Jump to content
Cultivated Reef

12 Gallon Mr. Aqua Actinic Overload


timothymarsh

Recommended Posts

timothymarsh

Well here we go, it's reef tank number two for me and I'm pretty excited about this one. My dorm reef has taught me many lessons about the hobby, and has shown me what I like and dislike in a reef tank. This 12 gallon tank will be located on the kitchen counter of my apartment, where myself and my roommates can enjoy it.

Tank Goals:

- Minimal design with a strong emphasis on color "pop"

- Reasonable budget (yeah right)

- Simple stocking list

- As clean looking as possible

 

Equipment:

- 12 gallon Mr. Aqua long tank

- Current "SubCurrent" Surface Skimming Filter (Filter floss and carbon)

- Current TrueLumen Dual Pro Kit

 

Possible stocking list:

- High end zoas/palys

- One centrally located Torch or Frogspawn

- Rics

- Cleaner shrimp (possibly a fire shrimp, I've never had one)

- Anything else that can add color

 

First Official FTS (1/15/2014)

P1150021_zpsa4c26d98.jpg

P1270043_zpse364b7e8.jpg

 

P1270044_zps902d78b7.jpg

Link to comment
timothymarsh

After a good deal of shopping around I think I have narrowed my lighting choices down to either two 36" stunner strips or just one of the new Panorama Actinic Blue LED fixtures. I want it to look as sleek as possible and the Panorama options would allow me to mount the light right onto the edges of the tank. It seems that Ecoxotic is advertising the Panorama product as a fixture that can be used to support a variety of light intensive corals.

Can anyone provide feedback with any experience they might have with either of these products? I would really appreciate it, I'm going crazy looking at all of my options lol

Link to comment

Looks like an overpriced light IMO. You won't be happy with just blue, corals need some mixture to really do well. Colors pop under blue only when healthy, and with only blue they will not be healthy. Look at the lights over at BuildMyLED.com and see if you like those, if going for a strip light. Get it with the dimmer, they are bright. For a blue strip you don't need much, but you will probably end up with two fixtures over the tank.

Link to comment

Here is a write-up with PAR numbers from Stunner Stips. It looks like they used 4 various strips for the test. With 2 stunners, you can expect roughly half of these numbers; not a lot of PAR.


You can get the optional reflectors that Ecoxotic claims to "double" the PAR, but realistically I'd say a 50% increase. So even with relflectors, you're looking at an overal 25% decrease from the numbers on this post.

 

http://blog.aquanerd.com/2010/02/ecoxotic-stunner-strip-par-numbers.html



Looks like an overpriced light IMO. You won't be happy with just blue, corals need some mixture to really do well. Colors pop under blue only when healthy, and with only blue they will not be healthy. Look at the lights over at BuildMyLED.com and see if you like those, if going for a strip light. Get it with the dimmer, they are bright. For a blue strip you don't need much, but you will probably end up with two fixtures over the tank.

 

+1 on a BML strip with a dimmer for a shallow 36" tank like yours.

Link to comment
timothymarsh


BML has some awesome stuff but I don't think it's practical for this small build or on my budget. I don't want to spend $300 for a fixture that is too bright and will have to be run at 50% anyways.

 

Ecoxotic also makes a 36" Panorama that is 50/50 on dual channels so I would be able to add in a bit of white for full spectrum benefits, and tune in the blues to get the "pop" that I'm looking for.

Link to comment
timothymarsh


As of right now I'm leaning towards the Current TrueLumen Pro Dual LED kit. Marine Depot had it for $230, but they are out of stock for the next 5-7 days :( There is another member on here who used these lights for the same tank, and his pictures looked pretty good.

 

In other news, the tank shipped today!! Hopefully the cold weather does not affect it too much. Maybe I should have asked them to put a heating pad in the box? But then again it's Marine Depot so they probably already did that lol. [i'm just kidding about the heating pad btw]

 

The waiting begins...

Link to comment

 

As of right now I'm leaning towards the Current TrueLumen Pro Dual LED kit. Marine Depot had it for $230, but they are out of stock for the next 5-7 days :( There is another member on here who used these lights for the same tank, and his pictures looked pretty good.

 

In other news, the tank shipped today!! Hopefully the cold weather does not affect it too much. Maybe I should have asked them to put a heating pad in the box? But then again it's Marine Depot so they probably already did that lol. [i'm just kidding about the heating pad btw]

 

The waiting begins...

