14G Not a Cube (Lots'a Pics)

[nickkohrn]

saw some banded pipe fish at a not so local lfs. they were so tiny, maybe 3 inches.

Oh, man. That thing is so cute. Thanks for sharing!

 

[eggplantparrot]

Oh, man. That thing is so cute. Thanks for sharing!

yea they had 2 of them, they were following each other around the tank to avoid me lol. tgeyvwere so cute I couldn't stop watching and terrifying them

 

[IanK]

Hey, I'm in the process of cycling a nuvo 10 gallon (display is an 11" cube) and was wondering how you're liking the micmol aqua mini as im thinking about getting one. It seems to be doing a great job for you, your tank is beautiful!
Thanks

 

[eggplantparrot]

Hey, I'm in the process of cycling a nuvo 10 gallon (display is an 11" cube) and was wondering how you're liking the micmol aqua mini as im thinking about getting one. It seems to be doing a great job for you, your tank is beautiful!
Thanks

I think it's a great light and as you can see, definitely grows corals no problems. it's very sleek looking and after getting used to the controls it is very quick to set up. the fan turns on once in a while when all the LEDs are turned up and is noticeable but not by any means loud.

it is super easy to take apart to clean and the inside is very simple, even the whole control board is small and enclosed with heatshrink to protect from any water damage.

I love how sturdy the mounting arm for it is, but I am not a fan of how the actual light is attached to the arm, it does work pretty well though.

I LOVE the fact that you have 6 or 7 (don't remember from top of my head) settings throughout the day from sunrise to sunset, with each channel being controllable from 0-100% with a noticeable change with each%, it makes it very easy to set up a beautiful light schedule that can be longer than a light that is just on and off.

I don't really know anything about the LED chips themselves but they seem ok and I love how deep the blues are.

for cons I'd have to say if you have an overflow box then you can only realistically mount the light at the highest mounting point as the vertical column slides downwards when you mount it lower down and it is blocked by the overflow box unless you cut the column. the LEDs are also mounted quite far apart from each other so you will find that the light doesn't blend perfectly if you look hard, though if mounted up high like I have, its not that noticeable.

overall I love the controllability of this light and it's dawn to dusk settings, how well it grows corals. the cons aren't very noticeable and a non problem as I don't really plan to mount it any lower. i definitely recommend this light.

 

[IanK]

Thanks for the write up! Hard to find many reviews online for them

 

[eggplantparrot]

ugh, GREAT freaking news today... came home to a tank that looked kind of cloudy, all the corals ticked off and zoas look like they've been dessicated.

look around to see what's wrong, and I see that my entire bottle of calcium of the 2 part is gone, look in the sump, and I see that brand new AAA powered LED light I just bought to light inside my stand is sitting in the sump, with grey crap coming out of it, and a pile of rust coloured goo around it.

all of this is my own stupid fault. I knew my crap dosing setup leaks sometimes, yet I'm too lazy to fix it. I had a feeling the adhesive on the Velcro pad wouldn't hold on the stand surface but I decided to test my luck anyways... someone punch me in the face.

I feel so bad for the animals. I take them from their home and place them in a cramped box to keep myself entertained, yet I let my laziness and complacency take over and risk killing them... i feel horrible that I have to try hard to laugh it all off in order to not let myself be taken over by my depression again.

I quickly went to get fresh saltwater that I keep in a brute in my basement, only to realize I only plug in the heater on Sunday morning, my water change day. I plug in 300 Watts worth of heaters for the <10 gallons left and hope it heats up quickly so the animals don't have to suffer any longer than necessary. the wait felt eternal and I carry as much as I could up 2 stories and did a quick water change. the water was rust colored, the filter sock was rust colored. the AAAs exploded inside and released grey-blue goo, the battery contacts released rust colored goo. the tank has never looked worse.

after the change a few of the zoas are barely starting to open a polyp or 2. birdsnest is completely retracted. acro is pale as a ghost. toadstools are completely retracted. gonio is completely retracted. leptastrea is completely retracted. euphillya are all retracted. strangely all my lobophyllia and acans look completely normal.

I'm a little lost now as to what to do. I'm out of saltwater and I'm making more. it will take at least a day to mix up. I don't really have carbon, only half a bag of the garbage stuff you get when you buy a canister filterm, even if I did I don't have a reactor. what should I do instead of sitting here desperately trying to avoid getting depressed again?

 

[NY_Caveman]

So sorry to hear. Do not beat yourself up. We have ALL been here before. I am dealing with self inflicted tank wounds myself right now. That carbon will work fine and I would throw it in a bag somewhere in the sump. It will help. Rinse it first though. Then make water changes as you get the water made. Several 10-20% changes as it gets full is fine.

 

[NY_Caveman]

FWIW, with my issues, the LPS were also the least affected, after the fish.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Hopefully you can save it....... that's awful. I am putting in rope lights, connected to a switch under my stand for my sump (on the inside, on the under-side of the tank basically) using rope-light because I don't want a bulb exploding (humidity etc) and causing any issues.

 

[eggplantparrot]

So sorry to hear. Do not beat yourself up. We have ALL been here before. I am dealing with self inflicted tank wounds myself right now. That carbon will work fine and I would throw it in a bag somewhere in the sump. It will help. Rinse it first though. Then make water changes as you get the water made. Several 10-20% changes as it gets full is fine.

thank you, I will toss that carbon it then. tomorrow I'll go check out the LFS carbon reactors and see if my budget will allow a small one and see if they have any decent carbon available.

 

[eggplantparrot]

FWIW, with my issues, the LPS were also the least affected, after the fish.

it's weird, it seems like only corals appear affected. in thought the inverts will be the first to show symptoms and croak, but they're all chugging along. the fish seem fine too except the twin spot blenny showing a bit of stress lines.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Carbon does not require a reactor. I have always used carbon for fresh and marine and have never run a reactor.

 

[NY_Caveman]

it's weird, it seems like only corals appear affected. in thought the inverts will be the first to show symptoms and croak, but they're all chugging along. the fish seem fine too except the twin spot blenny showing a batboy stress lines.

Shrimp are very sensitive. Any snail issues?

 

[eggplantparrot]

Carbon does not require a reactor. I have always used carbon for fresh and marine and never have run a reactor.

I see, I just remember that BRS video where they show a reactor made the carbon work a lot faster.

 

[eggplantparrot]

Shrimp are very sensitive. Any snail issues?

they're all fine, even the super delicate looking anemone shrimp looks normal, it was even reaching for food

 

[NY_Caveman]

It does. Gets more water in contact with the carbon in normal scenarios. In your case you just need to start soaking up the pollutants right away.

 

[NY_Caveman]

they're all fine, even the super delicate looking anemone shrimp looks normal, it was even reaching for food

Great sign!

 

[eggplantparrot]

It does. Gets more water in contact with the carbon in normal scenarios. In your case you just need to start soaking up the pollutants right away.

well I just tossed what I have left over in the sump after a quick rinse. maybe a handful.

 

[eggplantparrot]

Great sign!

although it seems to be wandering around the tank now that it's host Duncan is all shriveled up

 

[NY_Caveman]

He will get over it. Duncans are the one LPS I find to be very sensitive. Kind of been a “canary in the coal mine” for my tank.