Biocube 32 hood modification

[Enthrol]

I have the Coralife LED Biocube 32 and read plenty of posts about temperature problems.

 

I know the common solution is to remove the hood or leave the feed door open with a fan blowing across the water.

 

I'm curious if anyone has another solution. I cant afford a chiller and my long haired dog sheds too much to leave a large opening.

 

I'm considering cutting the center of the feed door out and siliconing a piece of fine mesh to cover it. Same with the vents built into the edges of the hood. The mesh should prevent all but the luckiest of dog hairs from entering the tank. I'm just not sure if this would provide any noticeable temperature difference or if the access to more "fresh" air would be harmful in any way.

[Tired]

Fresh air is not harmful, no. Mesh-covered holes would help, more so if you added a fan. Don't bother with the vents on the hood, removing the thin strips of plastic over those won't do much. There's already fans behind those anyway. 

If I were you, I'd open the flap over the filtration compartment (does yours have that?), cover it in mesh, and put a little desktop fan so it blows along the length of the opening. The air flowing by creates a vacuum, drawing hot air out from under the hood. 

[banasophia]

4 hours ago, Enthrol said:

I have the Coralife LED Biocube 32 and read plenty of posts about temperature problems.

 

I know the common solution is to remove the hood or leave the feed door open with a fan blowing across the water.

 

I'm curious if anyone has another solution. I cant afford a chiller and my long haired dog sheds too much to leave a large opening.

 

I'm considering cutting the center of the feed door out and siliconing a piece of fine mesh to cover it. Same with the vents built into the edges of the hood. The mesh should prevent all but the luckiest of dog hairs from entering the tank. I'm just not sure if this would provide any noticeable temperature difference or if the access to more "fresh" air would be harmful in any way.

Has the tank started overheating yet? You could be okay, but good to consider options just in case. Since this subject just came up recently with regard to whether chillers would be allowed in the All in One tank contest, I’ve been looking into it. Been in touch with a guy that works for Coralife, and suggested the very thing you mentioned with the feeder doors... also asked about fans that could be added to the back... awaiting feedback from their team. 
 

In the meantime, I reached out to the guy that runs the Facebook Biocube & Nano Reef group (his initials are MC, his business is Octoaquatics) about whether he could make me a feeder door with a mesh insert for my 32 in case I need it as the weather heats up, but if you’re handy you could probably do it yourself for cheaper rather than having him do it. He does really nice work with lids though, so I’m sure he could make something nice. 
 

I recently touched base with both Jackal227 in this forum and Randy D in the Facebook Biocube group, who both have amazing stock Biocubes, and both are able to control their temps without chillers. Jackal said his just runs 2-3 degrees warmer in summer with no detrimental effects, and Randy opens his feeder door to keep the temp down, and on occasions when the temp has gotten higher than 82 he has thrown frozen water bottles in (maybe in the back chamber?) Randy said he does get evaporation when he leaves the feeder door open, requiring topping off between water changes. 
 

In addition, another guy Bob C from the Biocube group came up with a nice setup with a small computer fan aimed into the back opening which provided significant cooling. 

[Enthrol]

12 hours ago, Tired said:

Don't bother with the vents on the hood, removing the thin strips of plastic over those won't do much. There's already fans behind those anyway. 

Wonder if upgrading that fan will improve heat exchange. Notice the temp in my tank only really gets high later in the light cycle, like it builds up the longer the full spectrum is run. Maybe heat build up from the lights can be pushed out of the compartment better.

[Enthrol]

9 hours ago, banasophia said:

Has the tank started overheating yet? You could be okay, but good to consider options just in case. Since this subject just came up recently with regard to whether chillers would be allowed in the All in One tank contest, I’ve been looking into it. Been in touch with a guy that works for Coralife, and suggested the very thing you mentioned with the feeder doors... also asked about fans that could be added to the back... awaiting feedback from their team. 
 

In the meantime, I reached out to the guy that runs the Facebook Biocube & Nano Reef group (his initials are MC, his business is Octoaquatics) about whether he could make me a feeder door with a mesh insert for my 32 in case I need it as the weather heats up, but if you’re handy you could probably do it yourself for cheaper rather than having him do it. He does really nice work with lids though, so I’m sure he could make something nice. 
 

