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James1542's Retro-cube!

2K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  james1542 
#1 ·
I found this little gem at St. Vinny's while home for Thanksgiving.

It has now flown across the country and I will do my best to do it justice.

Specs:
Aquarium:Baby Blue Glass cube tank. rearing space is about 8"X8"x 13.5" for ~ 3.7 gallons.
Lighting:Equipped with a 15w mogul based incandescent bulb built into the sweet hood (will either do a CFL, or possibly a DIY LED)!
Filtration: "The miracle filter"
Thermometer: Stuck to the front!!!
So far I'm still planning what to do with it. I've got some ideas though :).
For now I'm wondering what it is... I've never seen one of these before, and an internet search yielded nothing. It's made by all-glass. tag says it was made in July of 1987! Any ideas on what it is?
 
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#6 ·
Well, as this was back in 2003, I'm going to have to guess. Those pictures, make it look like i stuck with the basic incandescent, but I think I may have managed to find a screw CF at some point. The water temperatures weren't to bad though, with the modifications I made to it. And we kept our house fairly cool. Either way, made for a nice bathroom tank. Had I had the knowledge then, that I have now, I bet it could have been lovely.
 
#4 ·
LOL!!! Very cool! Perfect betta or shrimp tank, if you can get that undergravel filter outta there!!!! I'm sure that you could do a DIY LED....get rid of that incandescent thing....it'll turn that tank into a pot of soup from all the heat!

I've no idea what it's called, but I think "RetroCube" is fine! Though, I think it's funny that you believe 1987 to be "retro"! I was 11 years young at the time! :D

Cool find!
 
#5 ·
Retrocube is kinda catchy. Sadly this tank isn't older than me...but it is going on 25! Most of these were probalby destroyed during the grunge era.

I think LED will be the way to go. Even CFL would probalby generate too much heat. I'm considering trying a RGB led with the remote :). And as for the UGF... not sure it would work well with sand, but I'm considering doing a sand waterfall involving the UGF :).
 
#7 ·
I was able to turn the mogul socket sideways, so that the bulb will point directly down at the tank.. It was quite a nostalgic moment, thinking the last time this screw on the back was loosened was 25 years ago. There is not much clearance between the socket and where the glass begins, but the light I've ordered is only 6 cm long including the base. I'm getting a LED screw in bulb with 3x 3w diodes in cool white. Advertised to yield 600 lumens so it should get me some very bright lighting. Not much of a gamble for $4.50. Worst case, if this thing is too long, I can take the led bulb apart and wire it up directly-bypassing the mogul base.
 
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