Updates!

Well school will be starting for me in about one week which means that I dont have much time to work on any major projects. But as far as projects go, the last one that I will be attempting to complete for this summer is converting a brushed RC boat into a brushless RC boat. Most of the parts needed have been either bought or made. Right now im finishing up the paint job and will then move onto the electronics of the boat.

The boat will be powered by five A123: 32113 cells which deliver about 3.6 Volts each. The motor is a 2900kv brushless motor thats anodized pink. I have added an aluminum watercooling sleve to reduce the motor temperatures and to make the motor look cooler. As I begin to finnish up the project I will post pictures and eventually the whole process.

In other news, the BWD Electric Scooter has been completed and has successfully passed its maiden test run. Click the link in the side bar to go to the website!

More updates soon!

Aquarium Update

Humphrey, my blue lobster, has molted a second time and has successful destroyed all plants in my tank. If I want an aquascape I may need to buy another tank, without a blue lobster. In other news, the new lights are working wonderfully, I now have a nice layer of algae growing on the hood glass and a few spots on the regular glass. Time for some extreme cleanup!

More updates soon!! Happy fishkeeping!

Aquarium Update

Since my last update, I recently purchased an overhead florescent shop light as my new hood for the 55 gallon tank. It is 48" long and fits perfectly over my existing plastic hoods. Now I have two 6700K full spectrum lights illuminating my beautiful tank.

In other news, Humphrey, my blue lobster, molted. He is now twice the size he used to be, and has a more navy blue shell. Even though hes nocturnal, he still comes out during the day to harass the Gouramis or "catch" food floating in the water. One of his funnier stunts has him rearing up on his hind claws and trying to jump and catch the food floating in the water. This keeps him healthy and makes my family laugh. He is one amazing little critter.

More updates soon! Happy fish keeping!

Aquarium Update

In my previous aquarium update, I talked about the fish that I was planning on getting "Fish wise, I plan on adding a cobalt blue lobster, and more gouramis." The lobster I planned on getting was from my favorite fish website drsfostersmith.com.

This site usually provides the average and low income fish owners with AMAZING deals. The site has a great selection of products as well as great deals and sales on usually expensive products. I would highly recommend this site for your inanimate aquarium supplies.

The sister site that provided Cobalt blue lobsters, looked legitimate and professional. The lobsters were being sold at a price of $34 per baby lobster. When I went to a local fish store to check out the store itself and the fish it provided, I found the same lobster being sold for $10 (baby lobster) and $20 (adult lobster).

I was extremely surprised that this local fish store would have a better deal then the highly acclaimed and amazingly reviewed site drsfostersmith.com. Even though drsfostersmith.com has great deals on many different products, I would do my research first and check out my local fish store, because you never know what great deals you will find.


My Cobalt Blue Lobster

In my 55 gallon freshwater tank, I now have a cobalt blue lobster. These little guys are both beautiful and enjoyable invertebrates to have. They clean the bottom of your tank as well as provide a new dimension to your tank. These critters, start out about an inch in length, but can grow to a maximum size of five inches, and can be long lasting companions if taken care of. From beginners to professionals, I would highly recommend this invertebrate for your tank. They will provide enjoyment and will add color to your tank.

DIY Fish Tank CO2 Diffuser

In this DIY, I will be showing you how to build a CO2 Diffuser for planted aquariums. A CO2 diffuser diffuses the CO2 into microscopic molecules and bubbles of CO2. The plants in aquariums need CO2 in order to photosynthesize in the water. Although fish and other organisms produce CO2, there's not enough in the water to provide adequate carbon dioxide for the plants.

This diffuser is simple and yet effective and will provide your plants with a healthy source of carbon dioxide.

The materials needed in order to build this diffuser are:

A 2 liter soda bottle with cap
1/4 diameter vinyl airline tubing
1/4 diameter valve
A small power head (used the power head from a small sponge filter)
A plastic cone/container (the longer the better)
A drill
Silicon/hot glue
Check valve

First we'll start off with the 2 liter bottle. Drill a hole into the cap of the bottle, that’s big enough to snugly hold the airline tubing. Next seal both sides of the cap near the airline tubing with silicon or hot glue (I used hot glue because the silicon kept coming off). Now cut the airline tubing about two inches away from the cap. Fit your valve and make sure its snug. Next, measure out the appropriate length of airline tubing that will connect to the other end of the valve and lead into the tank. When you have finished measuring, cut the tubing and attach one end to the remaining end of the cut off valve (adding a check valve is optional but highly recommended to prevent back siphoning). The other end of the airline tubing will connect to the plastic container or tube. Drill a hole near the edge of the top of the plastic container. Push the airline tubing into the hole and seal. Next drill another hole for the end of the power head and seal. Now place the diffuser in the tank and make sure the seals are working correctly. If your diffuser is sealed correctly then tilt the container so that the opening is facing down and make sure that there is no air inside the container. Your diffuser is now complete!

