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Stoneys Nano. A moded 12 DX


stoney waters

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stoney waters
hey stoney do you think you could post some pics of the cold cathode in action?

 

I will try to take some moonlight shots, but I have never had much success capturing a pic that really shows it justice.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on what manual settings are good for these lowlight shots?

 

-Stone

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nano_reeflover

Ok cool. Do the corals fluoresce(wow i butchered that word lol) under the CC? I dont have a tank yet, but when I start one I would like to use a blue CC for moon light and a UV CC to make the corals glow. What do you think?

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stoney waters

Yes, they glow just as well under the CC as they do with the LEDs in my opinion. You won't get as much of a shimmering effect with the CC but you will get a broader coverage of light in the tank. They are really nice for night viewing. I use the LED's to spotlight certain specimens.

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  • 1 month later...
stoney waters
Stoney,

 

Could you do a write-up of how you made that fuge light and the approximate cost. I would be soooo greatful!

 

Hey Red Devil,

 

There is a pretty extensive pictorial on the previous page. I will recap with some new pics.

 

This fixture is small with an internal ballast. It is fan cooled so it can be placed against the glass with no heat issues. It might have been easier to mod an Aqua light mini with a fan, but it would have not given me the same satisfaction and it might not have performed as well.

 

post-12785-1140891004_thumb.jpgpost-12785-1140891018_thumb.jpgpost-12785-1140891035_thumb.jpg

 

Here is a rundown on the parts I used. I did not have to buy all of them.

post-12785-1140891152_thumb.jpg

 

1 1/2" access box from Lowe's, $5. I cut off the rear hub so I could mount the fan.

 

Ballast. From a 13w screw in CF. $4 anywhere. Here is a good link to this mod

Fan. 60mm spare from Nano-Cube.

 

Bulb. 13w 4 pin compact. $7 shipped.

 

Bulb clips. From a Red Sea mini light.

 

Molex type connectors. From a remote control servo. Another old hobby of mine.

 

Reflector. I cut from some parabolic material. Any reflective metal could work.

 

Stand offs. 1/2" cpvc.

 

AC to DC converter. $12 on clearance at K-Mart. It was perfect because it has a bypassed outlet built in.

 

Power cord. From an old lamp. Don't tell my wife.

 

Velcro tape. Always have some laying around.

 

I spent less than $30 dollars on this mod. If I was to buy everything it would have been much more.

 

Here are some pics of the internals.

post-12785-1140892376_thumb.jpgpost-12785-1140892408_thumb.jpg

 

Initially I was using a 13w 2 pin fluorescent with an internal starter, like in the above picture. It went out after a couple weeks. I decided that the electronic ballast would best fire a 4 pin compact. This bulb was hard to find locally but I managed to find on online. It has a 2GX7 base. This bulb has been running 12 hours a day for three months.

post-12785-1140893440_thumb.jpgpost-12785-1140893475_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

 

post-12785-1140893773_thumb.jpg

 

I hope this answers some of your questions. Let me know if you have any more.

 

-Stone

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  • 3 months later...
stoney waters

I just got a new camera and thought I would update with some pics.

 

gspandzoos-1.jpg

 

Some nice macro shots

 

zoos1_1.jpg

 

ric1.jpg

 

The macro algae side of the tank.

 

 

 

IMG_0281.jpg

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Hey Stoney..

 

Nice tank! What camera did you get? The pictures look great.. I am shopping for a new camera with good macro features

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Awesome Stoney!!

 

Is there any other maintinance you are doing besides top off and water changes? You know.. feeding, suppliments...

 

mj

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stoney waters
Hey Stoney..

 

Nice tank! What camera did you get? The pictures look great.. I am shopping for a new camera with good macro features

 

The camera is a Cannon A620. Its is a decent camera or the money with 7.1 mp and some nice menu features. I actually owned an old A70, but Best Buy couldn't fix it when it broke. They had to replace it under the service agreement. The A620 was the closest replacement model. I made out like a bandit. Always purchase a service plan on electronics.

 

 

Awesome Stoney!!

 

Is there any other maintinance you are doing besides top off and water changes? You know.. feeding, suppliments...

 

mj

 

 

I don't dose or use supplements, just feed twice a week and clean the sponge and skimmer. I rotate and prune the chaeto along with regular water changes. Actually its been kind of ignored lately but everything seems to be doing fine.

 

Thank Guys

-Stone

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hmpitags2006

Hey Stoney,

Did you scrape off some paint from the back of the tank so the light would shine through? You didn't mention if you did or not. I would like to do this for my cube, but I am a little confused.

 

Thanks,

-G

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Stoney,

 

Great work and awsome tank. Someday I hope to look half as good.

