# 2.5 Gallon Tank Stand...*REVISED 7/29/07*



## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Being that my original idea received less than rave reviews, I set about re-thinking my nano tank stand idea. It seemed to me that most people liked the bottom of the stand but the top reminded them of a gallows :icon_frow. From a purely functional aspect, I found out that the 13w AH Supply light wasn’t cutting it for me with the HC as well. So I ordered another 13w kit for a total of 26 watts (much better) and approached the design from a different angle. 

-Enter new approach- 








The new design is just your average lid design except nano-ized. There are 2 AH Supply 13w kits inside for a total of 26 watts. I plan on using just one of the lights for most of the day and then having the other one come on for a noon day effect.


Here is a good shot of how it looks with both lights on.









With the lid open








It was important to me that I had good access to the tank for maintenance. In my first design the whole assembly rotated out of the way so I could get my big mitts in there. In this design I made a hinged door which opens big to satisfy that need

It was a little tricky figuring out where to put the ballasts. I wanted to make the hood as small as possible so I made a little "box" that sits on the back of the hood that houses both 13w ballasts. It's open on the bottom to allow the heat to vent off. You can see it better in the first photo. 

I also bought a new filter (Zoo Med 501) which again, you can see in the first photo. I bought it for two reasons: I wanted it to be more "stealthy" in the tank  and the Deco Art Nano Filter I have just doesn’t cut it :thumbsdow. So far I am really impressed with the 501. It seems to have just enough flow without being overkill. 

I will keep everyone posted once I begin the planting. Until then...




Original Post


> I was sick of the plain 2.5 gallon tank sitting on my table so I came up with this:
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> ...


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## FelixAvery (Jan 11, 2007)

on first impression i think "gallows"
but its really nice! works well with the tank, maybe varnish it or paint it black?


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

FelixAvery said:


> on first impression i think "gallows"
> but its really nice! works well with the tank, maybe varnish it or paint it black?


Haha, the thought never crossed my mind!

I think black paint would look nice. Might even look less like a gallows :icon_wink Truth be told, I'm not completely finished, I just wanted to see how everything fit together. I plan on taking off the top plastic rim on the 2.5 as well so we'll see how that goes.


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## quark219 (May 5, 2007)

I like the base for the tank and I like the light enclosure. Per the other comment, the arm for the light does look a bit like something out of "The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly." <Cue whipporwill call from the movie's soundtrack> 

Any possibility of exchanging the wooden arm with a metal one? Or making a new wooden light support that comes up either side of the tank to form an arch (that is, two uprights and a third piece across the top from which the light is suspended)? Just a thought. 

By the way, how do you like the AH Supply 13W light? I'm about to order one for myself.

Thanks, Scott


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Metal is probably out of my league. All the materials were things I had laying around in my garage. I suppose I could modify it but I kinda like it as it is. Like I said before, I don't really see the gallows when i look at it. I suppose I see more of a "for sale" sign for a house or something like that  Regardless, I'll see how it grows :hihi: on me.

The AH Supply light is everything I'd hoped it would be. I got the 6700K bulb. Very bright and easy to assemble! I may try out the 5500K in the future though, I dunno. I kinda like the greener feeling it puts out.


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## quark219 (May 5, 2007)

I do think that if you paint the wooden arm black it'll diminish the gallows effect significantly. Just don't go hanging any ropes off of it! 

Glad to hear the AH Supply light is nice. The quality and quantity of light in your tank looks perfectl

Scott


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## Mangala (Jul 23, 2006)

Aw! I LIKE the gallows look! Maybe that's because I have a crazy sense of humor... "We're sending you to sleep with the fishes!"


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## rodney (Apr 10, 2007)

Looks great, maybe a nice stain would look less gallow...e


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Thanks for the input, guess I need to do some painting! :hihi: After all, I dont want any of my guys "sleeping with the fishes" :biggrin:


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## Yoshi (Apr 5, 2007)

I think the arm should be attached from the back... the profile view of the arm does seem a bit morbid.


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## quark219 (May 5, 2007)

Yoshi said:


> I think the arm should be attached from the back... the profile view of the arm does seem a bit morbid.


I think Yoshi/Daniel has nailed it. If you had two uprights coming up from the back of the tank, I think that would be just the thing. And it would look fine in wood (painted black, ideally)--disregard my earlier recommendation of metal.

(I don't mean to nitpick with what is a nice setup--just wanted to chime in and remark that when I read Yoshi/Daniel's idea, my immediate reaction was, "_That's_ it!")

Scott


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## General Tso (Mar 1, 2006)

I think it looks great. Fill in the nail or screw holes with some wood putty, give the whole piece a good sanding and give it a coat of satin black paint and you will be good to go. You did a nice job putting that together with odds and ends.


