# "no equipment seen" Challenge



## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I often get bored with doing the same things so I try new things at times. Much of it is done just to see if it works. This is one of those places where I chose a project that I knew would have some hangups and do overs as it went along. But then I did have most of the parts and equipment on hand to see what It might make. 
This will be an equipment DIY using stuff that I had. The basic idea was to use an old orb tank that I had swapped into at some point. It's a tank that holds something like 18 gallon but not in a very good shape for the fish I normally keep. One thing I've never liked about the tank is the way any heater, filter and light combo just sticks out really bad. 

This is the orb when starting and while waiting for the water to clear. The "just thinking" stage. 









The water might clear eventually but the light is never going past simply lame! Add a heater that would never fit a round ball and a filter and it gets even worse? So the challenge becomes, what and how to hide things. 
And then the look of any substrate running up the side is not one I like much. 









So the idea becomes something like this? 
A wooden framework to hold the orb with the substrate down out of sight and the other equipment hidden or outside the tank itself. 










Over the next few days/weeks, I plan to post more of the project as it developed. At times it got real iffy whether I would actually complete the deal or just chuck it and move on.


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

Check out this for some ideas

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157623229539365

Yes It's saltwater, but if I remember correctly it runs as a sealed unit, just the occasional yearly water change. I wish I could find the original link... BUT you might have luck hiding the heater in some rock/wood using an airline for water movement, low light plants near a window so no filter/light and just do water changes... stock lightly and you can probably do alright


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I found I had such a different set of needs/wants for this project that I probably would not find any to match. I first started with a space which limited me a good deal. I wanted to keep it near another tank to eases water changes so an existing stand was the first point. It had to fit this stand which is also the cover for my drain and other equipment. 









We had first used this stand to cover excess tank equipment and as a plant stand for my wife. Now she finds the light is not what she wants so has moved the plant giving me an opportunity for the stand. The stand is a simple box with a sheet throw over to hide things but plenty strong to hold a small tank. 
Things around here have a way of evolving into tank use more often than not but one consistent requirement is that it has to look decent when in the formal dining room!


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

With a general idea of what I wanted and the size being set, I started with building the frame to hold the tank. The round shape was a real nuisance to fit to a round space that was also tapered top to bottom but I did get one cut close enough to work.
For the bottom of the framework, I wanted to have something that could stand up to heat and had cement board scraps on hand. Cement board is often used behind tile for bathroom shower stalls as it will not rot or degrade in water if the grout leaks. But for my use, it is also very fire resistant. 









Part of my planning was to use heat from below to avoid the heater in the tank. When dealing with frozen pipes, you quickly learn that light bulbs are a real handy source of heat. But then how much heat for a small 18 gallon was a question that I assumed might be wrong on first guess. This left me needing a small form factor with easy to change bulbs. 
The bulb holders were salvaged from some project and just the right small size for this. You can tell in the picture why I wanted fire resistant materials for the frame? 
This was a first run at the lights and several things had to be changed but it did point out a potential problem or two. I would not want that kind of heat applied directly to the plastic bottom of the tank! The cracked wood is not what I wanted, either.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

After a test "burn" and seeing the hurt it was putting on the wood, I looked around for a way to shield the plastic from the direct heat. 
A simple shield made of metal flashing seemed right. I want the heat trapped around the bottom of the tank but not direct to the plastic. 









This was glued to the underside of the top so that it hangs between the bulbs and where the tank will be setting. 








I added a couple magnetic cabinet latches to hold the front access panel and took it in to make sure it fit the space. I first planned for the tank to rest on the platform bottom but after a few tries, it seemed better to let it rest on a couple strips rather than all the weight on the ring or not having an air space underneath. I think I will get better heating when the air is able to get fully under the tank. 








As I said at the start, I expected this to have a few do-overs before finished! 
One of the big parts of the plan had to be a way to control the heat from the bulbs so I had to work in a small digital controller and a way to get the probe into the water without it hanging over the top and sides of the tank.
Still lots of things before this is finished.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

The bulbs are for heat? They burn out so often. It's better to make a heating matt, like a heating blanket.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Better you than me on the round tank/hidden equipment idea.
But I lean heavily on DIY myself and concocted this air driven bio-only filter for my tank(s). No pads/screens it hinder daphnia, fish or shrimp fry. With just a bit of a change
it would be completely equipment free in the viewing aria. Now all you can see is the heater and covering that part/w rocks/fine gravel would fix that also.
Water comes in at bottom left. This is the right end view. That picture is from a week after set up. 










