24G Nano Cube DX Startup, Setup, Manual for newbies, in the works

[thebrainbot]

One more thing...

 

From the specs on your first post, you list the stock pump at 295 gph. Why upgrade to the MJ1200 when it is only 290gph?

[steelhealr]

I have the stock pump at the bottom of chamber 1 and MJ1200 in the bottom of chamber 3. The outside light sits on a stand behind the tank...no taping at all. It just shines in. It DOES give a white backwash halo to the room, so, if it is in your bedroom, that might be an issue. I rarely check parameters now, but, if I do, it's s.g., calcium, pH, nitrates and occasionally Phos and dKH. SH

 

The stock claimed to be 290 but it was a real wimp. SH

[thebrainbot]

Cool.

 

I removed the backing to the middle chamber, so I can now put a light behind the tank for the refugium. I figured a lb or two of broken up LR and some Chaeto on top of that. But where do I even get Chaeto at?

 

Chamber 3 has my new MJ1200 and heater. Bit of a tight fit. Was somewhat of a pain to get the MJ1200 in there with the triangle mount. I can't seem to find a way to get the head that came with the MJ1200 mounted on the part that leads out to the main tank....

 

I'm going to remove the sponge completely today. Do you recommend using filter floss as some others do?

[DrCooper]

So thats a stock tank except the max jet? I am about to purchase my first and wanna make sure I get the correct stuff to start

Looks great

 

 

 

P.S. Heres a pic of my tank taken about a month ago. Still completely stock, nano-cube DX 24g, except for a max-jet 1200.

 

[thebrainbot]

Thats nice Dr. Cooper!

 

Well, with my NC24, I removed the rings, balls and filter. I put the MJ1200 in and also a Koralia 1.

I'll be buying one of the lights for the middle chamber (refugium).

 

I just bought my live rock though. Think I'm getting rid of all the dead, bleached rock I have now. Maybe keep it for a external refugium or something.

[thebrainbot]

Well, I removed some of the back vinyl so I can add a light to the refugium, though I don't have the light yet.

 

Think I'm going to get a chisel. I'm not happy with some of the big chunks in the aquascape... such a hard thing to do lol!

 

I'm hoping the AC starts working in my place. My tank hit 86 degrees the past few days. It's been close to 100 outside and my AC isn't working.

 

You guys know if it's possible to add additional fans and reverse the ones on the hood currently? I believe they are exhaust fans and I think they would work better as intake fans. Figured maybe run those two fans (or upgrade them to silent ones) and then add either two more 80's or a 120mm if I can find a way to get it on there :-p

 

And is it also possible to remove the hood completely and run a sunpod or odyssea light instead?

Edited June 9, 2008 by thebrainbot

[steelhealr]

The fans measure 60mm. As long as you can find that size, you can upgrade the fans, but, you may have to shave off some of the plastic on the splashguard. The hood can be removed but it's a pain. I was never quite brave enough to try it because of the 'crack factor'. You're supposed to hug the tank from in front and pull the hood forward. SH

[thebrainbot]

Hrm... well, temps have been stable at 81 with hood down and lights off.

 

Not good enough I say. Of course, if the AC here was working...

 

I am still looking at possibly removing the entire hood and putting a sunpod on there. I'd add in a plexiglass hood with slits that will allow for good air exchange and prevent fish from jumping. There is about a 1 degree difference in water temp from having the feed lid open compared to being closed.

 

When I was mucking around with the tank, I see little that the hood would add as far as stability. I don't think it's acting as much of a brace... though I could see being a bit worried about the tank cracking, but I don't see this really increasing the probability of cracking.

 

Also... Have you seen anyone add additional fans I've got a dremel that I could use to mod the hood to fit 2 more fans. Have a pair of intake and exhaust would be great. Though I could also probably find a way to upgrade to quieter, more efficient 80mm.

 

I'll have to check the height of the fans though. Not sure how much the splashguard would get in the way.

Edited June 12, 2008 by thebrainbot

[on_ice]

Will be checking in to see if anyone fits a 80mm fan in there!

 

I love this thread, if only it had some sort of index so i didnt have to shuffle through 56 pages every time!

 

 

-also, what page in here describes the moonlight fix?

[thebrainbot]

Will be checking in to see if anyone fits a 80mm fan in there!

 

I love this thread, if only it had some sort of index so i didnt have to shuffle through 56 pages every time!

