50g Lagoon EXT build! Innovative Marine Jpreefs

jpxp90 · Feb 6, 2022

Hey everyone!

I'm starting this new tank build and would love to get some suggestions and input on everything. The tank is still being shipped to me, but its going to be the 50g Lagoon EXT by Innovative Marine with their white APS stand.
The tank will be SPS dominant~

List of equipment:

Tank- Innovative Marine 50g Lagoon EXT (30" L x 24" W x 16" H)
Stand- Innovative Marine APS white
Lighting- 24" Hybrid T5HO 4x24W Fixture (White) Looking for suggestions on bulbs!
- 2 Radion XR 15 Pro G5 (going to be running the AB+ setting)
Flow- 1 MP10 QD (had one from previous tank laying around. might upgrade)
- 1 MP 40 QD
Sump- Fiji 20 advanced reef sump 2nd edition
- Sump comes with filter socks, but I'm looking for suggestions on a filter roller that would fit in this.
Skimmer- Nyos Quantum 160
Heater- 100W JAGER TruTemp
Return- Vectra S2 DC return (1400 max gph)
Refugium light- AI Prime 16 LED freshwater light
ATO- Tunze Osmolator nano
Apex system- Apex with salinity, temp, ORP and Ph sensors
- Apex DoS for 2 part
- Apex Trident for testing
Cooling- GHL 3 fan

Any suggestions on gear and stuff would be great! Can't wait to get the build going.

blaxsun · Feb 6, 2022

I don't know if you could fit a Clarisea filter roller. You'd have to check the dimensions on your sump and the Clarisea to see if/where it might fit.

Heaters I like running an Inkbird with a pair of inanimate titanium rods with the Apex as a last line of defense monitoring temperature.

jpxp90 · Feb 6, 2022

What do you mean by inanimate? Do you mean getting an inkbird and setting the heat lower than the apex settings incase a failure happens?

blaxsun · Feb 6, 2022

jpxp90 said:
What do you mean by inanimate? Do you mean getting an inkbird and setting the heat lower than the apex settings incase a failure happens?

I mean inanimate, ie: no temperature controller. Just a titanium rod with a power cord sticking out of the end, ie: Schego (BRS), Hygger, etc.

jpxp90 · Feb 6, 2022

blaxsun said:
I mean inanimate, ie: no temperature controller. Just a titanium rod with a power cord sticking out of the end, ie: Schego (BRS), Hygger, etc.

I see, thanks!

jpxp90 · Feb 6, 2022

Also looking for suggestions on stocking! I’ll have a lot of waste removal so I want it stocked decently heavy. Thanks

Bsnow0053 · Mar 9, 2022

Just got the same tank with the same sump, definitely following along! Your setup is way nicer though and for filter rollers I was looking at the clarisea but like blaxsun said I'm not sure if it would fit where the floss box sits, but you could always run 2 klir Di-4s in the filter sock holders

jpxp90 · Mar 9, 2022

Bsnow0053 said:
Just got the same tank with the same sump, definitely following along! Your setup is way nicer though and for filter rollers I was looking at the clarisea but like blaxsun said I'm not sure if it would fit where the floss box sits, but you could always run 2 klir Di-4s in the filter sock holders

I’m thinking about just changing filter socks out for now, sadly haha I don’t know if anything will fit and I’m running out of outlets! Here’s an update on how things are going:

got my cable management somewhat set up, waiting for another mp40 to come in to finish up the pumps and stuff, got the lights mounted and leveled with some cable management on the back wall done.

This weekend I’ll be working on my aquascaping and next weekend will be plumbing and getting the tank wet! Very excited.

jpxp90 · Mar 9, 2022

This is the sump area so far, definitely need to work on the wiring in here, but gonna wait until the plumbing is in to finish that up

Bsnow0053 · Mar 10, 2022

Looking awesome man, wish I woulda went with the ext overflow, more room for the aquascape. But yea I'm gunna run the floss box on mine don't want to have to mess with filter socks.

Bsnow0053 · Mar 10, 2022

What I'm working with so far.

jpxp90 · Mar 10, 2022

Nice! You ended up getting the INT? I like the external because the room inside, but it does suck a little having it so far off the wall. Can’t wait to see how your tank turns out too!

Bsnow0053 · Mar 10, 2022

jpxp90 said:
Nice! You ended up getting the INT? I like the external because the room inside, but it does suck a little having it so far off the wall. Can’t wait to see how your tank turns out too!

Yea that's the only reason I got the int was cause last thing I need is the kids stuffing stuff behind the tank and messing with stuff hahah but yea definitely woulda loved the extra room in the display of the external, got her all dry plumbed today but still waiting on fittings and valves for the manifold so just gunna cycle in the display till it's all plumbed and glued.

Midrats · Mar 10, 2022

Welcome to the EXT 50 club! I have the same sump. It's just OK. You will have to keep the flow slow or it gets loud. I have a Sicce 2.0 as the return and it works well. The return chamber is also too small because of the useless refugium section. They should have connected those two chambers to make the return chamber bigger. If your ATO runs out of water or your socks clog the water level drops in the tiny return chamber drops rapidly. The media tray is loud as water showers down unless you put something beneath it to break the splash. Socks are quiet. I'd get the full sized Osmolator. I have the Nano and it's really finicky. The magnet interferes with the float because the acrylic isn't thick enough on the sump. You have to put something between the magnet to make it thicker. I don't use it anymore and use a Litermeter for my top up now. I run a 8 bulb Sunpower on mine. Three B+ three C+, and two O3s.

jpxp90 · Mar 10, 2022

Midrats said:
Welcome to the EXT 50 club! I have the same sump. It's just OK. You will have to keep the flow slow or it gets loud. I have a Sicce 2.0 as the return and it works well. The return chamber is also too small because of the useless refugium section. They should have connected those two chambers to make the return chamber bigger. If your ATO runs out of water or your socks clog the water level drops in the tiny return chamber drops rapidly. The media tray is loud as water showers down unless you put something beneath it to break the splash. Socks are quiet. I'd get the full sized Osmolator. I have the Nano and it's really finicky. The magnet interferes with the float because the acrylic isn't thick enough on the sump. You have to put something between the magnet to make it thicker. I don't use it anymore and use a Litermeter for my top up now. I run a 8 bulb Sunpower on mine. Three B+ three C+, and two O3s.

Yeah, I bought a fuge light and noticed that there’s literally like 5 square inches of space available :/ seems like a bad design there sadly, so I won’t be using it at all. I noticed that the water looks like it’s gonna be kinda short on the return side as well. I might have to add a little riser to make the skimmer higher to add more water into the “fuge” section of the sump and give me more water to work with on the return. We’ll see how it goes once I get the tank wet. I ended up getting 3 blue plus bulbs and a coral plus. Gonna get a par meter once everything is running and go from there with the lights.

Midrats · Mar 10, 2022

I've considered drilling a hole in the wall between the fuge and return chamber, but I haven't found something small enough to get in there and do the job. I just run the water level at 7" throughout, took the adjustable gates out, which is what my Tunze 9410 likes and it gives me a little cushion before the return chamber starts dropping fast. I don't mean to knock the wind out of your sails, it's a decent little sump, I just expect perfection

!

As far as the tank goes I love it. It's a great footprint. I used 50 pounds of KP live rock, kept the scape low, and didn't use any sand to maximize space for coral growth. A couple of Tunze 6095s on a 7095 wave controller keeps it like a Jacuzzi in there.