 

Yeah, I'm familiar with that thread and tank. I agree, it looks great. I think you've made a wise choice! ;)

Link to comment

Well the tank arrived in one piece and passed the leak test so I threw in the sand, bought 8lbs of live rock and put on an AC30 for the meantime. The AC30 is gonna block the legs of the TrueLumen lights so I think I might switch it out for the subcurrent surface skimming pump that I used to have on my 15 gallon. Not really sure though I might just use a koralia and forego filtration altogether. Planning on doing a 5 gallon water change each week.

Pictures are coming up soon I need to find my camera cable so I can get them online. Should be up in the next hour hopefully. The lights have shipped out and should be here by next Wednesday. I can't wait!!

Link to comment

As promised here are some shots of the tank with everything set up. Feel free to request more shots/angles if you want to see them. I'll post an extensive review of the lights once they come in. Overall I am 100% satisfied with the Mr. Aqua 12 gallon long tank. The edges are very clean and the quality is evident in every inch of the tank. Here we go:

 

P1100008_zps855f417f.jpg

 

 

P1100001_zps65a6e733.jpg

 

 

P1100009_zpsb5cd1fad.jpg

 

P1100003_zps8d9ae509.jpg

 

 

P1100007_zps18551ec4.jpg

 

 

P1100005_zps1c2ce264.jpg

 

P1100006_zps1e084da8.jpg

 

P1100002_zps94917b5a.jpg

Link to comment

I couldn't agree more, the dimensions are perfect for almost any room and the tank itself gives you so many directions for stocking. This tank could easily be all SPS, or just zoas/softies, or even a cool FOWLR with some small schooling fish. And rimless is awesome! I don't like looking at my regular 15g now lol. I'll post a few more pictures later on today.

Link to comment

I am using the Current Orbit Marine fixture and threw some zoas in... at 100% it looks like they bleached a bit :/

most don't understand how shallow this tank is so this light is perfect for me and my needs :)

I paid $179 shipped on Amazon...I am still experimenting with it tho :lol:

 

Subscribed!

Link to comment

I can't tell you how hard it was to decide between the Orbit and the True Lumen. I guess I read too many articles about fixtures not being strong enough so I went with the more powerful TrueLumen kit. The controller for the Orbit almost swayed me in that direction but I just really did not see myself using some of the settings. IMO the storm setting just looks like the fixture is having a melt-down. If paired with a wave maker and a cool speaker system the storm mode might be useful. I'm planning on having a pretty good amount of Acans and probably some colorful SPS so I wanted to have the extra wattage. As I said before on your thread the fact that we have different lights running will allow other hobbyists to compare growth/color/bleaching effects. I'm so excited for the lights getting here on wednesday

Link to comment

Couple of quick shots

 

 

Water has cleared up nicely, loving that rimless look!

P1130017_zpsec47800c.jpg

 

 

Left rock has a built-in cave, both rocks together form a nice little cave

P1130018_zpsfb23e1bf.jpg

 

Left rock has an interesting spire for an SPS, also considering getting some GSP/Xenia and letting it completely take over this side.

P1130019_zps5821076e.jpg

Link to comment

I like it. My only suggestion would be to put your torch or frogspawn off center a little instead of directly in the middle. From an artist's perspective, the human eye finds the focal point to be more visually appealing if it is off center just a little bit. I like your rockwork, it looks great in that long tank!

Link to comment

Thank you, and yeah I'm re-thinking the central LPS location. The left side of the central rock lies roughly at the first 1/3 mark on the tank so I'm thinking that might be a good place. This tank really does feel like an artistic canvas, and I want to make sure each piece added to the system complements the overall look. Thank you again for the support!

Link to comment

The lights should be arriving sometime in the next few hours, when I get back from class hopefully they will be delivered. I'll post some pictures of the lights over the tank either later tonight or tomorrow. I will also be filming a review/demo video of the product, because I am not happy with the current review videos of this product online. Actinic overload is coming soon!!!! :haha: :haha: omgomgomg:happydance:

Link to comment

So the lights are installed and I have to say I am pretty happy. I only have two minor complaints about the fixtures. First: the tank mounting system sucks and the engineer at Current who designed them needs to be fired. Second: The 453nm lights alone look one shade lighter than I thought they would be, this is most likely due to the low individual wattage of each LED. Aside from that, the lights are awesome and I love having the dimming feature. From initial appearances I think I have more than enough light for some SPS. The sleek design only adds to the modern look of the system. I will provide a full video review soon once I have time to gather all of the thoughts I would like to present. From here on out I'm going to have to find someone with a good camera to shoot this tank because my camera is overwhelmed by the blue spectrum.