My finished diffuser

In order to produce CO2 we will need the following:

Yeast
Sugar
Water


The CO2 is created by the yeast germs in the 2 liter bottle. The yeast consumes the sugar in the water and then respirates, creating CO2. The CO2 is then forced through the airline tubing and into the plastic "chamber". In the chamber, the water in the tank and the water being forced into the chamber via the power head, mix the CO2 into the water and into smaller bubbles. Because CO2 is less dense than water, it wants to rise to the surface, but the top of the container keeps the CO2 inside. Thus, the CO2 is mixed and only the small bubbles and molecules escape and are released into the water to help perform photosynthesis.

The exact measurements vary from person to person, but my recipe will create about two to three weeks of CO2. The materials required include:

Two cups of sugar
About four cups of water
A tablespoon of yeast

First fill the 2 liter bottle with two cups of sugar. Then mix in about four cups (or until three inches from the top of the bottle) of luke warm tap water. Next add about a tablespoon of yeast. Shake the mixture well for about ten seconds. Now place the cap that leads to the diffuser, on the bottle. In about two hours, if made correctly, the yeast should start producing CO2. If after four hours, there is no CO2 being produced, warm the bottle in a bath of warm water. DO NOT MICROWAVE. THIS WILL KILL THE YEAST!

My yeast mixture

In about a week or so the plants should be flourishing. If not then there are other factors that may be effecting the photosynthesis such as the lighting, how much lighting, water quality, and water temperature.



HAPPY FISH KEEPING!

AQUARIUM UPDATE

After a long and time consuming school year, I now have the time to regularly update my blog. There have been a lot of changes regarding my fish and tank setups. I now have three fresh water tanks running. Two of which are 10 gallons, the third is a 55 gallon long tank.

The two 10 gallon tanks

In the 10 gallon on the left there are two neon's, and a plecostomus catfish. In the 10 gallon on the right there are three adult guppies (two females one male), sevin six week old baby guppies, twelve four week old baby guppies, ten 2 week old baby guppies, one HUGE 5 inch plecostomus catfish, one two-inch long ghost shrimp, and two zebra fish.

My 5" catfish

The six week old guppies

The four and two week old baby guppies

The New Tank



The 55 gallon features: two Penguin 330 filters by Marineland, one Visi-Therm Stealth Heater 200W by Marineland, one Whisperer 60 air pump by Tetra Tech, real drift wood, real rocks, live plants, three airstones, and one DIY CO2 diffuser. Later I plan on upgrading the filters to one Ehime canister filter, a T5 overhead 48" lighting system, and maby starting a saltwater tank.

The fish include: two blue gouramis, four tiger barbs, one plecostomus catfish, and two bala sharks. Fish wise, I plan on adding a cobalt blue lobster, and more gouramis.

The four tiger barbs

The two bala sharks

One of the gouramis

Stay tuned for more pictures and fish updates!

Aquarium Update

All the fish have been acclimated to the tank and are doing very well. The tanks Ph has balanced out to 7.0 after buying a new stabilizer (The other ph down was defective so do not buy the TopFin line of PH products). I also bought a new gravel cleaner. The EHEIM Quick Vac PRO. I am very impressed and satisfied with the new cleaner because it doent require removing water from the tank or refiltering water (with the old syphen gravel cleaner it removed waste and water which ment i needed to add more water or filter the removed water). The Quick Vac PRO runs on 4 AA batteries and is fully submersable. A motor spins a small fan which sucks up aquarium scum/sludge. Overall this product is outstanding with its ease of use and amazing cleaning power. The one downside is that there is no "fish protector/screen" and i almost sucked up a ghost shrimp... Here are some pictures and a video of the EHEIM and some other photos.

