Bio Cube Owner's Thread

[r_jay]

I just ordered mine today! woo woo, finally bit the bullet. I got the 10rb and 10cw but then am adding the 4 moonlight kit, it's gonna de sweet, lol. 04 moonlights and it will be bright (I was told I should use only 2, but...)
I just hope that a) I am ready to do some careful soldering or b) hope I can find someone to help me, lol.

To fund this I ended up selling off most of my livestock out of my 65g. It was that or drop another 140 to replace the t5's on it. plus I'm moving next year. the Biocube is much more portable.

[RedStangGA]

Originally Posted by r_jay

I just ordered mine today! woo woo, finally bit the bullet. I got the 10rb and 10cw but then am adding the 4 moonlight kit, it's gonna de sweet, lol. 04 moonlights and it will be bright (I was told I should use only 2, but...)
I just hope that a) I am ready to do some careful soldering or b) hope I can find someone to help me, lol.

To fund this I ended up selling off most of my livestock out of my 65g. It was that or drop another 140 to replace the t5's on it. plus I'm moving next year. the Biocube is much more portable.

Congrats! I'm hoping to re-use the existing moonlights. Soldering isn't that difficult. Pre-tin the wires though if they aren't already!

[r_jay]

They at least have pretty well detailed instructions on how to install everything (they say to tin the wires)

I only have 2 functioning stock moonlights and they are barely glowing so it's time for them to go. With four I can even space them out over the HS and get good even coverage (in theory).

[fender4string]

Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it.

[RedStangGA]

Originally Posted by r_jay

They at least have pretty well detailed instructions on how to install everything (they say to tin the wires)

I only have 2 functioning stock moonlights and they are barely glowing so it's time for them to go. With four I can even space them out over the HS and get good even coverage (in theory).

Well, just ordered mine along with some apex goodies. Can't wait to get it all set up and configured.

[reefer5060]

Need some help here guys and gals Budgets kinda low on this one but I want to add an led strip to my biocube 29 to get some good growth/coror to the tank I want to keep the pcs and just grow some good ole softies. Cany any one chime in how do the old panorama 8k/actinic look.? Any ideas are welcome.

[r_jay]

I bet just a single strip in the bc would brighten things up quite a bit. at least with softies you shouldn't need more than one to put between the pc's.

On another note, I GOT MY LEDs! excited to start work on the light... only I was bummed to find that the dual color dimmer did not get included in my package. Hopefully i can get most of the light built this weekend and could save the dimmer for another day when it gets here.

[r_jay]

my fingers are numb and my back hurts... I need to take a break:

The dimming kit was not in my package, I'm hoping they send me me one soon. At least I got the soldering done and the moonlights are ready.


This is the first time I've done anything like this so, I'm sorry if it looks like a drunk spider wired my LEDs.

[RedStangGA]

Sweet! Hope to get working on my kit soon! They've shipped.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[r_jay]

Alright, so today I got anxious and wired everything just temporarily to see if it all works. Since I don't have the dimmer I used a 9volt battery and juiced it up. First I did the whites:

Then the blue (my camera was ready for it this time):

And all together:


It all works I just can't wait till I can put it in my biocube, it's gonna be sweet.

[r_jay]

Here it is, I thought I already posted this but I'll do it again

First is the whites, then blues then both

[Hextall]

Looks really nice... Did you get the dimmers? why were they not included...just an oversight or is there a shortage on them?

I'm trying really hard to be patient and wait a little before sinking more money and buying the kit... but my credit card billing cycle ended yesterday and since we pay off our CC's every month... I'm back down to zero. In theory. ha ha.

[r_jay]

The dimmer was sent the next day, just an oversight but I got it all. I am very happy with how it all turned out. the hardest bit was soldering the dimmer, just very tight spaces to solder (i wish I had 2 more hands that were tiny enought to fit in the area and hold the wires).

I was VERY cautious with everything since I was afraid of burning out my leds and having to buy more. Just follow the directions ;-)

I already have a strong urge to buy another smaller kit to put over my cadlight pico.

