Matt's JBJ 28 Nano mixed reef build

sh0tyme83

sh0tyme83

Member
So I got my 28 Nano yesterday and I'm going to be keeping track of it here. I am going to order LEDs to retro fit into the hood, just not sure which ones yet. I really want the option of setting a dusk/dawn/moon phase so I'm thinking I'll need dimmable along with some sort of controller. Any ideas? I'm thinking about the LED retro fit kit from RapidLed.com and then ordering the Typhoon controller from Steve. I wish Steve made a retro fit kit for the 28 nano. I got an email into him so we'll see what he says.

I got my rock and sand from my old 90 that's dead now. Just need to give it a good scrub and seed it somehow. Hopefully getting that done this evening. Got any good tips for nano cube 28 mods? I know people have been replacing the stock pumps with maxijets, is that still the way to go?

Matt
 
frostyjay1

frostyjay1

Active member
you can also buy or make a media basket for the back. Another person you can talk to about the LEDs is Jayjigga. He is the LED master.
 
tinman

tinman

Well-known member
im not really a fan of diy leds in the hood of biocubes and nano cubes .. invest just a little more and get a kessil or Ai sol and hang it over the tank. remove the hood and make a screen top. you would be happy in future.
 
frostyjay1

frostyjay1

Active member
+1 or get a cc-120p and spend way less and have the automation and moonlight capability. screen kits are cheap and easy to do. Plus your close to me so I can help if needed. I can also show you how to make a light hanger for it like mine. You can swing by and see my setup if you want to get some ideas. I have a bio-cube 29 which isn't to different
 
sh0tyme83

sh0tyme83

Member
I was thinking about going that route too. I don't know how I feel about having the top open with my two little ones roaming around (3 years and 18 months). I was thinking about trying to retro fit the cc 120p into the hood. I know a guy at work who is good at plastic welding and has a plastic welder.
 
hoju74

hoju74

Member
+1 on making/buying a media basket. The stock one is too small and a lot of the water flows around the media, not through it. When I had my 28g cube I had filter floss on top, cheato in the middle, and chemipure elite in the bottom. Never had a skimmer on that tank, and it worked pretty well.
 
CoralN00b

CoralN00b

New member
I have the same tank. I have the HQI Metal Halide version. I love the halide growth but I want LED's because they will be less heat and noise. I can't go screen top on this one. So I have to do a kit too.

I am upgrading mine with an in line uv sterilizer, I added am MP10 also. I am getting a tunze skimmer that replaces the media basket and adding a media reactor to mine. I still use the stock pumps on mine but I have thought about the upgrade pumps.
 
frostyjay1

frostyjay1

Active member
CoralN00b said:
I have the same tank. I have the HQI Metal Halide version. I love the halide growth but I want LED's because they will be less heat and noise. I can't go screen top on this one. So I have to do a kit too.

I am upgrading mine with an in line uv sterilizer, I added am MP10 also. I am getting a tunze skimmer that replaces the media basket and adding a media reactor to mine. I still use the stock pumps on mine but I have thought about the upgrade pumps.
Click to expand...
Upgrading the pump creates more heat. Go LED first

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
 
R

rmeugene

Premium member
I have the 24 gallon nano - one of the first led versions. I have been looking into doing something also. My hood has 13 led's - 2 on one switch and 11 on another, all off of one cord. I had sent a note to both Steve's LEDs and Rapid trying to at least figure a way to just add a seperate cord so I could time the switches seperately. I am going to take some pictures of it to see if one of the kits would work. My wife absolutely hates the open top look so going with something else is not an option.
 
sh0tyme83

sh0tyme83

Member
Yea my wife does as well. She is also worried the kids will manage to do something with the water, either drop stuff in or start splashing the water out. I definitely think I'm going to have to go with the rapidled setup. I just don't like that idea since I don't have a controller with it.
 
CoralN00b

CoralN00b

New member
Have you guys checked out the ecoexotic strips? I looked at adding these to my tank and I can't because the halide heat will destroy them.

I wanted Actinics on mine.
 
sh0tyme83

sh0tyme83

Member
Well I got the tank wet last night only to find out that one of the stock return pumps is shot. The white shaft running through the impeller is broken so the impeller doesn't spin. Guess it's a good time to upgrade to the mj 1200s now. So now I have to wait for those to come from AquaCave. I was thinking about running the returns 24x7 and putting my nano's on the wavemaker. I know mj's on a wavemaker is somewhat iffy.
 
sh0tyme83

sh0tyme83

Member
Got my lights ordered!!! Went with the nano cube retro fit kit from Rapidled.com with the dimmable drivers and the ddc controller. Can't wait for them to get here. I worked with Vince and customized my LEDs to be 7 cool whites, 8 royal blues, 3 UVs, 1 red and 1 green. So how should I plan the layout? Also, he mentioned about turning the drivers down to 700, which string would that be for again?

Matt
 
sh0tyme83

sh0tyme83

Member
I got the solderless ones. I will need to apply thermal paste on the backs and then screw them down to the heatsink. Looks simple enough. I'm more worried about the electrical wiring.
 
sh0tyme83

sh0tyme83

Member
Ok who is good with LED layouts? I'm in the planning stages of trying to layout my LEDs and this is what I got. What do you think?

front of the tank
w b uv b w
b w r w b
b uv g uv b
w b w b w


w=cool white
b=royal blues
uv = ultra violet
r=red
g=green

Is this too much color in the middle of my tank?
 
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