Modding the Nano Wave 9

[Socalsuperhero]

So I got my Nano Wave 9 on Friday, and after unpacking it I immediately began thinking of things that I wanted to change. More on that in a bit, but first, general impressions and observations of the stock system.

 

 

The whole setup has the slick appearance that you would expect from an all-in-one system. It also feels solid and everything fits well as you would expect from aqua medic. The only thing that stands out to me that drives me a bit nuts is the big red “Nano Wave 9” lettering on top of the hood.

 

I was a bit shocked to see that the system came with no active cooling solution especially considering that heat is typically one of the biggest problems faced by the all-in-one crowd.

 

 

The rear compartments come with cool removable containers/dividers allowing you to configure your tank the way you want. One compartment comes with ceramic beads and the other with a foam block.

 

 

 

The main circulation pump is rated at 420l/h (110gph) and sits on a try that slots into the compartment system.

 

 

Since the system is not running yet, I cannot comment on how effective the skimmer is. However, it certainly looks promising. It’s is driven by the same type of pump as the main circulation pump.

 

 

The lights are, as advertised, two 24watt power compacts, one 6500k and one blue. Before anyone gets too excited about adding more light because of what looks like extra space, it’s not as easy as it appears. Again, more on that later.

 

There is no surface skimming overflow in this tank. Instead the intakes for the rear compartments are below the water line.

 

The only other thing that I would like to mention is the moonlighting. Contrary to what was advertised, they are not 1watt leds. There are three run of the mill 5mm leds typical for moonlighting applications.

 

So, with those formalities out of the way, it’s time to start cutting! …almost. First I figure that some project goals might be helpful (in reality I started cutting anyways).

 

1. Improve lighting with the addition of a third 24watt PC.

2. Improve cooling to mitigate heat issues.

3. Improve tank circulation

4. Add overflow

5. Maintain the clean looking appearance (that means using the hood system)

 

Ok great! Grab your Dremel, a couple of beers, and enough ambition to potentially ruin your new investment!

[PseudanthiasVentralis]

Look at that hood over the filter thing... you could pile in at least two fans if not three...

 

Oh and im glad i waited and didnt rush out and buy an aquapod.

[Socalsuperhero]

Ok, now you get to start cutting things apart…

 

MODIFICATION GOAL

Improved Circulation

 

MODIFICATION CRITERIA

(1) Replace stock main circulation pump with maxi-jet to move more water.

(2) Add rotating flow deflector to help randomize current in tank.

 

So I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the main circulation pump, which is rated at 110gph, is going to be woefully underpowered for the “reef enthusiast”. That means that it’s got to go. The first thing I noticed was how small the area in the rear chamber was where pump goes is. The stock pump is small, and it barely fits. The easy answer is to just remove the last media carrier, but I still wanted the option to run foam and/or other media in that last chamber. And so began the first of much cutting that my Nano Wave 9 will see…

 

 

In order to fit a larger pump in the last compartment while still being able to use the last container for assorted filter media, I decided to cut a sizable notch out of the bottom of the media carrier.

 

 

I then trimmed up the piece I had removed until I had only the grate left. I opened up the slits in the grate a bit and used pvc Weldon to glue it to the bottom of the media carrier.

 

 

I cut the original foam block in half and crammed it in the carrier.

 

 

The stock pump comes with a length of ½” dia tubing that connects to an elbow, one end of which fits loosely in a hole in the rear panel. The elbow is a different size on each end, and the smaller size just happens to fit extremely well inside of the hydor flo adapter that fits inside the hole. Then it’s just a matter of cutting a longer piece of ½” tubing and stretching one end over the largest end of the elbow while connecting the other end to the power head.

 

 

 

 

 

DIFFICULTY

EASY – Simply removing media cartridge and adding new pump and Hydor Flo

MODERATE – Modding media cartridge to accommodate the new pump

[Socalsuperhero]

MODIFICATION GOAL

Improved Lighting

 

MODIFICATION CRITERIA

(1) Add a third 24watt CF bulb

(2) Add fans for the lights to remove heat from the lighting compartment before it can heat the rest of the tank.

(3) Add separate power cords for actinic bulbs, daylight bulbs, and moonlighting.

 

PART 1

 

The first thing that I thought when I saw the pictures of the lighting compartment on this thing is “it looks like they left space for us to add more lights! This is going to be easy!” WRONG! Looks can be deceiving, and upon close inspection you can see that the reflector is raised in the back.

