What's the most HILLBILLY thing you've rigged up on your tank?

[snorklr]

my ato is a red 2 gallon picnic jug...when i took out the spout the 1/4 bulkhead fitting fit perfectly in the original hole....and its sitting on a stack of 3 milk crates

 

[Shaun Sweeney]

Don't have pics but I used a car radiator as a chiller. Worked just fine.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

My ato is pretty redneck.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Don't have pics but I used a car radiator as a chiller. Worked just fine.

They say, " if you use a radiator as a chiller, you must be a hillbilly,." Thanks for sharing, comrade

 

[Frogger]

The most hillbilly thing I ever hooked up. That is a tough one because I have tried dozens of red-necked things. All the way from homemade algae scrubbers to 6' tall skimmers out of PVC back in the early days of reefing in the 80's and 90's when these things were not readily available as there was no internet only FAMA and mail order.

Probably the most extreme was:
Back in the 90's dump buckets were all the rage to create natural waves. I hooked up a 10 gallon bucket on top of my tank and made float and attached it to a toilet valve. I pumped water into the bucket and when it filled up the float would raise up the toilet valve and the bucket would flush into the tank. A rush of water would go into the tank. Once empty the toilet value would re-seat itself. This dump bucket was great in theory however every 40 second the tank would flush. It sounded like I was living in a public bathroom. Also debris would accumulate in the bucket and block it from having a clean seal. I would have to clean it out every few days.

One day I came home from work and the bucket sprung a leak and half the tank was all over the floor. That was the end of the dump bucket.

Sorry no pictures that was before digital photos existed and I wasn't much into taking regular pictures of my tank back then.

 

[Hemmdog]

The most hillbilly thing I ever hooked up. That is a tough one because I have tried dozens of red-necked things. All the way from homemade algae scrubbers to 6' tall skimmers out of PVC back in the early days of reefing in the 80's and 90's when these things were not readily available as there was no internet only FAMA and mail order.

Probably the most extreme was:
Back in the 90's dump buckets were all the rage to create natural waves. I hooked up a 10 gallon bucket on top of my tank and made float and attached it to a toilet valve. I pumped water into the bucket and when it filled up the float would raise up the toilet valve and the bucket would flush into the tank. A rush of water would go into the tank. Once empty the toilet value would re-seat itself. This dump bucket was great in theory however every 40 second the tank would flush. It sounded like I was living in a public bathroom. Also debris would accumulate in the bucket and block it from having a clean seal. I would have to clean it out every few days.

One day I came home from work and the bucket sprung a leak and half the tank was all over the floor. That was the end of the dump bucket.

Sorry no pictures that was before digital photos existed and I wasn't much into taking regular pictures of my tank back then.

Dump buckets are awesome! My dream build will have an extra tall tank to accommodate dump buckets . They look so natural when you see aquariums that have them.

 

[Goodair]

Ato reservoir, only mod was drilling holes on the lid and shoved some silicon in the nozzle:

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Once I made a bio wheel, from a paint roller, made it turn using a motor from ice make from home refrigerator.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I would never do anything hillbilly to my tank like milk-jug ATO containers etc...... I worked meticulously on every detail, from the strip-club pod-house to the confederate flag back panel paint-job

 

[Tony R.]

I would never do anything hillbilly to my tank like milk-jug ATO containers etc...... I worked meticulously on every detail, from the strip-club pod-house to the confederate flag back panel paint-job

At first I was like uhhh get a load of Mr. Moneybags over here. Hahaha

 

[Jon Fishman]

At first I was like uhhh get a load of Mr. Moneybags over here. Hahaha

I should have went with “Air-brushed wolves-howling-at-the-moon” backdrop. Missed opportunity....

 

[Hillbillyreefer]

Aww, how thoughtful a thread just for me.

Over the years I’ve built several skimmers, some were acceptable some were utter failures. I’ve diy’d three Led arrays, those worked quite well. The only hillbilly item running on the tank at the moment is my sump. An opaque storage box for the main sump, with a two chamber wet/dry sump that was sitting in The garage for years, submerged in the main for a skimmer chamber and refugium. It’s hillbilly, it’s ugly, a pita to work on, but it fits in the stand, was cheap and is actually very functional.

 

[Mikedawg]

Me many years ago...………….

 

[Mikedawg]

They say, " if you use a radiator as a chiller, you must be a hillbilly,." Thanks for sharing, comrade

Ha ha, and I didn't know that Cali had hillbillies!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Me many years ago...………….

Oooooo, the other white meat, soooo good. LOL

 

[RichReef]

I used a 5 gallon bucket with an electrical bulkhead from HD as an overflow for a refugium next to my sump. Clip on grow light. It did what I needed it to do.

 

[Bigtrout]

I am a freshwater guy, so maybe this doesn't count.
I decided co2 would help growing plants, too cheap to buy a co2 tank and regulator setup, so made a co2 setup out of 2 liter soda bottles, yeast and sugar water. They really did make pressure once the yeast got going and on a 55 gallon tank it took a 3 bottle rig to make a difference. Had to reset them weekly with new yeast and sugar water. One week i had a brain melt and doubled the batch in one bottle. Once it got going it made a little too much pressure and blew up spewing stinky, sticky yeast water all over the living room. Wife version 1.0 was not happy...lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

Not mine-
Chiller unit. . . Really ??

 

[GeTanked]

 

[GeTanked]

My chiller