14 gallon biocube light mod updated

[polarbear]

So I have a 90 gallon tank at my house that gives me and the wife a lot of enjoyment. I decided about 2 months ago that I wanted to get a tank for my office at work. At my old job I had a fresh water tank but that's not good enough anymore since I have the saltwater itch. So I bought a 14 gallon biocube and because I can't leave a tank alone I decided that I wanted to upgrade the lights a little. Now I don't have a lot of money so LED's were not an option. I saw a tank for sell on here recently that had a PC light upgrade (an extra PC light for a total of 3). Well like I said I don't have the money to buy the upgrade kit so I got an extra biocube hood from a fellow reefer (thanks nanoreefer11) and constructed my own. I have to say that it was very easy and came out very well. I'm currently running 2 actinics and one 10K. I'm waiting on my new bulbs to come in that I bought on amazon. They were a lot cheaper then at the store. Later I'm going to by a blue LED stunner strip just to make the overall look a little more blue. The tank is stocked with about 20lbs of live sand, 30 lbs of live rock (I think because I don't know the exact weight). I currently have a baby clown fish, a yasha goby and pistol shrimp pair, 4 turbo snails, about 7 hermit crabs, 2 Nassarius Snails. Corals consist of a Kenya tree, devil hand leather frags, pipe organ frag, one mushroom (not sure of the kind), GSP, teal polyp frag, (2) fairy dust polyp frags, and a single Xenia. Circulation inside consist of a Koralia nano and a Hydro FLO Rotating Water Deflector which I'm waiting to get in the mail from amazon as well. Im running chemi pure elite in a filter bag (again thanks nanoreefer11 for the recommendation) which will soon be in a media rack in the second chamber which I'm making myself as well. I like making things instead of buying them when they are easy to construct. Return pump is stock. So enough of the talk. Here are some pictures of the light mod build as well as the stocked tank. If you have any questions or need help with figuring out the mod please let me know. Thanks for reading.

[polarbear]

more pictures

[polarbear]

pictures

[350gt]

Very cool but keep a eye on that temp..... i would think it would heat up pretty fast in such a enclosed area.

When you do go LED, just ditch one of the PC's and get a panorama instead of the stunner. i know they are a little more but well worth it as I went the same route and ended up spending more. Plus you will dump some heat when you swap put a PC and you will be happy with the color and shimmer.
Also If you do the panorama, later you can buy a 3 way splitter and add another actinic strip to replace another PC. just some food for thought as I have gone this route and I would have saved a little $$......

[polarbear]

Ya I have been watching it. I've seen it get up to about 82. I'm not planning on having the extra light on all the time but will still continue to monitor it.

[Zack]

Looks sweet man! I'm glad that hood worked out for you :)

[Janus]

Nice little mod you got there ;) I just modded my 29 cube with Panorama strips, so when you decide to go with LED's I woud recommend looking into them.

[350gt]

Nice little mod you got there ;) I just modded my 29 cube with Panorama strips, so when you decide to go with LED's I woud recommend looking into them.


how many did you use? which strips?

[350gt]

Ya I have been watching it. I've seen it get up to about 82. I'm not planning on having the extra light on all the time but will still continue to monitor it.

leave the little lid open during the day, helps a degree or 2...... GL...

[polarbear]

Thanks for the advice. Im thinking of trying to add a fan over the third chamber where the return is. Not sure how it will work out.

[350gt]

Or one blowing in air, so the other 2 are moving it out...

I am sure it would be sufficient, another thing I did was go inside and dremel the vents a little bigger, that way there is no restriction on the incoming vents...

[polarbear]

did you upgrade the fans or leave them stock and just dremel the vents? how high of a temp should i be worried about? Like i said i saw it up to about 82 the other night. Everything was fine so I didnt worry to much.

[350gt]

When I was just running the pcs, I left the fans alone... One wasn't working well so I knew that was a problem with heat build up..... And I dremeled the vents, I didn't add new holes or anything but opened up the slots, sorta hard to explain...

at 82 I don't think you should worry but I would worry if it stayed there for long periods of time. Or if it rose higher when your not able to view it. Is there a ceiling fan in the room? I would leave it on if there is.