This picture gives a better perspective of shape/size. Tank is older in this picture and
has excess light. Also water comes out from the filter where you see the bubbles.










Also just after set up showing the rock/fine gravel wall cover. The only equipment showing is the heater.










One year later/w excess light/clado/Pearlweed at top right.










This is from last month. Only the heater is showing.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Lots of small problems to be solved but that is part of the attraction in this case. A round tank is more difficult to hide things as it has no flat sides and is viewed nearly 360 degrees. Not much option for hiding behind things. 
For the bulb life question, I don't have enough use on it yet to see how long they burn when used longer term. But then it is a challenge project rather than a tank more designed for production. Having done so many bulb changes to replace with led , I have a vast number of bulbs to choose from so the supply is not going to be a problem if the nuisance factor doesn't get too big. I've done some commercial work and might guess I have a couple hundred bulbs. 
But then I did make the access panel on the front so that changes can be made. How often? I don't know. 
Just planning to roll with the flow as I find out what happens. The biggest problem in making progress has been the hot weather! My garage shop goes out of use until the temperature drops another ten degrees.


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

Youre idea of using lights for heat is interesting... I have a boot dryer that works on the same principal. BUT it leadsme to another thought... why not light the tank from the bottom? You could put a mirror in the bottom of your box, run some rope lights around the inside and use floating water column plants. Elodea, pearl weed, ricca, frogbit, water lettuce etc, and do away with the substarte completely. Might take a bit of getting used to. You could even do what ever color lighting you wanted, and if its to harsh a piece of opaque plastic could act as a diffuser for a nice even wash of light.

Not sure how well the plants might like this though


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

The idea of lighting from below is one I had not thought about. Just did not enter my mind but there would have been problems in this case anyway. 
This is the bottom section of the orb I had and it is an opaque plastic as well as being the base for the orb to rest on when in place. 










The bottom had a setup for adding air to be used with an airstone or filter but I didn't want that so took it apart to see how it might work for other things. 

Once removed, I saw a handy use for the airline hole.
Cutting the plastic center "cup" off gave me access to run the probe for the temperature controller into the tank without it showing. 










I've found these little cheap probes to be "water resistant" but fail after being in the water for a few months. That leads me to always seal them so that they can read the temperature but stay dry. 
In this case I pushed the probe up into the existing airline fitting, inside a small section of airline tubing and sealed it. This lets me extend the probe up near the center of the water column rather than down near the heat source, hoping to get a more accurate reading. 









For the filter in/out I just used a couple simple fittings that I could find easily. Outside is a brass NPT to barb fitting, screwed to a small nipple and then inside is the same. For sealing I used a rubber type washer backed with a metal washer both inside the tank and on the outside. Leaks are not something I want to find some day. The threaded adapters are screwed tight enough to compress the rubber and make the seal. 
I have never kept any fish who had a problem with metal in the water. 
The tubing inside was left long at this point as I had not worked out how much was needed and it was easier to cut off later than add later. 

Sealing the airline tubing is a pretty simple thing since it is plastic. I set the end on fire and clamped it with pliers. When it cooled the end was sealed! 








Meanwhile I set it up in the garage, filled it and let it set for a few days while I worked out the wood to cover the outside and built the light. The original light was pretty lame when new and a part seemed missing so after looking it over, I decided I would go for a DIY LED rather than spend time on the old.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

As I moved into making the wood cover for the project, it got more complicated than I had thought for just wooden box. Having a specific size limit, I made a mistake in cutting and fitting the circle and some of the cement board parts. I wanted it centered but that left me a problem once the filter was in hand. Not enough room to set the little filter fully on the base! 









We have an excuse for things like this. It's not a mistake if you can correct it? So this little mistake took a bit of extra cutting to make it right. Turning the saw and using it more as a router clears enough wood to make the filter fit. 










At this point, I could see several more things that had to fit in the small space I had allowed. A way to mount the LED over the tank and that had to be small was one biggie to work out. Part of the plan for that being small involved putting the driver and connections behind the backplate. Also in this space, there had to be room for the timer, controller, filter and I wanted the option of plugging the equipment in rather than hard wired. Space was getting tight and I had not yet fully worked out how to mount the LED.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

For the light, I went with a simple purchased LED/ driver combo but it did not include the heat sink so I salvaged one from a junk computer. The LED is a simple 10Watt with matching driver so with the salvage heat sink, I mounted the two items and fit it to a wooden arm to swing over the tank but out of the way when I want to work on things. 

















