JBJ 12 Nano Mods (long document)

[bm5650]

It has come to my attention that a lot of people are buying the JBJ12 Nano cube. While the stock tank is good, many people want to modify them to run more efficiently. I've been asked several times for a detailed description of what can be done. I thought I would throw this together and hopefully answer any questions. If I have forgotten any changes or if things need to be clarified please let me know.

Let me start off by saying that the JBJ has its advantages and disadvantages. The first obstacle you have to face is the cost of the tank. On average the tank can be found for around $100 (US dollars). I've seen several online dealers, but better if bought locally.

In researching this tank before buying, several on this board have stated that money can be saved by buying a standard 10 gallon tank. For the most part, that is true. However, I wanted a certain look in my nano tank that a standard tank couldn't give me. I didn’t want any heater tubes or power heads visible while looking at the tank. The outside of the tank was also appealing to me. I didn’t want to look at the HOB filter. This tank is located in my living room and noticed by everyone.



JBJ Nano Cube 12Gal.

Click on the following link for a detailed description of the tank. http://www.JBJlighting.com/sys_nanocube.html


All of these mods were listed in various threads and I thank each person for contributing to my tank.

*** Please note that the following mods are at your own risk/expense. The warrantee will be void. The JBJ nano cube will function correctly without any modification. ***

Mods done to my JBJ Nano Cube:

1. Redo the wet/dry filter
2. Replaced pump
3. Extra 32watt CSL PC added
4. Overflow added


1. Redo the wet/dry filter

We all know how bad wet/dry filters are for nitrate traps. The factory gives you a bag of ceramic rings and a bag of carbon for filtration. The ceramic is useless, toss it or give it to your kids for some art project. I removed and discarded the sponge that came with the tank. I went to the LFS and bought some floss to trap the larger particles. After doing this, there is a lot of free space in the back of the tank. This will allow you to hide that ugly heater. The Ebo Jager 75 watt fits perfectly. Any smaller heater will do. I have seen several different setups from here. I've seen where lights were added and a small fuge was made. I've also read that some have put live rock back for extra flirtation. I even seen a thread that someone cut the hood and added a protein skimmer ( http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/show...threadid=23179 ). There are mixed opinions on if a nano really needs a skimmer. I prefer to just do regular water changes.


2. Replaced pump

I've replaced my pump with a Mini-Jet Power head 606. For the price you can’t go wrong. I did a search on RC and didn’t find any negative feedback. The 606 has a flow of 79-153gph. I opened mine up and letting it run at full power. This is turning the tank over 10 times an hour. At first this caused a problem with the sand, but eventually settled down. Adjust the pump to what setting is best for your situation. This mod should eliminate the need for power heads inside the tank.



3. 32watt CSL PC added

The nano cube comes with a 24 watt power compact light. While this is efficient for some low light corals and fish, the current trend in the hobby is to get as much light as possible. There is enough space to fit the 32 watt pc light from CSL along side the factory light. It was brought to my attention that CSL had gone out of business. Their retro is still available today. The lights are still being made by other manufactures and shouldn’t be a problem finding them in the future.

Steps: (have a qualified electrician help if needed)
- Take the hood off. Good luck and try not to break it. (This is done by closing it and sliding it backwards. Be sure to unscrew the support arms first.)
- Remove the clear plastic cover, old light, reflector, and ballast.
- Flatten the cube's reflector the best you can. Be careful it is sharp.
- You will need to extend the wires between the old light and ballast. (Get an electrician if you aren’t good at this). Make them long enough to place the ballast where you desire.
- This next step will save you time and headaches. Take lipstick and coat the top of the screw holes (where the ballast was mounted).
- Take the flattened reflector and press it against the holes with the lipstick coating. Lift it and you have the exact spot to drill.
- The new holes should allow a perfect spot to mount the new light next to the original.
- Run both cords out the old holes and replace the plastic cover.

Others have asked if the old switch can be reused. I didn’t bother with my setup. I’m running both lights off a timer.

With the added light, it would better if you added a cooling fan. Depending on room temperature it might be a necessity. The best fan I found is a DC cpu cooling fan. I bought mine from Radioshack. It came attached to a heat sink. I discarded the metal heat sink and rewired the fan to a generic dc power supply. Plug this into the same timer as the lights and the fan will only run while the lights are on. (hint: get an extra power strip and plug that into timer)

4. Overflow added

One of the best mods in my opinion is the overflow. There are several advantages for adding this in. One problem with this tank (as with most) is the surface slime. Skimming the surface is often a difficult task. The false back gives a great opportunity to install this overflow. Doing this will also maintain the water level in the main tank and only show evaporation in the back filter area.

There are a few steps to complete this task:
- During trial and error, I found that the black back isn’t water tight. I had to take silicone and line side and bottom edges.
- Block the upper vent on the back wall. I glued a piece of plastic on the backside of the wall. Try to make it water tight. The lower vent is for looks and is not a factor.
- Using a dremel tool (or equivalent) notch out teeth in the top/left side of the back wall. Please see my gallery for pics on the final product. Make sure you don’t cut below the black rim at the top. The water level in the main tank will stay at this height. Approx height of the teeth is ½ to ¾ of an inch.

I know that pictures would be helpful, but I forgot to take some while making my changes. Maybe I can rely on someone that is about to attempt this to document each step with photos.

There are several things that I’m still planning on adding to my tank. I’m doing research on a moonlight and top off. I will update this later with my findings. I included pics on my gallery that I thought would best illustrate the mods. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

[Noffler]

I would also like to add this mod that I plan on performing in a few weeks. It turns one of your back compartments into a refugium.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=321190

[biohazard55]

Question:
1) What kind of glue did you use to glue the vent shut for the overflow? I'm sure some things are aqarium safe and some are not? Is epoxy okay?

Comment:
I added the CSL 32W PC lights last night. Took me about 1 hour total. My experience that might help others

Removing the lid
- The lid comes off easier if you take a needle nose plier, and pinch the hinge a little bit to open it up. YOu still need to wiggle the lid a bit to open, but i popped off pretty easily after that.

Flatting the old reflector
- I pounded the reflector flat with a hammer, protecting the reflective side with a piece of cloth.

More reflector stuff.
- The lip stick trick worked decently well (except I didn't have a lipstick, but good thing my girlfriend was there), 1 of the 2 holes I needed was right on, the other required a second drilling. No problems.
- If you got the reflector really flat/straight, it'll probably obscure the mounting holes for the protective light cover. Instead of drilling, I just took some pliers and bent a little notch. It worked well since now the reflectors rests next to the top of the lid, and the vents on the sides can do their job.

Mounting the lights.
- I ended up mounting the CSL light in the front, and the original lights in the back (moving the different sized brackets around), and thus avoided having to extend the cables for the orginal lights/ballast. I also took off the original switch, althought I could have probably left that in and just solder the orginal brown wires together as I also have the 2 lights and a fan on a timer.

[bm5650]

I used clear silicon that is aquarium safe.