[polarbear]

I understand what you mean by cutting out the vents on the underside of the hood. I was going to do it but decided not to. I might do it after all to see if it helps. There is not a fan in the room and will not be one in my office when i move the tank there in a couple of weeks. The room at my house stays around 73 and at work the office is always at 73 as well. Ill cut out the vents and see what i can do about adding another fan to the back of the tank.

[polarbear]

So last night I made the outside box for my media rack. It came out really well. I used acrylic that I got from Home Depot and weld on that I already had. Im going to be using the egg crate stuff to make the inside shelves which I will be doing tonight. I liking how this project is turning out and for a total of about $9.00 in acrylic and a little of my time it beats paying $45.00 plus shipping. I have attached some pictures of the project so far and will post more of the finished project.





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[polarbear]

Here are the rest of the pictures for the media rack. I forgot to take a picture of the water directional piece I made and that over all look with it in the biocube. Ill take a picture of that tonight when I get home. Im running Chemi-Pure Elite in the third section and a filter pad on top for now until I can get so Seachem and filter floss this weekend.

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[TXSea]

Pretty cool! I ended up buying the media baskets from inTank and though they were pricey, the precision of his work is awesome. I love my baskets and so glad I got rid of the stock sump setup. I didn't feel like making them myself but I always enjoy pics of DIY stuff ppl do. My tank is thriving well with the setup compared to the wet/dry stock sump. Check out my nano page under nano section titled "My 29 gallon bio cube".

[polarbear]

Ya I would have bought one if I had the money. There cool. I'll check out your page.

[polarbear]

http://www.maast.org/webkit-fake-url://8A85CCE3-7065-45E6-B40F-3801430A3144/imagejpeg

[Monica25]

Polarbear, what are the media baskets for?

[Zack]

There used to hold different forms of media in the back chambers of the Bio cube. The basket makes it super easy to do maintenance on your media.

[polarbear]

Thanks Zack. Ya it holds media like chemi-pure elite (which I'm running in there right now) and my filter pad on the top. I'm going to buy some seachem Purigen to put in the middle chamber of the rack when I get around to buying it. Might even put live rock rubble in there if I can get an under water light for it.

[Monica25]

Ok I, trying to understand but I don't have a mental picture yet.

[Zack]

Here's a picture of what one loaded up will look like. Of course, the media and the order is up to whoever's tank it is :)

http://shop.mediabaskets.com/images/IMG_7769.jpg

Also, how's the chemipure elite doing for you man?

[polarbear]

It's working out great. Tank is nice and clear. Thanks again.

[Monica25]

Oh thanks now it makes total sense. Thanks for the picture.

[polarbear]

Ok so I am finally able to post some more pictures. The first 2 are of the media basket installed with the water directional piece which I made as well. Other's are of the tank. I got my new bulbs in and my Hydro FLO Rotating Water Deflector so I wanted to post new pictures. I also got a neon trupmet coral for the tank from member "psyko". Thanks man. Also caught a picture of my Yasha goby. Enjoy.



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[polarbear]

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[Monica25]

Very nice tank congratulations so much color!

[polarbear]

Thanks. How did the water change go?

[Monica25]

Good I wiped it off then used the suction to get it out about 1 gallon then replaced it with new water. Looks better a bit but still have quite a bit.

[Zack]

How did the tank move go man?

[polarbear]

The tank move went very well. Its now in its new home at my office. I got everything set back up and can hardly tell that it was broken down and sat back up. I happy with the way everything turned out and will be adding some more fish soon. Also think that I need to upgrade the return pump to give a little more flow. What do you guys think about the rock work? Does it seem to be over kill?


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[polarbear]

Hey im also wanting to up grade my return to a maxi jet 900. Does anyone have one they can spare or for sell? Maybe even trade for a frag of Neon Green Palau Nepthea.

[polarbear]

Anyone?

[350gt]

I have one, i let someone borrow it though. If i get it back soon, i will let you know..

[polarbear]

cool. What do you think about the amount of rock that I have in the biocube?

[350gt]

IMO the rock to the right seems out of place...... can you even get a magnet on that right side to clean the glass? But it seems like a great ledge for frags that you want closer to the light.... Its all about what your happy with though.... I could never get my sons aquapod right and ended up with just one big rock..... And im still not happy which is why its being broke down...