 

 

-also, what page in here describes the moonlight fix?

 

lol, i know what you mean ice!

 

We need an index...

 

I'm curious about the moonlights thing as well. Might be easier to search under the DIY section though.

[thebrainbot]

Okay, it is COMPLETELY possible to fit a pair of 80mm fans in place of the existing 60mm.

 

I was able to remove the top from the cube (way easy to do!) and remove the water guard (about a dozen screws).

 

After removing that, you have direct access to the two fans. Only problems replacing them will be that you will need new holes and new screws, unless you mount them a completely different way (velcro or some other creative way). The other issue is connecting them to the PC board. You would have to remove your lights and the reflector to actually get access to that part. Though that looks easy enough (I stopped here).

 

The fans connect with the standard 3 pin connector used on computer motherboards.

 

 

Here is the real big drawback I see from JBJ's overall design... the lights and fans are in an enclosed container. There can be hardly ANY airflow from those fans. The heat is supposed to be drawn from the lights and sucked out through the vents. The way it looks, there is no intake for air and the fans are so close to the water guard, I can't imagine they're effective at moving air.

 

Likewise, there is no way to mount fans on there that will blow into the tank from what I see. Not without modifying the splash guard (probably a really bad idea).

 

Looks like I may go with my plan to get T5's or a cheap, used MH mount.

[Needreefunds]

OK, not to 'jack Steel's most awesome thread, but .....

 

Hrm... well, temps have been stable at 81 with hood down and lights off.

 

Not good enough I say. Of course, if the AC here was working...

 

Bot, if you are at 81 with the lights OFF you must have other issues. You cannot expect the tank to run cooler than ambient temp ( without a chiller that is ). The stock pump has also been known to add heat.

 

Yes, going topless and perhaps adding a fan to give some evap cooling may help some, but this will most likely be negated with the addition of MH lighting. And then there will be the daily top offs to deal with too.

 

HTH

 

Oh, and the moonlight fix? Nanotuners can take care of that. Great folks to deal with.

Nanotuners link

 

[steelhealr]

I've run my tank as high as 83 degrees. Carribbean reef temps in midsummer can reach that. I wouldn't say it's the most optimal, but, I've always said that stability is much more important. Going from 78 at night to 83 during the day is worse IMO than hovering between 81-83. In general, my tank with both pumps averages 81-82.5. SH

[thebrainbot]

Right... I think it will be fine once the AC starts working properly. Not sure what the deal is there. It's pulling air in through the intake, but I'm not getting any output.

 

Yeah, steel, the temps get about 83 during the day and 78-79 when its a cool night out. And that is with the front lip open.

 

Need- I guess I didn't think that the pump would contribute a whole lot of heat. My 29 and 10 gallon tanks (freshwater) are running at 78-79 normally.

 

How hot do the T5's run compared to the PC lights included? If I buy a T5 kit, I can run topless and hopefully with the lights on, I will be at about the same temps as I am with the lid on and lights off. At least, that's what I am hoping for.

[ddk997]

BUBBA BURGERS ARE THE BEST

[on_ice]

How many watts are the fuge lights you guys are running? I found a perfect exterior fuge light at lowes @ 20 watts but it puts off a good amount of heat. I was thinking of switching to a 10w bulb to keep heat down since my tank is already at 84*.

 

For intank fans, I was going to buy 2 80mm's today but they run at 26 decibels which seems loud...can i find quieter ones?

[dlawlor]

Here is the real big drawback I see from JBJ's overall design... the lights and fans are in an enclosed container. There can be hardly ANY airflow from those fans. The heat is supposed to be drawn from the lights and sucked out through the vents. The way it looks, there is no intake for air and the fans are so close to the water guard, I can't imagine they're effective at moving air.

 

You're completely right. BUT there is a fix for this - simply unmount the fans and turn them around, this way they blow air back IN to the canopy. I recently upgraded the fans on my NC6 since one had died and pointed one in and kept one blowing out, like JBJ had it, and not only have my temps plummeted but you can feel the difference - when I touch the top on the half where the fan's blowing in, it feels noticably cooler than the half where the fan blows out. It's also worth mentioning that I removed the little plastic grates over the fans, that did quite a bit to improve airflow and lower temps as well. It's also worth it to invest in a couple of new fans (couple bucks on eBay) and replace the stock ones, they really aren't very good...

