Laura's Diy Projects

[bordercollie05]

For the past couple months, I've been doing lots of reading in the DIY section of forums and on DIY websites. I've got a few projects I'd like to do, so I thought I'd keep them all together in one post. That way I can be more organized about the order I do it all in and see all the progress together.

I don't have much experience with this sort of thing beyond helping my dad with house projects, so I'll probably need some guidance along the way.

I'll start off with the hood I made about a month ago for my ten gallon. I had the help of my boyfriend, which was good. We ended up building it in the kitchen of my apartment on the coffee table....Didn't want sawdust on the carpet .

I believe the lights we used were 800 lumens each, so that means 1600 lumens total. I think the temp rating is 6,000 K. Hopefully I'm not way off with these stats, I've been meaning to post this forever...Anyway, the lights should put the tank at medium light.

Here's the pics:

In the next pic, you can see the difference between the light with a reflector (on left) and without one. We used aluminum foil.

 

[dgwebster]

Glad to see someone elses implementation of lighting in a hood - often something i see lacking in posts.

i am curious though, is that thread that is holding the lights in place? from what I can see of the light fixtures, maybe something like THESE would be better suited?

Don't know, just from the picture I cannot work out what is preventing the lights from entering water whilst switched on, other than what may be a bit of thread.

 

[SJ2K]

Sure that unit is 100% water tight? and im not sure on how tin foil will hold up in the long run but 10/10 for ingenuity, keep us updated!

 

[kribensis12]

THe aluminum foil should hold up. I do outside work for a 97 yr old lady and we put foil up every spring to stop birs from nesting around her light fixtures and it lasts!

 

[bordercollie05]

Those little clips are neat. The stuff I used is wire though, so it should be okay. Also, there is a cover between the hood and the aquarium, so no problem with it dropping into the water....wouldn't trust myself to leave it open.

It would be nice to replace the tin foil sometime, but its working good enough for now. I've seen people use sheets of metal, that would be much nicer.

Also, I need to put ends on it sometime, I left it because I couldn't decide if I should add a fan, and the space is just big enough.

Thanks for the comments

 

[dgwebster]

being what looks like energy saving bulbs (love the idea of using them) the heat output shouldnt be so bad and some vents should be ok.

 

[bordercollie05]

Yeah, thats what I'm thinking. It is nice knowing they use less electricity and still give my plants the light they need

 

[angelmouse]

Great diy hood. instead of using tinfoil i use a roll of mirror finish sticky back plastic from diy shop it stays on great even with condensation and reflects more light, saves a fortune when you price up reflectors
regards Angel

 

[Ian H]

I'm sure i remember some one saying that tin foil can burn your plants/fish?

Something to do with how creased it is so theres different magnifications (sp?) of light?

 

[dgwebster]

I can imagine different angles providing strong focal points for the light in certain places - think of it lke a sky dish creating a strong signal focal point at exactly where the lnb sits infront of the dish.

however considering most commercial solutions are curved or angled in at least 3 directions, it kinda puts that part in the bin.

 

[SJ2K]

I just bought a reflector for about £6 online? Lol, easyer option IMO. Not the cheapest but fishkeeping isnt cheap

Keep us updated!

 

[bordercollie05]

Hmm, thats interesting about the light reflection. Didn't think about it focusing more strongly in certain points. I'm probably going to build a second version of this for the 20H I just got. I'm hoping to move everything from the ten into the 20H in the next couple of months, so I'll make some revisions for my hood v.2.0 .

I began siliconing my sump tonight. It's inside a ten gallon tank ($10), which I know is overkill, but I couldn't find a 5 and a 2 seemed pointless as I can use this one for a larger tank someday very easily. I had three pieces of glass cut for the sections which cost $7.00 for the glass and labor combined. I got some bioballs for $6.00 (enough to filter a 45 gallon tank....). I haven't gotten the filter floss yet, but that should run around $5.00 for the amount I need. I have a submersible pump which was I think $7. Sooo, this project should cost around $35.00 all said and done.

However, I haven't figured out the overflow yet. I really am having trouble understanding what keeps the sump from overflowing in a power outage. I've considered three options; drilling, an overflow box, and a pvc overflow. I really don't want to drill my tank. I know its the best way to go, but I'd rather have an overflow box. I've read that the pvc overflow is the most unreliable, does anyone have any experience with this version? I've worked with pvc a lot, so this would be by far the easiest way to go. I'm not really sure how to go about building an overflow box. I understand how it's designed, but I'm not sure how it works (like how do you know what dimensions to use, etc.)

So, I guess my question is, what keeps a sump from overflowing in a power outage? How do I build my overflow with that in mind? And, should I go with a pvc version or a box version?

Thanks for any advice!

Laura

 

[SJ2K]

For the best info on sumps you'll want to check out the marine section one way of avoiding an overflow in case of a power out is to use a drain which works by creating suction (durso standpipe)...

Durso Standpipe

Basicly that pipe there leads straight down into the start of your sump, suction is created when the level in the tank rises high enough. If the return pump in the sump stops working (power out) then this will drain water from the tank into the sump untill the tank level is low enough to stop the suction

 

[Rooster]

Great diy hood. instead of using tinfoil i use a roll of mirror finish sticky back plastic from diy shop it stays on great even with condensation and reflects more light, saves a fortune when you price up reflectors
regards Angel

Where do you get this mirror stuff ? New hood build on the horizon.... ;-)

 

[bordercollie05]

Ok, I've been thinking about my options for the intake still. What if I used another water pump and stuck it to the tank at the top. I'll already have one pump to send the water back to the tank. But, I think that this way, in a power outage, both pumps would stop. I also am thinking that the pump in the tank will create a siphon to the wet/dry, but once the water level dropped below the pump, it would stop right?

If I did this, would I need some sort of sponge material or something covering the pump?

Just trying to figure out the most reliable and cost effective way to do this....

Thanks

Laura



Also, I honestly haven't taken a look in the marine section yet, but I think I understand how that standpipe works....Thanks for your help SJ2K