a DIY hood to go with my DIY tall tank.

[rDr4g0n]

in case you arent familiar with my DIY 10 gallon tall tank its here. a crazy mans aquarium mod...

the tank needed a hood. actually it didnt need one, but i needed to make a hood. the hood needed to have space in the back for the supply pipe and needed to be tall enough for the breathing tube for my drain. i also wanted it to go as far down as the water level.

so i built this.







the edges are crude, the painting is horrible, the frame is uneven and it fits a little too snugly, but it covers the top of the tank, and it reduces evaporation. in order to sorta "Waterproof" the wood, i put 3 or 4 coats of polyurethane on the inside. as you can see i painted the outside and started painting the inside but gave up. i figure the fishies wont mind.

i glued in a piece of glass to place the lamp on top of. the lamp is one of those newer flourescent bulbs that save energy and all that. part of the way they save energy is by producing less heat, which is good for my purposes. its rated at 2700k so its yellowish, but doesnt appear to bad unless compared to my main tanks lighting. besides its a fuge so im sure teh plants and algae will like the yellow.

so thats about it. my little quickie mod.

[sasquatch]

John!! looks good man! will it need a fan for gas exchange?

[rDr4g0n]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

John!! looks good man! will it need a fan for gas exchange?

all the gas exchange happens in my sump. it gets churned up pretty well down there. plus more gas exchange = more evap.

[sasquatch]

on 24/7 or opposite cycle? moon or mood lights? I just really like that tall narrow look, how much flow goes thru there?

[rDr4g0n]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

on 24/7 or opposite cycle? moon or mood lights? I just really like that tall narrow look, how much flow goes thru there?

this tank runs on the same cycle as the main display. if i were to do opposing cycles, the light would leak into the display and there would be no nighttime for either tanks. i suspect there is around 300 - 400 gph running through it. i REALLY need to put in a bigger drain because it seems that the 2 half inch drains struggle to support the 3/4inch drain at full blast.

im thinking about making this a seahorse tank... i think itd be perfect for 2 or 3 sea horses

oh and im not satisfied with the aquascaping either...

[sasquatch]

Thats excatly what I was thinking!! flow might be a bit much??

[rDr4g0n]

well right now the water goes straight down, and i have a powerhead at the bottom pumping water back up. this keeps teh circulation good. i could turn the water supply to the side so that it doesnt force the water down. i could either remove the powerhead, or reduce its strength in order to slow the flow enough for it to be sea horse friendly. the feather caulerpa in there is getting pretty tall. i bet teh horsies would love it.

[lcstorc]

I would love to see this as a pony tank. Of course I love all pony tanks so that would certainly explain it. With that small of a tank you should check out the dwarf ponies. Everything I have read says you want a 30g or larger tank for the normal sized ones. I have 2 female redi in a 24g aquapod that is plumbed into my reef and they are the coolest thing to watch. Real characters particularly at feeding time. I love the way they inhale and suck the food right down.