BioCube 8 70w MH Build

[Thesidius]

Ok here goes again, my official build thread. I've been out of the hobby for a while but I can't stay away! It's been way to long since I've had my hands in a tank. So here it is and bare with me I'm taking it nice and slow this time. And this time I'm going to keep it at my office.

 

This is my tank stripped down

 

Top down view, yes I'm going to cut the first chamber wall a bit

 

Stripped down lid, getting ready for the 70w MH

 

50w heater

 

Fuge light

 

Mini powerhead

 

Hydor Flow

 

MH fixture

 

10000k MH bulb

 

PC Bulbs

 

Misc parts and Moonlights. I will be getting a piece of tempered glass to mod into the splash guard.

 

I'll post more next week when I start to assemble the hood

[ma_sha1]

Nice! I PMed you suggesting 10,000K, but you are ahead of me.

 

Look awsome so far.

 

Check back my HID reef update, took some new photos.

 

Nice! I PMed you suggesting 10,000K, but you are ahead of me.

 

Look awsome so far. Where did you get the fuge light? How many watts?

 

Check back my HID reef update, took some new photos.

[Thesidius]

Thanks ma_sha1!

[11070]

Let s get going sparky! :-p

[Thesidius]

Oh ha ha ha. Your really funny aren't you. It's to bad that everyone one these forums are going to be a witness to my office burning down!

[Thesidius]

Cross your fingers!

 

 

Let there be light!

 

It works!

 

 

 

Now to fit it all in the hood.

[krewkina]

Cross your fingers!

 

 

Let there be light!

 

It works!

 

 

 

Now to fit it all in the hood.

[/quote

 

can u get all that from a local hardware store or is it specially ordered

[Thesidius]

The ballast is from www.ballastwise.com (70w MH), the MH socket is from Home Depot (300w halogen flood light), and the bulb is from Ebay (10000K 70w MH).

[phil121]

Tagging along as this is a mod I would love to do to my BioCube8 also.

[Thesidius]

Here is the MH modded into the hood

 

 

All lights on. Don't know if the PC's are going to get to hot or not. I guess I will just find out.

 

[phil121]

Where did you get the reflector you are using? Are the PC's ok that close to the MH bulb?

[Thesidius]

The reflector came in the halogen light fixture that I got from homedepot. I had to cut it down. I sure hope that the pc's are going to be ok but I will be doing extensive testing before puting any livestock in my tank.

[gvidoni]

Awesome mod! Not to be the dud of the party, but aren't you a little concerned about fire hazard with that much heat production in such a small place?

[Thesidius]

No, I'm going to be putting it through a bunch of tests to see how hot it will get and if I need to I will add some more fans. So far that I've noticed the 70w doesn't put out as much heat as I would have thought.

[coralcrazy]

totally doing what you are going to do really soon....the biocube 8 is my next tank.....

[Thesidius]

totally doing what you are going to do really soon....the biocube 8 is my next tank.....

 

Cool! it's really a nice tank. Can't wait to see your build thread. Until then you can watch me make all the mistakes so you don't have to!

[mseepman]

One thing you have to watch out for is that DE bulbs are not UV protected...there needs to be UV glass between them and you/corals or they will burn and be damaged. Usually the Halogen fixtures you bought have the same issue and come with glass to protect people.

[coralcrazy]

if the hood just gets to hot MH should be enought...also are you keeping stock fans???

 

yea..i am upgrading tanks....went from a 6 now to an 30...then creating a 8 woot

[Thesidius]

if the hood just gets to hot MH should be enought...also are you keeping stock fans???

 

yea..i am upgrading tanks....went from a 6 now to an 30...then creating a 8 woot

 

So far I'm sticking with the stock fans, but I will upgrade if needed.

[gvidoni]

I'm also wondering how you plan on acclimating the corals to the massive increase in light given that the fixture will be at a fixed distance above the water surface. Do you have any plans to add in a screen of some kind or use shaded glass initially?

[Thesidius]

One thing you have to watch out for is that DE bulbs are not UV protected...there needs to be UV glass between them and you/corals or they will burn and be damaged. Usually the Halogen fixtures you bought have the same issue and come with glass to protect people.

 

Yea I bought a piece of glass to go between the bulb and the tank.

[Thesidius]

I'm also wondering how you plan on acclimating the corals to the massive increase in light given that the fixture will be at a fixed distance above the water surface. Do you have any plans to add in a screen of some kind or use shaded glass initially?

 

Havn't thought of that yet. I'm not even close to that part of the tank so I think I have time to ponder it. Does anybody have any suggestions. I like your screen or shade idea. I'll be looking into that.

 

Tomorrow is the last of the modding and the start of the fresh water test. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

[gvidoni]

Thanks again for posting all of these pics. Add me to the list of spectators taking notes with the hope of doing something similar on my end.

 

 

If you do end up going the screen route, an idea would be to get vinyl window screening from Home-Depot or Lowes. I think you can buy it off of a role for fixing screens. It's flexible, and non-metal of course which is essential given the exposure.

 

It might work to cut several pieces larger than the width of the tank and pull them tight before closing the lid, which would hold the screening in place. You could then incrementally increase the amount of light depending on how many layers of screening you have stretched between the lid and the water surface.

 

My only concern with this method is the possibility of the plastic screening contacting the glass and melting. I'm not sure how hot the glass will get, but if it is anywhere close to a Halogen I can almost promise it will melt right through and who knows what would happen if the fumes or burnt plastic made it into the water.

 

You'll be able to find out pretty quickly in testing.

[Thesidius]

Thanks again for posting all of these pics. Add me to the list of spectators taking notes with the hope of doing something similar on my end.

 

 

If you do end up going the screen route, an idea would be to get vinyl window screening from Home-Depot or Lowes. I think you can buy it off of a role for fixing screens. It's flexible, and non-metal of course which is essential given the exposure.

 

It might work to cut several pieces larger than the width of the tank and pull them tight before closing the lid, which would hold the screening in place. You could then incrementally increase the amount of light depending on how many layers of screening you have stretched between the lid and the water surface.

 

My only concern with this method is the possibility of the plastic screening contacting the glass and melting. I'm not sure how hot the glass will get, but if it is anywhere close to a Halogen I can almost promise it will melt right through and who knows what would happen if the fumes or burnt plastic made it into the water.

 

You'll be able to find out pretty quickly in testing.

 

Good idea gvidoni! I think that there is also a fiberglass screen that you can get and that would stand up to the heat. I just might have to try that.

[Ossifer352]

I am tagging along too, I am going to pick up my BC8 today, I found it for 50 bucks locally on Craigslist. Any ideas of what you want to stock this with once you get it set up??