Cheap tricks

[Koe]

You can make a cheap ATO by using the "pet" water bottles that hang upside down.
Just pull out the ball bearing, fill it full of water, and mount it at the level you want to keep your tank topped off at. The great thing about them is that they work even if the power goes out and they can't get stuck on flooding your tank with fresh water.

Check out this thread for details: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/172031-nano-sapiens-12g-mixed-reef/

Pic installed (not my tank)

Proof that the tank water and top off water don't mix:

[subsea]

Hide eggcrate in frag propagation tank. I place 3/4" PVC pipe as spacer on top of 1" aroggonite substrate. This makes for a stand alone frag tank.

Patrick

[Mako]

Well after reading all these from the beginning I don't think I seen this one.

Filter socks=

I bought a yard of white felt like material at Walmart for about 3 Dollars.

Needle and some thread = Filter socks for days.

and its almost Christmas so you could make some stockings because you will still have plenty left over....

[FarmerTy]

Since we've been winning them free at the Monthly meetings, just in case you don't make it to the meetings (which you totally should), the long grabbers can be bought at Harbor Freight for $2.

http://www.harborfreight.com/36-in-pickup-and-reach-tool-61413.html

Another good find there was their precision knife kit (3 scapel tools with assorted blades), perfect for fragging zoas and other softies, was just $3 dollars!

http://www.harborfreight.com/13-piece-precision-knife-set-32099.html

Happy budget reefing!

-Ty

[fightinghippo]

Made a cheap DIY "Julian's thing" the other day from stuff I had laying around. Cost nothing.

10 mL syringe.

2' length of airline tubing

1" length of hospital auction tubing

1.5' length of rigid airline tube.

I straightened the airline tube by warming it with water an putting kabob skewers through it and letting it cool. It stays straight enough.

Used super glue to join it with the flexible airline tubing using the little 1" suction tube. Like joining two PVC pipes. It was a perfect fit. Then the airline tube meets the syringe.

Now I can spot feed each lps coral without gettin my hands wet. Reaches all the way to the bottom of the tank.

Saved $40

Where can we find the big syringes? My wife said that she saw them once at a concert with Jell-O shots. I tried walgreens and cvs and they looked at me wierd like why do u need something that big

[fightinghippo]

Made a cheap DIY "Julian's thing" the other day from stuff I had laying around. Cost nothing.

10 mL syringe.

2' length of airline tubing

1" length of hospital auction tubing

1.5' length of rigid airline tube.

I straightened the airline tube by warming it with water an putting kabob skewers through it and letting it cool. It stays straight enough.

Used super glue to join it with the flexible airline tubing using the little 1" suction tube. Like joining two PVC pipes. It was a perfect fit. Then the airline tube meets the syringe.

Now I can spot feed each lps coral without gettin my hands wet. Reaches all the way to the bottom of the tank.

Saved $40

Where can we find the big syringes? My wife said that she saw them once at a concert with Jell-O shots. I tried walgreens and cvs and they looked at me wierd like why do u need something that big

I found one here but looking for something local

http://www.premier1supplies .com/detail.php?prod_id=136&cat_id=8

[fightinghippo]

Found one here but looking for something local

http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=136&cat_id=8

[Bpb]

Found one here but looking for something local

http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=136&cat_id=8

Know anyone in healthcare? I just grab one from work occasionally when I need a new one (rubber stoppers swell and they become tough to use or measurements wear off).

[Reburn]

Fightinghippo,

Drop me a line,nice got plenty. I can make you a bag of some.

[+KimP]

This is more of just a handy trick not necessarily saving money. I've been fighting gha for a while in my 90gal. It really loves to grow on the back glass so I figured this out. I have some tubing that I use to siphon it all out and I first zip tie it to this algae scraper. Then get the siphon started and run the scraper up the back glass starting at the bottom. The tube sucks all the loose gha out and keeps it from getting everywhere. Then I just cut the zip ties off, put down the algae scraper, and continue cleaning the tank. You could also make the algae scraper out of a pvc pipe and slide a razor blade in the end.

Before:

After:

[jestep]

So normally I would say cheap is just using gallon water jugs but I had almost a full gallon of Alk eat through the seams on the jug and make a heck of a mess in my stand and on the floor.

