Coralife BioCube 29 - Lighting makeover

pdiehm · Jun 30, 2015

I have a Coralife Biocube, and the stock lighting is fine but it appears that I am going to be limited in what corals I can keep in there.

Marine Depot recommends the Current USA TrueLumen Pro Dual Dimmable LED Striplight Kit (http://www.marinedepot.com/Current_...xtures-Current_USA-CU03100-FILTFILDLK-vi.html).

Question I have is this kit would appear just by looking at it (1 Marine Fusion 12k white & 453nm blue and 1 Deepwater Blue 453nm strip) would appear to have a very blue tint.

Now, in reading the item description, appears you can dim the blue down to get more white.

Would these 2 strips alone give me more options in corals and placement, such as a Torch midlevel vs near the top with the stock PC's?

Or would I need to add a 3rd strip of say 14k diamond white?

saltyphish · Jun 30, 2015

In honestly I have seen some of those tanks with torch coral and stock lighting doing well. Imo if your going to change the lights just go with either a retro kit from rapidled.com or one from stevesleds.com. Then you will have no concern over lighting plus a major heat reduction as well. I did the rapidled myself

pdiehm · Jul 1, 2015

I saw them, however I'm not at all comfortable with the amount of modification that needs to be done to get those kits to work.

saltyphish · Jul 1, 2015

In all honesty it is pretty simple. The rapidled comes with step by step instructions with pictures but I can understand what you mean. It is a little involved.

Waboss · Jul 1, 2015

I don't have any experience with the Current USA LED's, but have installed the Rapid LED retrofit kit in a Coralife BC 29 and it's quite easy. The most time consuming part is removing, and reinstalling, all the bloody screws. I ran one for months before deciding to just take the hood off and run a Kessil and all my corals seemed to do very well under it.

pdiehm · Jul 1, 2015

Taking the hood off is a definite possibility, though my wife is putting up resistence on that.

If I do remove the hood, I'll be looking at the Aqua Illumination Prime. My concern is, sitting on the sofa, looking over to the tank and being blinded because of the light sitting over the tank.

Waboss · Jul 1, 2015

I thought the same thing at first, but after setting up the Kessil, it's really not that noticeable to me. My tank is about 12 feet from my TV and I don't really notice it when watching movies or whatever. Not to say you can't see it, but I have my VERY blue, so that might help with it not being as distracting as if it were white light.

Bones · Jul 1, 2015

I have had several of these cubes over the past few years and I have always taken the lid and the plastic rim off of them. They look like a completely different tank, and much better IMHO. This is a pick of my current one. Its SPS dominate and I'm running it BB with AI prime for lighting. Judge for yourself.

pdiehm · Jul 2, 2015

Wow, nice tank. I'm not sure how to even begin taking the trim off. Did you have to trim the trim in the back to get the mounting bracket to attach? That's the one thing scaring me about the prime....the bracket has gotten awful reviews.

I sat down last night and made a plan for my Cube 29 makeover.

The Plan

Take my stock Coralife Biocube 29, with the 36W Power Compacts and learn. Grow mushrooms, zoanthids, and ricordia. Learn with stuff that you almost have to try to kill.

During this time, since my 120 gallon main display is pretty much all set up and ready to go (aside from fish and more easy to grow corals, but with my lights, I can go well into the LPS/SPS land if I chose to do so), pay down the credit card, and plan how to upgrade the biocube 29.

First thing would be removing the hood. Been playing with it today seeing how loud it is and such. It's not loud, and with the TV on, it's not noticable.

Second, would be getting a decent powerhead like an mp10 quiet drive. I currently have a Koralia 425 nano, and while it suffices right now, this tank will be in my main family room. Suffice just doesn't cut it.

Third, ditch the Tunze 9001 Skimmer and get a better HOB skimmer, like an Aquamaxx. Overkill yes, but i'd rather overskim than underskim.

Fourth, invest in the lighting. I'm not sure which way to go with this. I could see myself getting the Kessil 360 wide angle. It's sleek, it looks nice, and would have a very simple gooseneck. Other options would be the Ecotech XR15's, mainly because if I get an MP10, I can control both with reeflink. Another option is the Aqua Illumination Prime. Issue with the prime is the mounting arm sucks hairy balls. Horrible reviews. Whatever i get will need to be able to be mounted over the top trim. That's not coming off.

