Hey everybody. I like snails and plants all of the sudden. I have a pretty tight budget and I'm not good at taking care of things so I thought I'd get some help from the experts. Anyway, I'm diving in headlong and here's my setup so far:
12"x12"x12" tank x1/8" thick i built with a buddy.
inside dimensions are 11 3/4" x 11 3/4" x 12" which makes it 7.17 US gallons. i found the instructions for building it on about.com, but it doesn't seem as sturdy as i'd like it to, so next tank (ambitious) is gonna be a mite thicker. the glass was about $28, and the sandpaper, acetone, and silicone were about $12 at the local hardware store (100% silicone is food grade). duct tape, paper towels, and time were expendables.
in the mail, i'm waiting for the following pieces from drfostersmith.com:
$40 Hydor ETH In-Line Heater 200 watt, 1/2"
and this major deuce-up:
$32 Rapids Mini Canister Filter Mini Canister Filter (which it turns out, is for terrariums, but the website says it can process 80gph. to me this means i can replace the media with whatever i want as long as there is a pump squeezing water through a tank. of course, if it doesn't work out i'll have to return it or chuck it in the pacific, but the jury is still out on this one.) i may include this in the failed methods cost.
i've had a lot of discussions and done some significant reading on co2 and lighting as well and i've come to the following conclusions:
1 - compressed co2 is worth the added startup cost to reduce the amount of time and labor on my part (yes, i am lazy)
2 - the only truly important factor in lighting is not kelvin, lumens, and all the stuff everyone talks about, but the spectrum of light delivered.
that being said, i'm going to suck it up and swallow the cost of a co2 setup (about $150), but i'm not willing to give up on cheap lighting yet.
so i bought a hanging work lamp ($11) with reflector and found a cheap compact flourescent lamp by n:vision(
12"x12"x12" tank x1/8" thick i built with a buddy.
inside dimensions are 11 3/4" x 11 3/4" x 12" which makes it 7.17 US gallons. i found the instructions for building it on about.com, but it doesn't seem as sturdy as i'd like it to, so next tank (ambitious) is gonna be a mite thicker. the glass was about $28, and the sandpaper, acetone, and silicone were about $12 at the local hardware store (100% silicone is food grade). duct tape, paper towels, and time were expendables.
in the mail, i'm waiting for the following pieces from drfostersmith.com:
$40 Hydor ETH In-Line Heater 200 watt, 1/2"
and this major deuce-up:
$32 Rapids Mini Canister Filter Mini Canister Filter (which it turns out, is for terrariums, but the website says it can process 80gph. to me this means i can replace the media with whatever i want as long as there is a pump squeezing water through a tank. of course, if it doesn't work out i'll have to return it or chuck it in the pacific, but the jury is still out on this one.) i may include this in the failed methods cost.
i've had a lot of discussions and done some significant reading on co2 and lighting as well and i've come to the following conclusions:
1 - compressed co2 is worth the added startup cost to reduce the amount of time and labor on my part (yes, i am lazy)
2 - the only truly important factor in lighting is not kelvin, lumens, and all the stuff everyone talks about, but the spectrum of light delivered.
that being said, i'm going to suck it up and swallow the cost of a co2 setup (about $150), but i'm not willing to give up on cheap lighting yet.
so i bought a hanging work lamp ($11) with reflector and found a cheap compact flourescent lamp by n:vision(