Krylon Fusion for Plastic in Australia!

So, if you're into nano reef aquariums you may be familiar with the need to paint the rear of your tank black (or blue if that's your thing) to hide your filtration equipment and to make the tank look sharper.

Now, if you're like me and are Australian and also happen to live in a regional area then you may find it difficult to find the paint of choice for most of the community: Krylon Fusion for Plastic. It seems that it's the go-to paint for the American enthusiast and as such you run into flat recommendations of "Wal-Mart carries it", which doesn't really help you.

So after some searching I discovered that Crockers Paint stocks it and that they take online orders! I just bought a couple cans of the Flat Black for $12.95 a can and it cost me around $18.80 in shipping, which is a small price to pay when you have no other options xD

As soon as I get them into my hot little hands two of my work-in-progress tanks will have nice and black backs which will let me get on with the rest of setting them up.

!!UPDATE!!

They arrived today:

They were stated as being posted on the 09/11/2012 and today is the 12th, so pretty nice timing. I'll be taping and painting my 43 litre Mirage 50 tomorrow, after I finish work. Then I just need to get my AquaClear 70 (with an inTank media basket), AquaC Nano Remora, Hydor Theo 50w heater, Hydor Koralia Nano 900 and some live rock and sand and she'll be on her way to being my first nano reef ^_^

My DIY Pico Protein Skimmer... I hope

This is my first attempt at a pico protein skimmer for my All-in-One AquaOne Cube30 build.

It's  27.9 cm (11") from tip to tail and is made from 32mm  (1.25") PVC. The top is cut at a 45° angle using a mitre box and I'll be drilling a 10mm hole at the top and back of the pipe to attach some 10mm vinyl tubing that'll lead to the collection cup (or jar). I still need to work out a mounting bracket. I was thinking lasercut acrylic, cut out of the excess that is on the sheet from making my AIO back.

It's based on the pico skimmer made by Glazer (only a little less fancy as it's not acrylic). Not sure if it's going to work but I won't know until I get my tank up and running!

The Pico Display Refugium

I'm at it again it seems.

My AquaOne Cube 30 Pico Reef build is coming along nicely; it's had a few revisements and merging of suggestions from kind nano-reef.com-ers. One such suggestion was throwing a submersible light and some chaeto into the first compartment. I liked this idea but incorporating it made it look a little off.

That's when I decided to be all creative and build a little display refugium to sit next to the pico reef. This way I'll get to see my macroalgae grow and also add extra filtration potential to the tank.

The above image is my first attempt at a design. It's based around this design. In case of power outage there is going to be a couple PVC overflows in the main part of the tank and be plumbed to a collection resevoir underneath the tanks.

The tank measure 70cm (L) x 27cm (W) x 23cm (D) and holds 43 litres (11.3 gallons). The actual refugium chamber is 51.9cm (L) x 27cm (W) x 23cm (D) and holds 32 litres (8.4 gallons).

The tank will be all glass, 4mm. The baffling will be made from 6mm clear acrylic and the black parts in the first image represent what will be hidden by a nice stained timber cabinet (which will be incorporated into the cabinet of the AIO AquaOne Cube 30 pico I'm building).

At the moment I have ordered the following for lighting the fuge:

1 x 3w Cool White (6000-6500K)
2 x 3w Warm White (3000-3300K)
1 x 4w Neutral White (3700-5000K)
1 x 3w Blue (460-465nm)

I also got:

10 x 1w Red (620-630nm) - Only need three

Which I'll be soldering into the Coo and Neutral White bulbs:

They are all GU10 LED bulbs from Chinese manufacturers and cost very little to get (with free postage) off of eBay. I'm still experimenting with lighting, and I'm still reading through the GU10 LED Build Thread over at nano-reef.com, so before I finalise anything I think I'll post in the thread before manufacturing anything.

I'll be making a little cabinet for the fuge which will incorporate the hood, and also may be connected and incorporated into the AquaOne Cube 30 cabinet. As such I'm going to use the above IEC power socket (which I picked up of eBay for under $3 w/ free postage) as the power interface.

More to come as more gets done!

AquaOne Mirage 50 Nano Reef Aquarium

Another day another tank... at least that's the way it seems to be working out! Although I had been stalking this tank for a about two weeks before I pulled the trigger and bought it xD It's an all glass aquarium, with curved front corners, and it a little over 43 Litres (or 11 Gallons for those that aren't metric). It'll be staying as it is, with very few moddifications to the tank.

