Oceanic BioCube 29 Replacement Splash Guard (how to)

[LQT]

Okay Guys,

I debated putting this in the DIY forum, but I think it would be better served here in the Nano Forum. For all of you Oceanic BioCube 29 owners left out there, this is my solution to replacing the beat up, cracked, yellowed and foggy splash guards that we can't seem to get replacements for since CoraLife changed the hood design.

I ordered the following items from Tap Plastics, but you could probably find these things in any acrylic shop.

Some weld-on with applicator bottle

1/8" thick clear extruded acrylic sheet, edge routed for ease of welding in the following sizes

1 @ 18.5" x 10.5"
2 @ 18.5" x 1 3/8"
2 @ 10 1/4" x 1 3/8"

5/32" acrylic drill bit

From Bolt Depot, I ordered 6 @ 2" x #6 pan head machine screws and their appropriate washers.

I apologize for the crappy cellphone pictures, but here you go...

Here are the pieces all laid out.
Acrylic laid out

Taped and ready to be welded.
Acrylic taped

Here it is, welded together. Not the best welding job, but it works!
Acrylic welded

Here is the original splash guard with a crack down the middle. It was actually a lot worse, yellowed and clouded, but Dave of Nanobox was kind enough to give it a good buffing to clear it up a bit when he installed my Nanobox Retro. Still, I felt that Dave's lights deserved better...
Original clouded

Here it is mounted, before screwing it in. It actually locks perfectly around the outer perimeter of the raised ridge where the old splash guard locks into.
New fitted

Here it is, screwed on with the 2" #6 screws and washers. Now my Nanobox Retro has a proper splash guard!
New screwed

Here is a FTS of my BioCube. It's still cycling so it's just dry rock, dry sand and a rotting piece of shrimp. With the new splash guard, the tank seems much brighter and the shimmer is more pronounced.
Bc29

I hope someone out there can find this helpful!

[ReefWreak]

Great write, up. Thanks for sharing! I like that it can be used to customize the hood/splash guard as well. I've been toying with the idea of expanding my current heatsink and adding more LEDs to my hood to get more color diversity, and this would open a lot of potential.

Also, just for clarification sake, are you planning to cycle that entire gigantic shrimp in the last pic? That will take months! I recommended a neighbor cycle his ~90 gallon system with 1/2 of a shrimp blended with some tank water, and it worked out perfectly. You won't need much more than a tiny piece of that shrimp to really get the cycle going...

[LQT]

Good call, thanks ReefWreak. The shrimp has been in there for a little over a week. I got my ammonia spike shortly thereafter and after yesterday's testing, ammonia is down to near zero with the shrimp still in there. Now I'm waiting for the nitrites to settle down. I guess if I remove the shrimp, I'll just lightly ghost feed to keep the bacteria fed...

[ReefWreak]

Don't ghost feed. The bacteria isn't going anywhere. Your clean up crew will eat the algae that is growing off of the final nitrate that is left over after your water changes.

in = out

The more you feed, the more you'll have to remove with water changes, skimming, or biomatter growth (algae, fish, snail size, etc).

[LQT]

Okay, thanks. Your advice is much appreciated. The shrimp is out! (The joys of having a home office ) I'll just keep testing until get there.

[gj050680xy]

What is the LED and heatsink you use?

[LQT]

It is a the Nanobox large retrofit kit. Google Nanobox Reef for more information. I sent the hood down to Dave Fason, the owner of Nanobox and he installed it for me free of charge, just the cost of the retrofit kit and the cost of shipping the hood down to him. It comes standard with the Bluefish mini controller too for the ultimate in controlability. I absolutely love these lights!

[Cknlove]

Originally Posted by LQT

It is a the Nanobox large retrofit kit. Google Nanobox Reef for more information. I sent the hood down to Dave Fason, the owner of Nanobox and he installed it for me free of charge, just the cost of the retrofit kit and the cost of shipping the hood down to him. It comes standard with the Bluefish mini controller too for the ultimate in controlability. I absolutely love these lights!

hows the splash guard holding up? if I'm reading this right, the acrylic came pre-cut? curious to know the cost of led retro fit from said vendor

Thanks in advance!

[LQT]

The splashguard is holding up great. I ordered the acrylic pieces precut to the above specs from Tap Plastics. I'm sure you can get acrylic pieces cut at any big box hardware store like Lowe's or Home Depot as well. The prices for the Large Retrofit are listed on the Nanobox Reef website. Email Dave If you have any questions. He's very responsive to answering any questions you may have.

[ReefWreak]

Since this got bumped anyway, I have a quick question. Have you experienced any crazing or fogging of the acrylic since you started running this?

