New 29g Build Log
- Thread starter WinnipegDragon
- Start date
i would be worried about the slate, when i went to the menards i bought some of that slat and clean it off real good, and put it in my tank it killed my fish, i guess it was the glue they use to bond it, if it have white stuff inbetween the layers, then i would be worried
A couple more quick pictures. I've mounted the ballast on the underside of the top of the canopy. It's actually hanging on two screws that are not fully tightened so that there is an airspace between the ballast and the pressboard.
I don't expect the ballast to get too hot only driving 48w of lighting, but a little more ventilation can't hurt:
As you can see, I tidied up the cables as well as possible, and supported them with wire holding nail thingies. When you open the doors of the stand, it's all hidden by the top brace.
Here is a picture of the wiring from behind with the canopy on:
There is supposed to be eight feet of cable from the ballast to the endcaps, but clearly I received nothing close to that. I've got 3 feet at best, and those red and blue wires are really taut.
I'm a bit concerned about the stress on the wires, so I'm going to try and get some quick disconnects and hook those up to all the wires to make removing the canopy completely easy. As it is, the canopy has to come off straight back, and that's not going to work where the tank will be placed. I might even splice in an extra foot or so of wire, although that would look a bit inelegant. It should be hidden, but I'd still like it to be neat. I wonder if the quick disconnects will add or remove cable length overall...
Anyhow, I'll need to get that done before I get the tank in place and add the substrate and water.
I don't expect the ballast to get too hot only driving 48w of lighting, but a little more ventilation can't hurt:
As you can see, I tidied up the cables as well as possible, and supported them with wire holding nail thingies. When you open the doors of the stand, it's all hidden by the top brace.
Here is a picture of the wiring from behind with the canopy on:
There is supposed to be eight feet of cable from the ballast to the endcaps, but clearly I received nothing close to that. I've got 3 feet at best, and those red and blue wires are really taut.
I'm a bit concerned about the stress on the wires, so I'm going to try and get some quick disconnects and hook those up to all the wires to make removing the canopy completely easy. As it is, the canopy has to come off straight back, and that's not going to work where the tank will be placed. I might even splice in an extra foot or so of wire, although that would look a bit inelegant. It should be hidden, but I'd still like it to be neat. I wonder if the quick disconnects will add or remove cable length overall...
Anyhow, I'll need to get that done before I get the tank in place and add the substrate and water.
I know others that have used this before without trouble, but I'll keep that in mind. I'm currently leaning towards not using it anyhow, it's just not the look I was hoping for.
Thank you. Getting back into the hobby after 7 years or so, I decided not to make a lot of the same mistakes I did before. I'm going to keep up with water changes, use quality equipment, make sure I know how everything works, and research as much as possible. Basically, I'm not cutting corners, and I'm planning in advance.
I hope things go well once the fishies and plants arrive
Got the extra wiring done tonight.
I first spliced in a length of 18 awg stranded wire to the red and blue wires with crimp-on butt connectors.
I added about 8 inches to the wire. Next I added on some crimp on disconnect terminals to all six wires.
This makes working with the canopy considerably easier. I wanted to grab quick disconnects, but I didn't find any. These disconnect, but it takes some effort to get them apart.
Here's the after shot showing the new wire length and the disconnects.
Look much nicer, and I don't have the stress on the cables anymore. All in all, for $25 of materials and maybe an hour and a half of labour, it was well worth it.
On the downside, the slate tile structure is a write-off. The slate snaps when I try to pick it up, and it's just not what I was looking for. I'll try to go with just the caves that the driftwood will provide, and I'll add on if the cichlids seem to be getting aggressive.
I was hoping to get more done today, but I spent the rest of the night assembling a parrot cage. My wife is getting a brown-headed parrot for her birthday and it should be arriving later this week, and she's pretty thrilled. The new animal count in our house is three aquariums, two rabbits and a parrot :headbang2:
I first spliced in a length of 18 awg stranded wire to the red and blue wires with crimp-on butt connectors.
I added about 8 inches to the wire. Next I added on some crimp on disconnect terminals to all six wires.
This makes working with the canopy considerably easier. I wanted to grab quick disconnects, but I didn't find any. These disconnect, but it takes some effort to get them apart.
Here's the after shot showing the new wire length and the disconnects.
Look much nicer, and I don't have the stress on the cables anymore. All in all, for $25 of materials and maybe an hour and a half of labour, it was well worth it.
On the downside, the slate tile structure is a write-off. The slate snaps when I try to pick it up, and it's just not what I was looking for. I'll try to go with just the caves that the driftwood will provide, and I'll add on if the cichlids seem to be getting aggressive.
I was hoping to get more done today, but I spent the rest of the night assembling a parrot cage. My wife is getting a brown-headed parrot for her birthday and it should be arriving later this week, and she's pretty thrilled. The new animal count in our house is three aquariums, two rabbits and a parrot :headbang2:
Almost there...
Spent tonight cleaning up a last few details. The driftwood has mostly leeched, so I gave it a good scrubbing tonight in the bucket. It should be good to go by the time the plants get here.
I wrapped the crimp-on wire stuff with gobs of electrical tape. Looks a bit ghetto but I figure a little extra protection can't hurt considering all the water involved. I also set up the Rena XP2 canister, and cut/crimped the hoses. I mounted a power bar to the inside of the cabinet up high, so there is basically a built in drop loop for anything plugged into it. I'm rinsing the flourite tomorrow, and it moves upstairs and gets filled tomorrow night.
Two more quick pictures, one of the whole tank and another closeup of the cabinet interior. The Rena just barely fits inside My DIY CO2 (a 1g juice bottle) will fill the left side.
Interior:
I also ordered a venturi/powerhead CO2 diffuser from AquariumPlants.com and my CO2 tubing as well. It should arrive with the plants on April 2nd.
Spent tonight cleaning up a last few details. The driftwood has mostly leeched, so I gave it a good scrubbing tonight in the bucket. It should be good to go by the time the plants get here.
I wrapped the crimp-on wire stuff with gobs of electrical tape. Looks a bit ghetto but I figure a little extra protection can't hurt considering all the water involved. I also set up the Rena XP2 canister, and cut/crimped the hoses. I mounted a power bar to the inside of the cabinet up high, so there is basically a built in drop loop for anything plugged into it. I'm rinsing the flourite tomorrow, and it moves upstairs and gets filled tomorrow night.
Two more quick pictures, one of the whole tank and another closeup of the cabinet interior. The Rena just barely fits inside
My DIY CO2 (a 1g juice bottle) will fill the left side.
Interior:
I also ordered a venturi/powerhead CO2 diffuser from AquariumPlants.com and my CO2 tubing as well. It should arrive with the plants on April 2nd.
