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mad moded cube master 12 dx


bonsai reefer

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bonsai reefer

Next order of buisness was to get some light in to this unit . Off I went in search for a 70 watt mh that I could incorperate in to the hood and still be able to keep at least 1 of the t 5's for actinic. I found the perfect 70 watt mh for this hood at one of the sponsors stores" aqua buys " props to sam for hooking me up with free shipping since i'm only a state away thanks again sam!!! ok it arrived and I was impressed with the amount of equiptment it came with so off I went . I took the reflector and marked where the light would fit and was still able to retain 2 of the t-5's and out cane the dremel reflector was done.Next I took the glass that came with the kit and placed it where it would be over the light marked and dremel time ( man these dremels are a nano reefers best friend for modding).Cut and installed the glass with silacone. I also had to relocate the moon light farther back in the reflector ( where it used to bolt up ).(This is important if you plan to do the same mod) Before I mounted the light on to thr reflector I got some double sided automotive emblem tape and put it on the back side of the mh reflector and on the ceramic lamp holders to keep heat from warping the hood.(automotive adhesive tape will withstand high temps and also acts as a heat insulator). Mounted the light and test fitted everything . It fit perfect :D see pics for details . Comments????????

 

 

 

 

 

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I dont see any pics.

 

 

I got a cube master for xmas and havent figured out what to do with it yet, and I still have an AP12 to set up..

 

How much was the light mod?

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bonsai reefer
I dont see any pics.

I got a cube master for xmas and havent figured out what to do with it yet, and I still have an AP12 to set up..

 

How much was the light mod?

 

 

The light mod was 139 from aqua buys one of the sponsors here are

 

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bonsai reefer

Did the mj900 mod on this tank and had to come up with some custom stuff.!st i took the 90 from the top of the return and hot glued it to the out put of the mj.

 

Next i had to find another 90 to put back in to the return so i went on what seemed on an endless search to find somthing that cannot be found so i went with the next best thing to lowes it is a 3/8 in barbed 90 with threads in the other side(in comes the dremel) had to dremel off the threads till it fit in the return :)

 

ok got the jbj y adaptor and cut the stock flow diverter and hot glued it to the jbj unit .

 

got a piece of 1/2 od 3/8 id and cut to length assembeled and on to the next mod :D

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bonsai reefer

Ok finnaly sourced fans they are vantec thermal flo.These flow from 9.9 to i think 22 cfm depending on temp.I mounted them so air will enter in from the fans and push air out the top slits in the hood i dremeled out ( heat rises).Put one on each side and installed on to tank .

 

Wired up the mh and screwed it to a pice of wood that i painted black and mounted it to the back of the tank via industrial strength velcrow .I figured wood being an insulator and the gap between the velcro and the tank no heat would leach back to the tank. made a real cheap refugeium light diy with a coral life 13 watt 6500k power compact a few pieces of wood laying around. Used a temp light pigtail from lowes and some foil tape used for hvac duct painted it black and used velcro to mount it to the back.Ooh and cut the back of the tank vynal so light will shine through . also from the lfs purchased a dig theromometer. Finnaly it is time for a trial run so i put some water from the tap in and fired it up. The ambient temp in the house is 70 F and i tried to get the tank water as cllose as i could 71.0f.All systems go :D This wa at 6:30 this eve it is now 7:30 and temp is already at 71.1f :huh:

 

 

Comments? criticisms?

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Thats cool, I like it, i had a cube masters and their are probably the WORST all in one tanks in my opinion, i went through two hoods and finally junked and got a ap24hqi, watch the heat issues with that tank too

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bonsai reefer

right on i figured i was going to mod the crap out of it so all i wanted was the shell nothing on this tank is the same except the 2 t5's in the hood.I think i am going to need to add a chiller . Mabye a cool works ice probe? :D

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oh yours came with the t5s? thats cool, i thought you added those in too, mine had pc which sucked, both the hoods i have have a good balast in it, so maybe ill switch em out add some fans and make it a qt tank, its just sitting in my basement right now

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bonsai reefer

cant hurt I have the 07 model and i am in the process of a 75 gallon that will eventually be where the coral goes when it out grows this tank then this one will end up being a qt and mabye a mini frag farm :D

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I wish I had sunglasses - that's alot of light.

 

Worried the heat from the MH will melt any of the plastic? Wasn't quite sure how you were shielding for that.

 

Happening box - make it live!!!!

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Where did you get your fans, and did you just rip out the cube master reflector to move back the moonlights. Mine is glued and I can barely work under the reflector cause I'm scared it'll crack off.

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bonsai reefer
I wish I had sunglasses - that's alot of light.

 

Worried the heat from the MH will melt any of the plastic? Wasn't quite sure how you were shielding for that.

 

Happening box - make it live!!!!

