ReefTec Current Wave Generator

[Jimbo]

Ok, I'm getting ready to order one of these units. They have several models. Is there any reason not to get the clear $40 dollar unit? The pump has metal bearings, any concerns here?
Here's the link to the website.
http://www.reeftec.com/
Thanks

[David Grigor]

Jim,

I have a pe-1 on a 40g breeder used as a prop tank. It does a real good job of circulation but the tank is bare bottom with no sandbed.

Because tank is fairly shallow you may have some trouble kicking up the sandbed.......


Since just a prop tank and not for looks I got the clear one. IMO: the black doesn't really help hide if much and if you let coraline grow on it probably won't matter in 6 months anyway.

[Jimbo]

Thanks david, I went to the hobby shop today and picked up a prop and some golden rod. Picked up a small AC motor at fry's ($2.99) and some acrylic at HD, guess what I'm going to do Will post pics and construction plans, want to keep it as simple as possible. Golden rod is made of teflon, has an inner tube and an outer tube. Not sure if it will last long, but it is flexible, so I can mount the motor on the outside of the tank. I've heard that the pe-1 and Cal 200e both have problems. Pe-1 shaft rusts out and people have said that the call 200e just stops turning on. I'm going to take the reostat out of a old fan so I can adjust the motor.

[Jimbo]

Here's what I have so far, making some measurements on how I want to configure the propeller and motor. The motor has shafts on both sides so depending on the propeller you get depends on what side you mount the shaft. It will go into the tank at an angle pointing towards the middle/alternate end of the tank. If this works out, will build a second one for the other end of the tank.

[tdwyatt]

heh! Kinda reminds me of a trolling motor I used to have on the Johnboat...

[Geoff]

looks good.

now you can do blender mush right in the tank.

you could use a pulley system to keep the shaft lenght short and get it closer to the sides of the aquarium. have know idea how complicated you want to make it.

G~

[Jimbo]

Yes Geoff been considering the possible use of some gears with this project. Bevel gears might be the best to use. Of course they need to be plastic and in enough flow area to keep them clean or above the water line. Even thier shafts would need to be plastic. If anyone has any other ideas on how to gear this project I would like to hear from you. If I mounted the motor above the tank, could get away with just one bevel gear. But there is space constraints and would like the motor completely outside the tank. So if I mount it away from the tank on the back two bevel gears would be required. The golden rod I have is not as flexible as I would like, so maybe some more research can be done into a flexible rod system, this would take some complication out of the design.

[Geoff]

i was actually thinking of just running a rubber band between two parallel shafts. i would think this would keep the turbulence down. you are not needing to find out of the ordinary for reef-safe. you can "gear" it any way you want, or just run it 1:1 round the shafts you have.

G~

[Jimbo]

Yes that's a good idea geoff. It would have to be something more durable than a rubberband though hhhmmm. A large oring might do the trick running from shaft to shaft and small orings to keep the lower shaft in place. Anyone know of what type of material should be used for such orings. Will the black ones you buy at hd or ace work or will they dissolve or some type of rubber band that will not succumb to salt water.

Thanks

[Geoff]

i have used those black o-rings on all of my DIY bulkheads in my refugium. so far they are doing great. but i have no idea on super long range durability. they do not seem to be made out of the same material as those old style black o-rings that used to dry rot.

hopefully somebody else has some more experience with them. i would be worried about the UV then anything else.

G~

[Jimbo]

Ok been trying to cut 1/4" acrylic all day with my jigsaw and it just melts, tried several different blades ect... Finally figured out that the blade needs to be cooled so I filled a bucket with water and cut the stuff over it, the blade dips and cools itself. After I went out and bought a hacksaw thought I was going to have to cut it by hand this project so far has gotton me a new hacksaw, set of drill bits, glue, several jigsaw blades and tap set.
LOL

[Geoff]

ahhh, the joys of working with acrylic. i have found working with a jig saw to just push as hard as you can and go as fast as you can. the water trick you are using works, but i do not suggest that to people becuase of the recent posts about unsuccessfull ways of electricuting yourself. since you are using a jig saw for the acrylic use weld-on 16, it will handle the gaps in your cutting very will.

if you plan on doing acrylic alot, then i suggest getting a circular saw blade without any offset on the teeth. this will leave a very clean cut.

its project time.

G~

[Jimbo]

Yeah Geoff thought about the electrocution stuff. but not much splashes back (Frankly I was so mad yesterday, I didn't care LOL). Maybe I should wear rubber gloves I was just going to use epoxy to glue it. But you have to sand the interface points. I can't find weldon anywhere, maybe I should check Ace today, that might work better. HD or Bi-Mart didn't have it at least they said they didn't.

[Jimbo]

Here's a pic of at least part of my design. I am using ball point pen casing for the lower shaft and some teflon bearings. The motor will be held in place by a bulkhead of acrylic. Plus need a splash guard to keep the saltwater riding up the oring from spraying everywhere. will put a piece of tubing over the motor shaft to keep the salt off of it.

[Geoff]

i have only been able to find it at plastic supply places. it drives me nuts that HD and others sell the acrylic but not the cement. i have found PVC cement works better than epoxy for acrylic, in a pinch. other than that nothing works on the stuff.

living in NC now, i can not find it locally at all. this is where i get all of my cements.
<a href="http://www.tapplastics.com/plastics/adhesives/444_wo16.html">Tapp Plastics</a>

design looks great! keep us posted.

maybe we should have our own DIY forum here.

G~