Tiny Pump

[showjyr]

What is the smallest pump out there? I'm talking really, really small. Found the Mini mag but that is wayyy to big.

 

[chrissaysyes]

I found one on ebay once that was 1"x1"x2" but it was only 40gph, not sure if thats enough for you.

 

[showjyr]

Haha.....pint glass. PM'd you.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Hehe, was just about to respond. Ok sooo the pint glass thing...my plan is to EVENTUALLY...drill two hole in the bottom of a pint glass, add rubber stoppers to the bottom of the glass to lift it up a bit, then drill matching holes in the desk it will sit on, then run flexible hose from the glass down to a much larger sump that's hidden under the desk. This will add a lot of volume for stability and room for a heater, macroalgae, live rock, plenty of flow from the return, maybe ever an auto top off unit. The glass its self will house a favorite coral or maybe even "pest" anemones such as majanos, then a hermit or perhaps some small normally unwanted invert...more than likely no substrate since the intake of the sump will be on the bottom of the glass. Lighting will be done by a modified desk lamp with metal halide. This is all after I run out of things to do My current pico that I've recently started up (link in my signature) uses that method for flow and filtration.

 

[showjyr]

Wow, that sounds simple Been meaning to ask, what brand of salt do you use?

 

[chrissaysyes]

Instant Ocean, never given me any trouble so I've never tried any other brands

 

[showjyr]

That's what I've been using just heard that there calcium levels can change drastically from batch to batch. Oh well, it seems to be very popular and I don't hear about any other real problems with it.

What is that fish in your avatar?

 

[chrissaysyes]

I stay on top of my calcium with testing and suppliments so I wouldn't really know. My avatar is a potato grouper...one day I will have a grouper tank, mark my words.

 

[SkiFletch]

If you guys are serious about this pint-glass thing, look into peristaltic pumps. These are small and can overcome the high-pressures required to flow water through thin tubing. Their flowrate is not great but then again your pint glasses have small volumes

 

[chrissaysyes]

Thats what Ive been looking at for the return pump

 

[SkiFletch]

Yup, commonly used as medical dosing pumps...

 

[showjyr]

Found these Ski. It would have a fully adjustable flow if powered from a selectable voltage ac/dc converter.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Hmm...wonder if you could have a way to randomly vary the voltage up to a certain level to create a sort of DIY wave maker...

 

[showjyr]

Maybe....and this is a big "maybe" because I'm not that great wit the electrical side of things. If you could use 2 of those ac/dc converters with the selectable voltage wired to the same pump and run them from something like one of these it may be possible.

 

[SkiFletch]

Well you couldn't use an on-off timer like that showjyr, cause if the peristaltic pump were off, I'd hate to see what the water quality of the pint glass turned to in a matter of minutes. Ultimately control is more costly with AC than it is with DC pumps...