I recently touched base with both Jackal227 in this forum and Randy D in the Facebook Biocube group, who both have amazing stock Biocubes, and both are able to control their temps without chillers. Jackal said his just runs 2-3 degrees warmer in summer with no detrimental effects, and Randy opens his feeder door to keep the temp down, and on occasions when the temp has gotten higher than 82 he has thrown frozen water bottles in (maybe in the back chamber?) Randy said he does get evaporation when he leaves the feeder door open, requiring topping off between water changes. 
 

In addition, another guy Bob C from the Biocube group came up with a nice setup with a small computer fan aimed into the back opening which provided significant cooling. 

Not overheating yet. The highest I've seen is when the lights are going into in the sunset phase which was only 80.2 degrees. Just considering options for the upcoming summer like you said.

 

I normally keep the house at 73 degrees right now but will probably raise that to 74-75. 
 

Good to know I'm on the right track with the feed door modification. Please let me know if you run across a solid solution. I saw one mod that had fans attached the back of the cube with plastic sleeves to direct air into the back chamber through the cable cut outs. That looks interesting but havent found the materials to build it yet.

[Enthrol]

On 2/17/2020 at 11:11 PM, Tired said:

Fresh air is not harmful, no. Mesh-covered holes would help, more so if you added a fan. Don't bother with the vents on the hood, removing the thin strips of plastic over those won't do much. There's already fans behind those anyway. 

If I were you, I'd open the flap over the filtration compartment (does yours have that?), cover it in mesh, and put a little desktop fan so it blows along the length of the opening. The air flowing by creates a vacuum, drawing hot air out from under the hood. 

Checked out the vents today. I think we may be looking at different hoods. There's no door over the back compartment and the vents along the sides are open to the tank. I have the same vents over the light compartment though and see what you mean about opening those being a waste.

[TalonlV]

On 2/17/2020 at 11:35 PM, Enthrol said:

I have the Coralife LED Biocube 32 and read plenty of posts about temperature problems.

 

I know the common solution is to remove the hood or leave the feed door open with a fan blowing across the water.

 

I'm curious if anyone has another solution. I cant afford a chiller and my long haired dog sheds too much to leave a large opening.

 

I'm considering cutting the center of the feed door out and siliconing a piece of fine mesh to cover it. Same with the vents built into the edges of the hood. The mesh should prevent all but the luckiest of dog hairs from entering the tank. I'm just not sure if this would provide any noticeable temperature difference or if the access to more "fresh" air would be harmful in any way.

 

On 2/17/2020 at 11:35 PM, Enthrol said:

I have the Coralife LED Biocube 32 and read plenty of posts about temperature problems.

 

I know the common solution is to remove the hood or leave the feed door open with a fan blowing across the water.

 

I'm curious if anyone has another solution. I cant afford a chiller and my long haired dog sheds too much to leave a large opening.

 

I'm considering cutting the center of the feed door out and siliconing a piece of fine mesh to cover it. Same with the vents built into the edges of the hood. The mesh should prevent all but the luckiest of dog hairs from entering the tank. I'm just not sure if this would provide any noticeable temperature difference or if the access to more "fresh" air would be harmful in any way.

Opening both side vents and the feeding vent should remove a huge % of the heat caused by your lights. With the feed door open and side vents open you will create a significant draft by the heat exiting from the feed door pulling in fresh air thru side vents

[Enthrol]

58 minutes ago, TalonlV said:

 

Opening both side vents and the feeding vent should remove a huge % of the heat caused by your lights. With the feed door open and side vents open you will create a significant draft by the heat exiting from the feed door pulling in fresh air thru side vents

That's what I'm thinking too. 
 

I had to install the fish guard between the dt and back chambers, since my firefish decided to investigate the back chamber one day. I can probably remove it bow as he hasnt been as skittish since he settled in.

 

However that restricts any heat exchange that was occurring by air flowing in through the cut outs in the back. Haven't noticed any temperature variance from it though so not sure how well that was working originally.

 

I'm included a couple pictures of the side vents, hopefully what I'm thinking makes more sense with them.

I think I'm going to start by just removing the plastic L-shaped pieces on the inside of those side vents to make it easier for heat to escape. Then if the temperature does become a problem cut out the middle of the feed door to provide another opening.

[banasophia]

Yeah my tank has already started heating up more with spring weather... hit 82 yesterday cuz the house got up to 72. Shipped my chiller back to chill solutions today for repair, so hopefully it will get fixed and give me peace of mind, but it would be nice to have other options for keeping the tank cooler. 

[Braincandle]

I'm sorry to necro this thread! I was looking at the Biocube resource thread, and didn't see too much about it there. I'm slowly going through that though. 