[thebrainbot]

How many watts are the fuge lights you guys are running? I found a perfect exterior fuge light at lowes @ 20 watts but it puts off a good amount of heat. I was thinking of switching to a 10w bulb to keep heat down since my tank is already at 84*.

 

For intank fans, I was going to buy 2 80mm's today but they run at 26 decibels which seems loud...can i find quieter ones?

 

I haven't decided which fuge light im going to run. There is a DIY thread bout the simplest refugium mod ever.

 

I think SH started it.. but not sure. It talked about removing the vinyl back off the refugium and shining the light in there. On that thread, there are several posts discussing the lights. Check there.

 

80mm's should be QUIETER than the 60mm. General rule of thumb: Larger the fan, the less noisy they run. They are also more efficient to. The fans that are on my JBJ NC are loud as hell. I'd say roughly 60-70db together. I have 6 80mm and 1 120mm in my computer case... And they are quieter than the two 60mm.

 

26db is about as quiet as it goes. I think thats roughly a whisper. I'll probably plop two of my 80's in my case into the hood and flip them to see if it improves.

 

I was really disapointed to see that you can't mount them so they blow across the water.

 

dwawlor - you say you cut out the plastic slats on the top of the case? Thats interesting... I may do that.

 

Temps here have dropped to a normal range though. Having the lip has helped tremendously, but the AC is still not working right (getting fan only it seems). So... after I get back from NYC, going to have my landlord bring someone in. I refuse to live in a place as expensive as this and not have working AC... even though my rent is only half of what the place is actually worth lol.

[on_ice]

Last night I installed 1 80mm fan in my hood. Off the tank if flew much much more air then the stock one but now that everything is back together and on the tank, much more air is coming from the stock one. I wonder if I made a mistake and this one is flowing the wrong way or I just cant feel as much air because its a 80mm fan blowing through a 60mm hole?

 

As for a fuge light I taped a 20watt one to the side of my tank last night and while it was hot as heck, it didnt raise my tank temperature or affect the glass or anything. Do you think repeat exposure of this hot hot light on my glass can hurt something?

 

For the LED's, if I have a separate power source of 12v, is that all I need? Based on the nvm nanotuners fix it looks like thats all they do.

[DrCooper]

Thats nice Dr. Cooper!

 

Well, with my NC24, I removed the rings, balls and filter. I put the MJ1200 in and also a Koralia 1.

I'll be buying one of the lights for the middle chamber (refugium).

 

I just bought my live rock though. Think I'm getting rid of all the dead, bleached rock I have now. Maybe keep it for a external refugium or something.

 

HOLD ON WAIT

THAT IS NOT MY TANK hahah

i must of posted the wrong way so it seems like I am saying thats my tank

 

Sorry guys, ahah I wish that was my tank

[chris.murton]

hi, is this really your tank? if so, it is absoloutly amazing!!!!! Is it really also stock apart from the maxijet 1200?

How often do you replace the filter media or do you not replace it?

 

It would be apreciated if these questions are answered as i get my tank tommorow

thanks

[Crept]

Hi SH, I finally finish reading from the first to the 57 page of ur thread. Its a joy to read and definately enhanced my knowledge in the nano reef world. Thumbs up to this thread. I cant believe this thread actually dated way back in 2005 and still surviving till now. I hope you will continue to inpt us with ur knowledge and experience of the nano reef.

 

I was actually searching around for nano cube information and stumble into your thread. Its worth reading every minute of it. Two weeks back, after some research i finally bought a 24G JBJ Nanocube. Im still in the cycling process. I actually came from across the world, whereby for reef survivality, chiller are more important than heater, however i feel that in which ever part of the world, the same concept of nano reefing applies. Well i hope to be able to start my own thread once the cycling is complete.

 

You are definately someone to look up too.. And to all the other reefers.... Keep this going man...

 

PS: This is my first post in this forum

[steelhealr]

Thanks for such a great comment. I started here...like all of you..and what spurred this thread on was very simple:

 

There were NO DIRECTIONS IN THE BOX. LOL.

 

I still have my clownfish alive...almost 3 years later and my watchman is still kicking too as is my urchin. I've lost some corals over time...mostly due to changes in my life vs. tank problems. But...I can say the following:

 

ZERO NITRATES ARE POSSIBLE WITHOUT SKIMMING. The key? Refugium.

 

SH

[Crept]

SH, Any more pics of ur tank?? Its been a while since u post any pic...

[debbeach13]

Bump for the AIO newbies