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Pico de Gallo(n) Jar


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Hehehe are you guys seeing what I’m seeing?

 

455cbe6d5bb2c0e2059fa3be4db99ac0.jpg

 

I’ve wanted to do this for a very long time and I think I finally have the time and parts laying around to make this dream happen. Also, it seems Tapatalk works again! So I’ll be around much more frequently.

 

Looking for feedback and suggestions!

 

Tank:

1 gallon jar

ATO:

Hydro nano ATO

Light:

Kessil A80

Heater:

?????

Flow:

????? Probably an air pump

Stock:

????? Frags from my and Jeff70’s larger tanks, and hopefully my pistol shrimp from my 90 gallon so I can see him again

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I wonder if he had a small thermometer to place inside, set to a temperature controller and instead of a standard heater plugged into the temp controller you could put a reptile heater (the adhesive kind) on the bottom of the jar, would it heat enough to bring the temp up, and just turn on/off at the set points and maintain a steady temp?

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Update!!! I like Joe’s idea of a pump keeping the water warm enough, so now to test that. I hooked up a MINI-MJ 606 powerhead (159gph) I had laying around. Hopefully the flow isn’t too crazy with this on minimum flow and pointed straight up, doesn’t seem too crazy so far.

 

I also cut out an acrylic top, turned on the Kessil, and stuck my 90’s apex temp probe into the jar. After 24 hours I’ll post the temperature graph and see if a heater/chilling factor is necessary

 

The pump looks enormous, but hopefully I’ll be able to cover it up with some live rock

428170862459be5650b05e32ca4aa8d5.jpg

 

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23 hours ago, AspiringLobophyllia said:

Update!!! I like Joe’s idea of a pump keeping the water warm enough, so now to test that. I hooked up a MINI-MJ 606 powerhead (159gph) I had laying around. Hopefully the flow isn’t too crazy with this on minimum flow and pointed straight up, doesn’t seem too crazy so far.

 

I also cut out an acrylic top, turned on the Kessil, and stuck my 90’s apex temp probe into the jar. After 24 hours I’ll post the temperature graph and see if a heater/chilling factor is necessary

 

The pump looks enormous, but hopefully I’ll be able to cover it up with some live rock

428170862459be5650b05e32ca4aa8d5.jpg

 

I think you’ll find it’ll come out to be about 80*. But that’s just my guess. Keep us posted. 

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Temperature test results:
4b8c38247d649b8740d5ebf3aa9097a6.jpg

Alright here we go with the temp probe results. Two nights ago I left the windows open in my apartment and it hit 60 degrees in the fish room and the temp topped out at 74.3. Last night I had windows closed and temperatures indoors were at a normal 68-70: tank temperature fluctuated between 79.9-80.9.

I daresay that’s a decent enough temperature for reef life. Once I get some live rock, sand, and add salt to the water the specific heat of the entire system should be higher which should decrease the magnitude of the temp fluctuations. Thoughts?

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9 hours ago, AspiringLobophyllia said:

Temperature test results:
4b8c38247d649b8740d5ebf3aa9097a6.jpg

Alright here we go with the temp probe results. Two nights ago I left the windows open in my apartment and it hit 60 degrees in the fish room and the temp topped out at 74.3. Last night I had windows closed and temperatures indoors were at a normal 68-70: tank temperature fluctuated between 79.9-80.9.

I daresay that’s a decent enough temperature for reef life. Once I get some live rock, sand, and add salt to the water the specific heat of the entire system should be higher which should decrease the magnitude of the temp fluctuations. Thoughts?

I haven't set in a physics class for a long time, and I'm sure you are correct but my memory is that raising salinity decreased specific heat.  Because the ions were more densely packed the heat energy would reside in the mass instead of exciting the ions like if the salt wasn't present.  Your physics classes are 30+ years more recent than mine, and admittedly I spent some years after school destroying brain cells  at a rapid rate lol, what do I have incorrect?

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I haven't set in a physics class for a long time, and I'm sure you are correct but my memory is that raising salinity decreased specific heat.  Because the ions were more densely packed the heat energy would reside in the mass instead of exciting the ions like if the salt wasn't present.  Your physics classes are 30+ years more recent than mine, and admittedly I spent some years after school destroying brain cells  at a rapid rate lol, what do I have incorrect?


Oh geez I was 100% incorrect above, adding salt drastically decreases specific heat, and aragonite also has a lesser specific heat than water. I should go back to physics and chemistry classes haha. Thanks Muttley!

Here’s a good picture from a website talking about what Muttley described
086824e9b3f811726030dd0f6fad6ebe.jpg
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Initially I had planned to use an ATO+res, but with the powerhead pointing up there’s no fixed water level so the infrared sensor of my ATO wouldn’t work. The good news is that there’s been no noticeable drop in water level, so I may be able to get away with manual top-off once or twice a week.

I’m also playing around with the idea of plumbing in a sump. That sure would be an easy way heat the water (heater), keep the obtrusive powerhead out of the main display tank, add water volume, and give me an easy place to put the ATO sensor, other misc media, and fuge.

To plumb in a sump would require a bunch of risky drilling into a curved surface and a trip to Home Depot, which kind of detracts from the spirit of of this experiment. I’m on the fence!

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Big updates!

Found some crushed sand in the garage in a ziplock bag and added it, Took live rock out of my 90 sump, added a mesh thing to the powerhead to help disperse flow, added a gallon of water from my 90, and voila! Pico de Gallo(n) is ready to rock and roll. I left the temp probe in there for the specific heat experiments.

Figured there’s no better way to test if this tank is viable then add some coral, so I stuck a head of pulsing Xenia, a mushroom, and a hermit in there.

5581f327dd6c5da7607b27393e557c82.jpg

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