Can i make a Nano out of a 3/4 gallon acrylic halfhex?

[icebear]

i have some of those foolish 'tabletop fountain' pumps. Thought maybe i could drill an outlet hole and a return hole in the teeny acrylic container i have , rig it up to a palpen sump with a corner bubble filter and an air pump and use the tabletop fountain to circulate the whole gallon and a half works. Use a small compact florescent clip on lamp for light and keep it in a warm place (or figure out something little to heat it with) and put something cool and tiny in there to live (a pair of small shrimp or some shrooms or zoas or my little green leather).

Maybe even bring it to work?

or is it too small....? i don't want the sump to be bigger than the tank.

Figured it was worht asking.

[icebear]

guess this is gonna be a 'try it and see' project

3/4 gallon nano w/ a 1 pint sump..... hmm.....

[icebear]

i'm thinking that there will not be a lot of room for error when it comes to balancing the drain and return flow rates.....

i have to try this.... it won't cost me more than a couple bucks to get the tubing and connectors to see if i can get the drain/return to balance. If i can get that right i'll go ahead and get the stuff for a tiny suction cup type air pump filter thingie...which will only cost another $10 or so.

When i was 10 me and my dad made this tiny woodstove replica that heated water in a small copper tank. The whole setup fit on a board that was about 11" long and about 7" wide. We used a 40 watt light bulb for the heat source and the water was selfcirculating. It was so neat to make something that small and to have it function.

I'd get such a kick out of having a tiny tank and sump that will fit on a board less than 16" square.

i don't want it all contained in a hood or inside a box, i want to see the remote sump to.

[ckreef]

If the sump and the tank are at the same elevation then the return lines won't be as critical and might make this whole project a little easier.

Am I even understanding everything.

Sounds cool to me --- I tried out using Super Bright white LED's to light a Pico 2/3 gallon but you would need way to many to be able to keep corals of any kind. It just wasn't practical lighting.

[icebear]

What would i use for a heat source?


i'm not entirely sure what the gallonage is in this tank.... its on of those cheap acrylic Betta tanks you get at walmart for like $9...i've had it for years. It is labeled as 'one Gallon' but i don't remember ever being able to pour a whole gallon of water into it. The PalPen i bought is also labeled as a one gallon, but gee it really dosen't look like a full gallon either. But at the most this is a 2 gallon setup...i have seen heaters that require at least 5 gallons, but there is no temp controll.... they just simply bring the water temp up to a couple degrees above ambient....

[Ray1214]

Ice bear,

I tried something with one of those betta setups. It was like a quart, and I put in a shroom and a zoo and one of those AZOO palm filters. There is a clip lamp that fits over it and it kinda behaved nicely. I had the worse time trying to keep it cool though. Diddn't have much of a heat problem, but it sat at my desk which is in a heated room. Maybe I will try my hand at one of those again. Maybe try a hermit crab at first and graduate up to a peppermint shrimp or something.

But anyways no sump, just the little hob filters and the clamp on light. I bought a small temp strip for 50 cents at walmart.

Ray

[icebear]

it will be in a room that will stay about 70°
but i don't think things like pep shrimp can handle anything lower than 75... i was hoping a very small 25 watt heater might keep it at least close to that 80° mark... a light bulb might give some heat but it can't be on all the time and besides i plan to use cool flors.

for the sake of logic, i almost should go for a 5 or 10 gallon container, but i'm just too intrigued by a lilliput system... i have daydreams of creating a cool microsystem in a plumbed brandy snifter...a lot like those Biospheres with the tiny red shrimp and algae or those old baccarat style paperweights..

[Ray1214]

I tried to find those little red shrimp. YOu can only buy them in breeder kits.

[icebear]

my hubby decided to wash out my proposed one gallon hex thing with soap.............. so i don't know if i should use it.... argh


i decided to just go buy a self contained acrylic 5 gallon setup to start... it might be a good thing since the one gallon might have been too challenging to start with with. if i can't handle the 5 then i know i would have nuked the little one..

[Ray1214]

Be careful of the 5 gal tanks. Unless you are talking bow. Lisa saw my 3 gal eclipse nano and bought herself a 5 gal eclipse. However it had a smaller footprint than the 3 gal. You guessed it, we need more than 26 watts for that tank and couldn't keep temperatures down. It is now a freshwater tank.

RAy

[icebear]

the one i got isn't an Eclipse.. its an Aqua- something...its still in the trunk of my car... didn't feel up to smuggling it in cause while its still in the box my hubby can insist that i take it back to the store....when its up and cycling (by tomorrow afternoon while he's at work) it will be too late and it will be officially mine and then i can just smooch up to him to get forgiven.

The box didn't describe the lighting too well, but its a single flour bulb, narrow, and about 10" long. I figure i only need enough light for some generic LR fauna, a few shroom polyps, some macro and either a pair of shrimp or small fish... if it turns out to be too dim for shrooms then i'll look into revamping the lighting....