I'm proud of myself!

Jarob

New member
DIY 150w HQI modded NanoCube 24
I was bored today, and had an old 150w HQI MH ballast along with sockets so, and a spare lid to a 24g nanocube so I decided to put them together! Everything is tested and works perfectly, but will be finilized and put together tomorrow, its late! The new hood cases a 150w DE MH 14k bulb, 14 LED's Blue, and two 3" 12v fans. If you have any questions let me know!



Scrapped hood
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Spare ballast before de-wire and the new re-wire
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MH sockets in place where the old CF's were
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Newly wired ballast (notice how neat and clean now)
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New top
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POWER
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And just the LED's
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Tomorrow I will cover the lid with the uv and splash guard, hide all of the wires and then put it on the tank! The bulb is an old spare so I will be ordering a new one also. any suggestions on bulbs?
 
awesome job, seriously amazing idea and work with the wiring.

You are gonna have to upgrade the fans or find a better way to get rid of heat though. it is gonna melt that
 
Yeah is that reflector in the hood plastic with a shiny coating or is it really metal, I havent opened my nano in a while.


Looks great though.

Heat could/will be an issue.
 
This mod is a must. I just finished putting a 150 HQI in my NC this weekend. Works great. I vented the top of the hood to get rid of the extra heat. I left one PC bulb in for dawn/dusk.

The reflector is actually pretty heavy metal.
 
:) Yea its some heavy metal, I was suprised. I wish I could have a PC in there too, just too much work for me right now, I will add one eventually probably.

I was pretty pleased with my wiring skills considering im only 20 and its only my 2nd time wiring a ballast but it turned out great, let me just say A LOT better than the company who did it before me, pathetic...

wrass, What do you have for extra ventelation? Did you have any problems with heat on the splash guard?
 
After another 4 hours of work I finally got everything done. While I was at it I also added another pump to the 3rd chamber and wrapped it around to the front left corner. I should be pushing 500+gph now on top of my new lighting. SPS should love it!

Hood all wired
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Little vent I made, I will smooth it out and possibly add a fan if needed.
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UV shield on the splash guard
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New pump outlet
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Finished hood!!
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Yay
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Still powering on using the old bulb. New one should be here soon
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I'd say it has been a pretty sucessful past 2 days. Now I have a pretty heavily modded NC24!
 
your vent hole is in perfect position, just put a computer fan in there and run it off a different/separate dc source from the ones that are in there and you will be golden. also I don't think you need a dawn and dusk since you have the leds! they should do the job.

I also love the pump Idea.
 
Here is the MH and the PC. I used a T5 reflector cut down and flattened and widened just a bit. The PC is in the stock location. I replaced the dual ballast with a single from Ballastwise.com.

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I ended up removing the stock splash shield and used a glass tank cover instead. I run a sump under it so lack of air flow over the water in the display is not an issue.

If your shield is getting too hot, you might try removing a larger area and using more glass. I have seen pics of tanks that have the entire lower section removed. I may still do this if the glass is too much trouble to deal with. You could also get better fans. NewEgg.com is a good place to start.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12287551#post12287551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jarob
Any idea where I can get some glass that blocks uv?

Why?

I think that would be bad for the corals??? though I am not positive I think they need/use the uv's

But kirkwood glass can get you filtered glass cut to any size
 
"HQI systems produce UV rays, a tank top with a UV filter is required to keep corals from getting "burned." "

thats what I have heard about DE bulbs
 
You do need the glass. DE bulbs have no UV filtration of any type.

SE bulbs have the UV filter built in the glass that encases the bulb. No need for a piece of glass for a UV filter.

Nice mod btw.
 
Awesone, just ordered the glass from kirkwood glass and its only $4.50 for a 12"x6" UV filter glass! Should be ready by this weekend.
 
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