Fifth, get an apex jr, though if i do these upgrades, I am probably going to be forced to get the next step up, which upsets me, as I just saw a full apex set for $200 here.

Lastly, probably upgrade the return pump...haven't researched this at all, so I'm not sure what I will go with. I love my Sicce 4.0 on the 120 (and I may bump that up to a 5.0 on black friday). It's silent. Once I put some vinyl tubing on the output, it became dead silent. Big fan of Sicce products.

the items above are not in any particular order.

Items:

Kessil A360N "Tuna Blue"
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/kessil...ium-light.html

AI Prime
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/aqua-i...ed-module.html

Maxspect Nano
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/maxspe...g-fixture.html

Ecotech Radion XR15w
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/ecotec...fixture-1.html

Aquamaxx HOB-1 Skimmer
http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaMaxx_...PSHONW-vi.html

Ecotech MP10wQD
http://www.marinedepot.com/EcoTech_M...FIPHAD-vi.html

That's the start. Definitely looking forward to having this tank be the center of attention once you go in that room.

pdiehm · Jul 2, 2015

And interesting placement of the Tunze 9001. I ditched that blue air adjustment and used an airline adjuster I had laying around. If I would close the screw on that, the hose would slide to the side without any change in air.

Bones · Jul 2, 2015

Lol....I just realized in this pick the skimmer was still inside the display. This is when I first got the skimmer and hadn't fitted it in the back chamber yet. If you plan on just keeping softies and Lps, be careful going with a larger skimmer you don't want to over strip the water. I even take my small skimmer off line every so often to avoid this. In regards to the trim it is much easier than you think to remove and the glass underneath is beveled and smooth already. I have done at least 10 of them already for both myself and friends without any problems. It gives the tank such a clean look and when I tell people it's a BC they don't believe me. The arm for the AI Prime isn't as bad as people are saying. With a small mod it works perfect without any issues(I had the same concerns before I bought it). The mount will also fit over the trim without issues as well. Your choice of equipment all sounds good the only comment I will make is about the Kessil 360w, I bought one and hated it. You are locked in to the one color spectrum and I personally didn't like the way it looked and sold it. I have been in the hobby for many years now and have always kept at least 1 BC running I love them. If you have any questions I would be happy to help. Good luck!!

pdiehm · Jul 2, 2015

How do you go about removing the trim. Am interested. Not sure when I'll get around to doing these mod's, but I'm making a list.

Bones · Jul 2, 2015

Well first off I'm not sure if your BC is already up and running but if not here is the easiest way to remove it. If you have a heat gun use it to heat the silicone that is holding the trim on it makes it soft and easier to cut, if not it's not a big deal just a bit harder. Next decide where you want to leave the trim on (I originally took all trim off but now I leave the back piece and the side portions up to where the rear chamber ends) then mark those spots. You are going to want to remove it in 3 pieces, the front piece and then each side piece. I use a small hand saw to cut the top portion of the trim down to the glass and then wire cutters on the side pieces that hang over each side of the glass. Then I use a razor blade and run it under the trim on the outside and inside of the glass. There is A LOT of silicone under the trim so it takes several passes with the razor. I then use a butter knife and push it up under the trim to start prying it off. It does take some pressure to get it to start lifting up but when you get it started it comes off pretty easily. You want to do this with the other 2 sides as well. When you get the trim all off there will still be silicone on the glass so just use a razor blade and remove it all. The glass under the trim is nicely bevelled and smooth. That's pretty much it, just be careful when applying pressure not to chip or break the glass. The key is making several passes with the razor blade before starting the pry it off. I watched a few YouTube videos of people removing the trim on tanks before I did my first one. I'm sure there are better ways and better tools to use but this is how I have done it.

pdiehm · Jul 2, 2015

Yep I have her up and running. I do think it looks clean.

Saw someone selling AI Hydra 26's recently for $150. Don't know much about the light, wonder if I see something like that again if those are sufficient lighting