(Nearly) Complete Installation

Installed:

• Nanocustoms ICA Chiller: Silicone Tubing 16", AC Adapter Variable 3-12v/ 1200mA AC Adapter, AC Adapter Variable 3-8.4v/ 2500mA AC Adapter
• NVM Moonlight Fix: AC Adapter Variable 3-12v/ 1200mA AC Adapter, Dual Harness, 2 Extra LEDs
• 3.36 series Nanocustoms Modded Lighting Upgrade DIY (for 2004 Nanocube 24DX) : w/ Bare Ballast, Additional T-5 (10W) Actinic Blue bulb/bracket/ballast, 1x PowerCompact 36w 10K/7.1K Combo
• JBJ PL36W Blue Actinic PC bulb, linear pin config

Notable:

• See Figures 1- 15 below.
• It took 10 hours to complete
• Was not obvious how to combine installation instructions for the ICA, NVM Fix/expansion, and 3.36 Lighting kit.
• Not sure the original problem (perhaps 1 bad LED) but ending up with two bad. Wired for the two working (1 new, 1 old), and have them operating at 6v.
• 3.36 Kit instructions written for the 2005 model, had to adjust for the 2004 splash guard (See Figures 6-8)
• Insruction Wire colors were different (because its a 2004?):
• End Cap RDX Cable Ballast
• Black <-> Brown <-> Red
• Black <-> Black <-> Red
• White <-> Blue <-> Blue
• White <-> White <-> Blue
• Hood wiring holes/cutouts (left to right from back - see Figures 10, 11, 13):
• existing notch used to route pump cord
• existing notch with pump gromet used for both ICA and FAN power
• 1st RDX existing hole w/strain-relief
• 2nd RDX existing hole w/strain-relief
• 3rd RDX hole w/strain-relief
• 7/16 hole for Size N coaxial panel-mount Jack (RadioShack #274-1576) used for Moonlights (thus avoiding cutting the DC power supply plug cord)
• 3/16" hole was intended for Moonlight leads, but not used
• existing notch on far right used for T5 Fixture, Heater, and Powerhead
• Splashguard was obscured by mineral build-ups. In sink, covered with two papertowels, soaked with vinegar, let stand for 30 mins, and then rinsed thoroughly (see Figure 2 vs Figure 6).
• Chiller and Fans wired to be on with main lights (see Figure 1)
• Used RadioShack (#64-3073) Insulated Telephone Butt Connectors (22-26 guage) for the Moonlight and Fan wiring.
• When installing ICA, used a single #6 lock washer (med. split, zinc) per screw to avoid sinking them to far into the hood (a method of cutting the screws was mentioned somewhere) (see Figure 8)
• Suggest mock-ing up the wiring completely a couple times prior to cutting, etc.
• All the PST power adapters use the "large" plug which is a 2.50x5.5mm
• Remove the ballast Fuse and used that opening for the power cord - the instructions made no specific mention of where the power cord enters (See Figure 9)
• Installed the ICA such that the input came from the Right side connected to the pump via ~6" of tubing into the 3rd chamber (right-most), and the output came from the left via ~10" of tubing wraping around to the tank return nozzel with its "elbow" aimed left. Used wire-ties to clamp down all four ends (See Figure 15).

Questions:

• What voltages are the original JBJ and the Nanocustoms replacement blue LED's?
• What was the small (not for JBJ Remote Disconnect cable) strain relief for?
• Suggestions on sealing between ICA and splash guard. There's an 1/8" gap (See Figure 8).
• How to reduce rattle of the new, more powerful, pump?
• How was 8.4V 2.5A decided for the Switech TEC 78w device?
• Recommendations on phasing in the new extra lighting? And how much total? I was thinking 1 hr of the Actinics the first week, then +1 hour each week until there's 6-8 hours.

Next steps:

• Adjust end caps in ~1/8" so they better clear the inset portion of the splash guard (See Figure 6).
• Need new large strain relief (sized for JBJ Remote Disconnect cable), and use on ballast for new RDX cable.
• Get 2 new Replacement LEDs.
• Put silicon inside the closed end crimps.
• Re-add the Moonlight switch on the hood, to control (when desired) moonlights (See Figure 4).
• Seal 1/8" gap between ICA and splash guard (See Figure 8).

