Well I have a beautiful, LED lit, Nano-Cube DX 24 gallon aquarium now. You can view the complete step by step process complete with pictures. A complete materials list & links are also given for your convenience. This product was done with little electrical & drilling/tapping knowledge. Considering a LED Hood can run you $700 to $900 I consider this well worth the time. There was more I could write about this retrofit but I kept it somewhat concise. Any questions just contact me via the comment section or the contact tab above and I will answer as best I can.

DIY Project uses electrical components. I am not responsible for any injury or damage resulting from you following my guide. Be smart, be safe.

Introduction

Materials List

Tank Drawings

Heatsink & LED Placement Drawings

Polish The Heatsink

Drilling & Tapping The Heatsink

LED’s, Optics, Power Supply & DC Jacks/Plugs

Install LED stars to Heatsink

Wiring Project Box & Power

Power Up Test

Hood Prep

Potentiometer Controls & Buckpuck Installation

Finish Up

Notes, Questions & Answers

Materials List

• Cree XR-E Q5 White PCB Mounted – ETGTech.com – 12 @ $6.00 ea = $72.00
• Cree XR-E Royal Blue PCB Mounted – ETGTech.com – 12 @ $6.00 ea = $72.00
• Cree XR-E Part#XLSL-7090-247 60 Degree Optics with Holder – ETGTech.com – 24 @ $1.00 each = $24.00
  *Email anna@etgtech.com for your quotes
• Wired BuckPuck Drivers 1000mA External Dimming Control w/ Potentiometer - LEDSupply – 4 @ $19.99 ea = $79.96
• Heatsink – 12″ x 7.29″ – HeatsinkUSA – $35.55 shipped
• Artic Silver AS5-3.5G, Thermal Grease – Already Had
• Screws 100 Qty – McMaster Carr – Stainless Steel size 4-40 X 3/8″ Part#91773A108 – $3.75
• Washers 100 Qty – McMaster Carr – Nylon 6/6 Flat Washer #4 Part#90295A045- $2.48
• TC258 DC Power Cord, 2.5 x 5.5mm Plug to Bare Leads, 6FT/18awg – Willy’s Electronics – 5 @ $ 2.59 = $12.95
• 248 DC Jack, 2.5MM x 5.5MM, Panel Mount, Plastic Housing – Willy’s Electronics – 5 @ $1.59 = $7.95
• WH24-08-25 Gray 24 Gauge Stranded, 25′ Spool – Willy’s Electronics – $3.10
• WH24-04-25 Yellow 24 Gauge Stranded, 25′ Spool – Willy’s Electronics – $3.10
• 50-3000 Qualitek 60/40 0.032″ Solder: 0.6 oz Tube – Willy’s Electronics – $2.29
• Electrical Tape 3M 700 Vinyl – Lowes Item#39340 – $1.89
• Kobalt Tapping Bit 4-40 & Drill Bit #43 – Lowes Item#232566- 2 @$4.08 – $8.16
• Kobalt T-handle Tap Wrench – Lowes Item#232605 – $4.79
• Kobalt Cutting Fluid – Lowes Item#232543 – $3.98
• Flat Aluminum Bar 1/16″ x 3/4″ x 6′ – Lowes Item#216058 – $7.08
• Fans – I used 2 stock ones that came with hood, I added 2 more 40mm from MPJA.com. Choice of fans is up to you.
• Power Supply 24V @ 6.5A POTRANS POWER SUPPLY – MPJA.com – 2 @ $14.95 = $29.90
• 6FT IEC Power Cord UL LISTED – MPJA.com – $2.49
• ALCO PKG-70, 1/8″ Shaft Red Knob – MPJA.com – 4 @ $ .75 = $3.00
• 5.9″ X 3.9″ X 2.36″ Black Plastic Project Box – MPJA.com – $3.49
• 30 Watt Soldering Tool Set GT1096 JL-006 – MPJA.com – $7.95
• Sandpaper Wet/Dry 400/800/1000 – AutoZone or other Car parts store – $4.50
• Drill Chuck Arbor & 4″ Buffing pad – Lowe’s – $7.93
• Shipping Charges – $33.53

TOTAL $410.96 Totals a tad more than this but wife is looking.

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Tank Drawings

Prepare your retrofit by taking detailed measurements. Plan everything out in advance as it will save you time later.

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Heatsink & LED Placement Drawings

Again plan your layout of LED’s in advance.

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Polish The Heatsink

I spent about 15 minutes total on this step. Stopped by AutoZone and got the sandpaper combo pack 400, 800, 1000 grits. I spent about 10 minutes trying to do the “lapping” method with the heatsink on a 1/2″ thick piece of acrylic like these instructions show, The Overclockers Club . That was too much work, hassle & mess with a still scratchy looking surface after the 1000 grit. I am not an avid DIY’er and I have little patience. To obtain my mirror-like finish I looked for one of my old tubes of MAAS & spent 5 minutes using it along with my arbor & buffing pad .

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Drilling & Tapping The Heatsink

Now that you have your heatsink polished, allowing for more thermal transfer, you should tape it over with masking or painters tape. This will allow you to layout & mark your led placements and in addition protect the surface. A sharpie works best laying out the leds as the cutting oil will not affect it. When drilling be sure to wear protective goggles. Note, use the cutting oil and don’t be stingy as it will extend the life of your bits/taps. A drill press is best but a steady hand & drill will also suffice.

Once the holes are drilled use the tapping bit & t-handle to create threads for your screws. You need to go real slow and do 1/4 turn clockwise then 3/4 counterclockwise. This will become monotonous to you but once past this stage everything else is easy. Using screws allows you to remove, change layout or add leds as you wish.

