Aqua Pod Mod

[Bob P]

Decided to sump my old 24 nano
Slow winter 

[Bob P]

Working out good.
Trimmed the side black tape for more viewing area.
Will upsize the sump.
Had the 5 gal in the basement, good for R&D though
Made the mini shower drain to suit 1" overflow.

[brotherluv]

Looks great Bob !!  very impressive modifications. 

[Bob P]

Thanks.
One minor leak on return line. Just fixed it.

[Sharbuckle]

Looks pretty awesome so far, really good idea. cant wait to see progress.

[Bob P]

Loaded this Morning.
The waiting has begun.

[brotherluv]

Does anyone else see toadstool from mariokart in the second picture? 

[dakrazyone]

that's when you know you been looking at the tank a lil too long hahaha 

[Cheebs]

Awesome Bob!

I'm looking for toadstool... I don't see it, yet! I do see a roaring lion's head kind of, but no Mario Bros. characters.

[Bob P]

Oh Oh, I see the lion's head.
Is this a tank build or an ink blot session?

[brotherluv]

Mario Bros character Is dead center near bottom with purple on his mushroom head.  I see the lion as well. 

[Severum]

I saw toadstool! Look to the northwest of it and its a transformers face. Or maybe thats what others are calling the lion...

[Bob P]

L.E.D retrofit in the hood may be in the works.

[brotherluv]

I think you will love the LEDs if u go that way!  I'm excited to see! 

[Bob P]

How many are in each of the boxes on your 55?

[brotherluv]

I think theres 24 in total for each box I can count when I get home...Jet Jumper may be able to chime in  before that as he built them...

[JetJumper]

34 depending on if they have UV or reds.  so should be 30-34 each box.

[brotherluv]

Thanks that makes more sense!  one unit has 2 uvs and a red... One has 1 uv and a red.

[Bob P]

I still find they are not "bright" enough for my liking
Albeit they are strong enough for growth etc.

[brotherluv]

how is the tank coming along?  going to do the LEDS or stick with the current lighting?  decided what youre going to stock?

[Bob P]

Cycling perfectly.
Been too busy to give much thought to
lights or stocking, but thanks for reminding me.

[rgauvin]

So how quiet is that shower drain overflow?

[Bob P]

Pretty good with the return pump valve
closed a bit. That was my intention.
I can always open it up for a quick
flushing when scraping the glass etc.
That's when it's a bit noisy.

[rgauvin]

Interesting, I am nervous about a valve on the return but I might consider switching to this type of overflow, thanks.

[Bob P]

I valve all my returns, no worries

[Sharbuckle]

Looks more like Buddha northwest of toad....

Tank looks great

[Bob P]

No Daytona 500 Sunday, sooo
I cut up a 15 gal tank to increase the wee 5 gal. sump.
Got 9.8 gal now. Every bit helps, and room for a nano skimmer.
Ordered 36 led diy dimmable kit today.
That takes care of half of March

[brotherluv]

ha you did it!  amazing job! 

[Bob P]

L.E.D. Kit came last Monday.
Been pretty busy between this and
Restaurant build.
Did some planning in my head before I started, using a busted
cover to mock it up.

[Bob P]

Lots of molded pegs in here for standoffs.
Keeps heatsink raised for airflow.
Perfect location at the ends, fits driver mounts
exaxtly. Good position through the top for
dimmers also.

[Bob P]

Made a paper template to transfer mount holes
onto home made heatsink. Added spaces for origional
moonlights too.

[Bob P]

Marked positions for led's while I was at it.
Made for quick cementing.
I like it so far.

[Bob P]

1 A.M. Saturday, woke up the neighbors LOL

[Bob P]

Man, this thing is blinding!
18 10000k whites and 18 royal blue.
Opened origional hood and sat it on
to try it out. Sorry for pic quality. I'm quite satisfied with the
results. Lenses or not made no difference.
There's no "spotlight effect" to be seen. Washes entire
tank uniformly. Good to go!
Should be transferring to good lid today.

[Bob P]

Finally, done.
Only oversight was the back row of LED's ended up
behind the frosted part of the cover. I was trying to cover more
surface area and never caught it. However, it's only had a minimal
effect on light quality. Dimmers thru the top worked nice also.

[Bob P]

Ugggh, just one thing left to do..

[smalltownfan]

Great job. I'll be asking for some advice for the Nano.

[brotherluv]

As Larry David would say,  It's pretty, pretty, pretty nice! 

[smalltownfan]

Finally, done.
Only oversight was the back row of LED's ended up
behind the frosted part of the cover. I was trying to cover more
surface area and never caught it. However, it's only had a minimal
effect on light quality. Dimmers thru the top worked nice also.

I'm ordering a kit today.Could I run it without a plastic cover or wouyld the salt damage the LEDs?

[Bob P]

Salt can damage everything.
Having the L.E.D s that close, uncovered
may be a problem.