DIY Corner: Fan Power pt.2

Hi Folks!

Back with another update on the DIY Fan setup. Aftering using this fan for sometime and really seeing just how effective the cooling via PC fans was and how viable it is for folks living in hotter areas, I wanted to figure out how I could improve on an already effective method. 

I realized that I couldn't really do much to increase the cooling capacity, but I could work on finding an effective way to combat the evaporation for my tanks. Realizing that the fan's doesn't need to be in operation for 24/7 (or until I turned it off manually) I opted to find a smart solution.

I am very pleased to be introducing the brain-ware v1.0. This brain-ware is rigged to kickstart the fans at set temperature and auto on/off when the temperature is met. This allows the tanks to stay cool but eliminates the human need of constantly monitoring and topping off the tanks. 

The temperature probe is very effective at monitoring the tank's temperature and making sure the tank is never above set temperature. For all my tanks, I've rigged PC fans and the brainware to monitor each tank's temperature. 

To test how effective this brain-ware was at maintaining the correct temp, below are a few photos of my Ellen Wang tank kept cool by the brain-ware. 

Sunday was a very hot day. I wanted to test the extremes of the PC fans and brain-ware. 

Sunday's outside temperature was 100F.

100F Day

As you can see, with the PC and brain-ware, the Ellen Wang PRL tank is kept at a nice cool 73.9F

The probed indicated that the temp increased by .01F by the time I moved closer to the brain-ware to take photo.

The temp of the room with probe outside. 89.7F is no joking matter. This little fan has enough power to pull the tank's temp down from a balmy 89.7F to 73.9F without breaking a sweat! That's a 15.8 degrees drop! 

As you can see, not only is the PC effective on days with of 100F temps, the probe is very accurate at monitoring the temperature. It's on/off function is just fantastic and really gets the job done!

DIY Corner: Fan Power!!

Hi Folks!

With the onset of summer in full swing, depending on where you're living, you may or may not be experiencing heat problems. I figure I make a short entry to help folks explore a different cooling method other than the typical cooling methods such as chillers (expensive), AC (also expensive and not every house has one), freezing ice bottles and adding it to your hot tanks (highly ineffective), and many other misc. methods. 

As we all know, summer can be a big issue for those living in places that experiences extreme temperatures. Myself, I am living in an almost desert like state, and our summer gets pretty..warm.. I usually dread the summer because all my hard work breeding and rearing my shrimps ends up dying due to the hot summer (also I hate the sticky icky summer and I have bad allergies).

As such, I wanted to share something that I've found to be extremely helpful at cooling and fending off the summer heat. I am a big advocator of using fans to air cool my tanks. Fans provide cooling to our tanks in the form of evaporation. If you can deal with this problem, then air cooling is a very efficient and cost effective way at dealing with the heat.

Clip on fans (Aquarium Fans, keyword ebay search) are very easy to find. If you're not techy, then I would highly recommend searching for an eBay auction and just buying a pre-assembled setup. Having been using the China made aquarium fans since 2014, I can confidently say that they work. Not only do they work, but they work pretty well. The only downside of the fans are that they are quite noisy, and the prices of individual units are high and can really add up of your an enthusiast with many tanks (as I am assuming you are if you're reading my blog). 

After buying 3x China made aquarium fans and spending nearly $120 for the lot, I figured there must be a more cost effective approach to cooling me fan. I figured that PC Fans wired into a DC power source is something not overly difficult and thus could be sourced and made in scale at very affordable prices. And so I started my search and planning. I wanted something that was aesthetically pleasing but had function and form to support.

Below is a prototype of what I came up with. This is a singular PC fan wired into a DC wall adapter. Unlike the China made fans that comes with a minimum of 2 fans, this single 80mm monstrosity is a single unit that packs enough cooling power as the 6x fans unit... no lie.... 

This is a 3-spd Antec 80mm fan that I found and decided to use as my prototype. This fan was small enough to be discrete but had enough power to cool a 20G long without much effort.

For the longest time I struggled to figure out how to attach the fan onto the tank. I found that it was too costly to have plastic fabricated to fit my aquarium. As such, I found a L-arm that provided the perfect fit. 

