DIY Deluxe Nano Cube @ 7 months

Thanks to MattGecko and Paladin for your tips on building the new hood.

It isn't a very clean design, but I'm happy with the results under the hood

For those of you who are interested, the lights go from 24w 10K in the back to a 32w Sunpaq dual actinic in the middle, to a 9w actinic 03 and a moonlight.

I'm not sure if I have all the wavelengths etc. in order, but I wanted to simulate progressively deeper water towards the front.

I have everything plugged into a coralife power center, which I think is total crap. ... But everything can't be perfect.

Nice looking tank.

I like it a lot

Thanks Mattgecko and Davidd, do you guys have any suggestions on aquasacaping, placement of equip etc.?

haha nice growth since you first started off. what live stocks do you keep in there?

-chester

Now that is a sweet looking tank. Makes me wonder what mine will look like in another 4 months!

beautiful. i like the blue at the front.

nice tank! give us some info on the livestock......

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! i hope mine looks like that someday once i get this project started;)! You and your style tank are the reason i'm starting up this hobby! How much did the whole lighting system cost if you don't mind adding?

hey man - looks really sweet - did you have to add any fans to your setup?

That is really cool, especially the zooz and shrooms, but what's that hairy-green stuff (top-right)? ANyway, way-to-go! It's really cool,I hope my hex can almost compare to yours eventually!

Your aquascaping looks killer, I wouldn't change a thing. My only recommendation would be to hide equipment behind the false wall.

nice tank! give us some info on the livestock......

Fish

There are 3 fish in there: 1 Perc Clown and 2 paired Gobies. The store said they are Rose Prawn Gobies, but maybe someone can check that ID?

Inverts

3 snails, 1 blue leg hermit and 1 skunk shrimp. Also 1 brittlestar that came with the LR.

Corals

1 blue mushroom, 1 red mushroom, 1 big hairy mushroom and 7 green mushrooms. Orange, purple and green zoos (or button polyps?). 1 BTA and 1 closed brain and 2 patches of GSP.

Most of the stuff is attached to 15 lbs of LR. If I could do it all over again, I would have only bought LR with cool stuff attached. In the beginning, it was just a big rock garden.

How much did the whole lighting system cost if you don't mind adding?

The lumber and cutting at Home Depot was around 20 bucks. Then I bought some wood screws and a hinge set.

I used the flattened nanocube reflector under the 24w and the 32w, and the CSL retrofit reflector under the 9w.

I'd say the whole thing cost under $100.00 with new bulbs and everything.

did you have to add any fans to your setup?

No fans, it gets to about 80 degrees. Palladin told me about a cooling trick that helps a lot: Place thin wooden rails beneath the lights (instead of mounting them directly onto the hood ceiling).

I put 2 beneath the flattened reflector... This brings the bulbs closer to the water AND helps circulate air.

***I did build a dual 60mm fan setup with a 12v converter if anyone is interested... I don't think I will use it, but it might come in handy for someone else.

Be sure and what those wooden rails as they can get very hot and over time dry out and perhaps even burn.

Steve

That is teh awesomeness. I think that I am going to try and build a hood for my tank some time this fall. I want a 150 mh in there for more light.

I'll take the fans! how much? thanks -Matt

I'll take a pic of the fans tonite, and you can tell me what you think it's worth.

Here are the fans, let me know if any of you guys want them.

Your tank is looking really good. I like the whole deepwater effect you have going on. Never really thought about doing that. Canopy looks good too (at least the internals). Looks like it's built so that when you get sick of PCs you can upgrade to MH

Looks like its time to add more actinic to my tank, that looks awesome.

Interesting light effect spasticat. When I build a new hood, it will have 10k 70 watt mh in it with actinic suppliment. Right now I am in the process of building an auto top off. After that, my mh project will be next with the new hood, and then refugium project. It's going to be crazy!

Edit: wait a minute, I think It will be easier to to the hood mod first.

I ditched the Hello Lights 13w ballast and 9w actinic bulb, because it was a glorified moon light and it got way too hot.

To replace it, I ordered a Sunpaq 32w retrofit from Innovative Lighting Solutions. The retrofit came with a quailty reflector, and makes a MUCH bigger difference than the 9w.

In this picture, you can see the new 32w bulb toward the front of the hood (right side of pic).

Now here are two comparison photos to show what the setup looks like with the lights off/on.

And for you beginners out there, notice how ugly that hood is! You don't have to be great with wood and screws to upgrade your lighting -just make sure it's not a fire hazard.

Before I added a stronger light to the front part of the hood, I didn't realize how heavy the lighting was in the back. Now I can really see some details in the front side of the tank. And more light means more in-focus pictures when the flash is off.

Here is an upright shot. Of course, with the new lights comes new aquascaping. That's because I get so excited with new lights. I get "aqua jazz hands" and I mess with it until it's a swirling mess of substrate and frightened fish.

Lastly, here is a breakdown of the different lighting setups that I have put into my wooden hood (which woud have been tough to swap around with the stock hood).

nice looking tank!

nalbar

I sold the Orange Zoo colony on ebay, and I kept a tiny 3 polyp frag (its the little orange bit, and notice the goby is still hanging around it). I used some polymer to attach the frag to rock (frustrating!) and did the same with my little blue zoo colony.

See if you can spot the hiding goby!

gotta love those red + maroon zoo's...