The dowel holding the arm runs down through PVC pipe so that it can swing. I cut a channel in the side of the dowel to fit the wire and protect it from rubbing when turning the arm. 

This is the backside view once all the parts are in place. 
I tucked the driver under the little cover left of the PVC holding the light and you can see the way space was getting tight. 










The filter is the little Zoomed 501 which I'm finding I like on several smaller tank. It has a very low flow and that is something I want in this tank as it will never support much load. I used Velcro strap to hold the filter so that it can be lifted away from the frame when cleaning. 
I still have several things to clean up and some things still to do but at this point it seems to be coming together well enough. 
I had some concern about the light but once it was in place, I'm pretty happy with it. 
Things left to do are putting some cover around the base of the tank where it fits through the round opening. I have in mind a small gravel or rounded stone to hide the crack. Then I have not found the right item to cover the inlet/outlet tubing for the filter and the probe. I first thought of wood as it is easy to work but then I am still running some other ideas around. Forming a wood piece to fit the bottom curve of the tank is a nuisance and then it does try to float. I may change up and cut a stone instead for that. Substrate is likely to be a dark brownish Flourite. If it looks too dark, I may lighten it up some with sand. 
But at this point, the light is plenty.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Very cool looking build. And some very creative DIY. Will be interesting to see how it finishes out. Still curious where you found an 18 gallon sphere.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I picked it up in swapping somewhere or got it off Craigslist free. Not sure where as it has been round and round several times. I brought it home and it first became a terrarium for house plants! 
I think the "official" name is Bio-Orb and they come in 9 and 18 gallons? 
Link to similar?
http://www.petco.com/N_24_429495127...-BIORB-_-f764082b-5700-49ce-ac09-855577e7af4f


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Was thinking about your problems with filter tubing and remembered watching a guy at the fair making various things out of glass. So, me being me, I wounder if it would be possible to buy / create a small rectangular tube out of glass? If so, said tube could then be heated / crafted into a pair of curved tubes that match the interior of your bowl. How noticeable they would be? I don't know. I do know I like the look of glass lilly pipes but I hear they have to be cleaned often to keep them looking pretty.

Bump: Oh wait, scratch that - just noticed you drilled the bowl and have the tubing coming in the bottom. An even better idea


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Yes, the idea of over the top was just not part of the picture. I want to input to go near the surface to get it stirred. This bowl doesn't give the best amount of surface for gas exchange in the best of times. Then I want the outgoing tubing to pick up near the bottom just as that seems to be where the most debris is found. 
I'm still thinking of what and how to hide them but I did some rock picking today. I have several wood pieces but I'm not liking them yet. The temperature probe will likely be run up the inside of a hole drilled in wood but I'm playing some rockwork through my mind for hiding the rest.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Not a good day on the orb project. 

I got more challenge than I wanted when it came to fitting the rock and wood. I had chosen a limestone rock which had been rolled around in the creek for a good while so that it was nicely rounded and had the weathered texture I liked. But that weathering hid a couple points that left me wishing I had picked a different rock. 

I had thought this was a solid piece of limestone which is a very soft type making it easier to cut and shape. I also thought it had a consistent makeup all the way through. WRONG! This hunk turned out to be a conglomerate type that had several embedded types of rock. Not unusual for limestone but not what I needed. 
When I started sawing and shaping, the rock was uneven to work and split at unexpected places when hammered. 

Big mess!!!








Bad result! 









Drop back and punt?? I will go rock hunting later and give it another go.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I've been stalled on this project for a bit but feel I did make some progress today. I got out before it got too hot and picked a few items that may fit this project. When it's cooler like today, I seem to be more inspired and can see things better. When in Ohio and Missouri, I would have stopped mowing the yard when it reached 90 degrees. Now it feels cooler at 95 !!!!
Nothing like hiking a trail with 20 pounds of rock in the pack to help work up a sweat? 

I did bring back several items that may cut down to fit this little tank. I still have a major love for large stuff and couldn't pass on several things that are just never going to fit through a 5 1/2" opening on this orb. That opening is a real pain! 

Some rocks and wood that may work.
Some flat, thin limestone for ease of working and a holey rock-- just cause it was too much to pass on. Then the old burl from what I think might have been a live oak tree that had finally fallen over. And maybe this little tree could be cut down to fit? 
I'm not sure any of it is going in but it's in the soaking tub just in case. 








