Modding the Nano Wave 9

[Socalsuperhero]

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?

 

Yup removed the ballasted from the hood. In hind sight it'd probably be a good idea to remove them anyways because of the amount of heat they generate.

 

As soon as the tank gets up to temp I'll start keeping an eye on temperatures and let you know how the lights affect it.

 

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?

 

 

I would say definitely enough room for a 70watt mh setup. Would have to figure out what to do about the splash guard though. Perhaps cutting out a section of the bottom and silicon in a piece of tempered glass.

 

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

 

 

That's a negative on a 4.24 setup. Even with serious rearranging I don't see it happening.

[SeeDemTails]

Awsome read....too bad I dont have one!

 

Keep up the great D-I-Y's!

[PseudanthiasVentralis]

Yup removed the ballasted from the hood. In hind sight it'd probably be a good idea to remove them anyways because of the amount of heat they generate.

 

 

 

Ok thanks.

 

Do you think there would be room to put in two nine watt pcs, without rewiring everythink and bending the reflector?

That would add alittle bit more light without taking the whole thing apart.

 

What tipes of coral do you plan to keep?

[Socalsuperhero]

Do you think there would be room to put in two nine watt pcs, without rewiring everythink and bending the reflector?

That would add alittle bit more light without taking the whole thing apart.

 

Dunno.

 

What tipes of coral do you plan to keep?

 

mostly zoos and sps

[echo-bravo 4-19]

looking good! how good is the protein skimmer ? if posible can u post a picture of the skimate your getting thx in advance

[Socalsuperhero]

looking good! how good is the protein skimmer ? if posible can u post a picture of the skimate your getting thx in advance

 

Sure. This is what it's skimmed overnight since adding my live rock.

 

[instrance]

That looks like a crappuccino.. LOL

[andre]

Nice mods! FTS?

[Socalsuperhero]

Nice mods! FTS?

 

Sure, but this is all you get for now...

 

[andre]

tease. lol.

 

I have a few questions regarding the hood of the nano wave:

 

1. Is it split into two parts?

2. If it is, does that part that is above the chambers (where the fuge light is attached), disconnect from the larger part of the hood?

 

The reason I ask is because I am thinking of getting this tank, but I want to go topless with an MH pendant. With the MH Pendant, I still want the fuge light part of the hood left on the tank. Is this possible? And if so how would the fuge light be turned on since the switches are on the larger part of the hood?

[Socalsuperhero]

tease. lol.

 

I have a few questions regarding the hood of the nano wave:

 

1. Is it split into two parts?

2. If it is, does that part that is above the chambers (where the fuge light is attached), disconnect from the larger part of the hood?

 

The reason I ask is because I am thinking of getting this tank, but I want to go topless with an MH pendant. With the MH Pendant, I still want the fuge light part of the hood left on the tank. Is this possible? And if so how would the fuge light be turned on since the switches are on the larger part of the hood?

 

Yeah, it's basically two separate opening hoods, each independent from the other. You could totally go topless while leaving the rear compartment hood on.

[christyf5]

Wow what an awesome post and so thorough about everything you've done. Thanks for the detailed posts. It almost makes me feel like I could do that (even though I'm electrically challenged )

[somoney]

With all that gear in the small footprint Im currious what your water temp hovers at after several hours on.....

[Socalsuperhero]

With all that gear in the small footprint Im currious what your water temp hovers at after several hours on.....

 

I've been watching my temps for the last couple of days. The ambient room temperature is 72-76, and with out the lights the tank runs at 78. At the end of the photo period the tank is 82. I'm going to try tweaking a few things over the next couple of weeks to try and solve a few problems.

 

1. reduce heat in the tank.

2. the pump that I'm using in the last chamber is pulling too much current through the sump for anything to be process effectively. This results in the water backing up progressively in all the chambers such that the water level in the skimmer chamber is too high and affects the skimmers performance.

3. the high flow also does not give adequate time for the micro-bubbles from the skimmer to dissipate, which means they get pumped back into the display.

[darkfishy2690]

Hey! I am thinking of getting a nanowave myself and I have a question.

I heard that when you fill the tank all the way up so you cant see the water line and you close the hood the CF's become submerged, is this true? One more is it true that there is not much flow through the back compartments and the front of the tank? Thanks!

[Kirin1]

Very nice work, I'll be watching your tank.

[sammy113]

Nice work with that Nano. I'm thinking about getting a JBJ Nano or something and do some mods or make my own tank design just like a nano cube with a canopy. I'm not sure if the filter will be like the nano... a Built-in Wet/dry or as a sump

[Socalsuperhero]

Hey! I am thinking of getting a nanowave myself and I have a question.

I heard that when you fill the tank all the way up so you cant see the water line and you close the hood the CF's become submerged, is this true? One more is it true that there is not much flow through the back compartments and the front of the tank? Thanks!

 

Yeah, it's true. If you fill the tank too full the splash guard is partially submerged. there's about 1/8" from the bottom of the trim to the bottom of the splash guard. It's also one of the reasons that I'm contemplating building a canopy for this.

[B16A2NR]

Can you post some dimensions or diagrams of the overflow box you made?

[darkfishy2690]

Is the skimmer really loud and does it give off micro bubbles into the tanka and back compartment? Do you know any way to stop it?

[Twiddledog]

With all that gear in the small footprint Im currious what your water temp hovers at after several hours on.....

