schgr.cube's Innovative Marine 25 Lagoon

[YHSublime]

The light looks good. I agree, the metal plates look sleek. It'll be the top of the light anyways, not a lot of peeking up there. 

[Schg]

The light looks good. I agree, the metal plates look sleek. It'll be the top of the light anyways, not a lot of peeking up there. 

True, although I will be hanging it about 6" off the surface when all is said and done, so you'll see it a little!

 

Light came in! I need to figure out my hanging situation, and fine tune the settings a bit, but I am seriously impressed! I am super happy with everything, and definitely feel that it was worth the wait. I'll post better pictures of the whole setup later, but here are two for now:

 

 

 

Also got a little Sunny D frag yesterday, which I've always wanted.

 

Have a few more goodies coming in this week, as well as some more coral.

[badger0403]

That light looks amazing, I'm super excited to see how things grow out under it. Tank's looking great, keep it up!

 

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[Schg]

That light looks amazing, I'm super excited to see how things grow out under it. Tank's looking great, keep it up!

 

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Thank you! I can't wait to see either, the colors already look fantastic as it is.

[Schg]

Picked up a few things from some WAMAS members today, most of which were free!

 

Tiny little short tentacle plate coral:

 

Jack-o-Lantern Lepto:

 

Little purple and blue blasto:

 

Some pink-zipperish palys?

 

Some birds nest, we will see who it colors up:

 

I got more, but they weren't open when I took pictures, so I will post them later!

Edited September 18, 2017 by schgr.cube

[YHSublime]

Nice! Love the little plate coral!

[Schg]

Nice! Love the little plate coral!

 

Thanks Isaac! I love it too, they are so cute when they are that small.

 

Just got back from a work trip, and decided to take some more shots of the tank now that some of those recent pickups opened while I was gone.

 

New FTS, September 20th, 2017

 

My fire shrimp has begun making more of an appearance lately, instead of hiding in his cave all day:

 

Picked up some GSP from a local, two different kinds! Not sure if I will keep both together, but it does look kind of cool:

 

The armor of god-ish palys:

 

Look like blow pops to me, maybe need to color up a bit more:

 

And my frogspawn has been growing pretty steadily!

[Schg]

What could this be?

 

 

 

 

More to come tomorrow!

[Schg]

Innovative Marine Nuvo APS Stand review part 1: Assembly and first impressions

 

The APS stand for the 25 Lagoon also fits the Nuvo 40.

 

Sorry for the little teaser last night, but I was too excited not to post something. Last week Innovative Marine reached out to me, and offered one of their new APS stands. Although this isn't necessarily a sponsorship or affiliation yet, the basic idea is that I would be given the stand in exchange for an honest review, some decent photos, and of course a little exposure.

 

Completed stand, just a little dirty from the construction experience.

 

I was a little worried at first, as the huge outer box was somewhat rough looking, but it did the job in protecting the packaging inside. Everything inside the box was wrapped up well, and covered in protective plastic. Also included was the instruction manual, a hex wrench, 4 pre cut feet, and 4 screws to affix the top panel to the frame. The only thing you will need to provide yourself is a phillips head screwdriver.

 

The lock on one of the profiles in the locked position.

 

Assembly was easy enough with the instructions provided, although IM does have a video on their YouTube channel if you need further assistance. The biggest issue I faced throughout building the stand came when I went to install the cross braces that run along the top and bottom. They appeared to be a lot bigger than the space they were supposed to fit, so I assumed I would have to spread the "profiles" apart in order to fit them in. The amount of effort it took to spread them far enough made me really nervous, as I thought I might break something, and I stopped two or three times to see if maybe I was sent the wrong parts. I eventually built up the courage to work them in properly, and once I got them in I knew it was fine. Still very nerve wracking.

 

This picture doesn't really do my struggles any justice, as there is a brace below that is already spreading the profiles apart. There was about a 1" difference prior to this.

 

All in all, I would say it probably took me 20-25 minutes to put together, with a large portion of that time spent trying to figure out if I was going to break the profiles. I did not need any assistance throughout the process, and the whole stand is light enough to lift very easily. The overall construction is very nice, and the finish is pretty unique looking with the anodized aluminum and gloss black acrylic.

