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Biocube 29 Retro Install (Lots of pics)


netsecpro

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So I finally bit the bullet and decided to get the nano box retro for my Coralife Biocube 29. I didn't want to go without a hood while Dave installed the kit, so I decided to go ahead and do the install myself. There were a few hiccups along the way, the first Storm Controller didn't work, but fortunately Dave hooked me up with a new one. Here is a photo log of my install, sorry for so many pics, but hopefully this will help others in the future if they decide to do the install themselves.

 

First, I still don't know what these parts are used for:

 

Whatisthis.jpg

 

Dave told me that I would need to cut a hole in the reflector for the fan, so I grabbed a dremel and took care of business. It may not be the cleanest hole, but it's under the cover and no one will ever see it, and there is room for the fan to do what it needs to do. I must say, this fan is soooo much quieter than the stock fans on the Biocube.

 

HolesInReflector.jpg

 

Here is the heat sync mounted to the reflector. As you can see, the wires need to be cleaned up a bit:

 

MountedToReflector.jpg

 

I mounted the reflector and heat sync into the hood, wires still need to be cleaned up.

 

MountedInHood.jpg

 

I had some extra heat shrink, so I put it on and shrunk it up:

 

NeedsMoreCleaning.jpg

 

There was still a little bit of extra wire, and I'm anal about wiring, so I took a few zip ties and cleaned things up a bit:

 

BeforeCover.jpg

 

I really don't like the look of bare wires, and the fan wires didn't have any type of covering. i found some hollow nylon thread and put the fan wires in it. I was really going for a clean looking install. Fortunately, I was able to fit the wiring through the grommets that were used for the stock lighting. This is a view of what I was able to do before putting the cover on:

 

UnderTheCover.jpg

 

 

Here's a closer look:

 

InsideHood.jpgThis is a view of the wires coming out of the grommets on the back of the hood. I was lucky to not have to drill any holes in the hood:

 

BacksideHood.jpg

 

Once all of the was done, I still needed to hook up the wiring the fan's power supply. I got a hold of a soldering iron and soldered the black and white wires to the plug. I still had a bit of heat shrink so I used Dave's idea and put heat shrink on the power supply. It's all in the details for me:

 

FanPowerPlug.jpg

 

I finally decided I was finished, as well as being happy with my work, so I put he cover on and called it a day:

 

FinishedProduct.jpg

 

Here is an FTS...FINALLY:

 

FTS.jpg

 

 

Another FTS where you can see a bit of the shimmer from the lights:

 

Shimmer.jpg

 

It was a little more work than I anticipated, but I am very happy with the results, as well as how the lights look. If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

I want to send a big shoutout to Dave for all of the help along the way!

 

Thanks for checking out my post!

 

-Brian

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I forgot to mention, once I got everything the way I wanted, I went to take a look at my lights and saw they were off. I checked all of the plugs and everything was the way it should have been. Needless to say, I was a little upset because of all of the time I had put into this project. Luckily, after sending a message to Dave, I checked the cable going from the wall to the 48v power supply. It had gone bad, oddest thing I had seen, (after all, it is just a straight piece of copper wiring) but I was able to grab a power supply cable from a PC tower and plug it in and things worked as they should. ((

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Looks amazing and so neat and clean. I can't believe that much light it produces. Did you put the plastic water cover back on?

Yes, the plastic water cover is back on. Take a look at the 3rd to last picture.

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I've been breaking my brain on which led light upgrade to go with. What was the price range of the nano retro kit - if you don't mind me asking. ...

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I've been breaking my brain on which led light upgrade to go with. What was the price range of the nano retro kit - if you don't mind me asking. ...

The cost wasn't bad compared to some of the other options out there, especially considering the Storm Controller that comes with it. I looked at quite a few other options before deciding on this kit.

 

I don't mind you asking, but you should shoot Dave an email about the price. He's great to work with.

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Now that you have the kit installed in your hood, have you noticed any difference to your tank temps? Did the come down at all with the LED's vs PC?

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The cost wasn't bad compared to some of the other options out there, especially considering the Storm Controller that comes with it. I looked at quite a few other options before deciding on this kit.

 

Hey netsecpro, where did you mount the controller? Do you mind posting a pic. After viewing your post on this install, I'm definately going to order this retro kit from Dave. Probably this weekend. Thanks

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I haven't yet mounted the controller. For now I just sit it on top of my hood. I did purchase an colored case for it, as shown below, that way I don't just have it sitting bare. Once I decide where to mount it, I will be using some 3M dual-lock to do so. It's just as strong as velcro, but this stuff makes it much easier to remove the controller when I want to make changes.

 

photo-5.jpg

 

photo-6.jpg

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  • 5 months later...

looks sweet I still cant decide which retro kit to go with lol

You can't go wrong with Dave's LEDs It's probably the easiest kit to install if you don't want to mess up

You're hood it's the best option I'm finishing up the install myself once I have it up and running I will post pictures !!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Netsecpro I'm putting together the same setup but I was wondering what Dave gave you to connect the coax cables to thanks !!

 

It's not a coax cable, it just looks like one. That is the cable that powers the fans.

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Looks very nice might have to do the same on my biocube. Would like to know, are the drivers dimmable?

All is dimmable with the Storm controller.

 

-Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey man i too plan to get daves kit. How much light gets on the back wall? More than stock lights? I put a piece of purple haze back there and while still alive its not as dark purple as the mother colony it came from.

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What are you guys running your blues and whites at ? I have been running mines for over a month now and I'm still playing with it trying to figure out what to leave them on thanks !!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey man i too plan to get daves kit. How much light gets on the back wall? More than stock lights? I put a piece of purple haze back there and while still alive its not as dark purple as the mother colony it came from.

You will have plenty of light on your back wall with the retro kit.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have mine set at Blue = 135 White = 100

I just got mine installed yesterday and have them set 1-80 2-40. Are those ok starting numbers for acclimation?

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