[Hextall]

I'm going to be getting this kit soon... assume I have no tools to do it (which is true, beyond screw drivers and drills).

What would I need to buy?

[r_jay]

The things I used most are (in order of frequency used):
Wire crimping multi tool ( i have no idea what it's called)
Wire Cutters (small)
Soldering iron
Solder (i prefer the one with a resin core)
Philips Screw driver (no point in using a drill***see below***)
Small needle nose pliers
Extra wire (they give you some but I got a thicker gauge and more of it)
Heat Shrink
Wire Connectors
(you could get away with soldering every connection in the wiring but crimping a wire connector is the easiest)
Multimeter ( borrow one if you can)


Something I wish I had would be a small vice to hold wires while I try to solder them together.

***The fans they give you in the kit are sweet but they are thicker than the factory ones so naturally the factory screws will not reach the base of the hood with the new fans. So I used a 1/4"(i think) drill bit and widened the holes on the fans so the screws would go done about 1/2 way into the fan screw holes and attach to the hood; otherwise I SUPPOSE I could have bought longer screws... but screw that.***

[Hextall]

Thanks... that's good info.

[Redsox Nation]

looks good r jay! this is the first time ive seen the rapid kit up and running on a bc FINALLY!!!!!!! I know its hard to tell from the pics, but I feel my panorama pros create the same effect and a slightly better spectrum from the magenta imo...but it does look great.....how does the 4 moonlights look? im sure you had to turn them way down to get a good effect?

[r_jay]

The four moonlights are great! they are a little dimmer then my blues at 50% since they are on a constant current driver but it still looks great IMO, lol.

Right now I only have the light running at 50% so as to not fry my coral, as it is my zoas were not happy, initially. I am tempted to turn it all up though cause the whites are SUPER BRIGHT!

[RedStangGA]

I'm running mine at only 20-25% and my Paly's seem to be loving it. I went with 12RB and 8CW. Run the blues at 25% and the whites at 20%. LOVE the shimmer though.

[r_jay]

Yeah I have suspicions I should have toned it down a little more to begin...but, most of my coral is frags out of a tank that had t5's on it. It's just my few zoas and softies that were previously in the biocube under the PC's that were not happy initially with the increased light.

Now that I have the LEDs I would like to start looking at adding a sump to the inside of the stand, but I don't know where to begin.

[PoeticInjustice]

I bought a used and stock biocube 29 and I have a question about it. What light does the fan turn on with? Is it the 10,000K daylight or the actinic?

I have a gut feeling that the previous owner has inadvertently switched it.

[r_jay]

Originally Posted by PoeticInjustice

I bought a used and stock biocube 29 and I have a question about it. What light does the fan turn on with? Is it the 10,000K daylight or the actinic?

I have a gut feeling that the previous owner has inadvertently switched it.

originally the bc has the fans wired up to the 10k bulb side, however, it's no big deal to switch the bulbs (especially) since you want the fan on whenever either light is on, cause they generate so much heat.

[LeslieRN]

@ r jay
How do you like that InTank media basket? I saw the youtube installation of one with the fish saver insert...it looked really cool! Do you have pics of it? I'm kinda curious about whether it would work for stacking my carbon and GFO a little better.

[PoeticInjustice]

Originally Posted by r_jay

originally the bc has the fans wired up to the 10k bulb side, however, it's no big deal to switch the bulbs (especially) since you want the fan on whenever either light is on, cause they generate so much heat.

Thanks man. He did switch it since it's now coming on with the actinic.

[r_jay]

I love it, I've had mine for almost 2 years (i think) and it's been the best mod (aside from the LEDs) that I have in my tank. I also have the fish-saver insert but took it out cause I didn't really need it (my eel finds his way back to the tank every time).

I don't have any pictures of mine but found this on their website: http://shop.mediabaskets.com/images/Package%201(1).jpg

when I bought mine they were totally different i.e. I have egg-crate for shelving and now they have fancy "LASER-CUT" pieces. yeah I'm jealous.