6 Gallon Rimless, DIY and Tank Leftovers

[tizzite]

Equipment:
Filter- Aquaclear 10 HOB
Heater- Rena Smart Heater 50w
Lighting- DIY 24 3Watt LEDs with Dimmer Switches-
Dimmer Switch 1: 4 Warm White, 8 Cool White
Dimmer Switch 2: 9 Royal Blue, 2 Ultra Violet, 1 Red
Dosing- Estimative Index Dosing
CO2- DIY Yeast, ebay diffuser

Flora:
Narrow Leaf Java Fern
Christmas Moss


A long time ago, fluval edges were IN. I got sucked in too. I owned every [censored][censored][censored][censored]ty aquarium there was. My first tank was a biOrb. Bleh.

This was my first attempt at a planted tank. I knew nothing back then- I used inadequate lights, pool filter sand, and the plants soon died.



Here’s my second incarnation of the Fluval Edge. Last winter I set up a nano reef tank for my mother in her kitchen. I upgraded the lights to two 13W 10000K CFL bulbs. I didn’t last long though:



While it was cycling my mother dropped a glass cup on it and shattered the top hahaha. It was actually a blessing, since the top is a heinous PITA to deal with when maintaining the tank, and it severely limits your light options. At last I’m free of the tyranny of that god damned tank.

I took a razor blade and cut off the top, and ended up with a decent rimless tank. I prefer ADA tanks because of their high clarity glass, but I really do like the dimensions of the fluval edge.

Originally my intent was to make another nano reef, which is why I chose to go with dimmable LED lights. But then I decided that a low tech planted tank would be much easier to take care of as I finished my last semester at UT Austin.

I also wanted to experiment with Christmas Moss, Narrow Leaf Java Fern and Dwarf pea puffers.

I ordered the DIY 24 LED light kit from Aqua Style Online. I used this thread as a guide.



I didn’t like the fan that came with the kit so I bought 2 smaller, thinner fans from Fry’s Electronics. The power supply that powers the fans was too much, and the fans spun too fast and loud, so I added a 100 ohm resistor from Radioshack to the voltage line. This lowered the current passing through the fans and they spun slower and quieter. They are almost silent now but spin fast enough to cool my heat sink.



I went to the dollar store and bought a rigid food container as a project box. I noticed that my LED drivers got really hot after a few hours so I decided to use the fan that came with the kit to cool my project box. I attached it to the tupperware lid and used an plug from an old servo for quick connect/disconnect. I used heat shrink tubing for the first time on this project and loved how clean it made all my wires look.



The light bar was made from 1/2″ conduit pipe. Here’s an awesome guide on how to make an ADA Style Light Bar. I really liked how clean the setup looked- no ugly hanging wires or power wires.



I'm sure everyone's familiar with DIY cabinets at this point.





I spray painted this stand for a shiny gloss look, and used some left over laminate from another tank stand to make the trim pieces for my light.









Ordered some plants from aquatic magic.



Now I'm just waiting for the moss to grow in. I'm literally watching plants grow.





I've never done a moss tank before. I added some ceramic media from a HOB aquaclear 70 to aid in some bacterial growth since I have no substrate. Do moss tanks have substrate? I thought I would omit it so I could get some water circulation under the moss.

I think I'm gonna get some wisteria later, and maybe some OEBT shrimp.

[fusiongt]

You've gotten a lot better nice job!

[gnod]

dang.. this is a sick set up.
i really like everything about it.

i thought this photo was funny:
bottom left corner... :P

[sdylanh]

Would you be willing to share your approximate materials cost for the stand and light setup?

[tizzite]

Thanks for the feedback y'all.

This is my estimate of the stand and light bar:
$1 conduit ($40 conduit bender if you want to keep one)
$10 2 cans of spray paint primer
$10 2 cans of spray white paint
$14 2 euro hinges
$1 cabinet feet
$5 wood putty, wood screws
$3 machine screws, plastic grommets for the light bar
$50 8'x4' birch, 3/4" thick- this stand only need half of this. I made another stand with the other half.

In retrospect I would have gone for another wood. I chose birch because it looked really sturdy and high quality, but I think I could have gone with something cheaper. I bought a few pipes of conduit for practice. The next time I make a stand I'm going to ask the people at Lowes to cut it for me.

Laminate (which I didn't use on this stand) in my neighborhood is around $90 for the cheapest sheet of 4x8. I didn't know you could roll it up and put it in the backseat of your car. I had no idea it was so easy to cut precisely for the trim pieces of the light- just score and break, like you're cutting plexiglass.

The last thing I learned is that I hate installing euro hinges for the doors. It's pretty hard to do right. My next stand will probably have sliding doors.