Sushi Posted July 25, 2004 Author Share Posted July 25, 2004 when i get a chance i'll post more pix about the lighting & moonlight setup. but for now, here's the moonlights on at night. Link to comment
tdkarl Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 Does the tank come with a separate on/off switch for the moon lights? Link to comment
kappa Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 How many leds uchiha? to answer your question with the light switch tdkarl, no the on/off switch don't come with the cube, that is entirely a mod. Link to comment
Sushi Posted July 25, 2004 Author Share Posted July 25, 2004 i basically followed this thread for my moonlights: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=25791 there is no ON/OFF switch, i keep my moonlights on 24/7, and once the lights turn off, the moonlights are the only things left on. these moonlights are one of my most favorite additions to the tank... it looks 10x better in person! i had a DIY 2 LED setup before but for some reason it crapped out on me after 2 months... i wanted something more "permanent" and less of wiring-hell. i spent 10 bucks on the light and another 10 bucks on a adapter thingy... so $20 bucks total... it's worked out well for me, and i didn't have to do any wire splicing of any kind. i'll try to get pix up of what i did and how i set it up... Link to comment
Sushi Posted July 26, 2004 Author Share Posted July 26, 2004 here's a picture of my moonlights and the "no-wiring" setup... just bought the adapter and LED setup at target... it's worked well for me and i can swivel the moonlights to where i want them pointed at in the tank! Link to comment
Sushi Posted July 26, 2004 Author Share Posted July 26, 2004 here's a picture of the lights OFF with the moonlights ON so you can more clearly see how i fit the 3 lights in there, and how i can position the moonlights the way i want them.. like i said, there hasn't been any major heat issues as i have added a fan and it helps immensely in cooling and reducing condensation i purchased the lights from fellow reefers who wanted to part with their old set-ups. i'm not sure if you can still find new setups online since CSL is no longer in business. try www.marinedepot.com for the 32w retrofits... Link to comment
reverai Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 Did you have any problems with the plastic between the water and lights from melting with all that light? Thanks Steve Link to comment
Sushi Posted July 27, 2004 Author Share Posted July 27, 2004 it used to get really really hot, but w/the fan it's not a problem any more...at MOST, the hood gets slightly warm to the touch, but never HOT. to be safe, i'm thinking of adding another fan on the right vent once i get a hold of another 60mm fan. personally, i think these fans are the key to lighting upgrades for the nano-cube. they help lower the temperature so well, i wouldn't have done the mods w/o the fans... they're an absolute must. the plastic actually warped slightly before when i didn't have the fans, but like i said, they help MORE than i could wish for... if those fans weren't there my nano-cube would be up in smokes right now. Link to comment
tdkarl Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 What about the plastic reflective flange that was behind the origanal light, did you just remove it? It looks like you only have one fan, does it blow in the tank or out? I looks like it is install in the middle directly behind the 3 lights. Was it dificult installing the light wiring, did you just splice the old line and wire them in? It looks like the lights are help in place by small metal half ring thingys. Did those ring thingys come with the lights? Link to comment
Sushi Posted July 29, 2004 Author Share Posted July 29, 2004 the plactic splash guard is the same splash guard. the original reflector was "flattened" to fit inside the splash guard. the only things i had to purchase were the lighting retrofits. none of these lights connect to the switch on top of the hood... so i didn't have to do any splicing. all three lights have 3 separate outlets that i connect to timers. the little metal ring things come with the lights that i purchased... i think they're called PC lamp holders? my fan blows IN. (i think it says that in the specs on the 1st pg) i'm thinking of adding another fan soon... only drawback of the fan blowing in is that i have to add top-off water constantly to keep my salinity steady...(about ~2 small cups of ro/di a day almost) evaporation is inevitable when you have fans... it took me about 2 weeks to plan this retrofit only because it was hard to cram the lights in. after couple days of thinking it over and "almost" giving up, i managed to fit it all in there. just make sure you know what you're buying, and once you've bought it... try your best to efficiently put it in there. it's possible... but time consuming. Link to comment
