Biocube - Corals - Overheating

[kimbaco6]

Does anyone have experience with the 29 gallon Biocube and corals?

I have problems with it overheating, and want to get a better light so I can get corals that require stronger lights.

Was thinking of scrapping the cover and lights that came with it and hanging a metal halide lamp from above. I know these also produce a lot of heat.

Would I need some sort of plastic covering the top so nobody jumps out?

Thoughts?

Thanks!!

 

[KathyC]

What lights are in the hood now? PC's?
If you are going to scrape the hood/current lighting - I would suggest T5's instead of MH's - due to the heat factor. They run a good deal cooler and you might be able to get away with a clip on fan to keep the tank cool.
T5's can also hang from above
You'd use a mesh cover. A glass or plastic cover will negatively impact oxygen exchange and cut back a lot on the light getting through.

You want to make a mesh cover for the tank to keep the fish in and not impact oxygen & light.
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/diy-do-yourself/77035-tank-cover-building-demonstration.html

 

[seldin]

...I have problems with it overheating, and want to get a better light so I can get corals that require stronger lights. Was thinking of scrapping the cover and lights that came with it and hanging a metal halide lamp from above. I know these also produce a lot of heat....

I have an open top Solana nano tank with a Viper 150MH light. So top is all open. I also have a fan blowing into tank. I set my fan to go on at 81 degrees. When office is at 89 degrees, my tank is around 82.5 degrees or 83 degrees. So fan works awesome on an open tank and that is with MH lighting.

However, T5 lighting will be much better on producing less heat. Please note for a fan to produce excellent results, lots of evaporation will take place, so an ATO is a must to make life easier.

So bottom line, is taking off hood can give you a lot less heat. T5 lighting is less heat producing than MH, but with my fan, my MH lighting does very well.

Good luck.

 

[NYreefNoob]

i have a ap 24g with the current nep 6 bulb t5 and put's hardly any heat out also have the acrylic splash shield doesnt really let the heat towards the tank, my apartment gets pretty warm and have been able to keep tank cool with a 4" fan blowing across it, plus i use ice packs on warmer days

 

[jr973]

yeah thats a good way to do it reefnoob i jus run a chiller on each one of my tanks but if the resources arent there for a chiller next best thing is a fan and ice paks

 

[bizarrecorals]

I use to have biocubes in all sizes, they do produce quite a bit of heat, I tried removing the cover but it made the appearance of the tank strange. You can try leaving the feeding lip open at all time and blow a fan on it, it'll decrease the temp. dramtically. Ice packs will work great with corals, but the fluctuation of temp. on most marine fish will just lead to other problems.

 

[kimbaco6]

The biocube standard lights are - 2 power compact fluorescent lamps, 10,000K and Actinic.

Yes, I have taken off the lid and used a fan, and the temp went down significantly to where I was happy with it.

But, put the lid back on, there you go again, right back where you started. I am sure it doesn't help that my only AC is in the bedroom, but no window in the livingroom (only sliding glass door to garden) so not many options.

I think I will go for Kathy's suggestion and do the mesh top with a hanging light. Seems like the most logical.

Has anyone out there ever converted the actual hood with different lights? I hear it takes an electrician in essence. My lawyering skills won't help me there!

 

[DREUTZ]

I bought the nanotuners 5.6 LED retro kit which allows you to add it directly to your stock hood. I am extremely happy with it because I'm able to house SPS and see a lot of growth and would say that it is definitely worth the money, however the tank still runs hot. I have it on the second floor and even if I keep the AC running in the room 24/7 and leave the two access doors open the tank still reaches 80-81 regularly. It may be a lot better on the 1st floor of a building, but I don't know.

The tank cools too much if I crack the hood and blow a fan on it, so maybe with the combination of an LED setup and cracking the hood to allow a fan to blow more directly onto the water surface would allow you to get away with running your tank without a chiller or AC.

 

[JonnyIce]

when i had the modded (extra PCs) hood, i would leave all the doors/hatches open and put a fan on the return chamber...now i got rid of the hood and have an LED unit...my friend made me a custom top out of lexan...and i just lay the lighting unit on legs...because i cant drill into the ceiling. that being said, many biocube owners i have spoken with have and love the Sunpod 150HQI

 

[knockout]

This is a BioCube 14 but I had to raise the hood because of heat issues.

 

[seldin]

Knockout,

Cool picture.

 

[DREUTZ]

KO thats a good idea

 

[knockout]

thanks, I dont have the tank anymore but those 3 changes made a world of difference.

 

[anthony27]

that is a very good idea to elevate the hood like that

 

[knockout]

very little light loss, only softies and lps and an anemone all were very happy

 

[kimbaco6]

All great advice. Thanks.

Kevin, aren't you worried about jumpers?
I think I am going to scrap the cover all together, use the mesh that Kathy suggested and get a light like the Sunpod 150HQI.

 

[kimbaco6]

Kevin, you had softies with the standard T5 light in the biocube? I thought I needed to get a metal halide, no?

 

[KathyC]

Some cubes come with PC lighting which isn't strong enough for some corals.
If you have the option of being able to hang a light from the ceiling you can do either T5's or MH (under which you can keep any coral), though the T5's will cause less heating issues.

What type of corals are you looking to keep?

 

[knockout]

If you want to keep stony corals I strongly suggest the T5/MH/LED options, I kept a couple of LPS in that tank, ligths were the standard PC lights, if you are worried about jumpers then you need to do some mesh up on top HD sells some to keep animals out of gardens and some pet store that sell pond stuff sell a type to keep leaves out of them also, I had no jumpers in there so was not worried about it. very easy to make, I use it on my 215 when I have wrasses

 

[kimbaco6]

Hey Kathy. Still researching corals so not sure what I want, but it seems like many of the ones I am drawn to in the store require strong lighting. I love those blue clams.

BTW, gave my 2 fish away, got more live rock so now I have 30 pounds of live rock, 4 small hermit crabs and an emerald crab. Am hoping this will set me on a better course.