I'm noticing that over my UV LEDs only, in my stock biocube splashguard, I'm noticing crazing/fogging/haziness. I was considering sanding the splashguard down anyway to try to "diffuse" the light, like the new Philips light, but haven't committed yet.

Have you polished your acrylic at all? I'm wondering how fine one would need to polish acrylic or the stock splashguard back to perfectly clear (not sure if it can be done on the UV-damaged plastics).

An interesting project at some point could be to replace just the plastic directly above my LED fixture with a sheet of clean clear acrylic and epoxy it in to seal the moisture out.

[LQT]

So far so good. I believe the stock splash guards are plastic, hence the UV damage, yellowing and crazing. This was especially a problem on the old Oceanic splash guards. On the Tap Plastics website where I bought my extruded acrylic sheets from, they tout their acrylic's optical clarity for light transmission, UV resistance and resistance to yellowing. Thus far, I have had no issues with the material.

[Cknlove]

Originally Posted by LQT

So far so good. I believe the stock splash guards are plastic, hence the UV damage, yellowing and crazing. This was especially a problem on the old Oceanic splash guards. On the Tap Plastics website where I bought my extruded acrylic sheets from, they tout their acrylic's optical clarity for light transmission, UV resistance and resistance to yellowing. Thus far, I have had no issues with the material.

Awesome, I'll definitely want to do this. Thanks for sharing!

After reviewing the prices on TAP Plastics, I've decided to see if there is any interest in a group buy - I'll buy the lot and you pay for shipping + whatever group buy price is.

Is there anyone out there who is interested in this mod for their BC?

If we order 5, the price comes out to $26.20 for parts which is about $20 less than if you purchased alone.

Is there a forum for group buys? If anyone is interested LMK, i'll be looking to do this in the next few weeks

[LQT]

Just remember, the measurements I posted in the original instructions are for the Oceanic Biocube. The dimensions for the Coralife version are different and I confirmed that this is the case with Stevie T from InTank.

[Cknlove]

Good point LQT, this group buy opportunity would be for Oceanic BC 29 owners looking to add a HQ Acrylic splash guard.

[mcelmer1]

Just built one and thanks for the leads and other info.

[LQT]

Nice!

[Patdabin]

K

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[colby.kirwan]

Thank you for this post it was extremely helpful. I made a few adjustments to the hardware and such to make it easier on myself personally, but the measurements were extremely accurate. It fits very well and is a night and day difference from where I was with a splash guard that has not been replaced since it was new in 2008. It was disintegrating to say the least.

[ReefWreak]

LQT, now that it's been in there a while, are you getting any yellowing from UV lights, or any rust from the condensation that still gets in there a little bit?

[LQT]

Everything is doing great. No yellowing from what I can tell thus far. The extruded acrylic that I got from Tap Plastics claims very high optical clarity and no yellowing from prolonged sun exposure... so far, so good. I believe the issue with yellowing from the stock light covers is because it is made from polycarbonate plastic, which will degrade due to UV exposure over time. As far as condensation, no issues. I installed a couple of additional 60mm fans to aid in the LED cooling and keep the feed hatch open at night when the LEDs and fans aren't running to promote gas exchange and alleviate any condensation issues.

Anyway, I hope you guys and your soon to be or already happened new addition are doing well!

[LQT]

Originally Posted by colby.kirwan

Thank you for this post it was extremely helpful. I made a few adjustments to the hardware and such to make it easier on myself personally, but the measurements were extremely accurate. It fits very well and is a night and day difference from where I was with a splash guard that has not been replaced since it was new in 2008. It was disintegrating to say the least.

Glad it worked out. I actually got my inspiration to do this from jcreefer, a poster on Nano - Reef. It took some trial and error but I think the end product turns out quite nicely. As with all DIY, at least for me anyway, initially it seems vey intimidating but when you get down to it and get it done, it's not too bad and is definitely quite rewarding!

[Smoke Inator]

LQT, thanks for this, i was thinking if i had an extra fist full of cash i would do this and then add another puck or two to my setup to remove a shady spot

[LQT]

Yeah, I've got all the pieces together to add another puck... just a little apprehensive about soldering is all.

[5881]

Oceanic BC29 owner here. Guessing auto headlight polish has been tried to clean up lenses? What products and what results? Are they acrylic or polycarb?

[LQT]

I believe the stock splash guard is polycarbonate, hence the yellowing over time and degradation due to UV exposure. Not really sure how to polish it. The headlight polisher seems like a really good idea though. The replacement splash guard I fabricated is built from UV resistant extruded acrylic sheet I bought from TAP plastics and almost a year later, it looks as good as new.