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## Matthew Mahling (Sep 4, 2005)

Too sweat! Well built and scaped.
A nice walnut stain, *wood* look good!


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## chaznsc (May 1, 2006)

FelixAvery said:


> on first impression i think "gallows"
> but its really nice! works well with the tank, maybe varnish it or paint it black?


That is exactly what I thought!

Stain it dark, or paint it. Its really nice!

chaz


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

I agree with Yoshi make the light look like its floating, and if you take the trimm off then paint the base a gunmetal gray or blue-grey to make it look clean for that ADA look. The base I think is the best part of the kit.overall very creative on your part.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

looks nice.
Do you think you could fit 2 13w kits over a 2.5?
just asking, not really a suggestion.


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Well the Miro reflectors are 3" wide so yes it's feasible, you'd just need a wider enclosure (most 2.5G's are roughly 12" x 6", Miro 4 is 8" x 3"). 

Out of curiosity, why do you ask?


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Thinking about settting up a 2.5 with Hc, wanted to know if it was possible to fit 26 watts of Ah power over it and grow some mad Hc.
thanks.


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

I dont know if you noticed but I'm growing HC in my tank. I wouldnt say it's "mad" growth but it has done really well. 26w would definately be interesting... Good luck roud:


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Yea, i saw, but i want this tank to grow it fast enough to spread it through some other tanks, IDK i might go with one, would be cheaper than a desklight
I think you could do a pico reef with 26w maybe


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## ingg (Jan 18, 2007)

They make 2x13 fixtures for 2.5 gallon nanos, picking one up from a club group buy this weekend, will post who's it is once I know 

Doing mine open topped (was going to do a canopy too, but afraid of the heat from the light), made a little stand for it:


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Looks slick! Good job.

Before I configured my current setup I had a closed canopy that I made. I had a 20W CF bulb in there and heat was never an issue for me.


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## cody6766 (Mar 15, 2007)

nice stand, that's my next job for my 2.5gal. I have the canopy and I'm not having a problem with heat. I have a 10w CF and it doesn't really even get warm to the touch sitting 1/4" from the wooden lid. Pics are in the link in my sig.


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## rlong (Jul 8, 2006)

Hi,
Nice little stand! I think you should stain it.
Randy


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## quark219 (May 5, 2007)

Mr. Bman, how's that 13W AHS light working out? What kind of plant growth are you seeing? With the AHS reflector design, what level of light would you say it's providing your tank? Low, Low-Medium, Medium, Medium-High, or High? (Use any hyphenated-adjective/invented word you feel appropriate.)

I'm asking because (as I mentioned in an earlier post) I've got an order in for one of those AHS 13W lights. Currently I've got a 10W CF in a 2.5G incandescent hood, and the results are _terrible:_ Just enough light to grow a bumper crop of *brown algae*, but not much good for anything else.

I'm hoping that the 13W AHS light will be a major improvement, but concerned that it still might not be enough light.

Thanks!

Scott


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Funny you ask. Just the other day I was debating how well my AH Supply light is doing. Lets start at the beginning...

First I tried a 13w Spiral compact I had laying around the house...with less than great results. It was probably related to the color spectrum of the bulb since it was an ordinary house bulb meant for illumination rather than growing. So I scoured the internet for a suitable alternative. I should mention that at this time I was under the assumption that the watt/gallon rule applied to nanos and well thats just not true. 

Finally I stumbled upon Coralife Colormax mini compact (screw in type) and thought "BINGO!" I went out and bought one at my LFS. Installed it in my hood...wow, this bulb is really pink looking. My other light didn't grow worth a crap but at least it looked decent. Oh well, just go with it...Tried it for a week or so but I still wasn't getting the growth results I wanted. 

Hmmm, maybe more wattage? (ding ding ding!)! Went to the hardware store and picked up a full spectrum 5000k 20w spiral. I fashioned a reflector out of a popcorn tin I had and slapped it on the tank. This time the color was great and it was bright! I let this new setup go for a bit and I actually got results (aka STUFF WAS PEARLING!!!) Although I had this huge ugly hood on top of my little 2.5 gallon I was getting somewhere.

Now getting to your question: I probably shouldn't have messed with it any more... If it ain't broke don't fix it... but I just had to . How to get rid of this eye sore on my tank... I found the AH Supply 13w light and I knew that it would look much better than my current setup. Plus they claimed that it would be the most efficient at reflecting light so I figured it was a shoe in. A couple of clicks later one was on it's way... I built a new hood, as seen in the first post, and *TA-DA* we have light. 