While out and about, I also plucked a few other pieces that have no immediate home. Just handy to have as I never know when I might feel the need.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

You'd want the ornaments to be small so it would feel more natural in a small orb. If too big it'll feel uncomfortable and like it was stuffed/jammed into it; same for plants.

You can use the twigs off that bigger branch and break up the hole rock.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Agree with the thinking on the small scale, just not my normal project and it is taking a while to realign my thought process. Part of the value of going out of the normal route on tanks. 
I have a stash of small tree shapes somewhere that may have to be given a lookover. That would have a conflict with part of my thinking on the filtering, though. Since surface area is so restricted when the orb is full, I had wanted to let the filter outlet come out at the top to give the water a better stir. That is part of what drives the size of the décor as I wanted to hide the output tube in some tall décor. The filter flow is pretty low but maybe just aiming it high will serve to do the circulation good enough. 
Maybe a small "forest" in front of a rock wall? But that gets me back into trying to cut rock to fit a curve. Been there and don't like the result. Maybe a freestanding wall but that takes up some of the limited space. 
Too many options!


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I got some stuff ready to go for the tank. That is a bit harder to do when the opening is so small. Finding and fitting through the 5 1/2" top limits some of what I wanted for going high. When things go high they need wider bases. 
But then I got out a few things and started cutting and sorting and got some done. I worked out a way to screw some wood together so that it could swivel to fit the opening but still have a wide base to set upright. A normal wide base won't work due to the curved bottom of the orb. 
Sorry about the misfire! Apparently part of the "new" look for the forum doesn't resize pictures? Posted in the normal way, my picture is spread wall- to -wall. No pictures until I get a few kinks worked out on posting.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I'm getting REALLY large pics in the preview but they seem to size when posted??? 










Bump: I drilled the wood out to fit down over the brass fitting of the input, added the rock for weight and balance and then screwed the second wood item on the side so that it will swivel to fit the opening.










The hole in the second piece of wood is for the temperature probe to extend up into the tank center.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

At this point, I've got most of the wood, rock into the tank and things have settled down so I can see. the Flourite was much worse at coloring the water than I had remembered but it did finally clear. I moved a few plants in that were on wood and I'll move a few more as I see how things look. 







One thing that will need some work is the filter and getting it run higher to stir the water at the surface better. 
You might notice in the picture that the anacharis is floating rather than in the pot?









Since there are no fish to pull it out, I have to assume the filter flow was blowing it enough to slowly work it out. But still the surface is a scummy mess that would not let gas exchange happen.









I will change out the wood a bit to solve that. 
I will have to see how that goes but for now, I feel pretty close to done. I need to attach the Flourite that is around the outside of the tank and get some small stuff done in the tank but once the filtering is set, I will move fish in. This is not the normal way to cycle a tank but then this is not the normal tank, either. I set this up for ease of water changing and will be doing daily large water changes. This will let me get more of the dust and loose debris out as well as keep the pollution in safe ranges. 
I have some Florida flagfish standing by and ready to go in as soon as things settle a bit more. They are a cheap fish that stay small and might like the rock, wood and plants. One reason to choose these plants is that they are pretty fast growers and may do okay at staying ahead of the fish.
For now, I'm calling it done! :crying:


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

PlantedRich said:


> For now, I'm calling it done! :crying:


Congratulations! You had set yourself quite the challenge there. I think it's a cool project.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Thanks. I have to shake myself once in a while to get the dust off! When I say the project is done, that just kind of fits into my normal thinking that none of my tanks are ever "DONE" but just come to a pause here and there. 
I never have a tank which doesn't need one more or less fish, plant, or something.


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

PlantedRich said:


> Thanks. I have to shake myself once in a while to get the dust off! When I say the project is done, that just kind of fits into my normal thinking that none of my tanks are ever "DONE" but just come to a pause here and there.
> I never have a tank which doesn't need one more or less fish, plant, or something.


Yup, totally know what that means!:wink2:


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Just an update on how this is working for me? 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how things are running. They are still getting settled but with fish in and plants starting to grow, it needs time. I backed off on using the flagfish in this tank as they are a bit higher on the interest level at the moment and I have plenty of small yellow lab fry who were getting a bit crowded in another tank. 










The 10 watt LED is a bit bright for the fry so I've added a bit of duckweed as a way to cover some surface. The other plants are anacharis, some hortwort type, narrow leaf Java fern and Mexican oak leaf. It's expected that all those will get too much and need to be cut or pulled but for now they are okay with what I wanted. 

