Chrisnnemo
Non-member
Not really happy with my stock light in my biocube. Any one here ever do any upgrades? I like the hood on, looks cleaner to me... any reviews of StevesLEDS upgrade for it?
biocube 32 led
- Thread starter Chrisnnemo
- Start date
dz6t
Acro Garden, BRS Sponsor
The issue with led replacement inside the hood is that the led will be too close to the water surface. That lead to hot spots and burns coral. Remove the hood and hang a light at least 6 to 8 inch above water surface is preferable. That allows better spread, better color blending, and reduce hot spots.
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Chrisnnemo
Non-member
why were you never happy with it?
I tried the nanobox option as well. Sent it back. The light, though brighter, didn't look great. The fan was noisier than the biocube stock fan. Then after 2 months a few of the blue UV lights stopped working. Took a few months to get a response to return the light, with sincere apologies from the owner, but it was a hassle and eventually got done. I put the stock light assembly back in and adjusted livestock to what that light could support, until I upgraded to a Reefer 250. As mentioned above, removing the lid and the black plastic rim and going with a single Radion XR15, or Kessil, or Hydra would be a great option.
Agree, those were 2 things I really liked when I had a Biocube 32. When I started to think about the endgame of removing the lid and adding a high-quality light I decided to just go with larger tank (reefer 250). I think the Biocube is a great system if you accept that it is not ideal for all types of corals and fish. It certainly has a niche and looks great and is easy to maintain.
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Chrisnnemo
Non-member
after hearing from you guys and researching it more im not going to do anything to the light in the lid, ill either leave it be or make it rimless. The cost to upgrade the lid is quite a bit considering itll have the problems with hot spots and coral bleaching you guys mentioned, might as well make it rimless and throw a prime, hydra, or radion on it for that price. It is in my bedroom so noise is kind of a concern. Thanks for your input everyone.
one thing to keep in mind if you go rimless on this system. From my memory the water level in the Biocube is closer to the top of the glass than it is in something like a Red Sea Reefer rimless tank. If you have fish that are prone to jump, you might want to add a mesh top to the rimless Biocube. Having that OEM lid on there helps with that. Also, the noise with the nanobox fan was not terribly loud. It was just more noticeable (louder) than the OEM fan with the Biocube. I was ultra sensitive to that as well because the cube was in my office.
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Chrisnnemo
Non-member
thank you. I would defineatly put a mesh lid on it, I love those acrylic ones. As for the noise it doesn't really bother me. My main concerns are I don't want it to look sloppy and I want corals to do well in there. The thing I like about the hood is the clean look of it and not that much evaporation. I get evaporation(gas exchange) is a good thing for the tank so at the end of the day that wouldnt bother me either. I have two other tanks(55 and a 40), maybe ill just make the biocube an anemone tank. I believe the light is sufficient for anemones. I fragged an anemone a couple months ago both are doing well so maybe ill keep going that route. Lol its all still up in the air, just weighing my options. All the feedback is great and every little bit helps