Remember to test the fit for screws before moving on to next step. I layed out all my holes for drilling and then tapped them. I broke one bit & one tap, the tap didn’t really feel like there was a lot of pressure but it broke like it was made of lead. I drilled 3 holes per led star just in case anything weird happened during layout (hole not lining up etc). I also added some larger holes on the end for the wire return so I would have a cleaner look once wiring was completed.

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LED’s, Optics, Power Supply & DC Jacks/Plugs

You will want 115v showing on the switch. Your voltage will be low if you have 220v selected. The pcbs from ETGTech are nice, thick & good looking unlike some green PCB board ones I have seen. Not that this matters I guess if they work. I was surprised by the size of each star they are almost exactly the diameter of a US nickel. I put an optic on one of the leds and it fit like a vise, I almost was worried it would not come off. Perfect fit!

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Install LED stars to Heatsink

Now that you have completed drilling & tapping remove your tape from heatsink. Give it a nice cleaning with some warm water & dish detergent. This will remove the cutting oil and any shavings. Dry it off and use some Windex for a final wipe.

Have all your screws, washers and LED’s at hand along with your tools. I applied a very thin layer of Artic Silver under each star & screwed them into place. Once all LED’s are in place I plugged in my soldering iron with solder at hand. My advice is to use a two different color wiring scheme so as to not mix up + & – polarities. Using my super soldering skills, super after 10 or so tries, I wired everything. I wired the leds in series NOT in parallel so keep everything straight as you wire. Take your time with solder, you can practice on scrap if you wish to build up your soldering skills.

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Wiring Project Box & Power

I built my project box in a plug & play type manner. Power in the end – Power out on the side for LED’s. This way I can disconnect one light or all. You can choose how you want yours. You could put the buckpucks into your box and control your potentiometers there. The dc plugs came corded already so I was ready to go. Use a multimeter to check all polarity as you go. I got everything right the first time myself so for you it should be a snap.

The first picture is my entire wiring schematic. If you want the large jpeg version just get it here.

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Power Up Test

At this point you have the wiring pretty much ready so you can use some wire nuts and hook up your LED’s & power supply. This will enable you to see if you are ready to move on to the next step. Nothing like not testing and mounting in your hood to find out 3 rows of lights do not work. Note: This did not happen to me… I listened to other people’s advice who had to learn the hard way. Here are some pictures of the preliminary power up. If everything works move on to the next step.

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Hood Prep

The first thing to do is remove the splash shield. Take care to put all screws in a safe easily located place. Remove the lightbulbs and set aside. Now remove the reflector, fans & moon lights. This should leave you with an empty shell for a hood. Your heatsink should contain all wiring and is portable now that it is disconnected from your trial power up.

I took the aluminum bar listed in materials list and bent it to fit the heatsink. You can cut the aluminum with a hacksaw easily. I drilled 2 holes underneath which screwed into stock hood existing holes. A hole was then drilled on both sides through the aluminum & heatsink sides which I then tapped. Mark your holes carefully and dry fit them first by screwing the heatsink into place.

Turn the hood upside down to ensure heatsink is held tightly. I used two washers and screwed everything in place. I think it came out great and fits the heatsink snug into place. Once you are finished lay the heatsink and brace aside.

Potentiometer Controls & Buckpuck Installation

I drilled 4 holes on top of hood for potentiometer stems as I wanted a clean look and easy access for dimming etc. This is a very simple step and can be done on most types of hoods. Just drill 4 holes using a 3/16″ drill bit as your pot’s stems are 1/8″ if you used the same buckpucks I did. I used 1/8″ Shaft Red Knobs from MPJA but you can use whatever color/style floats your boat.

Next you will want to install the buckpucks. After trying several types of superglues that did not hold I used 3M doubled sided adhesive squares to hold down the drivers. It worked like a charm helping me keep a clean look. You can see from the photo’s how my buckpucks are out of the way of the heatsink & fans yet to be placed.

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Finish Up

Now for the completion of your project. Connect the heatsink & brace to the hood. Solder all wires to the buckpucks from your led’s. Run your cords thru the holes already in the back of your hood. Install your two stock fans and the fans you are using to blow across fins of the heatsink. 40MM fans are what I used and are shown in the pictures.

Test everything before reattaching the splash guard so you don’t have to take out all those screws again. Once everything is installed, soldered & splash guard in place turn on your beautiful BRIGHT lights. Enjoy these pictures.

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Notes, Questions & Answers

My tank is a JBJ Nano Cube 24 DX and is 24 gallons. I have some monti, colt & some paly/zoa’s. I keep anything I wish from SPS to mushrooms, water depth to sandbed is 15 1/2″ from light. the finished product is equal to 150W Metal Halide levels using 60 degree optics. Using 40 degree optics it would be closer to a 250W level.

I did hours of research to find the lowest prices available, without using low end parts. You will need a power supply(s) that is 24-32v, and a minimum of 4.2A to cover all the components. This setup used two power supplies, one for lights and one for the fans.

A couple of things to mention that may answer a question before you even ask. The buckdrivers are the size of a postage stamp, use a project box to keep things neat & clean & any IEC power cord will work for the power supply you can even hack the end off an old PC power supply cord.

The question was asked earlier if this fit within the stock splashguard.
My answer was yes, there is 1/8″ clearance and that was without trimming anything on the hood.

How do I wire/run the fans?
Run the fans in series the same as you wired the LEDs in series. Wiring two 12v fans in series to a 24v supply means that each fan gets 12v and operates properly. Google the difference between series & parallel wiring if you need to understand better.

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