# Steampunk/Mad Scientist Experimental Tanks



## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Very cool.


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## Grey Ghost (Jul 18, 2010)

Awesome!


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## sarahspins (Sep 24, 2012)

Great, now I want one!


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

plantbrain said:


> Very cool.


Thanks


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

Grey Ghost said:


> Awesome!


Thank you


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

sarahspins said:


> Great, now I want one!


Well, I've got an extra 12L three neck boiling flask if you're serious. I believe it's an antique as it doesn't have the ground glass connections but used corks or rubber stoppers I guess.


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## Dietz (Dec 15, 2012)

Love it!


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

I'm going to place some Chili Rasboras in the large flask. I'm thinking of either a really nice looking betta in the smaller one or possibly some shrimp.


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

Dietz said:


> Love it!


Thanks!


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## A.D.D.i.c.t. (Dec 9, 2012)

Whoa! Totally unique. Loving it

the addiction continues...


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

A.D.D.i.c.t. said:


> Whoa! Totally unique. Loving it
> 
> the addiction continues...


Thanks, yea my wife says it's an addiction since I have 6 tanks going now.


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## sarahspins (Sep 24, 2012)

davrx said:


> Well, I've got an extra 12L three neck boiling flask if you're serious. I believe it's an antique as it doesn't have the ground glass connections but used corks or rubber stoppers I guess.


As tempting as that is.. after doing some googling earlier I'm not sure I could afford what you should be asking for it


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

sarahspins said:


> As tempting as that is.. after doing some googling earlier I'm not sure I could afford what you should be asking for it


I got it for $106 including shipping.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

wow very cool!

Now I get to see iwhat your were talknig about. After making that filter guard for you!


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Breaking bad planted tank edition.


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

awesome!


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

hehehe, nice man


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

sayurasem said:


> Breaking bad planted tank edition.


:hihi:


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

nonconductive said:


> awesome!


Thanks


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

HybridHerp said:


> hehehe, nice man


Appreciate it


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## Sajacobs (Aug 24, 2012)

Completely cool. Steampunking all the way


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

*Cleaning the Light*

Just took this photo of one of the nerites doing its job.


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

Sajacobs said:


> Completely cool. Steampunking all the way


Thanks man!


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## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

Let's see some more pictures of that Egyptian stand it's on!


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## bluestems (Feb 7, 2012)

davrx said:


> Enough talk, here's some photos:


Wow, what an awesome, unique setup! I really like the submerged glass lighting, the use of the temperature monitor, and the ADA food glass fits perfectly. :smile: 

This is the first time I've seen a setup like this. Definitely has that steampunk/mad-scientist vibe. :thumbsup:


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

devilduck said:


> Let's see some more pictures of that Egyptian stand it's on!


O.K. here you go. It's under my Jewel tank. This one has the 5L on my computer desk and the 12L on a romanesque column.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=146213&highlight=


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

bluestems said:


> Wow, what an awesome, unique setup! I really like the submerged glass lighting, the use of the temperature monitor, and the ADA food glass fits perfectly. :smile:
> 
> This is the first time I've seen a setup like this. Definitely has that steampunk/mad-scientist vibe. :thumbsup:


Thanks, I believe it is the first and only setup like this.


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## Francis Xavier (Oct 8, 2008)

Hah! This is nifty.


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

Francis Xavier said:


> Hah! This is nifty.


Thanks


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

*Chilis*

Added a school of 18 Chili Rasboras. Had to put a foam cover on the bridge between the two flasks as it was sucking up the Chilis. After a couple of days most of them were in the 5L. Also added an overflow switch after my incident with nerites crawling into the bridge pipes. I don't want to come home to most of my water on the floor, a burnt up pump, heater, and dead fish. I have some other fittings I'm going to try using but for now I just want to keep everything running smoothly. The Chilis were difficult to photograph as they're swimming too fast so they're mostly a blur.


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## Kai808 (Jul 19, 2011)

WOW! Yet another Great Project? Just wondering which of your tanks do you like the best?


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

Kai808 said:


> WOW! Yet another Great Project? Just wondering which of your tanks do you like the best?


Hard to say but probably my 60gal. cube which I don't even have on the forum. I've had it longer than any of the 3 tanks I currently have up but have never taken the time to upload many photos of it. It's just a normal tank, nothing antique or unusual like the other ones I've shown but it has the greatest variety of plants and fish of any of my tanks by virtue of its size.


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

*New Adapter*

Just added a neat 4 arm adapter which I've fitted with the float switch in the center, the temperature probe in one, and the ADA glass feeder in the other. Still have an open one if I want to add anything else. I had to figure a way to use the float switch which is supposed to be attached with a suction cup. I came up with the idea of using a rubber washer which I trimmed down to size to hold it in place. Here's some photos I just took of it:


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

Not sure if this is steampunk. No brass, springs, pistons. But, really really cool!


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

scapegoat said:


> Not sure if this is steampunk. No brass, springs, pistons. But, really really cool!


Thanks, O.K. how about mad scientist-esque?


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

davrx said:


> Thanks, O.K. how about mad scientist-esque?


definitely scientisty! I really like the set up


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

scapegoat said:


> definitely scientisty! I really like the set up


Thanks, that's the look I was going for.


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## danielt (Dec 19, 2012)

This is awesome! Now you put me on a hunt for huge flasks as 10L ones I saw are not that common.


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

danielt said:


> This is awesome! Now you put me on a hunt for huge flasks as 10L ones I saw are not that common.


I've got an extra 12L, 3 neck flask if you're interested.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Nice setup! It's unique!