 

The magnetic pop out doors are also a nice touch.

 

There are certainly a few cons with this stand, with one of my biggest gripes being in the protective plastic. The whole thing was absolutely covered in various types, and I felt that keeping most of it on throughout building would help things stay scratch free. This came back to haunt me later, as both of the large acrylic pieces in the pre-built sides had plastic running all the under the profiles holding them together. I wouldn't have necessarily thought to take the side pieces apart before building, since they came pre-built, so I ended up having to cut them out after the fact. There are still remnants along the edges that I am just going to ignore.

 

Torn pieces of plastic covering that I eventually had to cut out.

 

I will have to post some pictures of it later, as I didn't take any, but there are also some poor cuts on pieces of aluminum that ended up being visible on the final build. The doors also look a bit off, as the corner pieces look like painted plastic, and have a slightly different finish from the aluminum that really makes them stand out. The back of the stand could also use a few small touches, just to increase usability and bring this stand to a whole other level. A 3/4 or 1/2 back panel would be great to mount some electronics to, as right now there are only really the sides and you may not want to do that depending on your situation. I would also love for IM to create some sort of light mounting bar attachment, or even their own light hanging system that you could adapt to whatever light you have. I debating drilling into mine for some piping to run up the back of each side, but will stick to leaving mine mounted to the wall instead.

 

Switching these out is going to be a huge PITA, but the APS stand definitely looks better than my unfinished DIY stand. Ignore my droopy door.

 

I am very happy with the stand overall, and any opportunities it has are really mostly quality of life improvements. I am very glad they sent me the black version, as I would had to have a pretty interesting room to pull off their faux wood option. A white version would be great, and somehow finding a way to do a raw aluminum with clear anodization would be prefect for me with my raw metal NanoBox Hybrid! I'll have to post more pictures once I make the switch, and see how I will manage the interior and my cable management. Let me know if you have any questions about anything! Thanks for reading.

[YHSublime]

Looks sleek, honestly, I like both stands.

 

 

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[badger0403]

Looks pretty nice! Is there any division or shelving inside or is it just a big empty cabinet?

 

Also...not to freak you out or anything, but I think your new stand is growing a tail in the last picture...might want to look into that

 

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[Schg]

Looks sleek, honestly, I like both stands.

 

 

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Thanks Isaac! I liked my old stand, but it didn't turn out anywhere close to how I originally envisioned it. Hopefully I can find someone who needs a stand for an IM 25 or 40!

 

Looks pretty nice! Is there any division or shelving inside or is it just a big empty cabinet?

 

Also...not to freak you out or anything, but I think your new stand is growing a tail in the last picture...might want to look into that

 

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Thanks! The inside is just a big empty cabinet, but I have mixed feelings on that. On one hand, I do wish it had something to aid with storage and organization, on the other I don't want something that may be in my way and can't move later. I'll go into a little more detail below in the second part of my review.

[Schg]

Innovative Marine Nuvo APS Stand review part 2: Setup with aquarium

 

I was going to do this part a little more in depth, but I don't really have the equipment that I really want in order to set up the inside properly. I think I have a few upgrades to make before I am going to start laying this out fully. There is likely an Innovative Marine ATO reservoir in my future (not free, unfortunately!) that will be going inside, and I am still debating between a few power management / battery backup options. Either way, here is the tank on the stand:

 

My cats are never far away, they are always wanting to see what I am doing.

 

Although I mentioned in the first part of my review that white would be a nice option, I do love how the black of the stand blends into the black on the tank for a nice clean transition. If I were to ever remove the AIO portion of the tank (which is certainly a possibility in the future), I think I would likely prefer white again. Either way, the stand looks super slick, and has a nice blend of modern / classic feel to it with the combination of design and materials. I don't love that I can see through the gap around the doors with my light on, but I don't quite know what I would do to solve that.

 

Cable management? What is that?

