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Everything DIY build

thats a good idea, I have access to a lathe and may need to go that route. I'm keen to reduce things though so incorporating bits in to the cap is hopefully going to achieve that
 
Knocked these up today, they need cleaning up before assembling. It’s the plug for the inflow.

A8C1FF1F-DB4E-486F-B627-6DB369F53266.jpeg


C329C1CD-EE9E-4DA9-AF3C-CD32762DF74F.jpeg
 
What’s the metal tube for dog?

Understand the plug and seal! Did you turn them out?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

yeah they were turned on a metal lathe, hence them being a bit yellow as they got a bit oily, it should be clear acrylic, I just need to give the bits a clean.

I need to get some acrylic solvent but it will all be put together and if it works, I will show it complete. if not ill have to go back to the drawing board!

if you imagine those pieces together though, you can probably see what its meant to be
 
It is interference fit so will be solvent welded, should be optically clear joins. The widest part is the same diameter as the inflow pipe so it won’t get sucked up, it will butt up against it.

I don’t do this for a living, I’m just creatively minded and design stuff a lot. I work a boring 9-5 four days a week (and day dream and write down ideas through the day) and take a Friday to mess around making stuff!

plus my dad is an engineer so I've just grown up with tools and bought or made the stuff I've needed. I do sell bits and pieces here and there so it pays for itself, ill probably sell custom sets of these inflow/outflow pipes if theres any interest.


do you do this sort of stuff?
 
Done a little more today, I want to keep some cherry shrimp in this tank and will need a way of keeping them from getting sucked in to the filter. A bit of foam is not an option as it’s too ugly and intrusive, same for a mesh guard on the outside. So I’ve made a mesh guard for inside the tube. Stainless mesh rolled in to tube a bit larger than the ID. Slots in and holds firm. The plug will be removable in order to clean the mesh.

Forgot to mention the plug doubles up as a CO2 drop checker.

8A2C8E45-6164-4F16-8791-758FEECB7D9B.jpeg


3202E925-F12B-4B48-96AB-F086B3AA0F43.jpeg
 
Done a little more today, I want to keep some cherry shrimp in this tank and will need a way of keeping them from getting sucked in to the filter. A bit of foam is not an option as it’s too ugly and intrusive, same for a mesh guard on the outside. So I’ve made a mesh guard for inside the tube. Stainless mesh rolled in to tube a bit larger than the ID. Slots in and holds firm. The plug will be removable in order to clean the mesh.

Forgot to mention the plug doubles up as a CO2 drop checker.

View attachment 165117

View attachment 165118

Looks great! I was thinking of doing something similar long term for my stainless steel pipes.

Might sound like a stupid question but how do you get the mesh to bend and curve so smoothly?
 
Looks great! I was thinking of doing something similar long term for my stainless steel pipes.

Might sound like a stupid question but how do you get the mesh to bend and curve so smoothly?

Thanks, I use slip rolls to roll it in to a tube but that only rolls it down so far, as this is a very tight tube, so the rest I rolled by hand. It would have been difficult to get it in to a clean tube without the rollers to do the majority of the work tbh.
 
Thanks, I use slip rolls to roll it in to a tube but that only rolls it down so far, as this is a very tight tube, so the rest I rolled by hand. It would have been difficult to get it in to a clean tube without the rollers to do the majority of the work tbh.

Maybe you'd be willing to sell some? I'd buy them wink haha
 
So.... another update. All the up and down metal work with rails thing I did a few months ago and had to stop as I was being feeble about the cold, finally got finished today. And it was the part I was being most mysterious about.

The up and down aspect is to raise the outflow pipe at night to give better aeration and disperse any co2. In the morning before the co2 kicks in it will drop down again. I have this linked to a timer and relay which switches on a linear actuator and reverses polarity to draw it up and down.

The other bit works on a similar principle; a linear actuator with relays and timers. But this actuator goes horizontally and switches on one second approx every hour, once it reaches the end it then retracts. This is linked to the outflow. The idea is that the outflow pipe will move from left to right in small increments throughout the day and night.

Luckily all the working out I did has meant it worked perfectly first time.

The idea for this came when I was about 7 years old in 1990, my dad set up a tank with pumps on each end of the tank. My dad told me the pumps were there to circulate the water. I thought when he turned it all on the pumps would move left and right to circulate the water. It just seemed like an obvious thing to do. but they didn't :confused:

Fast forward to now and the whole need for good flow in a planted aquarium thing made me think of this again.

The set up I have here moves the outflow by 90degrees left and right, I’m quite confident this will eliminate near enough all dead spots in the tank. More importantly it saves having any extra bits in the tank to achieve this.