Sushi Posted July 29, 2004 Author Share Posted July 29, 2004 here's a pic of the "skimming" mod...the sump is always lower than the display, and water falls back to the sump via gravity... NO MORE SURFACE GUNK!!!!!!! many nano-cube owners have done this mod already, just plug up the vent with some acrylic of some sort... (i used superglue & epoxy to seal it) ...and cut teeth! i'm posting a pic to give ppl an idea of how it actually looks/works *the "teeth" i made are thin enough to prevent fish for going through, but beware! i found a hermit in the back once.. i think he kinda swung himself over the wall once he got up there. Link to comment
Sushi Posted July 29, 2004 Author Share Posted July 29, 2004 here's a picture of how i setup the filtration in the back... i have: - Chamber 1: Chemipure - Chamber 2: LR rubble - Chamber 3: LR (not really rubble... i should break it up someday) - Chamber 4: MiniJet 606 (bottom) & 50w VisiTherm Heater **added the stock powerhead right in front of the overflow teeth. this will hopefully go "against" the current from the mini-jet and cause some turbulence. ** this setup's working for me, and usually the back is pretty clean, i use a airline hose to suck up detritus every other week or so. that's it! Link to comment
bravoreefer Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 How do your Firefish and Clown get along? I just got a Clown 2 days ago, and all my firefish does is hide since the addition of my clown. Will he come out and swim like he usted to? The firefish was in for about 3 weeks before the addiation of the clown. Just some thoughts for the time being. Link to comment
Sushi Posted July 31, 2004 Author Share Posted July 31, 2004 i added my clown first... i believe the clown was in the tank for about 3 weeks before i added the firefish. to tell you the truth, my firefish is EXTREMELY shy... he hid for the first 2-3 days, but he would show himself periodically... i'd like to see more of him but he immediately darts into his little cave once anyone/anything approaches the tank. he's been in the tank for about 1 week now, and the only time he comes out is when there's food around. he's healthy, and eats his fair share of cyclopeeze, but sometimes i wonder if it's OK that he's hiding so much ... i really like the fish, but half the time i never even see it ... !!! **UPDATE** i think my firefish heard me talk crap about him... for some reason he's out more often now, and he's still munching down the pods & cyclopeeze like a monster. i think he's getting used to his surroundings now, he always seems to have a full belly and isn't that jittery any more. i hope he stays out in the open more often Link to comment
Sushi Posted August 4, 2004 Author Share Posted August 4, 2004 here's a small update with a pic of my eagle eye zoo's & my newly added ric (taken under moonlights, w/o flash... un-edited either!) Link to comment
Sushi Posted August 4, 2004 Author Share Posted August 4, 2004 pic of my new brain under moonlights : Link to comment
Sushi Posted August 4, 2004 Author Share Posted August 4, 2004 got a new yellow tubastrea. not the orange ones everyone else has it didn't look 100% at the LFS, but i decided to try my hand at keeping these. the polyps never extend when the lights are on, and only come out during night at the scent of food. (i'm hoping this will change after a couple weeks of coaxing) i've been feeding it in a cup for a couple nights, and luckily the polyps have been coming out to eat. hopefully, after a week or two, the polyps will regrow to their normal size and begin to extend fully/normally. i'm hoping that after 2-3 weeks they won't need to be bowl-fed and will accept spot feeding... here's a pic of it feeding during night-time (the little red dots = cyclopeeze) Link to comment
Sushi Posted August 4, 2004 Author Share Posted August 4, 2004 ok this is the last for now... hammer, it's got about 3 heads when fully extended the colony is about 5x3 inches ... not as green as i would like it to be but it's good enough for now. hopefully it'll color-up in a couple weeks. Link to comment
3gEclipseGuy Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 Corals are looking good. How are the GSP spreading? Would love to see a pic if it's spread a lot more... Link to comment
Sushi Posted August 5, 2004 Author Share Posted August 5, 2004 the GSPs have spread slightly after i stuck them on the back of my tank. i tried to get a good comparison w/before & after shots but my GSPs never close so i can't get a good pic of the mat to show the spread... but you can kind of see in the pic how after a month they've already taken hold by themselves. (i think i stuck them on early july... i can't really remember) i see new polyps forming and eventually i hope the 2 colonies will meet in the middle Link to comment
Sushi Posted August 5, 2004 Author Share Posted August 5, 2004 here's a better shot at the mat spreading. Link to comment
bravoreefer Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 Looking great, neat idea of using the back wall for something more useful/ pretty. I would like to get a frag of the Zos at the top of this page 3. I will someday. BTW, hows the firefish? Link to comment
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