Nano New Year Build!

Hardly! Once you get that ADA going, I think all of us are going to be drooling

 

I already have my hands full with the one fiddy I have running, never mind the ADA which is literally a terrarium for spiders at the moment - and you want me to get ANOTHER tank???????

 

Sure, when you suffer from an excess of both tooth enamel and matrimony.

 

Good evening everyone!

A severe case of the " the right place at the right time" led to a bit of an unexpected purchase for the tank.

A dual stage Saga regulator for 200 bucks... yup, not missing a 0 on that figure. A total of 200 Nelson's for the regulator, it's in fantastic condition too.

 

If it wasn't from a reputable buyer that's well known in the community, I would've laughed at the offer and felt sorry for the poor sucker that fell for the scam.

I've got 0 knowledge of pressurized systems so any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. This is my only piece of kit so far, hopefully I'll be able to put together the rest of the system on a budget and get it running sooner rather than later

 

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

I was looking at these new yesterday and doing mental affordability calcs. You lucky fish! (and lucky plants)

Next step is to get one of these:

https://www.takealot.com/2kg-co2-fire-extinguisher/PLID95760793

I bought the 5kg one because the price diff was kinda negligible and it's much better value - but it's nearly a meter tall and may not work for you.

Maybe you'll luck out again with your magical order-of-magnitude-reducer skull bump if you go second hand.

You'll need a power timer, a check valve, a drop checker (and solution that doesn't, ahem, seize the urine), a diffuser and tubing for it. You could probably get away with normal PVC airline tubing instead of the spendy hi-presh Tygon stuff seeing as you don't run a canister/sump and won't be using an inline diffuser. Supposedly the vinyl tubing will start leaking after a while when it becomes hard and brittle, but replacing it isn't exactly a big deal. I'm not an expert though so pinch of salt etc.

I've read some people use wooden chopsticks jammed into the airline as a cheap diffuser substitute.

You can probably get away without a bubble counter since it's dual stage but that would mean babysitting the bubble checker until you get it dialed in (something you have to do anyway but counting bubbles seems easier than looking at the low-side pressure gauge).

 

If you have space go for a 5kg, I went with the 2kg one because it fits in the 10cm space behind my tank. Also if you buy 2 X 2kg, you can fill one while the other is in use.

You can get a glass drop checker from temu with solution for R70. I received mine this week and it's working 100%.

 

Haha, thanks! Ya couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it.

Thanks for the tips. Can't believe the stuff I breathe out is going to set me back a grand... hopefully I can find a scuba diver that's getting out of the hobby . The rest of the stuff isn't too pricy

 

R1360 for 5kg at leroy merlin online

https://leroymerlin.co.za/5kg-co2-f...5Bhx3e4rm3Rr3PQn0UIqSJtzt3zzqwKxoCJuYQAvD_BwE

 

I've never actually looked at Temu's stuff - I'm averse for political reasons but lately with oom Trompie se moer etc - well I just had a look and their stuff is DIRT CHEAP. It's almost like the scam Luke was talking about.

ETA: some of the stuff on sale is super LUL:


https://rewimg-eu.kwcdn.com/review-...b3-bc20-41fd-824a-eb1826b0a1fe_1104x1200.jpeg

 

Talking about dirt cheap, did you hear about their main warehouse that burned down last week. They estimate the total value of the inventory loss at around R59.16

 

I would have expected at least a rounding error lol. There was some bruhaha on local subreddits regarding surprise import duties as well, but people ought to know how it works by now.

I succumbed to temptation and ordered a couple of goodies yesterday myself. Glass lily pipes, glass diffuser kit, glass u-bends, a smol round net and 3m of CO2 hose. Less than R600 for the lot, which is unbelievable. I am cringing in anticipation and hope I don't experience disappointment. Ons sal sien!

 

My import duty came to R116 on R900, mostly electronic components and aquarium doohickies. When it comes to Temu it is important to read the actual item description and measurements, photos can be misleading.

 

You mean I shouldn't rely on the hundreds of reviews that state "Product well, excellent and super"??

Who did you pay the duty to? To temu directly?

 

I see the plastic tag is still on it, that usually attached the spare nylon washer, does it still have the nylon washer inside the part that connects to the bottle?

 

I received an email from Temu (temu@orders.temu.com) with a link to acspay.co.za paid with FNB virtual credit card. Allport cargo services (ACS) is doing the custom clearance and then it is handed over to fastway couriers for delivery.

I think most people that get a shock on their customs duty are importing clothing.

 

Thank you, good info to know.