I love my bio cube but.....

[the wizard]

Light should be here tomorrow. According to tracking status. It is the Odyssea 4 bulb @39w each. Two actinic and two 10k daylight.

I plan to move some corals over but will be adding new. With a T5 HO I can add other corals that I couldn't keep in the bio cube. Also trying to decide on what fish to get. It is open top so don't want any jumpers.

 

[felixpaws]

I have Odyssea lights, as well. Most people change out the bulbs, for better bulbs. I'm using a 4 bulb t5ho 48" and a 4 bulb 65 watt compact light over my 120 gallon. I plan to switch to better bulbs(uvl or something similar), after a few months. Yeah, t5's are great! You can keep just about anything under them, if you place them right. As far as jumpers go, you can always use clear netting, and a frame or use light grid. I use a glass top on my 75, and I get far less evaporation. It can trap the heat, though.

 

[Amphiprion]

Looks like it's shaping up to be a nice system. Will be watching for updates.

 

[the wizard]

The lights arrived the other day, when it said 36" I thought it would just set down on my tank. The light is 36" so I have been trying to figure how to make it work. I will be taking care of that today and post pics later.

Tested the water yesterday. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, nitrates through the roof. :dance:
2 weeks to cycle w/o using any live rock just 2 raw shrimp. Gotta get the water changed and the light fixture up so I can move some corals.

 

[greech]

Did the fixture not come with legs to set on the rim of the tank?

Sounds like things are progressing well. Are you moving any LR from the cube over? That should help with the initial fluctuations many newly cycles have after adding stock and feeding.

Can't wait to see some pics.

 

[felixpaws]

Yeah, that's the problem with Odyssea stuff. It frequently doesn't fit right. I had to take off the legs, and set it right on the tank, for my 120, and my two 75 skimmers barely fit on my 75 gallon tank. I used conduit pipe, and pipe brackets, with chains to hang my lights, on my 75. Of course, my dad had a pipe bender, to make it easier. I don't know how handy you are, but you could always make a bracket to fit on the tank out of acrylic. Shouldn't be too difficult. You could use a jigsaw, cut two pieces to fit on the tank & the light fixture, sort of make a cradle, then slide the two pieces together, and glue it with acrylic glue. Just a thought.

 

[the wizard]

To make the light fit, I cut two 17" 2x2's. Then I measured 3/8 inch in from the edge and cut a groove 1/2 inch wide and 3/8 inch deep down the face of the 2x2. I sealed the wood with primer, painted it flat black and then clear coat. This gave me two end caps for the tank that extended it just enough for the mounts of the light to fit. I think it looks pretty good, and will post pics tomorrow.

 

[felixpaws]

Nice! Pictures are always appreciated.

 

[the wizard]

here are the pics with the light mounted.

first the 2x2's i made to mount the light


as you can see, the groove isn't perfect, I strongly recomend a router mounted to a table so you have a guide for the wood instead of free hand which was the only option I had at the time.

here they are installed



full tank shot with lights on

 

[the wizard]

Update, this tank is right on schedule. Diatoms started showing up this weekend. Life is good. I am going to transfer some corals from the bio cube and will try to post some pics this week.