Wires all hidden behind the heat shrink cable and connector plugs. I'm all about aesthetics, so looks was an important factor to account for. If I couldn't achieve a nice looking cooling unit, then I would not pursuit this project in the first place. #1 Rule: Aesthetics

A closer look at the L-Arm that allowed for this entire project to happen. This little guy was the catalyst that made it all happen.  This serves as a very tight clamp and can be  modified to fit any size Rimless GLASS tanks under 40G.

  

The 3-spd controller. Another reason why I decided to opt for the Antec fan is because this particular unit allows the end user to set speeds at low, medium, and high. You may be wonder why this is important? Well, this factor is important because this single 80mm fan can be fitted for tanks as small as 4G all the way up to 25G. Having a speed controller will allow for less evaporation if fitted for a smaller tank. The cooling provided will be the same, but the low settings help cut down the evaporation. Additionally, on warm days, you can change the settings down to low and have the fan run all day and maintain the tank's cool temperature or set to high if rapid cooling is required. Lastly, the low - medium settings is very quite, unlike the China made fans. Suitable for bedroom tanks.

Photo of this unit clipped on the side of my 60P. It's very discreet and actually looks much better than the bulkier China made fans. 

Special thanks to my dear friend Gene for helping me understand how the rig this setup and for inspiring me to find a more cost effective approach to keeping my tanks cool. 

Rack: Dual 10g Setup

I haven't been feeling too well lately, maybe I'm coming down with a cold, but I was able to devote sometime during the weekend to setup a new tank and complete by dual 10G rack setup.

Both tanks are sitting on one of those stainless steel wire shelf (available from HomeDepot or any home important stores) with a custom cut piece of 1/2" plywood to evenly reinforce the stand.

Tank: 10 Gallon Rimless 

Filtration: Eheim 2213

Heater: Eheim 'Jager' 50Watt

Substrate: ADA Aquasoil - Amazonia

Step 1: Preparation

I start off by giving the tank a nice cleaning. My goal is to tint the back piece of glass of this tank so a nice cleaning with gloves to prevent fingerprint marks and oil from developing on the glass is required. I bought this tank from a local store in SF for a great price. This tank has curved fronts, but still sexy and for the price I bought it for is a major steal. Overall, tank costed me $20 which is really cheap for a rimless tank.

Step 2: Inspection

I turned the tank backside facing up to closely inspect the surface. I wanted to make sure that the surface was well prepared and ready for tint application. I decided to only use water for the tint (suppose to use water + soap) because I didn't want to risk soap residue getting into the tank and cause issues in the future.

Step 3: Application

Tint is carefully measured and cut to size. The tint is tricky to cut because window tint (the type I'm using) is sized for large windows. It's easy if you already have the measuring equipment but could prove tricky if you don't as cutting straight lines could prove challenging.  The tint was harder to apply because I wasn't using the soap method, but overall, I'm happy with the look and the outcome.

Step 4: Position

After applying the tint and drying the excess water, I positioned the tank into the allotted space on the rack.  It took awhile to get the perfect measurement from floor to tank top because I wanted to make waterchange as easy as possible, and in the past, I've always positioned my tanks so low to the floor that made siphoning water is impossible. This is a good thing to remember and must be accounted for when setting up tank on racks.

Step 5: Position take 2

I had to remove the top tank to position the light for the bottom tank. I had a stroke of genius and managed to hook the light mounting legs backwards and apply hooks to them to hold into place. This allows me to hang the light securely and safety on the rack. This hook method allows me to more easier remove the light for maintenance in the future and also hang the light further up as to prevent algae from forming I also took this opportunity to reposition the light rack to accommodate for the filters, CO2 and electrical plugs.

Step 6: Condition - Bacteria

The following 3 steps are conditioning steps that most successful shrimp keepers do to ensure their substrate is enriched to ensure long term success in shrimp breeding.

Drops seen on top are droplets of Revive Vita, a proprietary product designed and created by my friend, ShrimpyDaddy, given to me to cycle my tanks faster and provide long term successful with shrimp keeping. Revive Vita will give tank/substrate and supercharged start. In my previous experience with starting tanks with Revive Vita, I've been able to cycle a tank using ADA AS Amazonia in 2 week (pretty quick for anyone who knows how long it usually takes to cycle ADA AS).

Step 7: Condition - Minerals and Traces

In this stage of the setup, I'm applying minerals and trace elements to the base layer of the tank. I'm using Revive Minerals and Revive Vivace for my minerals and trace needs. Revive Minerals and Revive Vivace isn't only useful during setup, all my tanks are dosed weekly with these products to ensure shrimps are provided all the necessary nutrients they require to develop healthy shells.