 

A few people have asked if the inside has any sort of shelf or anything. The short answer is no, and I do find that somewhat disappointing. While I wish it was at least an option, I am also partially glad that it does not include one. Unless it was height adjustable, and not spanning from front to back, having a built in shelf would certainly limit certain configurations and equipment options. If I were to ever sump this tank, a shelf would only get in the way. I have a few equipment changes coming soon, so I will really wait to figure out how I will mount / route everything after I have made those purchases. I'll try to get updated pictures once that has happened.

 

Now that the transition to this stand is complete, I can definitely say I am happy with it, and would highly recommend it to anyone with an IM tank. The price tag is probably going to scare a lot of people off, but I would certainly see it as a better investment than any of the particle board stands you will find out there, and it doesn't cost a whole lot more than those.

[Schg]

A few pickups last night:

Godspawn and Jawbreaker mushrooms:


Grafted monti cap:


Free little broken birdsnest:


I forgot I had taken a picture of the Jack-O-Lantern lepto, but this one is better anyway:

[Schg]

Lots of new SPS, current FTS:

 

I am going to do a little test run of taking out a rock to drill for frag plugs tonight, so my tank should get cleaned up a little bit.

 

Here are a few of todays pickups from gmerek2:

 

Walt Disney Acro:

 

Forest Fire Digi:

 

Hawkins Echinata:

 

Bad picture with a birdsnest in front, but Sunset Milli:

 

Bonsai:

 

Another bad picture, Meteor Shower Cyphastrea that was attached to the Bonsai plug:

 

He also had a bunch of nano conches, but only two that he was able to find to give me. Not sure where the other is, but one immediately got to work. I'll definitely have to get more soon!

 

Enjoy!

[gmerek2]

Following! I can't believe that white hairy crab cat got through your dip process lol! Otherwise looking great!

[Schg]

Following! I can't believe that white hairy crab cat got through your dip process lol! Otherwise looking great!

 

Thanks again Brian, I appreciate everything! Speaking of which, he gave me a few more nano-sized inverts at the meeting on Saturday:

 

Also ended up getting a few frags from Wil and Graham. Was able to get pictures of some, as well as some more recent shots of older acquisitions.

 

Purple people eaters:

 

Not fully open, but still very nice punk rockers:

 

Golden rainbow yuma:

 

Utter chaos:

 

I've had these blue hornets for a little, but I don't think I ever posted a shot:

 

A better picture of my walt disney acro from Brian:

 

Wobbegongs:

 

More recent picture of my plate coral, getting bigger!

 

A shot of my porcelain crab hanging out under my armor of gods:

 

Not the best shots, but I just figured I would show my haul! I also picked up a polyp of pink Krakatoa, but it isn't open yet.

Edited October 23, 2017 by schgr.cube

[D805]

Very nice haul and pictures. What camera are you using?

[Schg]

Very nice haul and pictures. What camera are you using?

 

Thank you! I am using a Samsung NX3000 with an adapter to use my Canon lenses. I mostly use a 18-55mm and a Canon 50mm 1.8.

 

I am looking to update my camera soon though, I just need a bit more adaptability.

[Schg]

I was messing with my buddies old Nikon with a macro lens, here are some of the shots. For an almost 10 year old camera, it is still better than my NX3000....I really need to dump this thing.

 

Bad picture, but one of my recent pickups was orange Setosa:

 

Lunar Eclipse zoas:

 

Another terrible picture, but I think it is Setting Sun Montipora?

 

Green Psammocora:

 

I did grab more, but wasn't able to get photos of them yet. Now just some fun stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

[mari.harutunian]

These photos are better than most seller photos!!

 

 

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[Origami]

Beautiful. I'd give it a TOTM award just so I could see more of your pictures!

[D805]

Beautiful pics. Need to pick up a macro lens for my Nikon.

[Schg]

These photos are better than most seller photos!!

 

 

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Beautiful. I'd give it a TOTM award just so I could see more of your pictures!

 

 

Beautiful pics. Need to pick up a macro lens for my Nikon.

 

 

Thanks all! I don't think my tank is TOTM worthy (yet), but I wouldn't say no to that gift card

 

Current FTS, and two more pictures:

 

 

 

[JMsAquarium]

Beautiful. I'd give it a TOTM award just so I could see more of your pictures!

I second that. TOTM nomination