Nanoty's Nanocube DX (Updated, MH retro)

[nanoty]

yeah i think he took the stock ballast out and just used the housing though. this was my idea that i'm using too and i didnt see a problem with it.

 

Yeah the Nais ballast fits perfectly into the ballast housing. I really hope I can go without a chiller because I am so tapped right now it's not funny. If I need to run the fans full blast I will but I will probably move the tank out of the living room. I just got a new Fluval FX5 for my 120g oscar tank and now that it's quiet I can hear every noise the nanocube makes. Everything is postponed until my fans show up.

[Mark S]

Dont you have to have a heat shield between the light and the hood? I would think the MH would melt the plastic above it?

[nanoty]

Dont you have to have a heat shield between the light and the hood? I would think the MH would melt the plastic above it?

 

No heat shield, but the reflector is between the bulb and the plastic and that should keep the heat from melting it. The pic without the reflector was just for a quick test of the ballast wiring I did.

[nanoty]

Got my fans in this week and bought a VVA at walmart to run them. The first fan configuration I am going to try is just a simple 2 in and 2 out. The original location is blowing air out of the canopy (with new fans) and the front 2 fans, which move more air are sucking air in. I am trying to get some air moving past the bulb and across the water. If that doesn't work I have a few other ideas but we will see. Here are some pics.

 

Fans installed wired to VVA. (Don't make fun of my electrical work )

 

Light socket wired up.

 

Everything put together. I forgot to get a shot with the splash guard on but if I have to take it apart again I will get one.

 

That's it for now. I fired it up about 20 minutes ago and the tank was a 78.1 deg. We'll see if I can keep temps below 81-82, I'm really not counting on it.

[nanoty]

Been 3 hours and temps. are bumping 82 deg. The fans are only running on 6v to reduce noise but I may try bumping them to 12v.

 

BTW, I moved my output nozzle to increase surface aggitation and the shimmer sure looks sweet.

[nanoty]

Update:

 

After 7.5 hours the temps finally hit 85.5 deg. I increased the voltage to the fans but did not get to 12v simply because of the noise. When the unit cools off I will try and change the fans around. I am also considering cutting the back out of the top so the entire rear of the hood is open. Then maybe adding a blower fan to remove more air. I really don't want to add a chiller but if I do I think I am going to try the ICA chiller that mounts in the hood because I do not have room for a larger chiller to sit outside the tank. I really hope I can get this going because I'm really tired of looking at plain LR. Anyone have any questions, suggestions or comments on this setup?

[masterbuilder]

I love nanotuners/nanocustoms, they solved all of these problems for us. Even at the price they ask, I bet (I know) its not anymore money in the end. Thank god for you guys though...without you trying this stuff we would all still be looking at 180 gallon tanks with undergraver filters and dead fish.

[nanoty]

I love nanotuners/nanocustoms, they solved all of these problems for us. Even at the price they ask, I bet (I know) its not anymore money in the end. Thank god for you guys though...without you trying this stuff we would all still be looking at 180 gallon tanks with undergraver filters and dead fish.

 

I agree that nanotuners rocks, they have helped my a ton. However, to date I have a whopping $75 so far in my MH retro including fans, bulb, ballast, wire, blah, blah, etc. Even if I add the chiller that's only another $80 or so. Not much less than the $350 for the MH upgrade at nanotuners but when your as broke as I am you do what you have to. Trust me, if I had the money I would have ordered the 1.70 nanotuners kit a long time ago. I think I can beat this heat problem without a chiller if I try a few more things. I just wanted to add to the ideas so that if someone else wants to try they can learn from my experience.

[Qwank]

first, you got to get those wires routed to the edges of the hood, not so close to the middle so they dont melt.

second, have the rear fans, blowing IN at 9v. also make sure the ones blowing IN have more CFM. i think the ones you have in the front will move more air. (those are the ones i bought).

have the ones in the front (on the side of the reflector) blowing OUT at 7.5v. try that and see how it works. i think you will get more airacross the surface of the reflector this way. HTH

[nanoty]

first, you got to get those wires routed to the edges of the hood, not so close to the middle so they dont melt.

second, have the rear fans, blowing IN at 9v. also make sure the ones blowing IN have more CFM. i think the ones you have in the front will move more air. (those are the ones i bought).

have the ones in the front (on the side of the reflector) blowing OUT at 7.5v. try that and see how it works. i think you will get more airacross the surface of the reflector this way. HTH

 

Yeah I need to pretty up the wiring to streamline airflow a little but I was suprised at how cool it actually was in the hood. I couldn't really find any heat radiating from the top when I placed my hand on it. I can't find any longer screws to move the better fans to the back, plus the fans are so thick they almost touch the splashguard, I was afraid it wouldn't move as much air. I am going to do some wiring changes and see what I can come up with. I have all 4 fans running on one VVA but I will probably get another one. Still working on it but damn that light looked good in the tank.