The fish are feeling good and I'm doing about 30-40% water changes every three days as the bacteria still needs to grow in. Something to watch and adjust if needed to keep the ammonia/nitrite down. But then these fish are really small as bio loads go. They are still spooky but do know that I often bring food ! 










The plants are getting in gear and sending out shoots to make new roots even though some are not sure which way is up yet. You might spot that the Java fern is horizontal still but I expect it to turn up in a bit. 
The Mexican oak leaf seems to be the happy camper and growing more than the others. 
One little fry seems sure the new roots are food? 










But then a new project always has some surprises, too. Notice the white curves that look like elephant tusks? I never really thought too much about the weird reflections I would get in a curved tank wall. I can't really blame the tank for my poor shot planning, though. 
:frown2:

At this point, I'm deciding how high the water level needs to be to work well and then cleaning several things will be needed. I'm not getting too excited about cleaning while things settle in better.


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## The Big Buddha (Jul 30, 2012)

Nice job!


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Finished product looks great!! Very desk worthy


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

It looks nice. Great job!


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Thanks all! 
This is one of those projects that will never be for most to use. It might help bump somebody over into doing some other project, though. I just don't worry as much about failing as I used to on projects. 
I'm happy, now it's time for the fish and plants to decide where we go from here.


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## RWaters (Nov 12, 2003)

Very nice!!


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## plantetra (May 17, 2014)

I see that you have a canister filter. Why not add a heater into the canister and also the temperature probe on the line in or out?

Bump: Looks amazing!!!


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

plantetra said:


> I see that you have a canister filter. Why not add a heater into the canister and also the temperature probe on the line in or out?
> 
> Bump: Looks amazing!!!


Both those suggestions would work if there was more space. But using the tiny canister that fit means that there is very little space to drill and fit even the smallest commercial heater into the canister. Adding a heater would decrease the amount of media in the filter and that is not something I would want to push any further than I see now. The current flow is pretty marginal as it sets and any more space lost might run the filter over into being too small for the long run. It isn't something that I can figure at first go so I want to save as much "slack" as possible. 

As it moves and changes while things are growing in, I already see one small item to change. The heat is still pretty high locally so the AC is still running to keep the house down to 76 degrees. But with the LED so close to the water surface and little evaporation due to the restricted amount of water surface, I find the heat is creeping up into the 79 degree range during the day. Okay for now but not something I will want to let go much higher. I have not connected the plug to the lights that are intended for heat but before I do I will move the LED slightly higher. That should be a fairly easy project and will also let the light spread more and not be so bright. The duck weed is increasing but not fast enough at this point. 

Not really making any big changes yet, but just watching the ammonia and how things move in the tank. The testing shows no ammonia or nitrite and I might have expected some but I am reading a slight amount of nitrate so I'm still in the watching stage and not going to make any sudden moves that might upset the game. 
My biggest challenge of the moment is to work out a tool to use for cleaning the inside glass. My arm requires too much space and runs the water over. Plus my arm just doesn't bend the right way to clean this one.


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## plantetra (May 17, 2014)

Oh boy!!! But it is definitely worth the effort. Looking good. 
The canister is a small one. You could look into inline heaters. How do you shut off the water lines to canister for cleaning? Do you have a check valve or something in between?


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

plantetra said:


> Oh boy!!! But it is definitely worth the effort. Looking good.
> The canister is a small one. You could look into inline heaters. How do you shut off the water lines to canister for cleaning? Do you have a check valve or something in between?


Thanks. I like where it's going so far. Other than small stuff it seems okay. I watch my fish and let them guide the decisions when it seems right! 

For cleaning the filter, I had to do some thinking the first time or two. I had not worked that out and thought maybe some cutoffs would be needed but found a way around. When cleaning the filter, I'm also likely to be doing a water change so I combine the two. By draining the water down, I'm able to lift the filter off the back into a dishpan and the water lost is not very much in this size tubing so I just let it go into the pan. 
Since this is setting in a somewhat odd shaped room corner, I added super sliders to the bottom of the box that's hiding under the cloth. With those on the bottom and carpeting, I'm able to turn the whole tank, stand and all around to make it simple to work on things. The super sliders are one of the really nice things I've found for several things around the house that need moved. 

