Fish's new tank project

[Fish]

Yesterday I stopped by Gold's and picked up a Stealth heater and a thermometer.






So far I am very impressed with the stealth - it has held the temp rock solid compared to my second hand ebo (which had water drops inside the glass!) - as an added bonus, it matches the red/black color scheme I have going on.
I have one question though. This morning I found that the part of the heater that gets hot was covered with little bubbles, I blew them off but there appears to be a film or scale left on the outside. I could probably scratch it off or use some vinegar to scrub it but I am worried that it will just build up again. Is this a problem? Any thoughts?


One final piece of equipment:





This is my laboratory grade digital metering pump that is going to add topoff water at the exact rate of evaporation.

Cheers,

- Chad

[Fish]

Ok, I figure that I should post an update of all my photos for those who don't like reading through all the thread.

First, here is a comparison of the conceptual sketches I did before I started the project - you can judge how close I came to my plans :

[Fish]

I started with a metal stand that I stripped and repainted, then came up with the idea to use eggcrate for the sides:




I painted the eggcrate black - way cheaper than buying black eggcrate (and I think stronger too.




I started to go a little crazy waiting for the tank to be built so I polished up my ugly green Iwaki pump:

[Fish]

I drilled holes in the bottom piece of my stand to route the electrical cords for my sump equipment:




Then I painted everything and glued the powerbar, in a tubberware container to the underside of the stand - making it impossible for spilled water to get to the electrical:




Added gfi plug in the rafters for my lighting and in the wall for the sump power:




Tank arrived:





I chopped down my closed loop filter screen so it didn't protrude into the tank so far:

[Fish]

T5HO lighting arrived:






I assembled the pvc plumbing:



Then glued it:




Then hit it with some krylon fusion spray piant:

[Fish]

Then added a few other pieces of equipment:







And a peacock mantis shrimp named Mac:





And that brings us pretty much up to date!

Thanks for looking,

- Chad

[justinl]

Im looking for a peacock mantis myself. If you don't mind my asking, does gold's aquarium have any peacocks left and would they ship to vancouver?