Nanowave 9 LED Retrofit

[ROB52367]

I finished my first LED build. Thanks for the help on the Ultimate LED Guide forum. I purchased the custom heatsink from Nanotuners, along with the Cree XRE-WG and XRE-RB, Fan adapters and Voltage adapter for the fans. I bought the power supplies from MPJA, I got two, so seperate timing could be set up for blue and white. I bought the wired Buckpucks with pots from LED Supply. The rest of the stuff came from a local electronic supply store called Orvac. This is my first experience soldering so I bought a 40 watt solder iron from Sears. I made a project box consisting of particle board sides, a steel bottom (old computer case side with some louvers) and a plastic sheet top. I put a fan filter in the top just to allow heat to escape. It seems to run very cool. My Nanowave sits next to a Biocube 29. The plan is to retrofit the Biocube next and connect to the same power supplies for the LEDs. I watched a few videos on Youtube about soldering, and gave it a try. Tin the iron, tin the wires, tin the stars then just heat them together, it was really easy. I made a moonlight from three small blue LEDs and used the stock hood moonlight power supply, it has it's own cord so it is on a seperate timer. The Nanotuners Heatsink is tapped for two 80mm fans. I bought two Silent-x slim fans at Fry's and they both blow directly on the heatsink. The air coming out of the hood vents is barily warm. I was happy when I tested the light for the first time to find it worked properly. I put everything back together and set up the timing. I am amazed at the way the aquarium looks. When compared to the Biocube next to it, the biocube looks like a dull (diffused) light. My Biocube has the Nanotuners 4.36 upgrade. I am running two blue actinic bulbs, one 50/50 bulb and one white. The corals all grow like crazy in that tank. The new LED lights on the Nanowave have shimmer. I never realized or understood the effect of shimmer until I witnessed this. Now I can't wait to Retro-fit my Biocbe 29 and Nanocube 24 to LED.

[noobwithatank]

care to give a parts brake down and where you got everything

[spanko]

Really like this tank. Well done!

[lizardfish]

love it verry clean look

[phattypeeps]

Awesome job, looks fantastic. I am building a custom hood for a small tank and decided to use LED, however I decided to use two Reefbrite LED strips rather than building by own. They are going to be over $300, I was curious as to how much your whole setup came to by the time you were done?

[ROB52367]

I spent $325 total. That includes the solder iron, solder, fans, fan grills, fan adapters, power supplies, Buckpucks, LEDS, adhesive pads, capacitors, moonlight, wire and heatshrink. I was able to save a little by making the project box. And I was able to get the power cords and riser wire from an old computer pile at work.

[ccjung]

Super clean build. Great work!!

[phattypeeps]

I spent $325 total. That includes the solder iron, solder, fans, fan grills, fan adapters, power supplies, Buckpucks, LEDS, adhesive pads, capacitors, moonlight, wire and heatshrink. I was able to save a little by making the project box. And I was able to get the power cords and riser wire from an old computer pile at work.

 

Cool, thanks

[damage31]

sweet build i must say.

 

Slightly off topic, but quick question... where did you get your tank at? i wanted one of those kinds of tanks, but could never find anywhere that sells them.

[ROB52367]

I found this one on Craigslist about 3 years ago. It was set up as a reef with live rock and a few mushroom corals. He sold me everything including all his supplements, an extra hood with one broken pin and cleaning supplies for $100. It was a college student who was moving away. It already had the timer fix for the moonlights and I installed the Nanotuners fan kit. I originally had a chiller on it but when I got a Biocube 29 I put the chiller on the Biocube. With stock lighting it would get up to 80 degrees in an air conditioned room. It stays at 78 degrees with the LED lighting. I made an overflow box once but used flimsy thin acrylic sheet. I need to make another overflow box out of thicker acrylic. I love this tank. It has the stock skimmer and fuge. The water parameters stay good with 20% water changes every 3 weeks. I remember seeing them for $89.00 new on closeout. I should have purchased another one when I had the chance.