A front view of the tank

A side view of the tank

The disgusting filter after 2 weeks of use (near the top right of the filter there is some weird clear gell like substance...)

The EHEIM logo on the box

The entire assembled EHIME measures about 2 whole feet!

Aquarium Update

Since the last post I have been able to balance out the ph at 7. The tank has cleared up (The previous pictures showed a "foggy" tank....) and I have purchased 4 more fish. 2 Neon Tetras and 2 Zebra fish.

Here is one of the Neons

Heres a blurry photo of a Zebra fish... they are very fast.

The two guppies have become best friends...

I have not come up with names for them but I will very soon. I am also building an LED moonlight (blue Leds for night visibility of the tank) and still seting up the 24/7 Fish Cam. More updates will be posted soon... so stay tuned!

Happy Fishwatching!

A New Addition to The Family

Ever since my hamster Theodore died, I have had a longing for a new pet. After cleaning out the basement and finding a large quantity of fish supplies, I became obsessed with fish. I prepared the 10 gallon tank and made several trips to PetCo to buy additional supplies ( a submersable heater, a bubble tube, fish food, and thermomiter). In the beginning, there were a few problems with the tap water ph, so I went to Petsmart to purchase a ph down solution. I ended up going home with a fake piece of drift wood and 3 Ghost Shrimps, 2 Guppies (male and female) and 1 catfish. After lowering the ph (from 7.8 to 7.0) and acclimating the fish to the new water, I released the fish. They are now happily swimming in my new tank. In the future I plan on upgrading from a 10 gallon tank to a 250 gallon tank (when I have enough money). I also plan on having a 24/7 webcam stream of the tank. I will have an update in a few weeks.

Here are some pictures of the tank and fish.

This is a front view of the tank with the PetSmart fish baggies in the water.

This is a side view of the tank

This is the catfish named George

These are the two male and female guppies named Yuppie (the female) and Guppie (the Male).

Here are the 3 Ghost Shrimps named Sly, Shadow and Sneaky

Project: 57 LED Color Organ

When I first had the idea to build a color organ I was playing with some DJ lights at a nearby electronics store. I said to myself "This would be really cool in my room..." But when I looked at the price tag it was a whopping $350, which was too expensive for my low budget. So I went back home and thought about how to recreate the DJ lights but for a fraction of the cost. I then remembered that I had bought a system very similar to the lights from a store in New York a while back. It was a sound reactive lighting system called LightCast.

Then I decided that I would "mod" the old system by adding more LED's. So, I decended into my basement where my work shop is located. I dissasembled the LightCast system and began to inspect the inner electronics. I decided that I would desolder the LEDs and connect wires leading from the LED PCB board to my perfboard LED pattern. After I had desoldered the original LEDs, I began to layout all the LEDs on the sheet of perfboard.



Next I began to solder all the LEDs to wires on the back of the perfboard. By now I had been in my basement for over 9 hours that day (I had the day off form school...) I decided to finish up for the day after pulling a muscle in my neck from being tensed up in one position.

The next day I resumed work on the wiring by connecting the wires to the original PCB. Finally, all the wires had been sldered from the LEDs to the original PCB board.


(Yes I know that there are alot of wires... I used
22 gauge wire without twising them....)

Now that the basic assembly was finished I went to Radio Shack and purchased a medium sized project inclosure box. Then next day I measured the parimiter of the LED "Triangle of Light" and sketched the shape on the cover of the box. The next part was a bit tricky, so I obtained a hack saw and began to cut out the triangle. After a while my hand became sore so I asked my sister to help me by sanding the sides. Next I began to test the fit of the triangle of light in the cover hole that I had just cut. It was a bit too snug so I sanded some more. By now I was on the verge of success and I started to rush. In the proccess I didnt measure the holes for the sensitivity knob and audio in/out ports, and ended up drilling in the wrong place. But I patched the hole up with some hotglue and modeling cement. Then I placed all the wires and PCBs in the project box and cleaned it up a bit. Finally I screwed on the cover and hoped that it would work. It successfuly responded to the music and after over 15 hours of work and about $100 in parts, I was satisfied with the result.



Now I dont need to rent a DJ or a light show for parties. All I need is a laptop and my Triangle of Light.

First Post!

Well I finally created a blog due to the fact that I was unable to get a website. I hope that this blog will serve its purpose in providing a place to put all my work and ideas. Stay tuned for more posts!