Measurements:

Length: 49 cm
Width: 29 cm
Height: 30.5 cm
Glass Thickness: 5 mm

Fish:

I'll be using Hang-on-Back filters and skimmers so as to keep it at that 43 litres / 11 gallons. By doing so I'll be given the opportunity to keep a pair of anenomefish! Either:

• Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) or 
• Percula Clownfish (Amphiprion percula)

And then I have room for one more little guy, so I'm deciding between one of these:

• Purple Dottyback (Pseudochromis porphyreus) or,
• Yellow Watchman Goby (Cryptocentrus cinctus) or,
• Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto). 

**My stocking limits stemming directly from lgreen's "Fish Stocking Guide For Nano Reefs" article**

Invertebrates:

• Porcelain Crab (Petrolisthes galathinus)
• Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)
• Spiny Star Astraea (Astraea phoebia)
• Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit (Clibanarius tricolor)

The back of the tank will be painted a flat black in whatever I can find that will do the job as I'm yet to find Krylon for Plastic in Australia (at least not where I live), which will make the tank look good as well as hiding my filtration.

Hang-on-Back Eqiuipment:

Filter: an AquaClear 70 (if I can put my hands on one) with media basket, such as inTanks, running both Chemi-Pure Elite and Seachem Purigen.
Protien Skimmer: an AquaC Nano Remora (hopefully)

Lighting: 

QUOTE

3 x CREE XT-E 3UP (2x XTE Royal 1x XTG Neutral)
3 x True Violet 390-430nm w/ 120° optics(?)
1 x Ocean Coral White w/ 120° optics(?)
3 x Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA
3 x pots and knobs
1 x 6" MakersLED kit
1 x DIM4 Sunrise/Sunset Controller V1.0

QUOTE (uglybuckling @ Oct 29 2012, 02:38 PM) 

Costings:

AquaOne Mirage 50 - 43 litre Tank = $74.00
------------------------------------------------------------------
2 x Krylon Fusion for Plastic - Flat Black = $12.95
                                              Shipping = $18.86
------------------------------------------------------------------
Hydor Koralia Nano 900 = $69.00
Hydor THEO 50w heater = $35.95
Aquaclear 300 ( 70 ) Hang on Filter = $79.00
                                        Shipping = $7.95
------------------------------------------------------------------
AquaC Nano Remora Protein Skimmer = $199.99 USD
------------------------------------------------------------------
AC 70 inTank Media Basket = $43.99 USD
                            Shipping = $19.63
------------------------------------------------------------------
Lighting Fixture = $287.55 USD
           Shipping = $69.50
------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Total = $931.32


I'll update this post with more information as I get closer to starting the tanks cycle.

The AquaOne Cube 30 All-in-One Marine Pico Aquarium

Of late I have been bitten by the fish keeping bug (or should that be water keeping?) and have started a few freshwater tanks. That was until my LFS (local fish store) started getting ready to start stocking marine fish and related equipment. Well boy did that hit me hard!

I present to you my first attempt at a marine aquarium, first pico reef, and my first DIY aquarium related project... Well, a SketchUp model and a photo of the cube tank filled with water (to test if it held water, which it did). The tank is an AquaOne Cube 30 (30cm x 30cm x 30cm or 11.8" x 11.8" x 11.8") and is all glass. Un-modded it holds around 27 litres (or 7.13 U.S. gallons) and I expect the final volume of the DT once modded to be 18.2 litres (4.8 gallons). 

The rear partitioning is going to be black 4.5mm acrylic and will hopefully be laser cut by Ponoko. 

It'll be setup to have either the heater or filter floss in the first compartment, a little in-tank protein skimmer in the second compartment, Chemi-pure and Purigen in the media racks in the last compartment, with the heater sitting in the return channel on the far right (if the heater isn't already in the first compartment) along with the return pump. 