The filter has quick release latches that let me just remove the filter top rather than disconnect the tubes. Then the filter canister is just a one hand job to move out. 
Once the filter top is off, I just leave it sticking above the water level when it is drained down and thats keeps it from draining fully. A couple of the Velcro straps that are designed to hold wires, etc. make it easy to tie the tubing off to avoid accidents. Still learning as I go about how to handle this new little project.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Just a few things that I'm learning as I go on this project. Some is working and some is going to need attention. 

Overall as it stands here on 10-22-2015?
At first look it seems much the same. 









But then when I look closer, I see things changing. Some are what I want, like this algae growing on the wood. We often see a major fight to keep all algae out of tanks but I find it serves a good use when I keep some of the African cichlids who do like to browse through algae. In this case, I have yellow labs and they do like to just go through the algae. I don't know that they find anything in it to eat but they do like the search! So I'm growing a healthy coat of it on this one piece of wood. I had it started before the set up but sometimes it doesn't like to move but this is doing very much what I wanted. 









The hair algae is not what I wanted so that will have to go as time goes on. The fish are doing fine and getting used to the new order. They have lots of small spaces to hide but they are getting more used to when and how I feed so that they are ready. The duckweed cover is getting way thick and I will soon start to scoop it off. At this point it is keeping the nitrate way low and providing shade. 










As mentioned, I thought the light might be going to be too hot but that has settled and the tank is running 78.4 without me needing to adjust the height. At this time of year the AC is still running but the outside temperature has dropped back into the 80's so I will be able to get a better look at how the heating system may work. I would rather the temp be closer to 76 but they are not hurt by the current 78, so that is a question for later. 

Plants are doing some good, some not so good. The fern still has not turned upwards and may have to be moved to get away from the horizontal look but the Mexican oak leaf is definitely needing a trim. For whatever reason, one plant has grown sideways up against the wall and is not what I want. A matter of trimming needed. 










I've built a tool to get down in the orb and do some of the cleaning that will be needed on the inside walls. Cleaning a curved wall is a bit more trick than the simple flat walls I'm used to cleaning. It had to be a flexible tool to be adjusted as needed so I have gone with a simple wire to hold a scrubby sponge that seems okay for now. 
It's still very much a look, learn, and adjust situation for now. 
I can enjoy that!


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## wlevine09 (Apr 7, 2014)

there is a tiny magnet cleaner that is often advertised in the amazonas magazine. The name is escaping me right now, but its about an inch or 1.5 in. diameter circle magnet cleaner


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

The rounded surface makes it hard to find a solid object that will follow the curve and maintain contact other than at the edges. A round one would be better than longer but still might not get much contact. Something to keep in mind if it becomes a problem to reach things. I do like the magnet types for my flat tanks.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

After no reports on this project for several months, I feel prompted to give an update. I noticed another poster with questions about a somewhat similar tank and it reminded me of this project. 
First I might note that I do NOT like to maintain difficult tanks. I have plenty of time but do not like the routine to be hard. I DO like the challenge of biulding but not the drudgery of maintaining!
With that upfront, this is what I find with this tank. Very limited due to the shape. Volume of water is okay but the shape leaves me not liking it. As the the water level is raised to near the top, the surface area is cut dramatically. So my choices were to leave the water low, cutting volume from 18 to 9 gallons, which is not my flavor, or filled to the rim which I like the look better but the surface area takes such a drastic cut that gas exchange almost disappears. Even with good circulation, I still found it difficult to maintain even a low level of fish stocking. 
Very difficult to maintain compared to the standard flat walled tank. Very hard to fit in the hard decor I favor and very difficult to clean the tank. One could, in theory, work out ways to work around the cleaning and possibly the lack of gas exchange.
But then that is where I fall back to what I like. I can do much more of the type operation that I like in a simple ten gallon without the need to fight it nearly as much. The basics like heat, light, and filtering were okay but the drudge factor was too high. 
Project abandoned and moving on. I just call it experience and now know more about why the standard tanks are the standard?


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## ChristopherM (Mar 10, 2016)

PlantedRich, I think your Orb Tank turned out beautifully.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Thanks. I felt it looked good but was just too restricted for me. I've gotten into using the little temperature controllers for a number of things around the house and it seemed a good chance to try out heating outside the normal intank or inline heaters. That part worked out well enough but the rest was a "learning experience"!! As the plants grew and spread out at the surface the gas exchange looked worse and worse, so I called it off and moved on. I could have swapped out the plants for shorter, etc. but I found it was so difficult to work through the narrow opening that I was more than willing to pass on the challenge. My elbow and wrist just never seemed to bend the right way. 
Part of it is a personal thing as I do favor larger fish .


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