Chiller Observations - ICA 8.4v, Fan 9v (shared with hood fan):

• 4:35pm - 77.7F
• 5:35pm - 77.0F
• 6:35om - 77.4F
• 7:50pm - 77.7F
• Note sure what to make of above - going to leave off as it doesn't need to be on at these temps and it may be fighting the heater.
• 12:35am - 78.0 (main lights off, fans off, ICA off)

Water change:

• 2.5Gal
• 32oz FW replacement (to lower salinity)
• Post SG = 1.0255
• Used the Aqua Medic Reef Tweezers to remove a great deal of various smaller macro algea (~1 cup) that proved difficult to remove otherwise.

Mounted some LR frags:

• 1 large pieces on the top rock by about 5 stalks.
• 1 piece on the original Xenia branching LR as there are 5 stalks there now (again).
• Was able to catch a 1" long Bristle worm and remove it.

Feeding:

• 1 1/2 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods
• 1 drop of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap-fulls of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• One pinches of Aquatrol Spirulina 20 flakes.

Observations:

• Noticed a new hitchhiker - it 1/2"-3/4" long, pale green, and I think it might be a Nudibranch, hanging around my Smooth Orange Mushroom Anemones (Corallimorpharia Actinodiscus) - I wonder what its eating?

• Have an identification for the red algea on the right side of the tank, Gelidium, a nuisance.
• Noticed something bright red, wide, and fuzzy(?) quickly dissapear back into the rocks, amid a cloud of red (that quickly dispersed). A quick search showed that "ink" may sometimes come from Sea Hares (Order Anaspidea, a type of sea slug, ink described as "purple" or sometimes "red"), or Cephalopods (Octopus, Cuttlefish, Squid - but this seems very unlikely). If it is a hitchiker Sea Hare, the good news is they are herbivores, but the bad news is the ink can be hazardous to the rest of the tank! Sea Slug Forum - Order Anaspidea Although I doubt it would be hiding in the rocks.

Figure 1: Modified Nanocube Electical block diagram

Figure 2: Original Nanocube 2004 24DX hood

Figure 3: Original Nanocube 2004 24DX hood heatshield

Figure 4: Original Nanocube 2004 24DX hood wiring

Figure 5: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - stripped down

Figure 6: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - Modifications - splash guard test fit

Figure 7: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - Modifications - splash guard cut around ICA

Figure 8: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - Modifications - splash guard cut around ICA test fit

Figure 9: Nanocube 2004 24DX ballast - modifications

Figure 10: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - complete wiring modifications

Figure 11: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - full modifications electrical and fit test

Figure 12: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - modifications in use on tank

Figure 13: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - wiring modifications from rear

Figure 14: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - modifications wiring "head-end"

Figure 15: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - modifications ICA Plumbing

Trade-in of livestock, new equipment, and installation

Harvested and traded-in 8 medium Pulsing Xenia (Xeniid) on 4 LR frags, which paid for half of:

• Newtek 8 outlet power strip/7 event 24hr digital timer/alternating day/night outlets, model #SKM703
• JBJ PL36W Blue Actinic PC bulb, linear pin config
• 4x8 Poly-Bio-Marine's Poly Filter

Installation:

• Cut in half the Poly Filter and will install tomorrow night when I can monitor its effect.
• The bulb will be used during the hood construction this weekend.
• Measured opening of the Coralife Mini Aqualight 9" (which has 1 Daylight and 1 Actinic bulb) at 3.25" x 7.75" and cut an outline centered across the back two left sump compartments. A little late I realized the vinyl will peel nicely, so had to use WD40 to remove some remnant adhesive, then Windex to remove the WD40. Used 3M DouLock, "Clear Superlock Fastener" from Radio Shack, to secure the light against this cutout. Will need to apply some foam tape around the perimiter to avoid some light leakage.
• Set the NewTek Timer for daytime lights 6-9pm, and plugged both the Sump/Refugium light and main lights into the timer. The old timer will be used for the mid-day actinics.

Noticed tank water level was low in the sump because of the new surface skimmer, mostly because of the water used to harvest the Xenia. I topped off with about 32oz fresh water. I'll have to take notice of the sump level during water changes and daily top-offs.