Results: It seems that the AH supply light puts out a lot of light for 13w CF. Their reflector is very efficient at putting the light where it needs to go. As a result it is WAY better than my original 13w spiral bulb and my plants are growing well with it. One drawback I have had is it seems that I'm not getting as much pearling as I was with the 20w. before I would literally see bubble streams coming off of my elodea. Now, not so much. I'm still trying to assess this but I think that is the case. But don't be dismayed, IT DOES GROW PLANTS, and quite well from what I can see. I really need to look at some pictures side by side to compare the growths but all in all I believe that the AH Supply setup is a really great setup. I would say that if you were looking for MEGA growth you may want to consider getting 2 or going a different route. 

Conclusion: I am pleased with the AH Supply setup...at least for now


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## quark219 (May 5, 2007)

Superb post, with a lot of great information. Thank you.

It sounds like the AHS 13W, for a 2.5G tank, provides light in the low-medium to medium-medium range, whereas the 20W setup you had earlier was more in low-high range. This is in accordance with some info I read recently where the author stated that it makes more sense to measure light by watts/square foot than watts/gallon, with the acceptable light ranges running from 25 watts/square foot to 55 watts/square foot.

With the 13W AHS fixture over a 2.5G tank (which is a half square foot: 6" front-to-back x 12" side-to-side) that would be 26W/sq foot or low light; with the exceptionally efficient reflector design, it seems the fixture manages to push the lighting level up to low-medium/medium-medium.

All good news from my perspective, as that's the lighting level I'm targeting. Thanks again for the information.

Scott


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

*bump revised on page 1*


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## Matthew Mahling (Sep 4, 2005)

Looks awsome new and improved. Very inventive.
I was a gallows fan too though.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

the new canopy is way better. Matches the base much better. the 501 is a big improvement, I use one on my 18gal. do you have pics of the unassembled wood.


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

That is incredible! Nice work..


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

MARIMOBALL: 
Sorry, no pictures of the unassembled unit. I considered doing a DIY thread on it but it was kind of experimental at the time. It was pretty easy to assemble, i've even considered making it a kit for sale depending on how it is recieved here on the board.


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## FelixAvery (Jan 11, 2007)

Thats Fantastic!! RAVE REVIEW! 
Yeh i want one! not a big fan of canopys usually but meh this one rules - you should use your DIY skills and do a complete replica of an ADA tank stand and lighting thing but nanoised, it would look so cool


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## quark219 (May 5, 2007)

*You've knocked it out of the park!*

Wow. All I can say is, The way you've re-evaluated your first attempt at a custom light canopy, and come back to the table with something this well-done is an _inspiration._

Nothing to suggest whatsoever. It looks perfect. *Great job *with the white paint on the interior, too. And I think your idea of running the two lights separately, for a mid-day effect, is *outstanding*.

I really look forward to any subsequent posts regarding plant growth, heat issues (I doubt there will be any, the way you've located the ballasts in the back), and other info.

Again, great job.

Scott.


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the feedback.

Being that I've always loved nanos, I wanted something that would compliment the tank without taking anything away from the viewing experience. This accomplished my goal pretty well for me. If I were to do it all over again I would change my build process (probably just use glue mostly instead of nails) but the end product would remain the same. Now all I have to do is fine some aquasoil so i can actually plant it! :tongue:

until then...


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Just got this guy planted:










Some Pacific Madrona wood I got from a tree outside. Turns out its related to manzanita so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Very hard. Looks pretty cool I think. 

Nothing fancy, just HC and some moss for now.









HC Shot


More as things develope/grow. Thanks for looking.


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## sandiegoryu (Feb 15, 2006)

I say toss the driftwood and move the main rock a inch to the left. Let a portion of the rock be in the middle, but the center of the main rock a little to the right.

Then move the accent rocks a wee bit closer to the main rock, and just use your artistic instincts to find a well put place for the accent rocks.

Good luck

edit: Next time you take a photograph, don't use the flash. If the picture turns out blurry without one, try very very hard to keep your hands still and put your elbows to your chest and try again. If you still can't take a nice picture try a tripod. Or even a chair, something you can find. A pillow would work too.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

yea, - the driftwood, it has no place in there.


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## Yoshi (Apr 5, 2007)

I don't think the driftwood looks that bad. I guess it depends on what kind of style you're looking to achieve. If you add some mid-level plants I think you could pull it off w/the driftwood, but if you're going to go w/a low growing carpet w/the HC, I'd take the wood out.


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## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Thanks Yoshi

I'm going to keep the wood in for now. I want to see how it looks once things fill in, only then will I decide. I would like to add some mid-level plants but i'm still shopping around at this point.

p.s. sandiegoryu, I know how to take pictures without a flash  This was just a quick "grab and go" shot


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