[BSimm]

Hey Nanoty:

 

I'm working on a similar heat issue... a 150MH plus 36 PC in a 24 NC.

 

I had a few different fan configurations before I tried this one, and it seems to work best. I actually got this idea from Nick at Nanocustoms....

 

I've got my rear fans SUCKING IN... set at 9 V.

 

Then I have my Right Front Fan Blowing out the vent. And the front left is actually mounted to blow air ACROSS the MH housing. So,, the left fan is mounted on the hood, not actually pointed at the vent but perpendicular to the splash guard, and blows left to right. The front fans are set at 9v also. Does that make sense??? I'll try to post some pictures.

 

 

So, in sum, 2 fans sucking in, 1 fan blowing across the bulb from left to right... and the last fan blowing out the front right Vent... getting nice movement and this has kept my temp flux within about 2.5 degrees.

 

I still have a blower and more fans coming in the mail, which I will probably add and see what happens.

 

Let me know you temp fluxes when you run yours next.

 

BSimm

[nanoty]

Hey Nanoty:

 

I'm working on a similar heat issue... a 150MH plus 36 PC in a 24 NC.

 

I had a few different fan configurations before I tried this one, and it seems to work best. I actually got this idea from Nick at Nanocustoms....

 

I've got my rear fans SUCKING IN... set at 9 V.

 

Then I have my Right Front Fan Blowing out the vent. And the front left is actually mounted to blow air ACROSS the MH housing. So,, the left fan is mounted on the hood, not actually pointed at the vent but perpendicular to the splash guard, and blows left to right. The front fans are set at 9v also. Does that make sense??? I'll try to post some pictures.

So, in sum, 2 fans sucking in, 1 fan blowing across the bulb from left to right... and the last fan blowing out the front right Vent... getting nice movement and this has kept my temp flux within about 2.5 degrees.

 

I still have a blower and more fans coming in the mail, which I will probably add and see what happens.

 

Let me know you temp fluxes when you run yours next.

 

BSimm

 

That sounds like a pretty good idea. I actually just set mine up again wth the rear two fans sucking air in, then I put 2 blower fans pushing air out the front. It is moving a ton of air through the hood so we will see what happens. If it does not work I will turn one of the blower fans around to where it will suck cool air in from the vent and blow it across the bulb like yours. I could definately live with 2.5 deg of fluctuation, hell that's less than the stock 48w lights had.

[Qwank]

i agree. like i said earlier you need more air blowing IN. it will always find a way out. i think the way you had it set up before the air was blowing in from the sides and going right out the back without moving across the reflector. if you wanted one fan to blow sideways you could use your extra scroll fan for that. ultimatly, the biggest issue is you have no air movement across the water surface. i dont see why you couldnt mount the scroll fan on the side on the hood if you have no clearence in the back, if you dont mind the way it looks.

[nanoty]

i agree. like i said earlier you need more air blowing IN. it will always find a way out. i think the way you had it set up before the air was blowing in from the sides and going right out the back without moving across the reflector. if you wanted one fan to blow sideways you could use your extra scroll fan for that. ultimatly, the biggest issue is you have no air movement across the water surface. i dont see why you couldnt mount the scroll fan on the side on the hood if you have no clearence in the back, if you dont mind the way it looks.

 

The obstacle I see with trying to blow air across the water is the fact that the splashguard hangs so far down into the tank. I can't see where you could mount a fan that it would physically blow air across the tank top. I don't mind some evap because I plan on adding a DIY ATO but getting it to do so is a different story. I might try and mount one blower fan on the side because it butts up to my entertainment center on one side and I don't think it would be noticeable. So far at about 45 minutes with my current configuration it's climbed from 78.5-78.9 degrees.

