• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Tom's Bucket O' Mud - The End

BigTom said:
Yeah the fan should be arriving on Tuesday so I'll update the thread then. Might want to hold off a day on returning yours just in case its a success?
Click to expand...
For my tank I would need two units so that would be way too expensive to get two and I already have a T5 unit that will do for now, thinking of getting a new tank also and will evaluate the options then. Might not happen until the summer now anyway. 😉
 
OK, some things I have learned about electronics (from a starting position of zilch a few days ago);

1. The fan in the Kessil is a fairly standard 40x40x20mm affair. Physically very easy to find a replacement.
2. However, it runs at 24v instead of 12v like most computer fans.
3. You can run the standard fan at half speed or a 12v fan if you wire in a LM7812 voltage regulator. This is very easy to do - ideally involves a spot of soldering or you can bodge it like me with electrical tape.
4. The half speed stock fan still pushes more air than the 12v northbridge fan I tried.
5. Doing the above will drastically reduce fan noise, and runs the unit cool enough not to cause any issue (short term at least). However, the unit does run considerably hotter so you're probably shortening the life span of the LEDs from the rated 13 years to...... who knows.
6. Running the unit without a fan at all causes it to switch off after about 10 minutes when it gets too hot. Good safety feature.
7. Accidentally crossing the red and black wires going to the fan whilst its switched on causes a burning smell and the death of a fuse on the circuit board, which renders the entire fan circuit kaput.
8. After a lot of swearing you can run a second power cable for the fan directly to that old mobile phone charger that's been sat in your drawer for about 8 years, because it just so happens to be 12v DC.

So in summary; if the terrible buzz from the Kessil fan is setting your teeth on edge, you can easily fix it by wiring in a 12v regulator as detailed here - AVForums.com - View Single Post - Behringer amps, x-over and parametric EQ units and hence running the stock fan half speed, or replacing with another fan of your choice. The downside is that the unit will be hotter, probably reducing its lifespan.

Can't help but feel Kessil should have made the case large enough to fit a 60mm fan and larger heatsink; would have made cooling much easier and quiter with only a minor increase in bulk.
 
It might also be worth trying to make the air vent holes bigger, as some of the noise could be the sound of air blowing past these. I certainly remember hacking metal grates off the back of PC cases back in my PC modding days, trying to make silent PCs. Can you run the fan with out the casing on to see how much noise it makes? (Casing will be necessary though, to draw the air around the bulb/circuitry, so you won't be able to ditch the outer casing completely)
 
I had considered that, but not convinced I could make a neat job of it and I'd need to invest in a dremel or something. The stock fan is incredibly loud even out of the case (sounds like someone in the next room using a hairdryer).

It's running quietly and stable now, just hotter than before.
 
hi tom, do you think danio erythromicron would be ok at 200 ppm hardness? i
 
Seems strange that seriously fish would have different parameters for sawbwa and erythromicron- they come from the same water!
 
I recently moved a trio of Sawbwa out of the main tank and into a 25l with a mesh bottom and dropped the temperature right down to 18 degrees to see if I could get them to spawn. Spotted a few eggs scattered around...

Freshly laid -
sawbwaegg.jpg

And a wee video of the first free swimming fry that I saw today (tiny!) -

 
Few more shots while I'm at it -

bbgcp.jpg

taen2.jpg


taen1o.jpg
 

Attachments

  • taen1o.jpg
    taen1o.jpg
    182.7 KB · Views: 125
  • taen1o.jpg
    taen1o.jpg
    182.7 KB · Views: 126
thats great tom, are the conditions in the nano the same as the bucket aside temp? As im currently thinking about soft/hard water, your bucket seems to keep the sawbwa happy yet thought you had hard water?
Are you leaving the fry to their own devises?
 
Iain Sutherland said:
thats great tom, are the conditions in the nano the same as the bucket aside temp? As im currently thinking about soft/hard water, your bucket seems to keep the sawbwa happy yet thought you had hard water?
Are you leaving the fry to their own devises?
Click to expand...

Yeah the nano is just filled with water from the main tank. Sawbwa and most of the rest of the fish I keep now are from Lake Inle and other hard(ish) water habitats. For the record, my tap water is fairly soft but the soil in the tank raises the pH and TDS.

Might take the adult fish out tomorrow if the other eggs start hatching... they're voracious egg and fry eaters.
 
Hi all,
BigTom said:
I recently moved a trio of Sawbwa out of the main tank and into a 25l with a mesh bottom and dropped the temperature right down to 18 degrees to see if I could get them to spawn. Spotted a few eggs scattered around...
Click to expand...
That is brilliant Tom, do you know if they have been spawned many times before in captivity?

cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,

That is brilliant Tom, do you know if they have been spawned many times before in captivity?

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...

There's a guy over on Seriously Fish who's had some success, and a couple of other reports on google, but not much. Not sure how raising these guys will go - just going to trust to microfauna until they're big enough for microworms I think.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top