 

I have a Nanowave currently setup. I am keeping it basically stock. My temps have not been too bad..I have not seen it go over 83 degrees and that is with the lights on for 12 hours.

The flow is really weak and I am wondering ig you have remedied your flow problems. I am thinking of upgrading the return pump to a Rio 250 gph but I am nervous that it will be pulling too much from the other compartments.

 

From am ealier post you wrote....

"the pump that I'm using in the last chamber is pulling too much current through the sump for anything to be process effectively. This results in the water backing up progressively in all the chambers such that the water level in the skimmer chamber is too high and affects the skimmers performance.

3. the high flow also does not give adequate time for the micro-bubbles from the skimmer to dissipate, which means they get pumped back into the display."

 

Have you done anything else with the flow to remedy the above?

 

 

 

 

Is the skimmer really loud and does it give off micro bubbles into the tanka and back compartment? Do you know any way to stop it?

 

The skimmer is loud. I do not have a problem with microbubbles though. The noise seems to be coming from the air intake for the skimmer. I have heard of people putting an airstone on it to quiet it down. I have a ceraminc one on and it worked a litle bit..Someone used a wooden airstone and that seemed to work.

[Socalsuperhero]

I have a Nanowave currently setup. I am keeping it basically stock. My temps have not been too bad..I have not seen it go over 83 degrees and that is with the lights on for 12 hours.

The flow is really weak and I am wondering ig you have remedied your flow problems. I am thinking of upgrading the return pump to a Rio 250 gph but I am nervous that it will be pulling too much from the other compartments.

 

From am ealier post you wrote....

"the pump that I'm using in the last chamber is pulling too much current through the sump for anything to be process effectively. This results in the water backing up progressively in all the chambers such that the water level in the skimmer chamber is too high and affects the skimmers performance.

3. the high flow also does not give adequate time for the micro-bubbles from the skimmer to dissipate, which means they get pumped back into the display."

 

Have you done anything else with the flow to remedy the above?

The skimmer is loud. I do not have a problem with microbubbles though. The noise seems to be coming from the air intake for the skimmer. I have heard of people putting an airstone on it to quiet it down. I have a ceraminc one on and it worked a litle bit..Someone used a wooden airstone and that seemed to work.

 

Yeah, I'm still working on getting this thing dailed in. I've started building a custom canopy for the tank, more on that later. I've also decided to cut the flow back to ~100gph in through the sump, as at 250 I had to remove the foam filter and replace it with more rubble because it couldn't keep up. I'm though about augmenting the flow with two microjets on a wave maker, but now i'm pretty much sold on a 350gph closed loop.

 

Now, here's the worse idea I've had to date...

 

I've toyed with the idea of pulling the rear compartments out of the tank, removing the plastic trim, drilling the tank, and using a 5 gallon in my cabinet below for a sump. Entirely defeats the purpose of the all-in-one, but at this point I'm willing to say that although aquamedic did some things right, the missed the mark on a few big ones:

 

1. no suface skimming

2. flow, or the lack there of and the inability to provide significantly more very easily.

3. The splashguard if more like an underwater light fixture as 90% of the time part of it is submerged in the tank when the water is above the trim.

4. No fans. I mean seriously, they should just bundle this tank with a dremel or a coupon for a chiller.

[Twiddledog]

Yeah, I'm still working on getting this thing dailed in. I've started building a custom canopy for the tank, more on that later. I've also decided to cut the flow back to ~100gph in through the sump, as at 250 I had to remove the foam filter and replace it with more rubble because it couldn't keep up. I'm though about augmenting the flow with two microjets on a wave maker, but now i'm pretty much sold on a 350gph closed loop.

 

Now, here's the worse idea I've had to date...

 

I've toyed with the idea of pulling the rear compartments out of the tank, removing the plastic trim, drilling the tank, and using a 5 gallon in my cabinet below for a sump. Entirely defeats the purpose of the all-in-one, but at this point I'm willing to say that although aquamedic did some things right, the missed the mark on a few big ones:

 

1. no suface skimming

2. flow, or the lack there of and the inability to provide significantly more very easily.

3. The splashguard if more like an underwater light fixture as 90% of the time part of it is submerged in the tank when the water is above the trim.

4. No fans. I mean seriously, they should just bundle this tank with a dremel or a coupon for a chiller.

I removed the foam and replaced it with a thin Fluval polyester pad which helped a little with the flow. I don't think you need that big peice of foam. I have sand, rock rubble and cheato in the fuge.

So you think upgrading my pump to Rio Hyperflow - 4HF - 260 gph or an Aquarium Systems Mini-Jet at 153 gph. I might just put a small pump behind the aquascape as well.

[Obsessed Reefer]

Very nice. But with the rate that skimmer is going, You might want to drill a small hole close to the top, and run air line tubing down to a bucket, in case you go away for a long weekend, dont want it overflowing.

[Socalsuperhero]

Very nice. But with the rate that skimmer is going, You might want to drill a small hole close to the top, and run air line tubing down to a bucket, in case you go away for a long weekend, don't want it overflowing.

 

Definately! I just haven't gotten around to this yet. The tanks only curing live rock right now until I finally get it setup in a for that I'm happy with.

 

In the mean time guess what I've been working on? It's a new hood! It actually sits on the top/inside lip of the tank, which means that to install it I'm going to have to do some cutting on the tank around the fuge area. It'll have 4 80mm fans, one pair pushing, the other pulling, and a 70watt 14k metal halide.

 

So that's it for now, enjoy!