Hands On DIY Projects - Please vote!

Hey everyone, as part of improving the content for the regional
meetings, I would like to see more hands on demos and DIY projects
incorporated into the meetings.  For projects that are really
inexpensive, the club could cover the costs, but for those that are more
than a couple of $$ per person, we would expect the participants to
cover the cost.  I've listed a rough price estimate next to the various
projects.  I'm also very interested to hear ideas on other projects that
I might not have listed.  Please take a moment and vote for those that
you would be interested in participating in (you may select multiples) and list others that you would like to see done.

Jawfish Condo - This project is building a home for your jawfish from
PVC.  Some variations of this project include making the opening of the
jawfish condo from live rock rubble (connected to a PVC tube that gets
buried in the sand) and some a large barnacle shell.  This project would
cost around $5.  May not be appropriate for those with bare bottom
tanks.

Pinwheel Skimmer Mesh Mod - This project involves modifying the impeller
on your skimmer to have Enkamat mesh on it instead of pins.  This is
not a reversible modification and some say that it can cause permanent
damage to your skimmer motor.  It's advisable that all participants
research this project before participating to make sure that they want
to do it.  Is not appropriate for those whose skimmers do not have
pinwheels.  The club would cover the expense on this project.

Neptune Systems Controller Breakout Box - This project is building a
breakout box for your Neptune Systems controller.  Neptune controllers
(AC3 and Apex generations) allow you to hook external switches to your
controller, but out of the box, do not come with the materials to hook
them up.  The breakout box gives you the means to hook switches to the
breakout box, then the breakout box to your controller.  There are many
variations on this project and depending on the variation and the
features chosen, could cost between $10 and $20.

DIY Food - This project is creating you own fish food.  Participants
will chop food, mix food and take home a portion of the food made. 
Ingredients vary based on recipe, but most involve seafood like clams,
squid, fish, seaweed, vitamin supplements, vegetables, and vitamin
supplements.  Cost will vary depending on amount made and recipe used. 
Costs vary from $5 to $15.

Magnetic Nori Holder - This project is creating a nori holder for your
fish that keep them from ripping all of it out of the clip at once. 
Instead of being a traditional plastic clip, the nori is put in a bag
made out of polypropylene mesh and zip ties.  It's attached to your tank
glass using magnets.  The primary cost of this project is for the
magnets (as magnets that can be safely used in saltwater and be used on
relatively thick glass must be used) and is probably around $5.

Mesh Tank Cover - This project is creating a cover for your tank to keep
your fish from jumping out.  The cover is made from polypropylene mesh
(either 1/2" or 1/4") and screen frame material from the hardware
store.  It will require participants measure the size of cover needed
prior to coming to the meeting so things can be cut to size.  Costs vary
on size and would probably be between $5 and $10
DIY Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium supplements - The project is taking materials that you can buy at your local grocery/hardware store and making supplements for your tank.  The Randy Holmes Farley recipes would be used and cost would depend on the amount of supplements each participant took home.  Cost would probably be under $10.
Plumbing Manifold - This project is building a manifold for your tank plumbing.  It's basically a central place that you can hook up multiple reactors or other things things that would require individual pumps, to you can run everything off of a single pump.  Cost would depend on how complex the design was (i.e. including ball valves, John Guest fittings, etc).  A basic manifold would probably be around $10.
OK club members, now it's up to you.  Tell us what kinds of things you're interested in doing!
--AJ

 

Great participation on the voting everyone. Thanks so far...hope to get a few more over the next week to make some decisions on this stuff for which to do first.

--AJ