[polarbear]

Ya the rock on the right does seem a little out of place but i wanted to creat a ledge and cave looking affect for the fish to be able to swim under and around the back of the tank. Is not staying to well so I might have to reposition it soon. My concern was I have to much rock in the tank. Not sure if that possible.

[polarbear]

and yes I can get the mag float over there to clean the glass. Its tight but still works.

[polarbear]

So I havent posted anything here in about a week so i wanted to update everyone with what I have added to the tank. I started useing purple up and have seen the rocks start to color up a bit. I also added 2 new fish. A bio color blenny (which I have always wanted) and a six line wrasse. Everyone is doing well and are out all of the time swimming around. Here is a new picture


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[polarbear]

So I havent posted any new pictures since Feb. so I took some new pictures today to share. I havent had any problems with the tank so far except the death of my 6 line which happend becuase he jumped out on top of the filter pad. Things have been growing very well under the 3 stock PC lights. Im planning to move to LED's later down the line so that I can keep SPS.

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[polarbear]

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[350gt]

Very nice and simple....

[polarbear]

Ya I try to keep it that way since this tank is at work. I have a clown, bi color blenny and a yashi goby and pistol shrimp combo in the tank. Im looking to get a star fish and cleaner shrimp just so I can have a little more life in there. I also have a decent clean up crew which I will be adding to. All I do is dose purple up and iodine along with water changes about every 2 weeks. I really want the LED's so that I can out some of my caps from home in the tank. I know its only a 14 gallon but I want a lot of life in it.

[polarbear]

So I wanted to post some update pictures of my tank at work. It’s a 14 gallon biocube with a moded PC fixture. I have ordered LED's from Rapid LED for the biocube along with a light controller. It should be in this week at elegant reefs. Ill post new pictures of the fixture and tank once I get the lights installed. The only new thing added to the tank is another clown fish. My original one seemed to be lonely so I added him a buddy or mate. Since adding the second clown both have been swimming around together. My biggest complaint on the tank are the scratches. I wish I could get rid of them or find a replacement 14 gallon biocube on trade for something I have. Here are some updated pictures. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for looking.




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[polarbear]

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[Flyride95]

I like the placement of the gsp.

[Cammed_02]

Sweet tank! Love the gsp on the powerhead, I figured it would be too much for it but I guess not.

[polarbear]

Thanks for the comments. Ya I wasnt for sure if the GSP would be to much either so I just put it on there. Its cool to watch it grow and spin as the power head moves. Its cool to see how it stops growing when it gets to the opening in the front.

[Mr Cob]

haha, great powerhead, nice looking tank

[Zack]

Looks awesome man! Is this the one in your office?

[polarbear]

yes its the one at my office. After I get the LED's in this week Ill be bring some monti caps and SPS frag to try out as well as some small zoa frags that i will be cutting and a frag of my Neon Green Palau Nepthea.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

nice pics

[polarbear]

Thank you

[polarbear]

So I got my new rapid led lights in on Thursday and installed them yesterday. I have to say that I love the way it makes my tank look. I can't believe it took me this long to get them. Here are some pictures of the installed lights and what my tank looks like with the new lights on. I also installed a true lumen 3 blue light led light for moon lights at night. They look nice as well. I hope you enjoy because I did all day yesterday. Had a hard time getting work done at my job because I kept looking at the tank. Hahahaha. Ill be updating with new pics as I add SPS monti caps and zoas to the tank.

[polarbear]

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[polarbear]

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[350gt]

Is that a UV in there?

Looks real good......

[polarbear]

Sure is. Louis at elegant reef suggested that I put one in there to help coral growth.

[Mr Cob]

nice...really like the colors and the corals seem to have responded well to the new light!

[polarbear]

Ya. I only have the power at about 1/4 of the way. It gets a lot brighter then this but I needed to adjust the corals to the new light. On Monday ill increase it a little more.

[350gt]

Sure is. Louis at elegant reef suggested that I put one in there to help coral growth.


Im sure it will benefit....

Again it looks real good..

[polarbear]

Thank you.

[Zack]

NICE!

[polarbear]

Thanks man. I use to look at your tank videos and thank man I wish I had LED's. Now I have my own.