Coralife Biocube clean fan mod

[Djplus1]

Like many other Biocube owners, I was extremely shocked at how hot these little guys got. I've had mine for about a month now and was never able to get a temp below 82. It has gotten to as high as 86-87! I started by removing the little Koralia Nano (240) which dropped my temp about 1 degree, switched out the stock return pump which maybe got me half of a degree. Very frustrating indeed. A chiller for hundreds of $ was not going to happen as this is my quarantine/kids room tank. Since it's in a kids room it's also not feasible to leave the lid open and blow a fan accross, besides if I wanted an open top aquarium, I wouldv'e bought one in the first place, right?! I think one of the main reasons people buy these things is because of the slick looks. For a couple hundred bucks you've got a really nice looking piece of kit. Which brings me to my fan mod. I also bought this because it was a slick looking all in one unit that supposedly is ready for reef keeping and I didn't want to alter the appearance too much. I also did not want to risk any severe structural damage to the canopy, as that thing looks mighty expensive, so here's what I did.

 

 

Doing a little research, it appears that the cooling fans on the Coralife model are a bit smaller than the Oceanic model. The current model sports 50mmx10mm fans. I was able to test that one of these fan sizes will fit just about perfectly in one of the spaces on the bottom half of the feeding door. I bought 6 fans, 2 to use in the feeding door fan mod, and a few left over to replace when those fans or the stock fans fail. At $5 a piece, no major investment and the new ones have a lower dB rating and push more air.

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see the fans slide in the the 2 outer spaces in the feeding door. Using 1" stainless bolts, with stainless plastice insert nuts, decorative washers and those awesome looking metal grills the door will still open and close as normal with nothing catching. To get the holes to match up to the fan is pretty simple. Line up the fan against the rib of the feeding door away from the outer side and drill small holes thru each mounting hole. Draw an X between the 4 holes and that's where you start your 2" hole saw. You don't NEED a hole saw, but if you want a clean cut that is the exact size of the fan, just do it this way so you're not etching about with a Dremel or jig saw. Remember, the point of this is to make a clean mod and if you chop up the feeding door, another can be ordered from Coralife for next to nothing, I'm sure.

 

Now, how do you power something like this. There are a few options, but I decide to make a trip to Radio Shack and buy some stuff. First, you'll need a Power Jack, like the kind used to plug in your laptop.

 

 

If you want a power switch you'll need just that. This one is a nice looking black plastic piece that matches the look of the stock hood.

 

 

As you can see, very minimal chopping into the hood itself. In fact its just a 7/16" drilled hole for the Power Jack which slides in nicely and depending on your power switch of choice another small hole there which is filled in nicely with the switch.

 

 

Wiring this whole thing up is a snap. Match and connect your wires from the 2 fans, run them into your switch using connectors or solder them, then run from the switch to the Power Jack. You will likely need to solder the Power Jack as they are often just 2 poles (Positive and Negative) and not connector friendly.

 

 

You will want to secure the wires underneath somehow so they don't fall into the water. I have used sticky clips, but I don't trust them. I suggest pushing them as far into the groove as possible and putting a couple big globs of silicone in the groove. When they dry, there is no way the the wires will fall out, but you will still be able to pull them out down the road should you choose.

 

 

For a plug, you will need some sort of power brick adapter like this one, from an old laptop. I initially planned on using a variable voltage jammy that I had laying around, but unfortanately no longer works. You can always find these at Radio Shack as well, with removable tips to match whatever size Power Jack you install (I went with an "N" size adapter).

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the whole install looks pretty good. If you don't like the look of the metal grates you can always find black plastic ones too.

 

 

 

 

As far as how well it works..... Let's just say I'm now in the market for a heater. I left it on yesterday during the day and came home to a tank that was 71 degrees. That's an over 10 degree drop! I plan on running it on the same time schedule as my lights for now, but will soon be putting it on an Apex Jr for more control, especially during the upcoming winter months.

 

 

 

 

I hope that this mod will help anyone else with heat issues that also doesn't want to completely hack your little ecosystem to pieces. Does anyone else have any awesome tips or ideas to make this better?

[BowieReefer84]

Do you have the fans running 24/7?

 

You may want to hook them to the same timer/outlet as your lights so they only run when the lights are on.

[Djplus1]

Yep, today is my first day on the light timer. I will see what temps are during day while lights are on, then check them tonight at 11-12 to see if the temps are rising too much. Then of course check them in the morning before the lights/fans come back on again. If I don't see a huge shift, say more than 2 degrees somewhere between 77-80 I'm happy. If I do, as mentioned in the post, I'll just pick up and Apex Jr. so I will have an automated heat control system. Still way cheaper than a good chiller and more fun too.

[jimlin]

are those nuts and bolts safe for the aquarium? I would seal it with something to be on the safe side. nice mod.

[Djplus1]

are those nuts and bolts safe for the aquarium? I would seal it with something to be on the safe side. nice mod.

 

 

Everything is stainless, so provided they don't spend any time actually under water, I would say yes. I actually, did silicone over any plugs and connections to be sure, so I really have no worries about corrosion. The only plugs I left exposed were the quick connects to the fans as those will likely fail and need replacing sooner than anything else and would rather not cut wire and resolder everytime. I can literally change out both of those fans in 5 minutres or less, or switch fan direction to 1 in 1 out or both out if I choose.