 

I have been looking into drilling a hole in the back (like you did) but I have heard tank cracking is an issue.

 

You seen totally successful. Any problems that you may have run into? Maybe heard of a the tank cracking issue? BTW mine is the thicker 24G JBJ not the OG ones.

 

Cautious,

 

 

Reefin'

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stoney waters
Hey Stoney,

Did you scrape off some paint from the back of the tank so the light would shine through? You didn't mention if you did or not. I would like to do this for my cube, but I am a little confused.

 

Thanks,

-G

 

The back of NC's are covered with vinyl, just cut with a blade and peel off.

 

 

Stoney,

 

Great work and awsome tank. Someday I hope to look half as good.

 

I have been looking into drilling a hole in the back (like you did) but I have heard tank cracking is an issue.

 

You seen totally successful. Any problems that you may have run into? Maybe heard of a the tank cracking issue? BTW mine is the thicker 24G JBJ not the OG ones.

 

Cautious,

Reefin'

 

Most of my mods were done prior to all the hyped up cracking issues. Although I don't consider myself lucky, I might have thought twice before drilling if I had known about the problems at the time. In the end I probably still would have done it. Most of the problems seem to have been with the 24 gal and to a smaller extent with the 6's. It appears that JBJ has corrected the problems in the 06 models by increasing the thickness of the glass.

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trentula77

Stoney can we see get an updated full tank shot? Your tank amazes me. I love it. I wish I could see it in person.

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stoney waters

A couple FTS's.

 

IMG_0706_1_1.jpg

 

Sits on my home office desk.

 

IMG_0708_1_1.jpg

 

Its has not had much attention lately because I have been in the middle of a tank upgrade. I am in the process of designing a pendant for a 36" tank. It is pretty innovative. I hope to start a thread on it soon.

 

-Stone

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  • 4 weeks later...
stoney waters
Wow, Stony nice tank and mods! If this was in the contest, you would have kicked my butt!!!!

 

LOL. Thanks, But I don't know. Your NC6 mods were outrageous. No NC12 contest though. I am just glad disaster hasn't struck my tank.

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  • 3 months later...

stoney- I think I can do the fuge light. I've got a 92mm computer fan and an extension cord.

 

Can you please give me step by step instruction just for wiring the fan. I have replaced fans in a computer and even spliced them into a comuter. What I don't understand is what is between the fan wires and the extensionl cord. I can't just splice the extension cord directly to the fan wires can I?

 

Edit - Sorry I jumped the gun asking. I did a search and found out that is what the DC - AC coverter is for. I knew that was on your parts list, but I thought that was something to do with the lighting kit.

 

Also, I bought the access box from lowe's. My 92mm fan is too big. It must be a 60mm you are using.

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stoney waters

stallen. Yes, the 60mm fit perfectly. Keep in mind that you are better off using a PC lamp with a 2GX7 base. They are designed to operate with an electronic ballast. The more common 13w lamps with internal starters are designed run by a coiled ballast. Although I was able to get one to light with the electronic it would only last a few weeks. The 2GX7 has been working for almost a year.

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Well before I read your post about the importance of the 2GX& base bulbs I put this together...

 

dsc01568fh7.jpg

 

dsc01569nr5.jpg

 

It's not quite a clean looking as yours, but it should do. I used a porcelain lamp socket. The top screws into the base to hold it in place. Since the bottom is closed I'll have to drill a couple small holes for air intake vents. I also added some plastic to the sides using JB Weld to bond the pieces together. I can put 1-inch velcro on the sides and about 3/4" velcro on top. It shouldn't go anywhere. I don't think I'll add vecro to the bottom. That tiny little gap won't let much light out and it will let a little air in.

 

It's a 10W 50/50 bulb. I've since read that a 6500k bulb is ideal and these 50/50 bulbs don't work very well for cheato. I think I'll take it back and replace it with one of these 6500k 15W coil lights...

 

http://www.elights.com/neo.html

or

https://shop.bulbtown.com/displayProductDoc...oryStyle=Style1

 

These bulbs are rated around 8000 hrs that's well over 1 yr if I'm only going to run it 16hrs a day. Do you think this idea should work?

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United_Poseidon

After admiring stonys mod, I made on of these as well. Looks pretty good. I like how you got the bulb to seat. Very solid and sturdy. If you want to make it look a little cleaner, go to Home Depot and pick up a can of flat black textured spray paint. Spray just the outside. It will blend in to the vinal almost perfectly. On the inside I would use some sort of reflective material, bent in a parabolic fashion with some vents, like Stony's. I used some polished stainless steel shim stock that I got from work (I am in areospace). Looks pretty good though. it will definitely do the trick. If you want to see mine I could post a pic or two for example.

 

Best

U.P.

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