Step 8: Condition - Bacteria Food

Given that you have bacteria ready to go, you need to remember you'll need to supply a food soruce for these bacteria. Because Revive Vita is comprised of many types of bacteria, we need to met the food demands for these bacterias.  Revive Sinewy S (powdered form) is sprinkled evenly on the base. Sinewy Cereal S product designed to be used as a food for your substrate.  What??  Food for substrate??... ya.. right..... NOPE, this is true. Think of a well established tank as a closed eco-system. You're keeping many more living things inside your tanks than just shrimps alone. A healthy substrate means you will have a healthy team of decomposers which in turns will mean you tank will break down wastes more efficiently and prevent those random colony collapse many folks experience.

Step 9: Fill

Time for the tank to be filled with substrate. The tank is filled in a sloping manner. I have the tank as 6cm in the front sloping to 8cm in the back. After the substrate compacts, I'll be left with 4cm and 6cm, respectively. 

Why Slope? - Sloping a substrate is a great way to ensure you have the ideal setup for taking photos of your shrimps in the future. Sloping and moving the substrate becomes impossible once shrimps are moved into the tank. It's always best to do sloping during the early setup stages.

     

Step 10: Flush

Now that the tank is all setup, it's time to fill and flush. ADA Aquasoil series has a lot dust during the initial setup. This means you'll need to flush the tank a few times to clear up the murky water. After the subsequent flushes, the tank will be crystal clear and cycling can start.

Filters all hooked up and equipment plugged in. The tank will be cycling in 82-86F temp for the next few weeks. Remember how Revive Vita contains many strains of bacteria? Well, these stains of bacteria do best in warmer waters. They're activated in warmer waters so this should be considered the most important step.

REMEMBER: Add Activated Carbon to your filter for the 1st week to absorb harmful substances leaching out of the substrate. This will also help your cycle. 

Thank you for reading.

Will update when tank is cycled!!

Cheers ^.^

Moss Carpet

Lately, there's been a lot of people asking me to show them how to grow moss on stainless steel sheets like I have growing inside a few of my tanks.  I've decided that I'm going to make a little guide for people to follow and have a better shrimp keeping experience.

I've explained in an earlier post that having moss is really important for anyone trying to keep and breed shrimps.  Keeping and growing moss will help increased biological functions, absorb harmful nitrates, increase water oxygenation, and also make for a more aesthetically pleasing aquarium.  Micro-organisms growing on moss will provide excellent food for adult shrimps and baby shrimps and it will also act as a shelter for baby shrimps to hide in while they grow.  Shrimps depend on moss during all stages of life.  Adults love grazing on the moss between feedings, so it's a good idea to have moss inside shrimp tanks.  Moss have very minimum requirements so its the perfect plant for low tech tanks or beginners looking for a plant that won't easily die.

We'll need a couple of things before we can start making our moss carpet.

Mini xmas moss is an excellent carpet moss because it has very thick and dense growth.  I use fishing line because once it's added to the aquarium it the thread becomes nearly invisible.  If you don't have fishing line, you can use cotton thread.  The main reason we use stainless steel mesh is because it's corrosive resistant and because it sinks when its underwater.

Ideally, you separate the moss into thin fronds and spread it evenly across the SS Mesh.  Do not compact the moss because this will cause the moss on the bottom to die because its shaded.  Thinly spread fronds results in healthier new growth.  Mini xmas moss will grow in a upward direction, filling in within a couple of weeks.  Try to get a nice piece similar to the one pictured.  Tying a corner of the mesh will help you tie the moss down easier once you have it spread on top.  Once the moss is evenly spread, I tie in a horizontal and then vertical direction.  I dip the completed moss in a bucket of water, shaking it around to free up the loose moss that didn't get tied down.

The final results should be a new sheet of moss that's evenly spread.  It should look similar to this.  Initially, I started off with enough mini xmas moss to make 3 sheets.  After 2 months, I was able to cultivate enough moss to turn 1 sheet into 6 sheets of moss.  I haven't touch the other 2 fully grown sheets because making the moss sheets is very time consuming.  I hope this guide was helpful for those wanting to grow moss and scape it into something nice.

Good lucky shrimp keeping!