Well, its 2 AM and I just got pretty much done with the canopy.

Supplies:

1 4x8 plywood (red oak)
16 ft. large molding trim
16 ft small molding trim
17 ft smal angle modling trim (to make the cabinet doors)
2 sets of hinges.

1st: Cut the ply wood into strips to make the front and side of the cabinet:


P9020006 by HangTheMan, on Flickr

2nd: Make sure the edges of the strips are 45 degrees to make ...

OK, so the entire thing took about 20 minutes to build! Of course, as I suspected, hubby wouldn't let me play with sharp objects. While he was cutting, I removed the filter, gathered some marbles for the sides & then realized I forgot to take pictures of the material before we started. Oops. I didn't remember till he had already cut the mesh, egg crate & had started with the zip ties. Hubby measured & cut the egg crate as close to the inner dimension of the tank as possible. Then he cut the ...

So, I've been wanting to upgrade to a LED fixture on my coral tank for a while now. As I looked online at all the fixtures I found they were either too much moolah or not bright enough IMO. So I decided to pull the trigger and try to build my own. After digging around online and figuring out a game plan this is what I decided to go with: 12 - 3w cree XP-G (white) 12 - 3w cree XP-E (royal blue) 1 - meanwell 35-700 driver 1 - meanwell 60-1050 driver 60 degree lenses 10in X 10in heatsink Custom ...

I was looking for a way to automate the air removal from the siphon tubes on my overflow box without running risk of pumping the siphon tubes empty. I was also worried about siphoning them dry during a power outage via the air tube.

Using an aqua-lifter pump, I came up with a solution.

Attached is a DIY video link.

...

I had a problem with water squirting out the anti-siphon hole on my wet/dry outlet and Dustin at Houston Aquarium Warehouse gave me this idea.

Simple and easy to do.

...

I had a black background on my 240 from Petsmart. I had a lot of problems with it. Water would get in between the background and the tank when I would service the tank. It got on my nerves enough for me to rip it off. I ended up having the idea of laying down one big piece of vinyl (a big black sticker) on the back instead of painting it. I am not a very good painter and I didn't want to do something that permanent to my tank. So I picked up a 96x30 sheet of vinyl from the local decal shop...

I recently became involved in aquaria when a friend of the family "gifted" us a 17 gallon aquarium. I had very limited experience with keeping fish, but figured I was smart enough to keep a larger tank. Sadly, I quickly and definitively killed all of the fish that I inherited. In the quest to figure out what I had done wrong, I found the box. Cycling 101....

I was consumed by the www.houstonfishbox.com website. It is a never ending wealth of information that I find myself...

Background color choice may depend on your type of tank, and more importantly your fish. Eg. many blue discus tend to darken with a black background or pepper up in the case of pigeon blood colors (something about the appearance of the void may frighten them). Some Tropheus, like Moliro reds, may not show their brightest color with a black background (unless you've got some nice white gravel). However, blue can be quite blaring (this is subjective), especially on a tank without much front to back...

Sodium Bisulfite will remove the oxygen from your water (Prime, Safe and Amquel Plus, among others). Especially if you have drained 75 percent of the water and dump in enough for the whole tank. I would rather introduce the dechlorinater as I fill the tank, with the nozzle hitting the water at the same spot as the replacement water. When the tank is full, the container with the declorinater is just getting empty. The air valve on the end adjusts the flow. I fill the container up with tank water...

Sodium Thiosulfate, Na2S2O3, is a colorless crystalline compound, also called sodium hyposulfite or "hypo". It is soluble in water and is a mild reducing agent. Thiosulfate will break the bond in Chloramine between the Chlorine and the Ammonia, and it binds Chlorine and most heavy trace metals’.
...

Here's how i built my canopy for my 75 gallon. It's basic and simple for $30. If you need it taller to fit lights then substitute 1x8 for 1x6. Like i said, it's cheap and basic. Just make sure you measure the rim of the tank and how much clearance you need for lights. shopping list includes (1) 6' of 1x2 plank (2) 6' of 1x6 plank (1) 10' of 1x12 plank The diagram says 1x10 (my mistake but its 1x12) (2) reg hinges (2) cedar chest hinges screws This is for 75 gallons. Smaller tanks less supplie...

Heres my recipe for DIY Live rock. ROCK INGREDIENTS: 2 parts portland cement (90lbs bags at hardware store) 3 parts crushed oyster shell (can get small bags at feed stores. they use it to feed chickens) 1-2 parts rock salt (40lbs bags at hardware store. look for water softener isle) MIX IN LAST JUST B4 POURING INTO MOLD You can add more or less rock salt to change texture. Also you can add whole oyster shells to add a different texture. HOW TO MAKE MOLD: Take a plastic storage bend or an...

Here's a short video on how to prepare whole crab from the local grocery store to feed your puffer. It doesn't matter if it's a fw, bw, or sw puffer the preparation is the same. Also doesn't matter if your puffer is 1" or 20" feeding is the same. Hope you enjoy the video.

Several people have asked me about my particular shrimp mix since I do not use gelatin and I thought to post the step by step process in a very detailed way so that it can be seen and its not that scary to make.

The ingredients list is as follows and does not use or need a gelatin mix..

The below will make 9 lbs of shrimp mix... which lasts me about a month

1 lb spinach All ingredients should be fresh, without additives and washed many times. ...

Been wanting to do this for a while now but finally got around to making my first egg tumbler so i thought i would share the experience and show the inexperienced how i assembled it. very easy and only took about 15 min to assemble. i started with a clear plastic fluorescent bulb guard. can be found in the lighting section of HD or lowes. and fiberglass screen like you would use on windows or doors. First I cut a 4" section and a 1 1/2" section off of the clear plastic tube ...