 

I intalled 2 fans in the rear on each side and cut out where the mh is and silaconed the glass supplied with the kit in place so far no warpage on the hood or cover i turned it on at lunch and will see what happens when i get home :huh: Check out the pics i posted they may shed some light on how it was done .I have some other pics i can post this eve also :D

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bonsai reefer
Where did you get your fans, and did you just rip out the cube master reflector to move back the moonlights. Mine is glued and I can barely work under the reflector cause I'm scared it'll crack off.

 

 

I got my fans from newegg.com they were 6.25 for 2 and with shipping came to 20. you will also need to get a 120 to 12v ac adaptor from somewhere i got mine from wall mart for 12 bucks.As for my reflector it was screwed on under where the the t5's mount. As for my moon lights mine were bolted in place if you break them you can always get new ones for cheap :D

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bonsai reefer
nice mods cant wait to see this bad boy in action

Thanks :D Update since 1:00 this afternoon the tank red 76 when i switched the mh on it is now 7:00 and the temp reads 82.3 the ambient temp in the house is 70 that is a 12.3 degree gain in 7hours if i'm thinking correctly in the summer the house is 75 to 80 that would mean the tank could potentally get between 87.3-92 degreese :o I think i am going to put a chiller on before i stock this :mellow: any comments on this???

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i think the fish/corals will be needing sunglasses as well. that thing is a bright as the sun! you'll probably be seeing spots as well just looking at your tank.

 

good luck with that. hope you can resolve the heat issues.

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bonsai reefer
i think the fish/corals will be needing sunglasses as well. that thing is a bright as the sun! you'll probably be seeing spots as well just looking at your tank.

 

good luck with that. hope you can resolve the heat issues.

 

thanks I think I am going with the coolworks ice probe with the thermostat . The watts per gallon are 7.1 :D muhaaaa plenty of light for anything i want :lol: My masterplan is comming along nicely anyone have experience with ice probe?

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bonsai reefer
thanks I think I am going with the coolworks ice probe with the thermostat . The watts per gallon are 7.1 :D muhaaaa plenty of light for anything i want :lol: My masterplan is comming along nicely anyone have experience with ice probe?

 

 

damnit just took another reading i'm up to 84.2 :o:angry: Is there a chiller out there that can handle this much fluxuation??? can the ice probe help or do I need somthing stronger???? :huh:

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just turn your heater up. i have my heater set to about 81. that way the tank will not fluxuate too much. as it gets close to summer im going to slowly adjust my heater to about 83-84

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bonsai reefer
just turn your heater up. i have my heater set to about 81. that way the tank will not fluxuate too much. as it gets close to summer im going to slowly adjust my heater to about 83-84

 

ok mabye i'm freaking out for nothing what is a safe temp range for a nano reef ???

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Nice Work!

 

Wow that heat is going to be a problem. I thought I read somewhere ... one ice probe will reduce 4-5 degrees and two will reduce 7-9. Looks like you might need two.

 

Buy the way there are plenty of threads on DIY chillers similar to the ice probe that are built using the small travel fridge/cooler

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ive had my tank go up to 86 during the summer. at the time i had a firefish and a clown. the clown got ick because of the fluxuation but the firefish remained okay. during most summer days my tank dropped to 75 at night and 86 during the day. This fluxuation most likely killed my clownfish. But this summer im going to slowly increase the heater temp so avoid the fluxuation. just adjust your heater accordingly.

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bonsai reefer
Nice Work!

 

Wow that heat is going to be a problem. I thought I read somewhere ... one ice probe will reduce 4-5 degrees and two will reduce 7-9. Looks like you might need two.

 

Buy the way there are plenty of threads on DIY chillers similar to the ice probe that are built using the small travel fridge/cooler

 

COOL I will have to chek it out if it will be about the same as ice probe might as well what temp do you keep your tank???

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How did ya get that fat MaxiJet 900 to fit in there? I let mine lay diagonally at the bottom but it makes a horrible rattling noise. I know you used the elbow that came with the cube but how did you attach it to the tank?

 

As for me, I have the MJ900 on a Hydor Flo and a MiniJet 606 in chamber 3.

384192675_f7eae73b1a.jpg

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bonsai reefer
How did ya get that fat MaxiJet 900 to fit in there? I let mine lay diagonally at the bottom but it makes a horrible rattling noise. I know you used the elbow that came with the cube but how did you attach it to the tank?

 

As for me, I have the MJ900 on a Hydor Flo and a MiniJet 606 in chamber 3.

384192675_f7eae73b1a.jpg

 

 

 

I put the short pipe on the bottom and their is a small square that will slide in to the back that will hold 1 suction cup and sucked to the side of the tank :) It makes no noise and works like a dream :D just ordered a ice probe last night and went to lfs today at lunch and got 40lb of live sand so more updates to come .If you need pics I can post some of the mj mod mounting.

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