artarmon42 Posted April 11, 2004 Share Posted April 11, 2004 Finally got all the parts I needed to upgrade my JBJ Nano Cube (many thanks to the pioneers in this field...). Basically, I ripped out the 24W factory lights and put in: 2x CSL 32W retrofit (that everyone else uses) 2x Cold Cathode blue tubes (the kind you buy to mod PCs) 2x 60mm PC fans (not your standard PC fans, so be careful when you go shopping) At 6am, the moonlights come on (give the critters time to wake up before blasting 64W into the tank ). At 9am, the front CSL comes on (sun rises from the front of the tank ). At 10am, the moonlights goes off. At 11am, the rear CSL comes on (giving the full 64W) as well as 2 fans. I run the fans slow because 2x32 doesn't seem to change my water temperature but sure does make the splash guard and hood very hot to touch. At 3pm, the front CSL goes off leaving only the rear one on. At 4pm, the moonlights come on, but the rear CSL is still on. At 5pm, the rear CSL goes off, leaving only the moonlight on. So, we're back to the moonlight brightness again. At 9pm, the moonlight goes off leaving the tank completely dark. So I have 4 hours of 64W and 8 total hours of light. Here's what it looks like under the hood... And everything is controlled by ludicrous number of timers... For what it's worth, I've been really happy with the Cold Cathodes (CCFL). They put a nice ambient blue effect into the tank. I prefer that over the spotlight effects created by the LED moonlights I've seen. What do you all think? Link to comment
xcajx Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 awesome!!...I have a cold cathode in my comp and never even thought of using one in my cube. I have the stock 24w with a csl 32w retro. I think you just gave me a great idea for a moonlight. My only concern is the heat from the 2 lights melting it. Any problems? and is it just resting right on the slashguard or did you mount it somehow? Thanks, Chris Okay, I just bought 2 for my tank. That is an awesome idea, thanks again. Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted April 12, 2004 Author Share Posted April 12, 2004 I use double-sided tape (3M brand with a foamy middle layer, says on the box that it's for high temperature use), which sticks the square ends of the tubes to the reflector. The tubes bow'd slightly during initial testing (before I got the fans to go on at the same time as the second CSL). The bowing happened within 15 minutes of both lights coming on... Since I put the fans in, they don't seem to have bow'd any further. And I ran the full cycle of lights today. For what it's worth, with 2 fans (at 3V setting) the hood is cool to touch (splashguard a little hot, but I don't think anymore so than with the 24V). My water temperature didn't move from 78 all day (I suspect the fans are cooling it down more but my heater is kicking in). The other interesting thing... For people who know about the problems with my anemone not opening up fully (http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...light=new+clown)... I've never seen my anemone open up as much as when my moonlights come on. It swells to maybe one quarter of the total surface area of the Cube, and almost all the tentacles go back to bubble shaped. Whatever is in those tubes sure seems to make the anemone very happy! Link to comment
xcajx Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 very cool stuff, I added a link to my thread here: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...6342#post246342 because i think it is such a great idea. PS Love your tank. nice layout and please let me know how the anemone does as I want the exact same kind. Chris Link to comment
goth Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 From what I understand from your post you olny used double sided tape to mount your PC light? I'm looking to do more or less the same retro fit (2x32watt) on my cube so I'm much interrested. Thanks, -yvest Link to comment
xcajx Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 I think he means he used the ds tape for just the moon light. Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted April 13, 2004 Author Share Posted April 13, 2004 Yup, I mean double-sided tape was to hold the moonlight (cold cathode tubes) to the reflector. BTW, second day with the full light cycle today. Water temperature did not go past 78 (which is where I set my heater) and no bowing of the cold cathodes. I fully attribute the stable temperature to the fans. The fans blow IN (yeah, I read the posts that say that's not how to cool a system down) and seems to work fine. Interestingly, no noticeable evaporation. I think the fans blowing in works because: 1) The lights are hotter than the air in my house (so it does cool it down). 2) The Nano Cube has those side vents which allow the hot air to escape. For those contemplating 2x32W CSLs, I don't think it can be done (without really high temperatures) without at least one fan... Link to comment
xcajx Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 My fans blow in as well. It makes sense to me that it saves the life of the fans as well due to salt accumulation. Still waiting for my tubes to arrive, will post when they do. Chris Link to comment
goth Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 I'm also wating for my lights. For some reason I'm having a heat issue with cube. Ligth off the water temp hovers around 82F and the ambiant temp is around 72F! With the ligth on it reaches 83F. I've disconnected the heater and the temp didn't go down so it's not my 50W ebo. Only other things that I can think of is the stock Pump or my powerhead generating that much heat... I'm still investigating. The weird thing is that it ran for about two weeks steady at 79-80 light on or off and now I'm having problems. Yesterday I tryed with a fan (also blowing in) and it got the temp down to 80.1F that temp was also maintained when the light were turned off. That migth be my heater keeping it there, but I lowered it to 23C and it didn't have any effect of the temp... I guess the next test i'll do is to turn the powerhead off and see hoe that goes! BTW are you guys keeping any media in the built-in filter chambers? I know the different opinions, but I haven't decided what I'll do (for now all the original media is still in). -yvest Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted April 14, 2004 Author Share Posted April 14, 2004 I'm guessing it's an overheating pump... Either that, or you might have just created a fusion-reaction in your tank I removed all the (original) media from my tank. Going from right to left: 1) Mini-jet 606 pump 2) Bag of Chemi-pure and Purigen 3) LR rubble (half way up) and 50W Tronic heater 4) LR rubble (all the way to the top) and a piece of PolyFilter (placed right against the outflow) Link to comment
