herrplatt Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Hi, I'm new here and new to nano reef keeping. I've done reefs before, quite a while back, but have been out of the hobby for about 10 years. I have a NanoCube, which according to many discussions here, doesn't seem to be highly favored. Anyways, I know the stock lights are adequate for low-light inverts, but how about doing an upgrade? Does anyone have pictures they can share of light upgrades they have done? I've considered adding a 13w 50/50 pc to the unit. Any suggestions. This is one of a few upgrades I am going to do. Another one is to add a surface skimmer. -David Link to comment
nano cool Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Hey herrplatt. I just retrofit an additional 32W of 50/50 light to my nano cube (CSL 32W Smartlite). I followed the approach outlined by sukeband; the thread is at: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...light=nano+cube Anyways, it works well enough and brings the lighting up to a respectable 60W. In hind sight, I would've been better off using my old 10g tank instead, since it is definitely easier to retrofit lights as well as filtration, refugium, skimmer etc. Ah well. I still like the look of the JBJ nano cube. Have fun retrofitting! PS: I found out that you can also fit an additional 13W PC fixture into the lid, bringing the total to 73W of lighting. Link to comment
AbSoluTc Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 I don't know much about the innerds of the jbj hood, but if you are good and crafty, you can retro a 70w halide on there without much trouble. Would be intresting to see someone do this, thats for sure. Link to comment
nanocat Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 Wouldn't it melt the hood? Link to comment
nano cool Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 The hood gets warm, but definitely tolerable to the touch. I've had the retrofit lighting for 2 days now (12-14 h/day), and there have not been any problems whatsoever. Also, my aquarium water has remained constant at 25 deg celsius. Link to comment
herrplatt Posted January 15, 2004 Author Share Posted January 15, 2004 I'd be interested to see pictures of nanocubes with a 70w MH. I have one of the cubes that doesn't have a detachable hood (it's glued in there pretty good.) So, any upgrades will be a little tough. A MH generates quite a bit of heat, and in that hood with the plastic lid and plastic light cover, wouldn't the plastic get damaged? Link to comment
m3driver Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 nano cool what a great lighting set up!!! thank you for your picture, I am thinking to do a 2*32CSL upgrade, and saw your post thank you,, any things that I need to pay attention or any tips to install it? Link to comment
AbSoluTc Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 If somone sends me a JBJ nano cube Ill retro a 70w in it without problems or heat issues. It would be pretty easy to do and wouldn't take but maybe a few hours. However, the tank would look nice with it, thats for sure. Link to comment
m3driver Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 retro a 70w halide!?@!?? and 0.5 inch over the water right? that's cool hahahhaha Link to comment
nano cool Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 Hey m3driver. Glad that you're interested in retrofitting your nano cube hood. I've got to thank sukeband for posting his JBJ retrofit which got me inspired. Anyways, you definitely won't be disappointed with the results. I would keep the existing 28W JBJ stock lighting, and add the 32W CSL... that way you're saving $$$. The only disadvantage is that you have to hang the JBJ ballast outside the back of the tank (since the wiring between the ballast and cap is quite short). I suppose you could splice some additional wiring to place the ballast farther away. Following sukeband's post (http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...light=nano+cube): 1- I was also unable to remove the JBJ lid, so I left the lid attached to the aquarium while doing the retrofit. Place a piece of plywood over the aquarium so that screws etc. don't fall into the water. 2- Be sure to bend out the JBJ stock reflector flat. You can screw the reflector back into the cover with two screws. 3- Don't bother trying to attach the metal clips (which hold the light bulbs in place). Rather, wrap some wire around the reflector and bulbs to hold them in place... it works really well and is easy to do. Good luck! Link to comment
dreko Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 Yep, just dropped in a CSL 32w upgrade and kept the orignal 26w, what an improvement... as for the hood... what a pain. I used a file to 'sand' down areas of the hinge, now it pops off much better After doing this of course, I'm now wishing I could also drop in a 70w or possibly a 50w MH. The small thin bulbs... HDI or something like that... did a search on the net, there are 50w ballasts out there, but I think a 70w-75w is the way to go... I hope someone figures out a good way of cooling it all down... I'm afraid I'm gonna melt the ABS plastic Dre Link to comment
nano cool Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 Well, I've had the 73W of PC lighting in my nano cube hood now for about 2 weeks (no fans present). There's been no warping of the hood whatsoever so far. Also, the water has stayed at 25 deg... mind you, it is winter in Canada right now. It would be great if it was possible to place so MH lighting under the hood, but this would likely be very difficult to accomplish due to the excessive heat production. I've found that the lighting is quite intense: when I tried placing my finger leather higher up in the tank, the polyps would not appear and open until I placed it near the bottom of the tank. I never would've thought that it'd be possible to produce too strong of lighting with just PC fixtures alone. Link to comment
nanocat Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 I was referring to the potential MH retrofit as possibly melting the plastic hood. I know the PC retrofits work fine I can't imagine what the evap would be like with MH that close, even if the hood didn't melt. Link to comment
dreko Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 Yeah I agree... I just saw "jorgeinmiami's" post in the general forum, he dropped a 75w HQI in his tank. Not a NanoCube, but still it looks good... I should ask him about heat issues... I think one could put in enough small computer fans to keep the lights cool and the plastic, however I do think the bulb will be too close to the surface of the water.... I'd cut out new fan outlets on top of this area, and drop in maybe (4) 1" or 1.5" fans. Plus I'd use the (2) 60x60 spaces in the back. If you check there are even ventilation areas on the left and right sides of the lighting area... This could be used too... The plastic cover would definitely have to come out. It would melt. Now you need UV glass that shields all of this... could be tough to find... andre Link to comment
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