mUAr_cHEe’s Piece of River

[Urban Aquaria]

With the system and water already running for about 24 hours and there is no water leakage detected, I am still a little worried. Anybody else here have a similar problem and what is your solution?

Why not just get a pair of 16/22 to 12/16 reducers? They come in versions with lock nuts too, so you'll have peace of mind knowing that both hose sizes are firmly held by their own individual lock nuts.

Here is a photo example of it, can buy at most of the popular LFS:



When connected together...



Photos from google images.

I've used the ISTA brand ones which worked well, no issues with them so far.

[dimitri]

Good Night~

Looking good bro!!

What's your plans for the left-hand-side of the tank?

[mUAr_cHEe]

Looks like it's coming along great.

To save you worry and more hours of meddling maybe you should just get the pipe adaptor. I was just at Y618 that day. I think they should have the size you are looking for.

Alternatively, you could order it from Taobao. Order a few and you could save some cash rather than getting from LFS.

http://www.sgshop.com/?taobao=show_1_12929792710

Thank you for the tips.

Why not just get a pair of 16/22 to 12/16 reducers? They come in versions with lock nuts too, so you'll have peace of mind knowing that both hose sizes are firmly held by their own individual lock nuts.

Here is a photo example of it, can buy at most of the popular LFS:

IMAGE REMOVED

When connected together...

IMAGE REMOVED

Photos from google images.

I've used the ISTA brand ones which worked well, no issues with them so far.

Idol has spoken. Thou shall listen.

I actually did consider getting the reducer but I was just too lazy and cheapo to do it.

Looking good bro!!

What's your plans for the left-hand-side of the tank?

I was considering Wisteria or some other tall, broad-leafed plant. But I am still keeping my options open.

[mUAr_cHEe]

I lifted my lazy behind and got reminded harshly once again that there are no shortcuts.



Got the ISTA one some more. Just because I think my idol uses it too.


Since I was redoing the hose connections, I took the opportunity to reorganize the cabinet. The previous set up was done rather rashly and some of the hose length is not adequate. Things looked very messy. This is how it looks like now.



The organisation is still work-in-progress and you might be able to see that not everything is tidied up properly just yet.

On top of everything else, I also fitted an LED light set from IKEA inside the cabinet so that I can see what I am doing. Thats why there is this yellowish tinge in the cabinet. I was not able to find cheaper white LED light set. Most of the time, I would be working on the tank at night and it would help greatly if I can see clearly what I am handling.

Anyway, these are the equipment that I am running.

2 Eheim Ecco Pro 300
Hailea Chiller HS-52A
ISTA CO2 Reactor with ANS Electronic Solenoid running at 2-3 bps. (I think I am running a 3L tank. I cannot remember exactly right now.)
Maxspect R420r 300W

I got more plants today and planting did not take that long today. I have not been able to ID all the plants yet but I will put it up as I go down the road.



I felt relieved to see my HC started pearling since yesterday.



But I am still a little worried about some plugs still getting uprooted due to the shrinkage of the plug as some parts melted. You can see an example on the left side of the picture above.

Would the HC also be ok like that?



I am actually hoping that the roots will grow out and 'pull' the HC back into the soil. With my current planting skill-level, I actually unroot more plants rather than planting when I handle these rogue plugs. Alternatively, I kind of cheated by laying more substrate over the 'floaty' plugs but I am wary of overdoing it for fear that I will cloud up the water.

[matashi]

Chiller inside the cabinet? It's going to be hot

[mUAr_cHEe]

Chiller inside the cabinet? It's going to be hot

That is what the vents in the cabinet is for however air circulation is still bad. You are right. It still can get rather hot during mid-day. I am considering to run a fan to improve air circulation.

[matashi]

Yes even with vents, the hot air will not disperse fast enough. I have a friend who did the same thing as you did and went too hot that the multi plug adaptor melted. Lucky he notice in time. Would have been worse if he didn't. Much safer to place chiller in open areas. It's ugly but better to be safe than sorry

I think vents in cabinets are for air to circulate to let the vapors escape. So the wood inside will not get soggy over time.

