Fisher

Hey Sprucegruve! I took a spin past here earlier without time to (April Wine) say hello. Nerrtheless, Hello, again (um, the Cars I think). I moved to southern Ontario in 2015; living outside Thunder Bay presently. Slowly making our way back home. We visited our old digs in Tomahawk a while back. The dahlia bulbs you gave my wife to plant were thriving, so the current tenant likely pulls the bulbs in the fall. I forgot if you introduced us to haskap or not... but those survive too! Great to see your posts again. Take care, dan

I was looking into this approach too, sans all the franken-pipe. No bend in the mat, no pore compression. Tweak the angle to maximize water flow through the mat. And we all could use more flow :drunk:

My 1st HMF project was in a 29g tank; a single piece of foam installed on one end. I cut the sheet slightly oversized so the mat was tight, but didn’t bow. Along with the jetlifter, I put the water heater behind the mat too. Two inch spacers along the front and back glass, made of foam trim pieces, ensured the mat wouldn't creep toward the side glass and touch the heater. Obviously, an end HMF reduces swim length of the tank – which was a consideration I hadn’t thought of before. Here's the front view of my 1st 29g HMF. On a small tank, the space the HMF occupies is noticeable. A piece of 2” 30ppi poret is probably rigid enough to span 18", but I wasn’t willing to concede 4” of tank length, even though the next tank I was going to convert is 4 feet long. The corner designs I found require channel on the tank glass to keep the foam in place. Effective, but I didn't want the hassle of draining and drying the tank in order to do it. My intent was to build something I could just drop in. I found these on the weeb. They're made of plastic – couldn’t find them anywhere on our continent last year. The prototype is cobbled together from salvaged aquarium glass; the base is 7” square. I assembled the pieces with silicone sealant – not worried about bond strength because it won’t hold any weight. I am pleased with the cavity size; plenty of room for the jet lifter and heater in there. The silicone bead in the aquarium keeps the corner units ¼” away from the tank glass. Nice space for shrimp to hide. If I were to do it again, I’d make the back corner a 45o profile. To my shame, this has been sitting here empty and dry since we moved to Ontario 9 months ago. It’d be pretty easy to put channel inside the tank to hold the poret now. But I’ve made something that I can take out and exchange for the ol’ canister anytime. Take good care folks.

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=42869

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=43759

Took another walk through HD terra losa this morning. CoolWhite are 1600 Lumens Daylight are 1650 Lumens Both are on the shelf for ~$30

I think this is what I saw Phillips LED T8 I'm heading back to the city again tomorrow and take a stroll through the store again. I think it was the location by Terra Losa. edit: only thing is that I'm sure the box said 1650 lumens.... this one is 1600 *shrug*

I was walking through HomeDepot today and spied a 4 foot T8 Linear LED drop in tube. 32W I think, 5000K. Not the same output as T5HO, but it certainly was an unexpected discovery. I, since, read that some of these linears can be used with a quick start - and some require the ballast be bypassed.

+1

I'm not a good resource for sump stuff vimmer. Thought about it. Read about it. No spine to try it. Admire anyone who does So ... you'll have three overflows, at two different heights, running down to the sump then? Seems to me the height difference in overflow lines won't matter. Once the water level reaches an escape route, away it goes. Do you already have a pump arrangement in mind that generates enough head to lift water back up to your tanks at the rate(s) you want?

If I'm picturing your setup correctly, you have 5x10gal (~500lbs of water weight) on the top shelf, 2x10gal+36gal (~560lbs of water weight) on the middle shelf and a 50gal sump (~500lbs water weight) on the bottom shelf (which could also serve as the bottom of the stand. Accounting for glass, substrate et al, each tier must hold *roughly* 600-650lbs or so? Frame each deck with 2x4s on edge - with a single 2x4 down the middle length (maybe a cross brace as you already mentioned) for center support, and you'll have lots of wood to hold the weight. The critical issue I see is how to connect each shelf at the overall height you'll require in order to maintain adequate vertical rigidity. http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=37361 I built my 2 corner cabinets out of 2x3. They are 16 inches shorter than yours. I also wrestled with cross bracing -and- how to connect the top deck to the vertical corners. The process was as rewarding as the result, I'm sure you'll think so too.

Frustrating. Sounds like something you can take up with Charles. His email address is on the good ol' Contact Us page.

Hi Ian. jamesbarr started a thread on Walstad His tank is still running. He would be a good resource for some of your questions Ian. Good for you for giving it a whirl. take good care -Fisher

thanks much

The boys in the last two photos sure look like M herbertaxelrodi. On the other hand, M trifisciata "Running Creek" can have a yellow/gold hue bracketing the lateral band. Take a look at the 2nd last photo in ranbowric's journal.