Full Picture of the tank:


Window cut into Nanocube tank back vinyl:


View into tank sump - feather dusters and adhesive:


Back of Nanocube with sump light attached:

Installation of new main pump, salinity adjustment, and feeding

In order to replace the pump and run the new power cord and gromet through the hood notch, I had to remove the hood of my 2004 JBJ Nanocube 24DX. While doing this the plastic of the hinges will squeek and make you think it will break, but here's how you do it:

1. Stand in front of the tank, and ensure hood is lowered
2. Place hands on both back corners
3. Pull slowly but firmly forward - the hinges will release

I remove the stock pump, and installed the new Rio Hyperflow 6HF (3.9" X 2" X 2.5", 350 gph @ 1ft) using the existing tube, but with new wire-tie "clamps". There's a much more noticable flow, and I adjusted the output nozzel to aim a bit down and more towards the center of the tank. I had to adjust surface skimmer lower, and the height difference the tank and sump is greater than before, but the surface seemed to clear better than ever before. Light ripples can now be seen, although not as pronounced as under MHs.

I will need to turn off the new pump for feeding and water changes (to avoid spray/splashing with low water line, and to prevent running the sump dry), but there's no switch or any easy way of doing this. Something to look into.

Livestock response:

• 2-tentacled Hair worm (Spionids Polychaete) - in the bottom middle, tentacles waving randomly
• Pulsing Xenia (Xeniid) - front left colony closed
• Blastomussa wellsi colony - retracted
• 1 green hairy mushrooms (Order Corallimorpharia) - closed up by front of tank

Performed 32oz fresh water replacement, to lower salinity: SG changed from 1.0265 to 1.0255.

New twice-weekly feeding schedule:

• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods
• 1 drop of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap-fulls of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• Two pinches of Aquatrol Spirulina 20 flakes.

I didn't turn off the main pump, but feed the coarse food very slowly and it seemed to work out OK.

About 3 hrs later the livestock seems to have adjusted.

Hardware order arrived!

Parts:

• NVM Moonlight Fix: AC Adapter Variable 3-12v/ 1200mA AC Adapter, Dual Harness, Extra LEDs
• Aqua Medic Reef Tweezers
• Coralife Mini Aqualight 9" (for Sump/Refugium)
• SRS Nanoskim Select A Flow 12/24g
• Nanocustoms ICA Chiller w/Silicone Tubing 16"
• Shockbuster GFCI

Lighting Upgrade (for 2004 Nanocube 24DX)

• 3.36 series Nanocustoms Modded Lighting Upgrade DIY: w/ Bare Ballast, Additional T-5 (10W) Actinic Blue bulb/bracket/ballast, 1x PowerCompact 36w 10K/7.1K Combo
• What this results in 118 watts of lights: 72W on one circuit, 36+10W on another. I plan on using 46 watts of Actinic during 4-6 hrs of the day (which I'll introduce slowly). The Combo PC will be used to replace one of the existing hood "combo" bulbs. I'll need to purchase an additional Actinic 36w PC and another Combo 36w PC, the later of which I'll hold onto for a couple or so months to stagger the new bulb rotation.

Installation:

• SRS Nanoskim Select A Flow 12/24g - Took only two adjustments to get the flow correct
• Shockbuster GFCI - this was easy and "tested" as advertised

All the hood modifications will have to wait until the weekend as the main lighting, Moon lighting, and chiller instalations will take a lot of work. I might get the Sump/Refugium light installed one of these evenings - the big question is how to mount it.

Original Nanocube return:

Nanocube with SRS Nanoskim Select A Flow 12/24g - front view:

Nanocube with SRS Nanoskim Select A Flow 12/24g - top view:

Feeding, temporary dosing schedule, and water change

Morning Feeding:

• Two pinches of Aquatrol Spirulina 20 flakes.

Dosing:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1/2 capful (back to normal)
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1/2 capful (back to normal)
• Lugol's Solution (Iodine) - none - This week I'll have to recheck the Alk, Ca, and Iodine.

Water change:

• 2.5Gal
• 32oz FW replacement (to lower salinity)
• Post SG = 1.026 (just a bit below) - basically unchanged since last week

Evening feeding:

• 3 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap-full of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 cube of Mysis shrimp

Purchases:

• Ordered a lighting upgrade, a chiller, and related upgrades from Nanotuners / Nanocustoms.