[Qwank]

my splashgaurd is 1/2" from the water surface. thats plenty of room for air to flow.

oh crap i just noticed you cant mount it on the sides, i see what you mean. nevermind

[nanoty]

my splashgaurd is 1/2" from the water surface. thats plenty of room for air to flow.

oh crap i just noticed you cant mount it on the sides, i see what you mean. nevermind

 

I don't know. I might cut a rectangle out of the rear of the hood larger than the fan output then cut a hole in it and epoxy the fan in. Then mount it back where I cut the plastic out on a hinge that will allow the fan to flip up when I need to raise the hood all the way. Sounds like a lot of work but I don't think it will be bad.

[BSimm]

I don't know. I might cut a rectangle out of the rear of the hood larger than the fan output then cut a hole in it and epoxy the fan in. Then mount it back where I cut the plastic out on a hinge that will allow the fan to flip up when I need to raise the hood all the way. Sounds like a lot of work but I don't think it will be bad.

 

 

Check out this thread.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...3382&st=176

 

I'll be adding the blower fan on back soon... I think this is really the only way to help out the temps we are dealing with, without going to a chiller. Everyone who has tried this mod says that Water Evap is "KEY" to making it all work.

 

BSimm

[nanoty]

Check out this thread.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...3382&st=176

 

I'll be adding the blower fan on back soon... I think this is really the only way to help out the temps we are dealing with, without going to a chiller. Everyone who has tried this mod says that Water Evap is "KEY" to making it all work.

 

BSimm

 

Yeah I was actually the last one to post there asking a few questions. My temps are still steadily increasing so I may be adding a scroll fan to the back tonight.

[Qwank]

Yeah I was actually the last one to post there asking a few questions. My temps are still steadily increasing so I may be adding a scroll fan to the back tonight.

 

 

 

what are the temps at now?

[nanoty]

what are the temps at now?

 

5 hours of lights and the tank is at 84.1 degrees. I might try turning one of the scroll fans to blow on the bulb tomorrow. I want to exhaust all possibilities before cutting the hood up. I think it is futile though.

[Qwank]

the only thing wit blowing air across the bulb is that the bulbs are desinged to run hot. so it will be less efficiant if its cool. so you have to keep the bulb hot but cool everything else.

[nanoty]

the only thing wit blowing air across the bulb is that the bulbs are desinged to run hot. so it will be less efficiant if its cool. so you have to keep the bulb hot but cool everything else.

 

I was actually thiking about that. I am considering mounting a scroll fan under the feeding door if if I can figure out a way to make it waterproofish.

[Qwank]

sent you a pm about mounting the fan. i think it will work for you.

[nanoty]

Well final temp for the cube was almost 85 degrees after 6 hours and didn't show any signs of leveling off. It seems that without any evaporative cooling the only other choice is a chiller. So that being said, I am going to try and set up some sort of evap cooling tomorrow. I think I may try and set up a blower fan in the feeding door to blow air across the water. Anyone that has suggestions or comments please post up.

[BSimm]

Well final temp for the cube was almost 85 degrees after 6 hours and didn't show any signs of leveling off. It seems that without any evaporative cooling the only other choice is a chiller. So that being said, I am going to try and set up some sort of evap cooling tomorrow. I think I may try and set up a blower fan in the feeding door to blow air across the water. Anyone that has suggestions or comments please post up.

 

 

 

I'm bummed you can't get your temps down. Have you tried the fan config I was talking about yesterday??? 2 in, one across and 1 out? Give that a shot. It's a quick set up.. I actually just taped taped the fan to the hood (the one that blows across), just so I didn't have to make it permanent yet. I plan to epoxy it in now.

 

My only thought on the blower.. many are mounting them at the back and pushing air across the body of water. That seems to prove quite effient. I belive the blower is designed to push air further, but not necessarily all that much air (you'll have to check the CFM on that). My thought is, if you are going to put something in your feeding lid, just go with a 40mm or 60mm fan or two up there... far more air moving capacity than a blower... and it will blow air straight down at the water.

 

I may be doing both of these soon, so I'm going to start with the blower mounted in the back per the Artamon thread, then if that does not do it, then I'll add a fan or two in the feeding lid. But I know in the end, I may need a Chiller

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

BSimm