 

 

What is underneath? The ballast for the cf’s, the transformer for the leds, and a bunch of plastic that you’re going to have to cut out.

 

 

So begins the disassembly…

 

 

I’m starting this mod with the addition of two fans. By locating them within the sealed light compartment I’m hoping to remove the heat generated by the lights before it can become a problem for the rest of the tank. I’m even removing the switches from the hood because (1) I had no intention of using them since I want everything to be on a timer and (2) I need the space for fans. Oh yeah, and the ballasts have to go. If you want to add a third light, the ballasts have to be made remote. I think this is a good thing anyways because it means a couple less things making heat inside the tank.

 

The fans I’m using are 80mm x 15mm pc fans. Would 60mm fans have been easier to fit? Yes. However, I want to move air, not listen to little fans screaming away. Because space was going to be tight anyways even with the low profile fans, I cut a bit of the housing off of the intake side to allow them more room to pull air in. BTW, I’m setting up both fans to exhaust the hot air.

 

 

Next, I set out with the dremel to cut out all the plastic in the way of my proposed fan mounting locations. I also cut down all the standoffs in the back to the same level as the ones in the front (you’ll see why later).

 

 

With space cleared for the fans I was able to mark the holes and start cutting.

 

 

Fitting the fans and grills went smoothly. I even checked clearances between the reflector and fans and it’s looking good so far.

 

 

 

After throwing this back on the tank to check it out it, I decided that the fan grills are going to have to get a couple coats of black paint.

 

 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this mod...

[Sushi]

excellent work. looks like you're off to an excellent start... i'm sure ppl will start tagging along soon.

[donnoj]

lookin' good!!!

[VDub90]

Fantastic writeup so far. I can't wait for the next part.

 

I have a question for you, did you have your heart set on this tank? If a compnay produced a tank that met all you requirements would you have purchased that one instead? Just asking as I'm sort of fed up with modding stuff, and searched long and hard to find a tank that met all my requirements,and that didn't require any modding of the tank and it's equipment.

[jimmy595]

Thats a nice tank. I reealy like the fact that its glass (I HATE SCRATCHES!)

[RP Beesh]

i think the most fun thing,to me, about this hobby is diy project.keep up the good work. don't be too shy with the picture. love those picture

[ENraged]

70 MH retrofit would look nice in place of those stock bulbs..

[Socalsuperhero]

70 MH retrofit would look nice in place of those stock bulbs..

 

Agreed, however, having not run the system with CF's yet, I have concerns about the extra heat from a MH. I thought about running it with an open top and MH, but I dont' want to deal with the increased evaporation.

 

I will probably take another look at MH later once these bulbs need replacing and I've got a feel for how big of a problem heat is going to be with this tank.

 

Thats a nice tank. I reealy like the fact that its glass (I HATE SCRATCHES!)

 

As do I. Owning both acrylic and glass tanks I can safely say that for me, the glass tanks age much better than the acrylic. No matter how careful I am with the acrylic, every now and then I still manage to put a scratch in it. Over time that adds up and drives me nuts. I know you can polish scratches out, but honestly, I'd rather just have glass.

 

Again, that's just my opinion based on my experience.

 

Fantastic writeup so far. I can't wait for the next part.

 

I have a question for you, did you have your heart set on this tank? If a compnay produced a tank that met all you requirements would you have purchased that one instead? Just asking as I'm sort of fed up with modding stuff, and searched long and hard to find a tank that met all my requirements,and that didn't require any modding of the tank and it's equipment.

 

 

I didn't have my heart set on this tank. The fact that it came with a skimmer and fuge light certainly helped though. If someone made a 'perfect' tank would i have bought it instead? I guess. Although as Beesh said, DIY is part of the fun

[PseudanthiasVentralis]

[Socalsuperhero]

MODIFICATION GOAL

Improved Lighting

 

MODIFICATION CRITERIA

(1) Add a third 24watt CF bulb

(2) Add fans for the lights to remove heat from the lighting compartment before it can heat the rest of the tank.

(3) Add separate power cords for actinic bulbs, daylight bulbs, and moonlighting.

 

PART 2

 

So now that the fan holes are cut and the hood is trimmed up we can move on to adding that third light. First things first, take the reflector/light assembly that you earlier removed from the hood, and completely disassemble it.

