# Need some help on some ideas



## zof (Apr 23, 2010)

Alright I'm wrapping my brain around a potential project but having issues finding a good way to drive a very low speed wheel with an air pump. Does anyone know a cheap easy design to capture the air coming out of an air line to spin a small wheel maybe 1 revolution every 5 secs or so?

Also anyone know of easily available and cheap plastic circular rod to work as the axle of said wheel?

Final question, is hot glue safe for aquariums? How about dried super glue?

(someone should really start a post on all the materials safe for aquarium use)


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## InvertPlanet (Mar 25, 2011)

not 100% certain but I made a DIY bio wheel, similar to what you are looking at.






I used suction cups to hold the sponge in place and a metal rod from a wall paper applicator. It worked well until evaporation changed the water level :shock:

Superglue will work well as long as it is the gel type but it will eventually break down in the aquarium. Have you thought about securing it with fishing line?


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

i always thought hot glue to be unsafe but i have read about people using it without any problems so it might be usable. 

I know people use silicone to seal up super glue after it dries to create a waterproof seal, you can do that if you need to use an adhesive.

I use TAP Plastics for my acrylic supply, but if you are just getting 1 rod, it might be too expensive to just ship 1 thing.


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

OH i just saw that you live in cali, thats where TAP is based so you might be able to locate a branch near you? Or at least the shipping will be way cheaper.


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## zof (Apr 23, 2010)

Its actually not a Bio wheel but a wheel to collect duckweed, I found something that picks duckweed up so now I want to create something that will keep the duckweed in my tanks pruned besides manual labor. So right now I'm trying to figure out a way to attach this material in a wheel to a rod so I can then figure out a way to drive the rod to rotate the wheel.... But the more and more I think about it the wheel design might push the duckweed away before it can attach to the wheel....

Thanks for the link to that company they got some pretty cool stuff, too bad they are based in northern California, I think the closest location to me is at least 3 hours away :-(


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

well at least shipping will be better? im on the east coast so the shipping was killer.


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