Part of my aim with this tank is to minimalise the hell out of this set up.

These two pipes should therefore:
Circulate the water thoroughly and better than a static outflow
Automatically raise at night to remove the need to do this manually or add an air stone for night time aeration
Incorporates a shrimp guard inside the inflow and is not easily visible
Incorporates a CO2 drop checker as the cap in the inflow
The pipework all enters in to the tank stand, this keeps lines straight, no curvy silicone hoses hanging down (I really hate that) and no chance of brown algae pipework on display.

I’m quite pleased with all this. It’s been a lot of planning and trying lots of different ideas to get to this stage.

I would be interested to hear anyones thoughts on this idea.

6E33AF8F-E660-41C0-8547-F30BF62D23AE.jpeg

D9C66A0B-1EE8-4304-B19A-0D9CF74088F1.jpeg

39D079C3-A1D2-42BA-B06F-DCF4F9F754EF.jpeg



The photos don’t show the full extent of the left and right business, I’ll do a video as some point to show it all working.
 
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do you do this sort of stuff?


I’m a tool maker by trade, but now in the aerospace industry as a mechanic.

I tend to spend more time making things for motorbikes.

Although seeing you do this has made me want to have a go at a few things now

Proper impressed with the latest design pal. Respect for putting that much effort in for something most wouldn’t deem worth it!

You can tell you enjoy it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I’m a tool maker by trade, but now in the aerospace industry as a mechanic.

I tend to spend more time making things for motorbikes.

Although seeing you do this has made me want to have a go at a few things now

Proper impressed with the latest design pal. Respect for putting that much effort in for something most wouldn’t deem worth it!

You can tell you enjoy it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thats awesome, what kind of motorbike bits have you been making? I'm in to motorbikes too, amongst other things
 
thats awesome, what kind of motorbike bits have you been making? I'm in to motorbikes too, amongst other things

I like my bobbers/chops so just bits like sissy bars, pegs, stem covers, nothing too fancy.

Also make tattoo machine parts and machines themselves! But there’s not much too them!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
So.... another update. All the up and down metal work with rails thing I did a few months ago and had to stop as I was being feeble about the cold, finally got finished today. And it was the part I was being most mysterious about.

The up and down aspect is to raise the outflow pipe at night to give better aeration and disperse any co2. In the morning before the co2 kicks in it will drop down again. I have this linked to a timer and relay which switches on a linear actuator and reverses polarity to draw it up and down.

The other bit works on a similar principle; a linear actuator with relays and timers. But this actuator goes horizontally and switches on one second approx every hour, once it reaches the end it then retracts. This is linked to the outflow. The idea is that the outflow pipe will move from left to right in small increments throughout the day and night.

Luckily all the working out I did has meant it worked perfectly first time.

The idea for this came when I was about 7 years old in 1990, my dad set up a tank with pumps on each end of the tank. My dad told me the pumps were there to circulate the water. I thought when he turned it all on the pumps would move left and right to circulate the water. It just seemed like an obvious thing to do. but they didn't :confused:

Fast forward to now and the whole need for good flow in a planted aquarium thing made me think of this again.

The set up I have here moves the outflow by 90degrees left and right, I’m quite confident this will eliminate near enough all dead spots in the tank. More importantly it saves having any extra bits in the tank to achieve this.

Part of my aim with this tank is to minimalise the hell out of this set up.

These two pipes should therefore:
Circulate the water thoroughly and better than a static outflow
Automatically raise at night to remove the need to do this manually or add an air stone for night time aeration
Incorporates a shrimp guard inside the inflow and is not easily visible
Incorporates a CO2 drop checker as the cap in the inflow
The pipework all enters in to the tank stand, this keeps lines straight, no curvy silicone hoses hanging down (I really hate that) and no chance of brown algae pipework on display.

I’m quite pleased with all this. It’s been a lot of planning and trying lots of different ideas to get to this stage.

I would be interested to hear anyones thoughts on this idea.

View attachment 165164
View attachment 165165
View attachment 165166


The photos don’t show the full extent of the left and right business, I’ll do a video as some point to show it all working.

Loving the ingenuity, nice work! I’m keen to see the video of it working. As someone who works with stainless steel every day I appreciate the effort you’ve gone to - it’s not always an easy material to work with.

Two practical observations though. First, how are you going to clean the inside of such long pipe work when it invariably furs with detritus?

Second, the open area for the inlet pipe looks very small, particularly as you’ve added the mesh inside. A couple of leaves stuck to it during use, and you may find a significant drop in flow.

If it were me, I’d do away with the slots completely, cut out the entire opening where the slots are formed, resulting in a larger rectangular section of visible mesh for the water to draw through,
 
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