goth Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 Thanks for your input... I actually ordered a minijet 606, is it quiter then the original pump? It seems like my powerhead is at least partially involved in this issue... I'm still working on it -yvest Link to comment
jumboshrimp18 Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 Great post and very nice setup. The amazing thing for me is that the electrical jumbo on the floor looks exactly like mine, even with identical timers! Really like the way you are trying to minimalize the light blast with the staggered lighting. Link to comment
jumboshrimp18 Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 Looking over your pictures again it seems to me that you took the reflector out entirely. Most of the posts for the modification of the lighting have left the reflectors in. I was just wondering what you and others thought of the reflector versus no reflector idea. Any ideas on this? Link to comment
jumboshrimp18 Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 woops. Just read again that you fixed the tape to the reflector-- guess you have one in there so ignore the above reply. there doesn't seem to be one in the photo though. Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted April 14, 2004 Author Share Posted April 14, 2004 Thanks jumbo. Actually the best thing about the staggered lighting is that it casts different shadows. Don't know about the critters in the tank, but I like the noticeable change as the "day" progresses. Yup the original reflector is still there. I took it out and flattened it, but found a "trick" to it (that I didn't read about before). If you completely flatten the reflector, the end that was previously raised, won't fit flat. I had to use a pair of pliers to bend the last inch to an angle like the front end. Minor point that isn't too hard to figure out once you run into it... Link to comment
jumboshrimp18 Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 Thanks for the clarification about the reflector and the tip on bending it. You used the double-sided tape for the moonlight--what did you use for the metal clips for the 32's? Also, are you still using the nano light on/off switch or did you just bypass that? Appreciate the info. Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted April 15, 2004 Author Share Posted April 15, 2004 Actually the clip for the new 32W is held on by heavy-duty electrical tape. I just couldn't punch a hole in that reflector with my drill The switch is currently bypassed. I was toying with the idea of sticking in a cold cathode UV tube using that switch (for effects), but still thinking how I could fit that in. After everything I got in there, there's not much space left under the splash guard... Link to comment
xcajx Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 I just added an Ultra 12" cool cathode and the effect is fantastic! Thanks for such an awesome idea. I will post a pic when the tank clears up. Chris Just used one and it looks perfect. if I had used 2 I think it would be too bright. Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted April 17, 2004 Author Share Posted April 17, 2004 Good point Chris! Actually what I did was to turn down the voltage (it's down to 6V), which sets a nice dim moonlight. It would be cool if I could timer that adapter, so that it gradually dims! But you got me thinking. Maybe I'll swap out one of those blue tubes (and run one at 12V) and plug in one of the UV tubes I have lying around. Wonder if that'll make my skunk's white strip look extra special! I'll try that tomorrow and post my results... Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted April 19, 2004 Author Share Posted April 19, 2004 Well I messed around with the UV tube for awhile and decided to ditch it. The UV was working (white was flourescing) but it didn't do anything for the tank. Even the skunk shrimps didn't look any different. Not sure about the science behind it, but I'm guessing the UV cold cathodes don't pump out enough power to penetrate the water?! On a separate thought... People are always asking what light to buy for their fuge. I wonder if a short cold cathodes might be the answer. What color light does a fuge need? I'm guessing white-ish for the macro algae?? Link to comment
halmotors Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 How are you powering the cathodes? Did you have to do some splicing? Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted April 20, 2004 Author Share Posted April 20, 2004 The cold cathodes come with an inverter (black box) that connects to the RED and BLACK wires of molex power connector (the PC power plugs). I cut the RED and BLACK before it joined the molex, spliced it with the 2 wires of a power adapter (the kind that you plug into the wall for 12V DC output). Actually to splice, I stripped the rubber outer layer, and then used DryConn (http://www.kingsafety.com/dryconn.html) wirenut to twist the 2 wires together. It was actually pretty simple. Took maybe 1 minute to wire it up (5 minutes if you've never done it before), and you can't really go wrong (only 2 possible ways to connect the wires... if you do it wrong and the light doesn't come on, flip the wires around). Link to comment
luvtolean Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 I have 3 of the same timers, bought them at OSH did ya? Link to comment
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