 

I am having the same issue with my biocube. Did this get resolved for you? I have virtually the same situation - we got the biocube because I have a dog that sheds and 2 kids. Needed a solid top. But now the temperature is going up to 83 despite our heater set at 78. Unplugged heater for hours and the temp continued to rise while the lights were on. 

 

Did any of these modifications solve the problem? Are there any resources that are updated for the new biocube LED's? I was looking through the lighting section on the biocube thread but it looks like it's all from the old biocube. 

 

Thank you in advance for any help! 

[banasophia]

2 hours ago, Braincandle said:

I'm sorry to necro this thread! I was looking at the Biocube resource thread, and didn't see too much about it there. I'm slowly going through that though. 

 

I am having the same issue with my biocube. Did this get resolved for you? I have virtually the same situation - we got the biocube because I have a dog that sheds and 2 kids. Needed a solid top. But now the temperature is going up to 83 despite our heater set at 78. Unplugged heater for hours and the temp continued to rise while the lights were on. 

 

Did any of these modifications solve the problem? Are there any resources that are updated for the new biocube LED's? I was looking through the lighting section on the biocube thread but it looks like it's all from the old biocube. 

 

Thank you in advance for any help! 

Hi! I run a Chill Solutions chiller in both of my Biocubes now. They are around $250-$300 with the separate pump/tubing you can order... works great. Some people attach a fan to the back of the lid (I think a computer fan). People also talk about modifying the feeding door so it has mesh to allow more airflow, though I’m not sure anyone has actually done it. 

[Braincandle]

Interesting. Ok! Would this be the one you use? https://www.chillsolutions.com/products/csxc-1-aquarium-chiller 

 

I had just seen a reddit thread about the computer fans. We're going to try that first since it's a 30ish dollar fix. If it doesn't work though, we'll spend the money to make it work. If the one I linked isn't the one you use, do you know which it is off hand? 

 

Thank you for replying! 

[banasophia]

4 hours ago, Braincandle said:

Interesting. Ok! Would this be the one you use? https://www.chillsolutions.com/products/csxc-1-aquarium-chiller 

 

I had just seen a reddit thread about the computer fans. We're going to try that first since it's a 30ish dollar fix. If it doesn't work though, we'll spend the money to make it work. If the one I linked isn't the one you use, do you know which it is off hand? 

 

Thank you for replying! 

Yes that’s the one... you have to order the tubing/pump install kit separately. I think they are sold out right now. Hopefully the computer fan thing will work - much cheaper!!! Keep us posted! 

[Braincandle]

Success! At least I think so. 

 

So as I was looking around for solutions, I found this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ReefTank/comments/av5i5x/need_help_cooling_biocube_32/

 

 

In it, the user, u/drewcarter1 suggested a pair of fans, and explained how they were hooked up - one blowing in from the back port, one blowing out, to create circulation. They indicated they used velcro because the fans got in the way of lifting the lid. Later on they posted a picture, and I realized it would probably be a pita to have to always move the fans every time I needed to lift the lid. So I got some cabinet hinges, and some of the nice command-strip velcro, and set this up:  https://imgur.com/a/d9HXvRV 

 

So basically, the fans are on, the temperature is dropping, and when I lift the lid the fans move with the lid so they're never in the way. Seems like it's working well! 

 

Update: temperature is now a steady 78, +/- 0.5 degrees. Looks like it's worked.

 

[whyme]

This is an old post, but I'd like to add to it since I don't see it mentioned here.

 

One of the biggest heat creators in the BIOcube is actually the stock water  pump. It is terribly inefficient. Like running a 20 watt heater nonstop replaced with this one:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hydor-Centrifical-Pump-100-All-Purpose/dp/B003SNG9I8/ref=mp_s_a_1_25_sspa?keywords=Hydor&qid=1678456705&sr=8-25-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzVFIxVldRNU9MS0xZJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDkzMjEyMVdBMzE5TkU1UUtTSiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjcxODAxOUNOT0k3MFJTOUlCJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfcGhvbmVfc2VhcmNoX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

 

 

 

Better flow and probably knocked about 5 degrees off peak tank in temps. They may not make that one any more, but if you carefully check the specs and look for the lowest wattage one you can find in the 250-350GPH range. DC would be even better.That one is rated 300 GPH @ 8 watts. The stock is 22 watts and 240GPH if I remember correctly.