Recommendations from LFS

After losing the Frogspawn Coral (Euphyllia divisa) and Indo-Pacific White-Striped Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) within 2 weeks or so, I spoke with a couple guys at the LFS, who have these recommedations:

• High-ish (1.027) Salinity isn't really a problem, unless its over 1.035, or it varies quickly
• The use activated carbon, or PolyBio Marine Inc.'s Polyfilter, even though my measurements are excellent, as a sink for the biological chemicals the Mushrooms and Corals emit, which could be chemically "burning" some of the other inhabitents.
• Warned against back compartments filled with LR w/o light, as a haven for bristleworms, could add light on back, and also need bigger pump as it creates lots of resistance on the flow.

Feeding, and pictures

Feeding

• 3 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1 tsp of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• Phytoplankton1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods - they still seemed hungy
• 1 cube of Mysis shrimp - but they didn't seem that interested in this

Observations:

• The Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica) ate well.

Whole reef tank, with remaining stump of Frogspawn Coral (Euphyllia divisa):

Blastomussa wellsi colony, Green SPS (Merulinidae Hydnophora, possibly grandis or ridiga). Notice the droop on the lower Blasto:

Green Hairy Mushrooms (Order Corallimorpharia) vs Star Polyp colonies (Order Zoanthidea/Zoanthids), and the 'Shrooms are winning:

Ricordea mushroom with orange ring (Corallimorpharia Ricordea):

Bristle worm:

Bumble-bee Snail (Family: Pusiostoma):

Blastomussa wellsi colony, with two babies (sorry for the bad picture):

Maintenance

Used the Kent Pro ScraperM (Stainless Steel) to clear the glass front and sides of all the pink coralline algae (that I could reach).

Tried to remove the dead Frogspawn Coral (Euphyllia divisa) skeleton, but it broke and the bottom half is still stuck in the mount which I also couldn't remove.

Broke up the 2# of small branching Live Rock bought back on 3/23. Found two Aiptasia (Aptaisiidae "Rock", "Glass") Anemones on the frags and scraped away that portion of the LR, then rinsed with SW into the "dirty" water-change bucket.

Mounted some of the LR:

• 2 pieces on the top rock by about 5 stalks.
  
  
• 1 piece on the original Xenia branching LR as there are 5 stalks there now.
  
  
• 1 piece in front of the Green SPS (Merulinidae Hydnophora, possibly grandis or ridiga) and the Blastomussa wellsi, as there's still two small Xenia stalks there and I don't want them getting too large.
• 1 piece beside the top rock
  
  

Prior to vacation I removed a LR frag with a stalk of Xenia, which had been located to close in front of the Green SPS (Merulinidae Hydnophora, possibly grandis or ridiga) and the Blastomussa wellsi. I placed in on the top rock but over vaca it had been moved and lodge by the "globe"-ish SPS (possibly Porites?) and polyps (Order Zoanthidea/Zoanthids) rock. By now it had grown onto the rock so I had to scrape it out (and tossed it) as I didn't want Xenia growing there. I moved it back with the other Xenia and wedged it between the two new LR frags.

Performed a 2.5gal water change. Removed about a half a cup of various algeas.

Salinity reduction, and re-tests:

• Temp = 78F
• Pre results: SG = 1.027
• Did a 32oz water change with the RO water
• Post results: Temp = 77F, SG = 1.026 (unadjusted for temp) (NSW = ~ 1.026, ranging 1.022 -1.035 depending on the "sea") - often aquarists keep it 1.023
• The change brought it down by 0.001. Another change would bring it down approximately to 1.025. I'll wait another week.

Feeding, and temporary dosing schedule continued

Feeding:

• Two pinches of Aquatrol Spirulina 20 flakes - The Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica) ate.

Dosing:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capful
• Lugol's Solution (Iodine) - none

This week I'll have to recheck the Alk, Ca, and Iodine.

Post-vacation observations

• The Frogspawn Coral (Euphyllia divisa) is completely gone. I'll remove the skeleton and mount next water change.
  
  
• The Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica) has been spotted
• The Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) is apparently gone also.

Whole reef tank, with skeleton of Frogspawn Coral (Euphyllia divisa):

Water change, Feeding, and Observations.

Performed a 2.5gal water change.

Feeding:

• 3 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1 tsp of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 cube of Mysis shrimp

Observations:

• The Frogspawn Coral (Euphyllia divisa) is doing poorly. 3 of the 4 stalks are gone, and the 4th looks like its on its way out.
• The Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica) has been spotted on a more than daily basis, but did not come out to eat.
• The Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) has found a more observable location by a powerhead. It ate very well.