P1150021_zpsa4c26d98.jpg

 

P1150020_zps3966b725.jpg

 

P1150022_zps4c4b0458.jpg

 

P1150023_zpsfde323da.jpg

 

P1150024_zps05c06228.jpg

 

P1150025_zpscb271ae4.jpg

Link to comment

So it looks like I had an explosion of pods last night in the tank. I woke up this morning and all four sides of the tank were covered in them. I'm pretty sure that they were not there yesterday, so I'm assuming this is good news for my cycle. I'm gonna wait a few more days to see if there's any type of ammonia/nitrite spike, but I think by next week I can add the cleaner shrimp. Live rock and sand must have been near perfect to see results like this.

Link to comment

So today at the LFS I picked up a Two Little Fishies magnet, some activated carbon, and a $5 zoanthid frag. I know that I technically should have waited until next week but the fact that I have pods thriving in the system along with the small size of the piece (only two heads), I decided to throw it in there. Pretty nice color for $5, it's a mix between orange and a pinkish color. Not really worth posting a picture right now because my camera won't even be able to pick up half the color. Hopefully it's a fast grower!

Link to comment

Quick photo dump of the new coral and tank in general. I'm planning on moving in an acan from my 15 gallon sometime later next week. Water is looking crystal clear today and the pod population is still thriving, pretty sure I'm done with the cycle.

 

100% Lights

P1190026_zps37993052.jpg

 

FTS

P1190028_zpsd263db0c.jpg

 

Pink Zoa

P1190029_zpsab50fed7.jpg

 

100% Actinics, pop is way more but this is all I could salvage in my editing program

P1190030_zpsa5bc76f9.jpg

 

Awesome glass cleaner

P1190031_zps7aa47cd6.jpg

 

 

Dual TrueLumen

P1190032_zpsc654d4c3.jpg

Link to comment
nanolutionary

Very sleek tank dimensions, intrigued by your overflow...how does it function? Waiting on a two little fishes nano mag to be delivered from the US, glad to see I made the right choice :)

Link to comment

Thank you, I couldn't be happier with the dimensions of this tank with respect to it's location in the room. It's just large enough to give me the creative freedom that I want, yet small enough to sit quietly out of the way when it's not actively being viewed.

 

In regards to the overflow, the tank is not drilled, it is simply an all-in-one pump that attaches to the inside of the tank glass. You can do a Google search for "Current Subcurrent filter" and that will give you more information about it. From what I've seen online this product has been discontinued. It has two main problems that most likely caused it to be pulled off the market. First, it runs pretty hot. (So hot in fact that I don't need a heater on this tank) Second, unless the water level is constantly kept at the correct level, the pump will suck in air and flood the tank with micro-bubbles (or it will be too low in the water and will not skim the surface at all) Aside from these problems it is an interesting product that seems to do a good job in a nano tank setting.

 

Two little fishes nano mag is the best product on the market IMO. I've tried the nimble nano magnet and really did not like the results I saw.

Link to comment

So I've been busy in the past few days collecting some cool frags from the two LFS in the area. Everything looks really happy and some of the colors in this tank are really crazy. Stocking list as of now:

 

-Pink zoanthids (two heads)

-GSP

-Green Acan (three heads-small)

-Neon Green Candy Cane (three heads)

-Neon Green Mushroom (one head)

-Red/white zoanthids (~25 heads)

-Watermelon zoanthids (~15 heads)

-War coral

-Orange encrusting coral (I forgot the exact name, similar to a cyphastrea but no individual polyps visible)

-Green/yellow neon zoanthids (~8 heads)

-Orange Ricordea (two heads)

-Black cherry palys (four heads)

-Three Mexican turbo snails

 

I'll try to get some shots of everything today. Still need to find someone with a good camera that can come and get some real shots of the tank. The tank is really coming together nicely and I can't wait to add a cleaner shrimp in a week or two for some more movement. My plan is to let the GSP take over the entire left rock. The other two rocks have four or five more places for frags but after that I'm just gonna let everything fill in. Stay tuned for those pics later today

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...