New Member: Peter W ODwyer - Hobbyist

[FischAutoTechGarten]

My name is Peter O'Dwyer, i live in Upstate New York and have been a hobbyist for about 23 years. My passion is Planted Aquaria. I frequent the Aquatic Plants Digest quite a bit.

I'm employed as a Controls Engineer (hence the fixation with automation and DIY) and have a large 120gal tank I'm putting back in service. I've been looking to automate stuff on the cheap for a while. Too bad I didn't join this list sooner.

[aloha_discus]

Aloha Peter, welcome to the Ohana( family ).

Mahalo Ike ;D

[Ardan]

Welcome!
Sounds interesting!! 8)

[henryD]

Welcome...

Most importantly I would love to see some pics. That sound like a really good setup.

[RandalB]

Peter,
Now I know who to come to when I need info about controllers!

Very interested in more details about your setup. Are you overdriving the flourescent ballast or running it regular?

I used a GE/Magnatek 4X32 ballast to drive 2x15 Watt T-12's on my 35 Hex and it provides more light than a 55 watt PC, more than enough for my plants.

I am also using a 20# co2 tank but going low tech without the solenoid system. pH testing and winging it....

Welcome aboard, and if I can help you out with RO equipment questions, let me know...

RandalB

[brewmaster15]

Hi Peter,
Welcome to Simply Discus! :)


I built my own Wet/Dry out of a 20gal tank and bio balls. Good distribution, nice sump section, good Mag pump, level switch to keep from running dry got plans and pics? I'd love to see this. I'm thinking of building one myself. Maybe if you feel industrious you could post on it in the DIY section here.

Welcome again,
al

[RandalB]

Peter,
IM Paulio629, he's real educated on aquarium lighting and plant issues. He's the one that taught me about overdriving flourescents. Probably saved me $300.00 in lighting alone on two tanks. He might have some ideas for you. I think he also has a bulb source....

I disassembled the 15W light strip off the 35 hex, rewired it for 2 bulbs and ran it off the $20.00 Home Depot ballast and I have great plants in a deep tank and the total project including bulbs was about $35.00.

Glad to have you here! I'm also interested in the wet-dry...

RandalB

[RAWesolowski]

Peter,

I think I followed half of your intro. The hell with pics how about a schematic?