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Location
Upper East Side
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Well, these are supposed to be "crazy ideas". :)

How about a chiller?

I have one. But it makes my electrical bill sad. And I'm afraid that I'm going to blow a fuse with it if it comes on at the same time as my roommate's air conditioner.

(Please do not ask me why we can't just put the airconditioner in the living room where the fish tank is. I miss living alone.)
 
Location
Nueva York
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19   0   1
So here is my version of the cube auto feeder. Its semi-complicated... but at least its something.
AutoFed.jpg


There is more to be drawn but this is what i have so far.

The cube in the freezer remain in either a conventional ice maker or a typical dry food auto feeder (modifications will need to be done if using dry food auto feeder). When triggered by a timer, the cube will fall down a tube or rubber pipe into a strainer which is attatched to a rotating mechanism. The cube remains in the strainer for about 10-20 minutes and completely defrosts. (note: a simple unit to flush the cube in the strainer with water can be added into the equation if seen fit.... i can draw up plans for that too if anyone wants). After the defrost time is finished, the strainer attatched to the rotating mechanism rotates 90 degrees, and the defrosted food falls into a funnel that leads down into the pre-return reservoir (note: the flushing unit could also be used to flush water down the funnel to prevent any clogging). A dosing pump or powerhead then send the reservoir water+free floating food into the tank.

Total cost would probably be just below $100 with the fridge being of the greatest cost....

Badda Bing Badda Boom.
 

cali_reef

Fish and Coral Killer
Rating - 97.3%
36   1   0
What happened?

It uses just as many watts as comparable size room air conditioning unit, cost about the same, but it puts so much more heat back in to the room vs. a window A/C unit.

The coil used in most dehumidifiers I looked at are made from aluminum, it will not last more then 2-3 summers if it had to take out a few gallons of salt water from the air each day. The commercial units and some older units are made wit copper coil which will last longer.
 

TimberTDI

Recovering Lurker
Location
Monroe, NY
Rating - 100%
14   0   0
A siphon type overflow that doesn't use air to push water down, and with a check valve!

I thought of a roll out mat to fit certain common tanks such as 75, 120, 180 that is about an inch thick and hollow inside for water to pump through. Think of an air hockey table with spouts of water rising instead of air , for a BB system, no more crap bottom.

Before you squirt paly juice in my eyes...

I was tinkering with this idea awhile back. I want to use starboard layed 1/2" above the bottom glass. Put a bulkhead in the starboard,drill a bunch of holes so that it looks like pegboard (or an air hockey table), seal the edges w/ silicone. Pump a close loop through the starboard and bingo no more debris on the bottom. Maybe even drill the holes on a 45* angle.

Steven
 

LeslieS

Advanced Reefer
Location
Manhattan
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Before you squirt paly juice in my eyes...

I was tinkering with this idea awhile back. I want to use starboard layed 1/2" above the bottom glass. Put a bulkhead in the starboard,drill a bunch of holes so that it looks like pegboard (or an air hockey table), seal the edges w/ silicone. Pump a close loop through the starboard and bingo no more debris on the bottom. Maybe even drill the holes on a 45* angle.

Steven

How will you keep detritus from collecting under the star board?
 

TimberTDI

Recovering Lurker
Location
Monroe, NY
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14   0   0
Leslie,

You think detritus would collect if there was always postive pressure under the starboard? I gues you could incorporate a reverse flow to suck water under the board like a UGF.

Steven
 

House of Laughter

Super Moderator
Staff member
Vendor
Location
Ossining, NY
Rating - 100%
310   0   0
How will you keep detritus from collecting under the star board?

I think this idea has the law of deminishing returns syndrome - since detrius and sand etc will collect underneath, you would want more flow to avoid this from happening. Also, the holes drilled are subseptable to clogging - as soon as a few of them clog in one area and there is no flow there, you have in fact created a dead spot - I'd be down to try this on a 10g tank though - if only we could find aquarium safe silicone.

House
 
Rating - 99.1%
225   2   0
Most common cause for power loss in homes is down powerlines from high winds rain storms, putting up a solar array is not a viable solution in those weather and light conditions.

and hampster, oh no I mean squirrels. It's a common saying, "is it lighting or is it squirrels this time", in briefings of power failures inhouse of the energy companies.
 

cb747

How many is too many?
Rating - 100%
38   0   0
I like the starboard idea. Silicone it in place and make sure you use clean filtered water drawn from your sump. I run filter socks on my sump so in theory there should be no solids being pumped under the starboard and thus no clogs. I think its a very workable idea!
 

DRZL

**ROCKSTAR**
Location
Hillside NJ
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Steven,
Howd it work out for you? Great mind think alike huh?;)

However the one I was designing was made of a very flexible material, w/ internal channels and 1/8" holes every 3/4" length. It would be like a mat of sorts but structurally sound to hold the overlying rocks.

As for detritus buildup, there wouldnt be any since the mat offers and enclosed water channeling(nothing gets under), and the pump I imagined either had a prefilter or would chop up detritus to the point of easy expelling. (nothing gets/stays in)

Anyway, I "was" supposed to get a prototype going, but theres not enough hours in a day! Anyone know of any existing materials that could work to try.

One I personally found was a plastic sheet that had holes (same place where the eggcrate was found) but it wasnt flexible but could be assembled.
 
Rating - 99.1%
225   2   0
I like the starboard idea. Silicone it in place and make sure you use clean filtered water drawn from your sump. I run filter socks on my sump so in theory there should be no solids being pumped under the starboard and thus no clogs. I think its a very workable idea!


Then why not, like what I use to do, just under gravel plate. If you don't like the look of UG plate put drilled starboard on it. Your don't even have to glue it for support. When time to completely cleaning the tank, you don't have to peel the silicone.
 

Quang

Advanced Reefer
Location
NYC
Rating - 100%
32   0   0
With the hockey table idea, isn't there going to be areas with more pressure than others or holes in the corners/outer regions where the water pressure don't reach properly? That'll lead to detritus falling in and staying in under the board, no? How we are going to evenly distribute the flow/pressure from the pump through so many holes? Just a few questions, but I think this idea could work :)
 
Rating - 99.1%
225   2   0
With the hockey table idea, isn't there going to be areas with more pressure than others or holes in the corners/outer regions where the water pressure don't reach properly? That'll lead to detritus falling in and staying in under the board, no? How we are going to evenly distribute the flow/pressure from the pump through so many holes? Just a few questions, but I think this idea could work :)


We can control it by size and density of the holes. In Air conditioning, we use difference size pipe in different section to keep the flow more or less same within the whole premise
 

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