 

 

That’s right, everything!

 

 

I used painters tape to protect the side of the reflector that I’m going to be using.

 

 

Next, find yourself a firm surface (not your mom’s dinning room table or kitchen counter!), a couple flat pieces of wood, and a big hammer (I prefer a 10lb sledge, or in this case the backside of a splitting maul).

 

 

Now gently...beat the crap out of the reflector, pounding it flat between the two pieces of wood. What you end up with is a mostly flat reflector. I say mostly because it's not going to be perfect.

 

 

I then cut ½” off of the back side to reduce the length, then again sandwiched it between two pieces of wood that I screwed together (ghetto brake) and bent the back 1” of the reflector up about 40 degrees.

 

 

After that, a quick test fit to confirm that everything still fitting.

 

 

Then it’s time to measure, mark, and drill the holes for the retrofit kit.

 

 

Again with the test fitting, this time with the bulbs…

 

 

…and then with everything under the splash guard. So far no surprises, everything is fitting and looks alright.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before I began reassembling the hood and starting the wiring, I ran the ends or the led moonlights through the bandsaw to cut them off flat. Personally I like them better this way because it helps diffuse the moonlighting and gives less of the blue spotlight effect.

 

 

With everything piled into the hood, it was time to start soldering…

 

 

…sometime later you may or may not end up with something that looks like this. Pay attention to wire routing, there’s a fair amount going on and not a whole lot of space.

 

 

With all the wiring done and tucked away, the reflector assembly goes back in with minimal effort.

 

 

And finally, the bulbs and splash guard all back in place and screwed together. Not too bad if I do say so myself.

 

 

While I had everything apart I also painted the fan grills which helped clean up the looks a bit. Just a side note about the fans and ventilation—while testing the fans after reassembling everything, I came to the conclusion that the factory openings are wholly inadequate to draw air through when running both fans exhausting as I am. I’m still kicking around a few ideas on where to open it up with more ventilation. I’m open to ideas.

 

 

Well that’s it for now. Part three will see some minor modifications to the sump area to route the new wiring from the hood out the back as well as hooking up the now external ballasts. I'd also like to add a bit more intake ventilation to the hood before I call it good.

[soundman]

Looks good! Maybe you could cut some air inlet vents between the fans and the feeding door similar to an Aquapod.

[ccjung]

looks great.

 

I love seeing my fellow nanotuners getting busy with themselves. Looks very clean and well done.

 

I would make a single recommendation for your heat issues, which is to invert the fans so that they are blowing in. Blowing in does 2 things, it generates pressure in the canopy, and eliminates the dead spot that will develop on the "forehead" of the tank. Also, i didnt see, but if possible, create some holes, or cutout some portions near the fans. The loss of reflectivity and light leak will be a bitsnatch, but the increased cooling/improved performance will pay dividends. Reflectors for crammed PCs are overrated anyways.

 

Anyways. Looks great. I envy you this time of year. Get to reef, get to DIY, for me, I just want to snowboard. Maybe ill come check out your tank when im in mammoth this season.

 

Chris

[Socalsuperhero]

So during lunch today I sorted some of the cooling issues out. I switched the fans around (thanks for that suggestion Chris) and don’t know why I didn’t do that before.

 

 

 

Since I had trimmed the fan housings down ~4mm the fan blades tucked perfectly up into the openings in the hood saving that much more space inside for airflow. BRILLIANT!

 

I’m going to drill some holes in the reflector, but that was going to take to long to do during lunch. What I did instead was decide on how to get more air out of the hood. Using the dremel router attachment and an 1/8” fluted router bit I enlarged the stock openings. By lengthening the openings, they now expose the bulb side of the reflector to direct ventilation. Best of all once I finish cleaning the openings up it shouldn’t look too different from stock.

 

BEFORE

 

AFTER

[Lingwendil]

I'm watching this thread closely, very clean work so far!

[Dr.Fumanchu]

Excellent work, makes me want to run out and get one of these bad boys.

[rickjg]

Nice DIY thread, keep up the posts!

I like the fan grills painted black better too.

I’m glad Chris suggested flipping the fans, it has really helped the cooling on NanoCubes.

-Rick

[Socalsuperhero]

Figured you guys would want to know what I’ve been up to, so here you go…

 

MODIFICATION GOAL

Surface skimming overflow

 

MODIFICATION CRITERIA

(1) Build an surface skimming overflow box to add to the tank.

