from USB too...Hmmmmm. Monitor water quality, light timing and a web cam too? Wouldn't even be the craziest thing I've tried too build...
I'll have think on it a spell...
Would you happen to know where to buy USB probes for monitoring tank conditions; Ph, Alkalinity, Salinity, Calcium, Nitrate, Nitrite, & Temperature? I'm looking to write a program to interface with these types of probes to be monitored via a website, with a webcam page as well! If you can point me to the probes, when the software is done, I'll give you a copy!
Bryan

 

[lbaskball]

Originally Posted by bg46250
Would you happen to know where to buy USB probes for monitoring tank conditions; Ph, Alkalinity, Salinity, Calcium, Nitrate, Nitrite, & Temperature? I'm looking to write a program to interface with these types of probes to be monitored via a website, with a webcam page as well! If you can point me to the probes, when the software is done, I'll give you a copy!
Bryan

Bryan,
there have been couple of software already made. Go google myreef as there is already a program. This program uses a product that you connect to your computer. Im sure you have heard of digital aquatics. They are aewsome.