My chiller is placed in open space and the hot air it releases are still enough to warm up another tank right next to it from 28 to 30degrees. Imagine inside cabinet....

[mUAr_cHEe]

Yes even with vents, the hot air will not disperse fast enough. I have a friend who did the same thing as you did and went too hot that the multi plug adaptor melted. Lucky he notice in time. Would have been worse if he didn't. Much safer to place chiller in open areas. It's ugly but better to be safe than sorry

I think vents in cabinets are for air to circulate to let the vapors escape. So the wood inside will not get soggy over time.

My chiller is placed in open space and the hot air it releases are still enough to warm up another tank right next to it from 28 to 30degrees. Imagine inside cabinet....

I agree with your points but placing the chiller outside would be a last option for me. I rather try to rectify the problem first. I am exploring to get circulation fans installed in the cabinet to improve air flow.

[matashi]

Maybe don't set the temperature too low, so chiller will not kick in so often and thus less heat

[mUAr_cHEe]

Maybe don't set the temperature too low, so chiller will not kick in so often and thus less heat

Good Suggestion. I am already doing that. But as you know, we have itchy backsides and I am trying to push the limits.

[AQMS]

Your tank is looking good.
About the chiller issue, honestly i think it will not work,you probably will shorten your chiller lifespan and performance.
There is not enough opening for the hot air to escape and it will be suck back by the chiller hence will reduce the performance
and create problem in future.

[Suzerolt]

Very nice full tank shot! Love the layout & colors.

I've logged the temperature around my chiller before. It runs around 35degC.
One idea is to cut a hole somewhere in the cabinet. Install an exhaust fan (eg large PC fan or even KDK exhaust fan) to pull air out of the cabinet. Vents alone won't be sufficient.

In a hot environment, tour chiller will probably run longer because its not able to "lose heat" as quickly and hence not able to chill the water as quick as it could (less efficient)
The electricity cost to run an exhaust fan would be less compared to the loss of chiller efficiency.

[Urban Aquaria]

The scape looks like its progressing well... just trim the longer HC (and rogue HC) and replant them, eventually they will have a more even growth.

Since I was redoing the hose connections, I took the opportunity to reorganize the cabinet. The previous set up was done rather rashly and some of the hose length is not adequate. Things looked very messy. This is how it looks like now.



The organisation is still work-in-progress and you might be able to see that not everything is tidied up properly just yet.

On top of everything else, I also fitted an LED light set from IKEA inside the cabinet so that I can see what I am doing. Thats why there is this yellowish tinge in the cabinet. I was not able to find cheaper white LED light set. Most of the time, I would be working on the tank at night and it would help greatly if I can see clearly what I am handling.

Very nice cabinet design and layout... i guess i'm probably the only one who looks at cabinet interiors, haha.

With the brown wooden support beams and cabinet lighting, it actually reminds me of the interior of a traditional japanese house.

[mUAr_cHEe]

Your tank is looking good.
About the chiller issue, honestly i think it will not work,you probably will shorten your chiller lifespan and performance.
There is not enough opening for the hot air to escape and it will be suck back by the chiller hence will reduce the performance
and create problem in future.

Thank you for the compliment and concern.

I have thought of a solution to this problem. I will be posting updates here. Stay tuned.

Very nice full tank shot! Love the layout & colors.

I've logged the temperature around my chiller before. It runs around 35degC.
One idea is to cut a hole somewhere in the cabinet. Install an exhaust fan (eg large PC fan or even KDK exhaust fan) to pull air out of the cabinet. Vents alone won't be sufficient.

In a hot environment, tour chiller will probably run longer because its not able to "lose heat" as quickly and hence not able to chill the water as quick as it could (less efficient)
The electricity cost to run an exhaust fan would be less compared to the loss of chiller efficiency.

Thank you for the compliments. I thought I could do better with the colours but anyway, this is still a work in progress. Despite my planning and research, I forgot to factor in my wife's involvement. She started picking the plants when we were at the LFS. I will be picking up some Marsilea quadrifolia soon.