What will be in the tank is as follows:

Return Pump: Resun SP-850
Protein Skimmer: Not settled upon yet. Maybe soon though ^_^
Powerhead: a Hydor Koralia Evolution Nano 240
Lighting: 6" MakersLED kit

QUOTE

3 x CREE XT-E 3UP (2x XTE Royal 1x XTG Neutral)
3 x True Violet 390-430nm w/ 120° optics(?)
1 x Ocean Coral White w/ 120° optics(?)
3 x Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA
3 x pots and knobs
1 x DIM4 Sunrise/Sunset Controller V1.0

QUOTE (uglybuckling @ Oct 29 2012, 02:38 PM) 

As for stocking it I have no idea. I am now thinking about maybe one of the following:

• Greenbanded Goby (Elacatinus multifasciatum)
• Yellow Clown Goby (Gobiodon okinawae)

Along with some corals, but as I'm fresh off the boat in the world of saltwater I have no idea (ask me about freshwater and I can at least tread water xD;;) so suggestions/recommendations are most and whole heartedly welcome.

Clean-up-Crew:
2 x Dwarf Ceriths
1 x Nassariu
2 x Florida Ceriths
3 x Antillean Nerite (Nerita fulgurans)
**Based on Reef Cleaners Pico "Quick Crew" CUC**

Oh, and here is the actual model files: https://github.com/punklibrarian/AquaOne-Cu...O---Marine-Pico  if you wanted to give it a twirl, or if once I'm done and you kike it you can make your own =)

The ArduQuarium Controller

So, I posted on the New England Maker Group's page about a device I am now working on that will eventually control every aspect of my soon to be built 115L freshwater tropical aquarium and 95L sump (although I'm thinking I may just make two 115 litre tanks for both the aquarium and sump).

I call it the ArduQuarium Controller!

The following you'll find the list of things that will make the controller up when it's done (or at least a partial list):

pH sensor - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/190693458379

Dissolved Oxygen (DO) sensor - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/190693459602

Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) sensor - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/190693463449

Conductivity sensor - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/200779540715

Thermal Probe x 2 - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/230664393630

Beefcake Relay Control x 4 - https://www.sparkfun.com/wish_lists/36307

Micro SD card - http://www.adafruit.com/products/254

Real Time Clock - http://littlebirdelectronics.com/products/real-time-clock-module 
(my RTC is coming from eBay, since I saved $17.17 doing it that way - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130702223257)
LCD display - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/251143548006

Arduino Mega - http://littlebirdelectronics.com/products/dfrduino-mega2560-v2-0  
(again, my Mega is coming from eBay. $17.50! - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/390464650227)

Ballcock - Water level measurement

I will probably end up with only three of those Atlas Scientific water quality sensors, as I won't any time soon be delving into marine (i.e: saltwater) tropicals, and the Mega can only accommodate three of them (but I will try and make it easy to swap a sensor out for another should the need arise in the future). The three sensors that are useful to me (pH, DO and ORP) will be housed in the return water chamber of my sump filter, along with one of the thermal probes, UV steriliser and the heating element. The other thermal probe with sit in the main aquarium and the Arduino will monitor the two and attempted to bring the sump temperature up if the aquarium needs more heat (I'm thinking of utilising a PID program, along with a schedular so as to get everything to work when it needs to).

The relay control boards from SparkFun are there to make controlling the heating element, filter pumps, air pump and a water change pump much easier. The Arduino Mega's firmware will have provisions to initiate a partial water change based on data collected from its sensors and the ballcock will shut things off when it reaches a predetermined level.

Although to start with I'll just be using a single relay controller and a thermal probe to control my current aquariums' heating element based on collected temperature readings to keep the tank a constant temperature.

I will be making the aquarium out of glass instead of acrylic as this is my first DIY tank and a tube of silicon is easier for me as I'm familiar with it. The following are the aquariums figures (including GPH and filter media):

• Dimensions: 60cm(L) x 48cm(W) x 40cm(H)
• Glass thickness: 6 mm
• Glass Area: 1.15 m2
• Glass Weight: 21 kg
• Glass + Water Weight: 136 kg
• Litres: 115
• Gallons (US): 30.379786
• Heater Watts: 91.139358

Filter Media:

• Ceramic Media: 1.21519144 Litres
• Bio-Balls: 5.741785295785295 Litres
• K1 kaldness: 1.5189893 Litres
• Fine Sponge: 0.972153152 Litres

Filter Gallons Per Hour (GPH):

• Sump: 136.709037 to 197.468609
• Litres: 517.5 to 747.5

My figures come from TheAquaTools.com's Aquarium Glass Thickness Calculator and DIY Fishkeepers calculators.

This is all just a rather large experiment for me as I'm new to the hobby of aquaria. I will not be stocking this setup heavily, the aquarium will likely only have a small contingent of Corydoras in situ while the tank, sump and controller come together. Wish me luck!