Nano DX w/ 82w ... Testing..

Hi guys

Thanks to all of you who have been supportive of my Nano Cube lighting upgrade kits..

I am in the final stages of securing relationships with JBJ, and other manufacturers in order to produce full bolt on lighting upgrade kits for the JBJ nanocube and nanocube DX..

Today I upgraded the "monster" by adding an additional 10w of T5 lighting. T5 lighting gives out a bit more lumens per watt than CFs, so im impressed by the addition..

FYI.. I have also been successful with a 60 and now 70!!! w upgrade for the nano cube with the potential for a full 82 on that as well... some other promising upgrades are: 1. full T5 retrofit to 70w 2. full T5 retro to 130w (extensive internal mods required on the DX).

I will be monitoring for heat conditions and as always will keep the board posted...

Here is a pic of the 82w DX...

ccjung

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nanocube DX 12g

82 W Upgrade Kit

2 - 24w 50/50

1 - 24w Actinic 03

1 - 10w T5 Daylight

1 - Coralife .75w Moonlight

Nanocube 12g

1- 24w 50/50

1- 18w Actinic

1- 18w Daylight

1- 3 led Moonlight

Looking at the setup, I think i got room for 1 more... girlfriend says.. why???

We know why...

I also think that some 32w or 28s could be shimmied in if we get rid of the stock endcaps...

I think we could get as much as 116w in that hood without modifying the canopy with 32w bulbs.

thats so insane but cool keep us posted

Very nice,

Can I ask you a question being you seem to be the nano light guru. I am looking to upgrade to 2 32 watt lamps....would they fit in the stock hood?

I dont have any personal experience with the 32w CSL (custom sea life) but i have heard that they do fit. The real issue is that they are slightly longer, and with the square pin, fittment issues become a factor.

Most people who have 88w NanoCubes have used the 32w CSLs successfully. I also heard that the 28w fits as well.

For me, I am sticking to the standard 24w bulbs and ballasts because I get my products directly from JBJ or Commodity Axis as I am a vendor for them..

Good Luck..

Chris

Awesome mod, I have a 96 watt mod in my stock old Nano Cube, which I believe at the time I was the first one to do this here and at reef central to do, but not trying to brag on that, cause I basically just added one more 32watt CSL from someone else's cool idea of modifying with 64 watts, oh well. I have to say this, this mod is very clean, but so was mine in the beginging, but after awhile even with sunon fans my plastic melted, how is the new plastic hood? Is it sturdy enough to hold this extra wattage? I am awaiting my custom Nano Cube hood, and will be adding a 175 MH to it. I still think no matter how good you get with pc mods, MH is stil the way to go. Your mod is classy, and good luck with it, it seems very wll planned out. Keep us posted with stocking photos. take care.

Thanks for the kind words.. My intent is not to get into an "arms race", but to provide the less daunting enthusiasts with an easy to do mod that minimizes the amount of work put into the nano..

Your 96W CSL mod is awesome. With 2 more T5s I bet you can get into the 116 range or so heat problems permitting..

I plan on doing some of the more intense mods to my own cube.. Hehe..

But to answer your questions, the ldifference in the level of workmanship from the first cube to the DX is remarkable. There are baffles put in to prevent light/evap losses, thicker ABS plastic, a grey matte colored appearance, and the remote ballast they include is pretty nicely done.. Most parts that CAN break are screw on (ala our front covers on the original). The hinging system for the hood is different (they can be removed), the ducting for the cooling fans are covered so that the fans suck cool air in at the vents near the lights, and exhaust out. I have had to drill a large hole in one fan to get some evaporative cooling, but thats most likely from more energy due to the added lights.

The DX hood is well put together, they did a nice job with it, (if only their marketing people would realize that a quiet, hot nanocube is worthless to aquarists).. I ended up adding 2 more 60mm fans to the hood (ac adapter powered). and moved the stock fans, one above the heat shield, and one in the front near the lid (in order to blow hot air out of the convection layer between water and lights). IMHO The fans are too weak (at least in my case), I have been to other LFS and their DXs are running cool, so my luck I guess.

I have been consulting with JBJ about my plans to "create" (for lack of a better word) an aftermarket specific to their product. Even they agree that there are 2 types of nano cubers. The ones who want to set up and casually keep fish, and the enthusiasts..

The enthusiasts want more power, but the extra light and cooling is unacceptable to the casual user. So we cut/bang/slash our cubes.

Too bad for us... But luckily there is nano-reef.com and other sites that keep us DIY'rs happy.

One question Ditch.. did you use the heat shield when your plastic melted on the original cube?

I agree not at arms race whatsoever, I wanted to just share my mod with you too, as I thought yours was pretty well done. I never got the chance with any type of heat shield, as the plastic melted over a long period of time. Actually what it did was thin out and crack, ruining one bulb, I had to buy a replacement which I am saving for my new hood comming this week. I wanted to put a nice Lexan clear cover over the bulbs but that never panned out, and so now I have a new hood comming soon..woohoo. Morever, it seems the new Nano Cube DX'S are much better built then the first generation, so chances are I will be buying a DX and transferring all my corals to a new tank, with my new hood and MH lights. That will take some time as money si tight, but your mod is very cool, and looks cost effective. Shame my mod didn;t go so well with the heat it generated. Oh well live and learn, one bulb, two rose anenmones, and a chromis. Well the Chromis wasn't my fault who told himt o swim into the intake on my powerhead...lol

Oh, no.. My comment was not directed at you.. I was referring to the fact taht I know there are many nanos out there with more "balls".. hehe.. Its analogous to that saying "there is always a bigger fish"...

Too bad about your hood, wrt to the DX, yes its of a higher quality, but the aquarium (save the matte gray cover) is only negligibly different (if you do the overflow mod, there really is no difference). They removed the bottom intake and moved the top one higher, although i dont think it really does anything else for the surface. But almost identical.. I think if you are going to get a new hood you might be better invested by sticking with your original cubes aquarium.. As americans we LOVE buying new stuff, so more power to you if you go that route, I also think you might be able to sell the hood to the DX should you buy it, or use it with your "original" as an extra frag/hospital tank, which is the fate of my old nano right now...

On another note, I was at JBJs HQ today.. I saw about 500 DXs in their glory... Good luck, and I'm sure we'll be bouncin ideas off each other in the future..

ccjung

ps.. wrt to previous posts (tang...) I dont hold any grudges and I am glad that you dont. There is one common bond we all share here, and that is the love of the hobby... Cheers!!