 

One of the design choices that I really don’t understand about the nano wave is the omission of a surface skimming intake to the rear compartments. So I set out to remedy that. Using some ¼” pvc sheet that I had laying around, I fabbed up an overflow box. Once again I used the dremel with a 1/8” fluted router bit and then clamped it upside down in the workmate. Then using a square as a guide I fed the pieces to be cut into the dremel every ¼”. I have never used this method before and tried it on the spur of the moment. Personally I was impressed with the results—much better than freehand. I could have also done it by drilling holes and then cutting the teeth out on the bandsaw, but I chose the dremel instead because it seemed like less work. I assembled the pvc pieces first with Weldon 2007, then sealed the inside seams with regular pvc cement (cristy’s blue glue) much like you would with silicon.

 

 

I attached the overflow to the back wall with blue glue only, being careful in the application so that I didn’t get blue pvc cement everywhere. Dimensions of the overflow are 10”x 2.5”x 1.5” and cut the teeth 1” into the top of the overflow.

 

 

I flow tested the whole system to make sure the water level was going to be good and that pump flow was going to be sufficient. Much to my surprise, the water level was spot on in the tank and was maintained right at the bottom of the trim. For a pump I’m using a maxi-jet 600 with a 1200 impeller and housing. Which brings me to another interesting discussion topic. In applications with little to no head pressure, I’ve noticed that switching impellers and housings between maxi-jets yield results so close to the larger pumps output that I can’t tell any difference. Can and point. The MJ600 with 1200 impeller and housing performed the same in this tank as the original MJ1200. I suppose the benefit is the 12.5 less watts of heat that the 600 generates versus the 1200. I didn’t try it with a 400, but from what I’ve seen I have no doubt that the results would be similar.

 

 

DIFFICULTY

MODERATE – Some assembly required…

[Canuck007]

Agreed, however, having not run the system with CF's yet, I have concerns about the extra heat from a MH. I thought about running it with an open top and MH, but I dont' want to deal with the increased evaporation.

I will probably take another look at MH later once these bulbs need replacing and I've got a feel for how big of a problem heat is going to be with this tank.

 

 

hey great mods!

Just wanted to ask you if you thought that there was enough room/clearance under the hood to even do a 70wHQI mod?

[rickjg]

From your pics of the the 3.24 PC light setup it looks like U might have room for 4.24?

[PseudanthiasVentralis]

Did you have to remove the balast? Or is it still in the hood? And what temp is your tank, dose the third light heat it up at all?

[Socalsuperhero]

MODIFICATION GOAL

Improved Lighting

 

MODIFICATION CRITERIA

(1) Add a third 24watt CF bulb

(2) Add fans for the lights to remove heat from the lighting compartment before it can heat the rest of the tank.

(3) Add separate power cords for actinic bulbs, daylight bulbs, and moonlighting.

 

PART 3

 

I finally got around to finishing up my Nano Wave this weekend. The only thing left as far as modding in the hood, was to drill holes in the reflector to help airflow within the light compartment on both sides of the reflector. I very simply (and wil little precision) drilled ¼” holes in the reflector down the centerline of the CF bulbs. Before I buttoned it up for the last time I also rewired the moonlights so that they were driven in series off of a 9v dc source. This eliminated the 60hz flickering that the stock transformer induced in the bulbs.

 

 

With that out of the way I reassembled it and began wiring the all the bits and pieces to much it all work. All of this went under the tank in the stand. I ended up wiring the 50/50 and blue bulbs together for dusk/dawn, and wired the 6700 daylight bulb overdriven on separate ballast. I figure that running the normally powered dusk/dawn combo 12hrs a day while running the overdriven daylight 8 hours a day, 8months should be an acceptable replacement interval for all three bulbs.

 

 

…And now the money shots. Here’s the tank with the 50/50 and blue going.

 

 

Then the daylight added to that.

 

 

I am amazed at how much light is in the tank, and can’t wait for it to settle down so I can get some rock in there and get this thin going. The fans are working great, with all 3 bulbs going for several hours the air venting out the sides is warm and the splashguard is barely warm.

 

DIFFICULTY

HARD – This mod requires a lot of soldering, cutting, drilling, and patience.

[jimmy595]

That does look very bright. Wonder if you would get serous gains from putting parabolic reflectors behind those bulbs.