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## danielt (Dec 19, 2012)

davrx said:


> I've got an extra 12L, 3 neck flask if you're interested.


Thanks for the offer but it's quite the journey between us 

Besides, I should be able to find some glassware to play with. Just need to find out where to look for it.


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

GMYukonon24s said:


> Nice setup! It's unique!


Thank you


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

danielt said:


> Thanks for the offer but it's quite the journey between us
> 
> Besides, I should be able to find some glassware to play with. Just need to find out where to look for it.


Yes, I see now what you're talking about. I hadn't noticed that you were from Romania.


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

*Update*

I came up with a much easier way to start the siphon between the two flasks by switching out the parallel distillation connecting adapter with a transfer distilling adapter plus a flow control inlet adapter with glass stopcock. I can suck the air out of the transfer distilling adapter and turn the stopcock valve off once it's filled with water. Before, I had to fill the tube up with water from a sink and then use corks at each end. Then I installed the glass tube into the two receiving necks of the flasks with the corks in place. Finally, I had to use long tweezers to pull the corks out. What a pain. This is a piece of cake by comparison. Finally got both lights functioning now. Didn't realize my smaller LED light used a European size socket when I bought it on ebay so had to find a European to Candelabra adapter.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Nice!
Sounds much easier now!

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

*Scape*

I finally decide to try tackling aquascaping the large flask today. I used some grape wood that I got from the LFS. It was being sold as a bird perch but I liked the fact that it had stainless steel bolts screwed into the wood with large SS washers. This would keep them from floating. I used some super glue gel and glued some moss to the wood and added a piece of petrified wood from my very first post to this forum http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=102902&highlight= 
The hornwort has been transferred to the smaller flask until I have time to scape it. I plan on using a piece of grape wood and a piece of petrified wood in it as well.
Here's some photos I just took:


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## xiaoxiy (Dec 18, 2012)

Sweeeeet tank!


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

xiaoxiy said:


> Sweeeeet tank!


Thanks!


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## Barbgirl (Feb 24, 2012)

I love the magnifying effect on the moss!


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

Barbgirl said:


> I love the magnifying effect on the moss!


Thanks, one of the advantages of a "fish bowl".


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## Gnomeworks (Mar 26, 2013)

I've been lurking on this forum for a while now, but I literally had to sign up just so I could comment on the awesomeness of this set up! Bravo, sir!


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## thelub (Jan 4, 2013)

Fish bong FTW


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

Gnomeworks said:


> I've been lurking on this forum for a while now, but I literally had to sign up just so I could comment on the awesomeness of this set up! Bravo, sir!


Thanks a lot! Glad it was me that got you to join. Welcome!


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## scotty b (Oct 23, 2012)

very amazing set up would you mind if i asked how much it all cost ?


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

scotty b said:


> very amazing set up would you mind if i asked how much it all cost ?


I didn't keep track of everything. The most expensive parts were the large flask and the ADA glass feeder. The connectors weren't all that expensive but all together there's several hundred $ here. I'm not finished with it yet. I plan on adding a few more things as I go. It's unique among aquariums as far as I can tell. I need to post more photos as I have the smaller flask aquascaped now too.


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## Soup12 (Nov 10, 2012)

you are quite MAD


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

Great idea. roud:

I'm torn on the Aquascape part. It looks good but, does it detract from the original idea i.e.. mad scientist? Would a Mad Scientist bother with a scape? perplexing dilemma, indeed.


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

DogFish said:


> Great idea. roud:
> 
> I'm torn on the Aquascape part. It looks good but, does it detract from the original idea i.e.. mad scientist? Would a Mad Scientist bother with a scape? perplexing dilemma, indeed.


My wife thinks I should just have crystals or metallic objects in with them but if I don't have any plants or aquascaping then I wouldn't be on this forum right?
I'm going to have to remove the submerged LED in the smaller flask as I just noticed a huge amount of algae growing in there. Stupid nerite doesn't seem to be interested in the algae, it just seems to want to hang around above the water line.


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

Soup12 said:


> you are quite MAD


Yea, my wife would agree with you on this. She fails to see the value in my aquatic endeavors.


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## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

Very nice davrx! Always pushing the boundaries on tanks!


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

bitFUUL said:


> Very nice davrx! Always pushing the boundaries on tanks!


Thank you


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

*Update, new additions*

I finished out the glassware on this tank with a Soxhlet extractor body to fill in the remaining arm of one of the multi-adapters, an Allihn condenser, and a 105 degree bent adapter. I especially like the allihn for its multiple interior bubbles. I also placed a beautiful blue and yellow betta in the smaller flask. The lighting wasn't right so the photos aren't very good but it gives you an idea of what he looks like.


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## A.D.D.i.c.t. (Dec 9, 2012)

A beauty!

the addiction continues...


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## meppitech (Apr 29, 2011)

Nice betta!


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

davrx said:


> My wife thinks I should just have crystals or metallic objects in with them but if I don't have any plants or aquascaping then I wouldn't be on this forum right?
> I'm going to have to remove the submerged LED in the smaller flask as I just noticed a huge amount of algae growing in there. Stupid nerite doesn't seem to be interested in the algae, it just seems to want to hang around above the water line.


I could envision a Mad Scientist having say Moss or Java fern in with a Betta for practical purposes.


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

A.D.D.i.c.t. said:


> A beauty!
> 
> the addiction continues...


Thanks


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

meppitech said:


> Nice betta!


Thank you


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## davrx (Feb 19, 2010)

*The End*

Dismantled along with two of my antique tanks. Too many tanks takes too much time to maintain properly so I'm down to 3 now. If anyone is interested in purchasing this setup you can PM me.


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