Well, I decided to see what I could make for free (or there abouts) with stuff around the house. The main two parts of this design are a funnel and a very small baby food jar. From there all you need is a method of placement in the tank, I used a leftover bracket from a powerhead that goes over the tank rim and is adjustable, then just took a scrap piece of clear plastic to connect the two (I used polycarbonate since I have a ton of scraps, but of course acrylic would be the common choice).
Here are some pics (click them for bigger ones):
Baby food jar (free as a side effect from feeding a baby
), and a funnel that came in a 3 piece set for $1.99 from the local super store. I cut the hole with a step drill bit but my bit wasnt quite big enough so I used a dremel to enlarge it to the right size. The funnel I cut with a band saw.
The finished product with a bracket from an old powerhead and a strip of plastic. Everything attached with aquarium grade silicone.
The funnel could have been trimmed more flush but I chose to leave the funnel extend a bit lower thinking that it would give me a little extra air/water surface contact area.
This shows just about everything used, except for the tube of silicone, baking soda, and the cutting tools. I made a batch of 4* test solution with a gallon jug of distilled water. I put the rest of the solution in another normal size glass jar, I hope it will keep some time because its a PITA to make. I use a graduated syringe and put 20ml of solution in the drop checker. Probably would look a little better with some more fluid, maybe like half full. That would probably be ~30ml or so I would guess.
In the tank. I just stuck it in the corner, its such a forest in there you cant really see it from the front. I'll soon be moving it to a sump anyhow.
And now green, the next morning. I wanted to time how long it took to change, but I didnt get it in the tank till late the previous night and in under two hours when the lights went off it hadnt really changed much from blue yet. This is how it looked the next morning after lights on.
The white color of the funnel helps a bit in seeing the color of the fluid it little more clearly.
Overall I'd have to rate this project very easy, just make sure the silicone seals completely around the funnel to the jar end.
I'm not entirely sure what kind of finish the baby food jar metal top is, I suppose thats the only questionable part of this. I'll keep my eye on it and if it starts to oxidize or corrode then I'll pull it.
Here are some pics (click them for bigger ones):
Baby food jar (free as a side effect from feeding a baby
), and a funnel that came in a 3 piece set for $1.99 from the local super store. I cut the hole with a step drill bit but my bit wasnt quite big enough so I used a dremel to enlarge it to the right size. The funnel I cut with a band saw.
The finished product with a bracket from an old powerhead and a strip of plastic. Everything attached with aquarium grade silicone.
The funnel could have been trimmed more flush but I chose to leave the funnel extend a bit lower thinking that it would give me a little extra air/water surface contact area.
This shows just about everything used, except for the tube of silicone, baking soda, and the cutting tools. I made a batch of 4* test solution with a gallon jug of distilled water. I put the rest of the solution in another normal size glass jar, I hope it will keep some time because its a PITA to make. I use a graduated syringe and put 20ml of solution in the drop checker. Probably would look a little better with some more fluid, maybe like half full. That would probably be ~30ml or so I would guess.
In the tank. I just stuck it in the corner, its such a forest in there you cant really see it from the front. I'll soon be moving it to a sump anyhow.
And now green, the next morning. I wanted to time how long it took to change, but I didnt get it in the tank till late the previous night and in under two hours when the lights went off it hadnt really changed much from blue yet. This is how it looked the next morning after lights on.
The white color of the funnel helps a bit in seeing the color of the fluid it little more clearly.
Overall I'd have to rate this project very easy, just make sure the silicone seals completely around the funnel to the jar end.
I'm not entirely sure what kind of finish the baby food jar metal top is, I suppose thats the only questionable part of this. I'll keep my eye on it and if it starts to oxidize or corrode then I'll pull it.
