Drew's ADA Mini M

[mahko]

Originally Posted by dr3ww3rd

Yes. It is actually covered in Formica. I thought about painting it but I figured putting Formica down would make it last longer and look better. The door was hung using euro hinges which was the hardest part of the whole thing.

I've heard how hard formica is to work with, so your level of skill definitely shows.

I used euro hinges with my ADA style stand and I understand what you mean. Took a lot of double checking my measurements.

[Xalyx]

Can you show me how the tubing is exiting the stand and entering the tank?

[dr3ww3rd]

Originally Posted by Xalyx

Can you show me how the tubing is exiting the stand and entering the tank?

Sure. In the picture the lily pipe to the right is the inflow and the lily pipe to the left is the outflow. So basically it goes down the tube on the right, gets cycled through the Eheim 2213 canister filter and then comes up the tube to the left where the water is returned into the tank. Hope that helps. Also, typically I don't use the suction cups but I have been playing with the height of my lily pipes.


So technically I have been using a 24w 6500k bulb that I have had since my old tank setup. I decided I wanted to switch to the ADA Solar Mini bulb since I needed a new bulb anyways. Problem was the connector I had was a straight 4 pin adapter and the ADA bulb uses a square 4 pin adapter. So I ordered an ADA bulb and a square pin adapter. After work tonight I grabbed a beer and the connector and got to work. Just finished up and man is this bulb BRIGHT! It makes my tank pop even more now. Anyway below are pictures showing it off and on, even though it's way brighter in person.

[defender.TX]

Looking great. What material is that reflector in the light hood? If it's metallic, which I'm assuming it is, you should lap it with some fine grit sandpaper. If you can get a mirror finish on it, your PAR values should go up.

As an alternative, you can use a little bit of chocolate from a chocolate bar, but that's another story...

[dr3ww3rd]

It's a scrap piece of metal from a heat duct pipe (A new one that is haha). It reflects a good amount but sand paper probably would help out. I had a reflector from my old light but I couldn't get it to fit unfortunately

[dr3ww3rd]

Took a photo after the daily water change today. The first photo is from day 2 and the second photo is from today which is day 6. There were a few pieces of hc that floated up from the start, so a few pieces might have gotten moved but there is still a noticeable difference in growth. You can also tell that the new bulb is much brighter and crisp.

Day 2

Day 6

[Green_Flash]

Looking good! the water looks real clear.

[defender.TX]

Wow that bulb looks way better! Love it.

[dr3ww3rd]

Well it's been one week since the tank was planted so to celebrate here is a picture of some pearling HC. If you look at the HC on the right side you can see the roots shooting down

[Xalyx]

What are the dimensions of the stand and how long did it take you to make it? Did you reference anything?

[dr3ww3rd]

12" deep by 18" wide by 34" high. No not really I mainly used the ada website to figure out how to make it look like the real one but changed a little to make it work better for me.

[dr3ww3rd]

Well I got some new glassware in the mail the other day.


After it was installed


Seems like the HC likes it

[Couesfanatic]

Looks good. Looks very clean. I like the glass u for the top of the tank.

[dr3ww3rd]

Well today marks the end of week 2. I added two oto cats today and I am going to order amano shrimp by the end of the weekend. Also did a water change today.

Day 2

Day 6

Day14


And a picture of the oto cats. This was taken right after I put them in so they were still a little stressed.

[dr3ww3rd]

Took a picture after a water change today. Still battling diatoms. Also added a few amano shrimp about a week ago
Day 24