These are perfect and they take up less space than a normal gallon milk jug. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B51251U/

Compared to the $25 - $100 dosing jars these are a deal. Good quality. No seams on the bottom to rupture. Just poke or drill a small hole in the top and use rigid airline tubing to connect your dosing line to. The wide mouth makes it super easy to pour powdered Alk or Ca without needing a funnel.

[YeetPopper]

To clean filter socks(Stole this from Reefer Gil)- Turn them inside-out, throw them in a bucket, and add 2 caps of bleach. Fill the bucket up with water and let it sit for 12+ hours. Take it out, rinse them real good with a water hose so they're white and the bleach smell is gone. Let them dry for at least 2 hours and they're ready to be used again. You can get by with 4 filter socks. When 2 of them are dirty, clean them and use the other two.

I really want to keep this topic going!

[+BobcatReefer]

This is a great thread. Going to use several of these in my new build!

[mbaxter]

Kent Marine Kalkwasser Mix - $18.99 /lb at LFS

Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime - $2.88/ lb at Walmart

Same Calcium Hydroxide. Both manufactured by Kent

[jestep]

Here's one I use quite often, if you do water changes just using 5 gallon jugs for makeup, you can just put your jugs in the kitchen sink and run some hot water in the sink to increase the temperature. I can typically increase the temperature in 5 or 6 jugs by 10 degrees in about 10 minutes. Heat transfers very well through the side when it's sitting in hot water. Much, much, faster than combining them all and using an aquarium heater.

[Jimbo662]

Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime - $2.88/ lb at Walmart

Is this what I can use to make a kalk paste for aptasia?

[FarmerTy]

Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime - $2.88/ lb at Walmart

Is this what I can use to make a kalk paste for aptasia?

Yep

[Jimbo662]

Perfect, I found one last night on one of the bottom base rocks!

[+FluxCapacitor]

That is a good idea NeonReefer.

My idea is, and I don't think I've seen anyone saying this anywhere online yet, you can use a shower "loofa" with the string cut off as a long tube of nylon netting "bag". I haven't used mine yet but I remember I had one that fell apart a long time ago and it turned into just this lone piece of tubed netting. Anyway, years later I have a use for it. My plan is to just cut it in sections and ziptie the ends shut. I'm going to fill some with rubble rock so that it doesn't make a huge mess in my sump and it's easy to move around.

You could also use this with a larger grain media of your choosing I'm sure. This would make it easy to throw bags inside of your filter bag to force water through whatever it is that you're using.

Anyway, I hope someone finds this useful and thank you for reading.

[Neon Reefer]

having a large enough sump to do a 15 gallon water change by just adding the water to the sump and just letting it run for a couple of hours and then turning a valve on the manifold to remove 15 gallons to the brute container with out ever turning off any pumps or messing with anything except pulling the collector cup off the skimmer.

[Bpb]

But aren't you removing a portion of the water you just added?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Neon Reefer]

yes you are. In my 180 gal system you are removing 1.25 gals of fresh water from the 15 gal water change leaving a net of 13.75 gallons changed this reduces the % changed from 8.3% to 7.6% w2hich gives me 30% per month instead of 33% I don't mind paying 3% for convenience sake

[+FluxCapacitor]

I used the shower loofa idea I cooked up above for some rubble rock to keep it from being a pain to move around in my rock curing tank. It worked great and the thing never ripped even though I snagged it a few times on rocks.

I killed an aptasia with one of the pointy plastic tipped syringes and some really hot vinegar. I just put the rock in a bowl of water and injected it right near the mouth. It immediately receded and that was yesterday. It hasn't extended back out and I think it's dead. I have one more to do today that came in on a frag I got from tidal gardens.

[+FluxCapacitor]

I used a piece of egg crate today and two clothes pins (ghetto I know) to "shield" the bubble splatter coming off the surface of the water from my bubble stones.

I've also been putting a perfectly cut piece of egg crate to line the bottoms of all the new aquariums I've been setting up. I think this will allow the live rock to securely sit in the squares, and it will also keep rock from "grinding" against the bottom glass or acrylic. I considered that this could cause some sort of nitrate layer or something, but I don't think it will be an issue.

[mFrame]

I used the shower loofa idea I cooked up above for some rubble rock to keep it from being a pain to move around in my rock curing tank. It worked great and the thing never ripped even though I snagged it a few times on rocks.

The shower loofa also works great when trying to get soft corals to attach to plugs or rubble. You can put mushrooms, etc in there with the rubble and it keeps them from floating away before they attach.