Journal UNS 60L High Tech Countertop Build

[ample]

Uh oh! Made the leap and purchased a UNS 60L aquarium today to replace my UNS 5N. It's going to go on the edge of my kitchen island, so keeping equipment minimal and attractive is going to be a priority here.

The aesthetic goal is something resembling an Iwagumi that can be viewed from 270 degrees. Biggest inspiration currently is this scape by @qball_aquatics in Sydney. I'm not a huge Iwagumi person and I normally like substantial hardscape, but something about the plant selection here scales so perfectly in this long shallow tank, so I'm simply going to copy it.



UNS 60L Dimensions: 24" x 8" x 8"

Tentative Equipment List
Filter: Oase Filtosmart 60
Inflow/outflow: ASG 10mm Stainless Steel Inflow/Outflow pipes
Light: Chihiros CII RGB or ONF Flat Nano - intentionally going for a short light for more of a spotlight effect with shadowing on the outer edges
CO2: Paintball setup, potentially mounted horizontally with brackets under the counter

Plants:
Glosso or HC carpet
Eleocharis parvula for height around the stones
Echinodorus 'Aflame" centerpiece plant

Livestock:
Blue dream neocaridina
Maybe chili rasboras

How does this setup sound? Very open to suggestions.

 

[ample]

Slowly gathering the supplies for this build.

The ASG stainless steel pipes arrived sooner than expected, and I’m pretty pleased with the quality. Works perfectly with the 9/12 Filtosmart 60 hoses.

My biggest gripe is that it doesn’t come with holders, and the ones they sell are both ugly and expensive for what it is, and I’m not finding any standalone holders for pipes this small. So this weekend’s project has been 3D printing some holders. So far we haven’t had any luck with the uploaded designs on Makerworld, so we’re just designing our own based on these simple FZone ones.


We’re also having some issues with bothersome pests…




Once we get that sorted out, it’ll be time for hardscape and dark start. For now I’ve decided to go with the Chihiros CII RGB light, and a 2.5lb CO2 setup, after weighing the pros and cons of that versus a paintball setup. I can get a 2.5lb cylinder for $50, and my local beverage place that refills my 5lb for about $13 can also fill a 2.5lb.

 

[JayP]

That cat fish is on borrowed time in a tank that hasn't been cycled yet.

 

[ample]

8 hours and many iterations later… custom 10mm pipe holders have been successfully fabricated! Ended up going the extra mile and designing it as a detachable two-piece holder like the Fzone set I have on my other tank.

Here’s a shot of the Fzone acrylic clamp that we modeled it after:

It has a pretty genius and sleek sliding channel to make it detachable.

And here’s our final printed product:



Perfectly fits these tiny 10mm pipes and 5mm glass, and is detachable for quick and easy hose/filter maintenance.

The only limitation of the PETG is that it’s not quite as rigid as acrylic, so even with increasing the infill and thickness, the thinner part that sits against the glass can flex and lift away from the glass slightly when the screw is over tightened, so the clamp ends up being able to rock side to side a bit if too much lateral force is exerted on it. Basically, the material isn’t rigid enough to brace the screw enough against the glass and completely prevent movement. However, using suction cups mitigates this problem. You could also stick a piece of padding between where the glass and clamp contact as well to increase friction and prevent movement.

Highly recommend spending an entire day of work and frustration to save about $15, less if you count the amount of filament used in printing all of the test models.