The "high tech" ultra compact Pico build. : Fluval V build (lots of pics)

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chaostactics

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I think I've figured out my filtration.
Floss pad top level
Purigen Mid level
Bio block bottom level

Probably not going to run carbon but was thinking it might fit near the purigen but I think purigen has similar functionality anyway.
 

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I guess I need to dial back my power head a bit more. After a little less than a day and a half there's a crater in the sand bed.

Loving this Hygger adjustable DC powerhead mini but mighty! It can't be dialed less than 40% which is what I had it running for most of a 24 hour period but sometimes as high as a 60-70%.

Admittedly there's a chance it's from the upgraded 606 return pump + random flow/eductor nozzel. I'll level out the sand bed and re-aim the nozzel before adjusting the powerhead.

Too bad the return chamber wasn't, even a few mm, bigger to fit an adjustable return pump.

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So I've been thinking a lot and I think I've figured out the last step for building a drip loop. Also an idea to make side and front panels for the "stand" that will provide a very high level of protection of water egress into the "stand". In addition to providing water protection it's also to hide the electronics but a requirement is to still be able to easily access the switches, plugs, and power head controller.

The plan is to make acrylic panels the length of the front and sides of the stand. Those panels will have small rare earth magnets glued to them and very thin sheet metal glued to the pillars of the "stand". This will allow the panels to be attached and detached easily but stay in place well.

The panels will be the height be from the surface the tank is sitting on to the bottom of the inside of the lip of the tank bottom. Since the panels will tuck under/behind the lip, essentially the lip will act like eaves on a roof and shunt away any errant drops of water or even a full blown leak.

My only concern with this design is whether this will cause too much hear trapping of the electronics. Nothing is really that high draw and all the power supplies are only small amperage wall warts.

I don't think it will possibly cause the tank to over heat as I am struggling to keep the temp up with a heater at the moment.

We shall see.

After that my hardware installation and modification for the tank is essentially finished, I think.
 
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So I figured out that the ICM timer is wildly inaccurate. It does roughly delay on about the same amount of time each time you engage it but it's got a dial to go from 30 seconds to 10 min. And at the five min mark it ran for around 9 min. At the 3 min mark well over 5 minutes and at the 1 min mark. Pretty consistently 3 min and 35 seconds +/-5.

I realized that because the water rises in the rear chamber when the pump is paused for feeding it's going to trip my ato back up back up switch.

The switch has a 5 min delay so as long as I keep the feed time under 5 min I should be good. (ideally I like feed pauses of 10 min But that is not going to be a reality with this tank.

On other news I found a pistol shrimp today :)
 
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A bit of a reality check re: drip loops. I threw this heater in the display while waiting for my new one to show up.

One morning I had a little puddle of water next to the tank. Thinking it was just a bit of spilled water from adding new tank contents I wiped it up and went on with my day. Next morning the puddle was back o_O.

Took me a good few minutes of head scratching to realize what was going on. Despite the cord having a small arch water traveled via some sort of capillary action up over the rim of the tank and down the power cord.

All my permanent gear has a drip loop but this was temporary for just a few days.
PXL_20201203_015252631.jpg
 

Andreas' Reef

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A bit of a reality check re: drip loops. I threw this heater in the display while waiting for my new one to show up.

One morning I had a little puddle of water next to the tank. Thinking it was just a bit of spilled water from adding new tank contents I wiped it up and went on with my day. Next morning the puddle was back o_O.

Took me a good few minutes of head scratching to realize what was going on. Despite the cord having a small arch water traveled via some sort of capillary action up over the rim of the tank and down the power cord.

All my permanent gear has a drip loop but this was temporary for just a few days.
PXL_20201203_015252631.jpg
Can't you fit the heater in the back?
 
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chaostactics

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ITS BACK AND IN STOCK!!???!!!! A US version of the Mini Jet 606 pump!

This pump has been sold under various manufacturers for years Marineland, Mini Jet, most recently Cobalt Aquatics.

The NEWA 606 has been available for a while in a 220 VAC configuration but now it's out in a 110 VAC configuration!

This is so exciting!! (I bought two).

I'll go over the pump mod when the come in the mail.
Screenshot_20201204-100221.png
 
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It's been a while and I've been having some serious heartbreak with issues of my large tank. The little Fluval V is chugging along just fine with pretty much no intervention while I lose my mind to troubleshoot the 100 gal.

I stirred up the sand bed a little and dropped a glass thermometer in there to demonstrate flow with an Upgraded 606 pump and a random flow generator. ( Mini Jet aka Marineland aka Cobalt aka Newa 606 pump paired with a VAC 1/4" RFG).

 

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The little Fluval V is chugging along just fine with pretty much no intervention while I lose my mind to troubleshoot the 100 gal.
Sorry to hear about your 100 gal frustrations.

Following your spec thread. In the earlier picture comparing 3 powerheads, what was the smallest? The hygger?
 
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I'm excited to say I finally got out of my funk and was able to get the final tech set up on this tank and stabilize it. It's going to be a grow out tank for some tiny clowns before they can be moved to a display.

Pic updates coming soon.
 
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Sorry to hear about your 100 gal frustrations.

Following your spec thread. In the earlier picture comparing 3 powerheads, what was the smallest? The hygger?
I'm sure you've made a decision by now but the Hygger was the smallest and haa been 95% a success. I would absolutely buy it again. The only real issue is it seems to suffer from time creep. As in if I set it for an accurate time over the course of months the time will become inaccurate.
 
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