[Djplus1]

Like many other Biocube owners, I was extremely shocked at how hot these little guys got. I've had mine for about a month now and was never able to get a temp below 82. It has gotten to as high as 86-87! I started by removing the little Koralia Nano (240) which dropped my temp about 1 degree, switched out the stock return pump which maybe got me half of a degree. Very frustrating indeed. A chiller for hundreds of $ was not going to happen as this is my quarantine/kids room tank. Since it's in a kids room it's also not feasible to leave the lid open and blow a fan accross, besides if I wanted an open top aquarium, I wouldv'e bought one in the first place, right?! I think one of the main reasons people buy these things is because of the slick looks. For a couple hundred bucks you've got a really nice looking piece of kit. Which brings me to my fan mod. I also bought this because it was a slick looking all in one unit that supposedly is ready for reef keeping and I didn't want to alter the appearance too much. I also did not want to risk any severe structural damage to the canopy, as that thing looks mighty expensive, so here's what I did.

 

 

Doing a little research, it appears that the cooling fans on the Coralife model are a bit smaller than the Oceanic model. The current model sports 50mmx10mm fans. I was able to test that one of these fan sizes will fit just about perfectly in one of the spaces on the bottom half of the feeding door. I bought 6 fans, 2 to use in the feeding door fan mod, and a few left over to replace when those fans or the stock fans fail. At $5 a piece, no major investment and the new ones have a lower dB rating and push more air.

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see the fans slide in the the 2 outer spaces in the feeding door. Using 1" stainless bolts, with stainless plastice insert nuts, decorative washers and those awesome looking metal grills the door will still open and close as normal with nothing catching. To get the holes to match up to the fan is pretty simple. Line up the fan against the rib of the feeding door away from the outer side and drill small holes thru each mounting hole. Draw an X between the 4 holes and that's where you start your 2" hole saw. You don't NEED a hole saw, but if you want a clean cut that is the exact size of the fan, just do it this way so you're not etching about with a Dremel or jig saw. Remember, the point of this is to make a clean mod and if you chop up the feeding door, another can be ordered from Coralife for next to nothing, I'm sure.

 

Now, how do you power something like this. There are a few options, but I decide to make a trip to Radio Shack and buy some stuff. First, you'll need a Power Jack, like the kind used to plug in your laptop.

 

 

If you want a power switch you'll need just that. This one is a nice looking black plastic piece that matches the look of the stock hood.

 

 

As you can see, very minimal chopping into the hood itself. In fact its just a 7/16" drilled hole for the Power Jack which slides in nicely and depending on your power switch of choice another small hole there which is filled in nicely with the switch.

 

 

Wiring this whole thing up is a snap. Match and connect your wires from the 2 fans, run them into your switch using connectors or solder them, then run from the switch to the Power Jack. You will likely need to solder the Power Jack as they are often just 2 poles (Positive and Negative) and not connector friendly.

 

 

You will want to secure the wires underneath somehow so they don't fall into the water. I have used sticky clips, but I don't trust them. I suggest pushing them as far into the groove as possible and putting a couple big globs of silicone in the groove. When they dry, there is no way the the wires will fall out, but you will still be able to pull them out down the road should you choose.

 

 

For a plug, you will need some sort of power brick adapter like this one, from an old laptop. I initially planned on using a variable voltage jammy that I had laying around, but unfortanately no longer works. You can always find these at Radio Shack as well, with removable tips to match whatever size Power Jack you install (I went with an "N" size adapter).

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the whole install looks pretty good. If you don't like the look of the metal grates you can always find black plastic ones too.

 

 

 

 

As far as how well it works..... Let's just say I'm now in the market for a heater. I left it on yesterday during the day and came home to a tank that was 71 degrees. That's an over 10 degree drop! I plan on running it on the same time schedule as my lights for now, but will soon be putting it on an Apex Jr for more control, especially during the upcoming winter months.

 

 

 

 

I hope that this mod will help anyone else with heat issues that also doesn't want to completely hack your little ecosystem to pieces. Does anyone else have any awesome tips or ideas to make this better?

 

 

OK, got a variable voltage power brick. Much less noise and able to slow fans down significantly. Testing between 4.5-6 volts for optimal cooling as we speak. May not need the Apex Jr. afterall.

[ghd1959]

I would love to do this mod with my coralife biocube 14....where do you get black grills at?.....Wish there was step by step instructions also..

[ghd1959]

Are both fans facing down toward water or is one facing up?

[YHSublime]

Nice write up, thanks!

[clavuotg]

Nice mod!! Looks like one is blowing in and the other one is blowing out. Can you confirm that? Can you tell me what size fans they are? 60mm or 40mm. also what are their RPM's and noise level. Thanks. I thinking of doing the same thing.

[Djplus1]

The fans in the pic are one in and one out. However, I discontinued that design as the door fell into the tank. I now have one fan on the left side, toward the back just blowing in. It's just as efficient, but no worries about fans dropping into the water.