DIY projects

I received my Avast Marine Works K1 "You Build" Kalkwasser Stirrer today and it definitely has more pieces than the Avast Marine Works MR5 "You Build" Media Reactor which meant more fun! It took me about 2 hours to put it together since there is more time required for the glue to dry accordingly (I also made a mistake of not aligning the Motor Chamber Wire director in front of the Probe Holder which made for an extremely snug fit for the exiting wires which I could correct because ...

So I received my Avast Marine Works "You Build" MR5 Media Reactor. I am so impressed with the kit that I am going to buy about 3 more reactors and their Kalkwasser Stirrer! Construction was amazingly simple (the instructional video on the website was great). After about 15 minutes of construction the unit was completely assembled and is now sitting for the final curing stage. Ample tubing was included with the reactor as well as a valve for controlling the water flow. I honestly say ...

Well I sat down with my receipts and came up with the cost so far for this build. I have spent more money then absolutely necessary, but I wanted to experiment with some things, I had to buy some tools, and I bought some items in bulk because I know I will be building more of these. So I am just basically going to give you the break down of all the things I have used on this project.

Tools:
Soldering Iron Adjustable from 20W to 50W $20.99 Radioshack
Electrical Pliers ...

I've been wicked busy lately so I havent been able to work on the LED pendant much. But the last couple days i made some progress so here are a couple pics and a video!


Here is a prototype cap for the fixture. Im using an eye hook and 1/16" cable to hang the pendant. I have a double pole rocker switch in the cap that turns the LED and the fan on together so they are either both on or off. I thought about separate switches but figured when am I ...

The one task I truly hate is cleaning filter socks. When I built my new sump for the 400g, I included a filter sock hanger and purchased four socks to rotate through as needed. These are the large 7" filter socks, not the smaller 4" type.

As they get dirty, I pull them out of the sump and place them in a container near the back door, and usually the next day they are put outside to be cleaned later. Well, I had one out there. A few weeks later I had another dirty sock sitting ...