Poll: what's the most innovative thing you've done?

[TMIB]

This was inspired by a discussion I spotted over at thereeftank.com

What's the most innovative or creative thing you've done for your aquarium?

And I mean things that worked. No need for more horror stories here.

--TMIB

 

[tetra]

I took a parasitic pump at work and turn it into a b-ionic dosing pump...deliver to accuracy of a drop of water...hehehehe..
Set on an 8-minute cycle to deliver exactly 40mL of both ca and alkalinity..and I still have 7 more free lines to hook up more solutions if needed. I feel like I have a ca reactor..

 

[Jeff Hood]

Lunchbucket, My skimmer is very quiet mostly because the venturi valve is plumed back to the skimmer cup for the air. This is the Lifereef self cleaning design. No sucking sounds at all. Much more noise from my overflows.
I have also decided its better to adjust the consistency of the foam with a clamp on that hose regulating the air to the skimmer rather than just throtteling down the pump. That way the turnover through the skimmer is the same and I keep from overflowing. Once its broken in there is no need to throttle it back any and my 3mdq pump runs wide open through the skimmer. totally hands off now. except to clean that cup every couple of days. When I add additives that may make a skimmer go NUTS I just clamp down on the hose and slowly release it back to wide open over several hours.


Jeff

 

[gazpep]

Modified my crappy hang on skimmer to adapt an airline & airstone to make the thing actually skim. Works a treat now.

 

[DKKA]

My 1st tank didn't have a sump, and I wanted surface skimming and a good external protein skimmer. So, I built a surface skimmer similar in design to what you see on a swimming pool. A piece of plastic with a float on it ensured that water was sucked off the surface, even if the water level in the tank fluctated. It worked pretty darned good, and I used it for a couple years.

Also, converted my useless Skilter into a decent CSD for my 10 gal Nano.
Dan

 

[mgamelin]

I would say the Metal Halide system I just finished. "I even surprised myself"

[ July 20, 2001: Message edited by: mgamelin ]

 

[SteveP]

When my Rio 2100 died on my Turbflotor T-1000 19 days after I bought the damn thing (surprised, eh?), I decided it wasn't worth replacing. I figured, "Why risk electrocuting myself or my tank's inhabitants for a lousy $30 pump?" So I bought an AquaClear 802 and plumbed it directly into the intake port of the T-1000 and plugged all other openings. Then I simply mounted a piece of airline tubing in the intake of the 802, and voila! a homemade Berlin Turbo upgrade for under $30! Needle wheel impellers are no better than regular ones. My skimmer is making more bubbles that are just as fine as the ones created (for 19 days) by the Rio.

Steve
8{I

 

[myreef]

The most innovative thing I have done is convince my wife we needed to upgrade our tank several years ago. We went from a 75 to a 150. hehe

No really, she is great and let's me do most of anything I want with the tank. I am working on my 3rd tank now...a 45 gallon custom acrylic prop tank!

Love the lights MG! Beautiful work!

 

[Jeff Hood]

designed a self leveling protein skimmer and let let Lifereef build it for me. I have built it before but Now with my new career no time for that and no acrilic anywhere near me.
Works great and no adjustments to be made once broken in.

 

[Lunchbucket]

great idea man but how loud is it!!

i am not inovative. my cpr clone refugium is my best....i suck

later
Lunchbucket

[ July 20, 2001: Message edited by: Lunchbucket ]

 

[jmeader]

While I was in the army, I had to move frequently. So I built myself a 10 gal traveling tank. It was built with 3/4 inch plywood with a plexiglass window. A special top, with a vent, could be screwed on with wing nuts. The airpump, light, and heater operated off of the cigarette lighter.

 

[trybka]

I pretty much suck at home improvement stuff and that carries over to my tank.... but I did build my own plexiglass top for my 35g hex tank. I wanted to upgrade my lighting to PCs and the top that came with the tank was a black plastic hood with light and I couldn't find anyplace with a glass lid.... so i measured it out and cut the plexiglass and the used a cheap black poster frame for the edges. I'm pretty proud of it!