Your reply actually gave me an idea for my solution. I will be posting updates soon. Pls stay tuned.

The scape looks like its progressing well... just trim the longer HC (and rogue HC) and replant them, eventually they will have a more even growth.



Very nice cabinet design and layout... i guess i'm probably the only one who looks at cabinet interiors, haha.

With the brown wooden support beams and cabinet lighting, it actually reminds me of the interior of a traditional japanese house.

Thank you, idol. So those HC which are like half-planted (plugs that are half planted and half un-planted), I can leave them as it is? Will they eventually settle down? Have you experienced similar before?

I actually do spend alot of time researching on cabinet design and interiors too. In fact, right now, I am sub-consciously taking down mental notes on what to do for my next cabinet.

Interesting note on the traditional Japanese House concept. But somehow I do not see it that way. Once I have finalized my layout, I will contribute to your 'interior layout' thread too.

[Urban Aquaria]

Interesting note on the traditional Japanese House concept.

Yeah, i lived in japan for a few months and stayed at a friend's house with traditional japanese-style interior design, so i guess thats what i thought of first.

Looks something like this (white/cream walls with lots of wooden brown support beams):



Photo from google images.

[mUAr_cHEe]

Despite my display of stubbornness, I truly appreciate and thoroughly consider all the feedback that is given to me. I thank you all again for those who have advised, offered suggestions and even made recommendations to me either via on this thread or PM.

I do share the genuine concern of the longevity of the chiller. The heat actually makes it a hazardous hobby-place environment considering that I am sticking my head in that cabinet most of the time at night. This usually takes place after I managed to convince my wife that there are no mermaids living in there.

Right now, my plan is to introduce circulation fans into my cabinet to expel the heat generated by the chiller. To achieve this, I have considered 3 options.

Option 1. Operation: USB

Buy some of these:



Plug into this:



So that I get a cooling system and have the ability to charge my iPhone at the same time whilst working on my tank. This idea was eventually thrown out as it would be a hassle and ugly to mount onto the cabinet. Plus the fact that I can easily charge my brand new iPhone away from a potentially wet environment.

Option 2. Operation: CoolerMaster

Buy some of these:



and hook it up to this:



which would allow me to further connect these:



and maybe this for fine tuning and monitoring:



and I would probably end up with an aquarium cabinet version of this:



It would have been so cool. It brings out the closet 'ah-beng' in me. This idea is quickly thrown out because I am not a real ah-beng. I am more of the prefect/snitch kind of material. I do not have the confidence and knowledge of making the connections as I have never done it before. I am more of a Buy-an-iMac-plug-and-play kind of guy. Further research of the costs associated with this proposal further threw me off. With that kind of budget, my wife would then suspect that there might be two mermaids living in my tank.

Above images are from Google images (Power to the Internetz!)

Option 3. Operation: Let's play it safe.

This is something that I have done before in my marine days. I did it before to cool down my 2 X 250W Metal Halide Lamps. So down I trotted to Sim Lim and got myself a couple of these:



And then I started experimenting last night:



Argh! Kena photobombed by my own foot!

I have not finalized the final placement yet but more or less, I got a good idea of what is needed. I will be doing more research and procurement today. In the mean time, I have switched off my chiller today and will be logging the maximum and minimum temperatures of my cabinet today as reference. This was deployed.



I think my plants should do fine without chiller for one day. Right?

[Ingen]

Since we are on the topic of chillers, what if inside a cabinet that has a open back placed near the wall?

[mUAr_cHEe]

Since we are on the topic of chillers, what if inside a cabinet that has a open back placed near the wall?

The opened back would definitely allow the heated air to escape but there should still be sufficient allowance between the wall and cabinet for ventilation.

[matashi]

Sunon CPU fans are one the best fans with good speed and low decibels. Good choice

[Phillipians]

28 degrees can grow most plants even mosses. Only cannot grow mini pelia and pelia. So should not worry too much. I assume you got double tap to disconnect chiller ? Or is it just connected to a pump ?