Griev's IM-200 Mangrove Lagoon

[Griev]

I was running the lights 24/7 at first to let the algae get established, but have since set it to only overnight. I also picked up a bottle of AcroPower that I've been dosing to help with the low nutrients.

They're actually MP60s! I had originally bought MP40s, but the magnets weren't quite strong enough to hold on glass this thick. I run them in Reef Crest mode at only the second pip. Any more than that and things start sliding around! More than enough flow. They're currently about as high as I can mount them without them pulling down an air vortex.

The mangroves are in a little box I printed that just sits on the outer lip and overflow, and it's got openings that line up with the overflow slots so water comes in from the tank, then pours out the side into the overflow.

 

[Operator Wrasse]

That's awesome. Thanks for the info! That is too bad about the mp40s, though. At least you're not using substrate. Could you imagine the mess?

 

[Griev]

Yeah it would be a snow globe

 

[Griev]

I had a couple of small aiptasia come in on some of the frags. I'd been removing them from the tank and scraping them off, but some of them would keep coming back no matter how thorough I thought I had been. When I noticed a new one pop up in my rockwork, I decided I needed to try something else. I saw lots of people mentioning that hitting them with boiling water was quick and effective, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Worked like a charm! Was able to use a 10ml syringe and a cup of near boiling water to hit the couple of aiptasia I could see. Worked instantly to kill them and after three days, they haven't popped back up! This will definitely be my preferred method from here on out.

 

[Operator Wrasse]

When I had an outbreak, I was lucky enough to get a copperband butterfly who decimated the population. I've been training him to eat frozen the whole time, so now I have a beautiful and fun "expert only" fish and no aiptasia.

 

[TheWB]

I had a couple of small aiptasia come in on some of the frags. I'd been removing them from the tank and scraping them off, but some of them would keep coming back no matter how thorough I thought I had been. When I noticed a new one pop up in my rockwork, I decided I needed to try something else. I saw lots of people mentioning that hitting them with boiling water was quick and effective, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Worked like a charm! Was able to use a 10ml syringe and a cup of near boiling water to hit the couple of aiptasia I could see. Worked instantly to kill them and after three days, they haven't popped back up! This will definitely be my preferred method from here on out.

Glad that worked for you. Did you remove the rock and do it outside the tank?

 

[Griev]

Glad that worked for you. Did you remove the rock and do it outside the tank?

Nope. Unfortunately one had ended up on the main rockwork which would have been a huge pain to pull out.

 

[Griev]

Clownfish was still spot free, so it was finally time to add more fish!

Picked up 7x Anthias squamipinnis and 2x Mandarin. They're settling in great! Anthias are going after my autofeeder pellets and the Mandarins are cruising around picking off pods.

Love watching the cleaner shrimp inspect new additions.

 

[Griev]

Mangrove seeds are finally sprouting.

 

[Griev]

Getting fish back in the tank has done wonders for the corals Starting to see more growth from the torches and frogspawn. Multiple heads are starting to split. The SPS are starting to color back up. They'd gotten pretty pale and muted while the nutrients were so low.

The algae scrubber is doing an awesome job keeping all the green stuff growing down in the sump instead of in the display tank.

 

[Griev]

Looks like the algae scrubber was working too well. Still no detectable nitrates even feeding a full frozen cube and 3x pellets per day. Super impressed with the nutrient export capacity.

Bad news is that it's started some STN on some of the acro colonies. I ordered some NeoNitro to raise my nitrates and did the first dose tonight. Fingers crossed I can stop/reverse the STN.

 

[Griev]

After dosing some nitrates I've got things stable at;

Nitrates; 5.4 PPM
Phosphates; .05

The STN seems to have stopped. Interestingly enough it only affected two types of coral (pink lemonade and tort). Maybe those were less efficient at using the limited nitrates than the other corals?

I've also noticed the torches are a bit puffier too.

I'll have to be careful with this being bare bottom, I'm not used to tanks running too clean, it's usually the opposite.

 

[Griev]

I might have a problem, I'm up to a dozen anthias now. They're just so active and colorful!

To help keep aggression down I'm using two autofeeders, one on each side of the tank. They feed 3x a day at the same time. The food stays in the 3D printed rings until it sinks directly into the MP60s. With my flow this puts food everywhere in the tank and even the smallest anthias have nice full bellies.

I'm still struggling with my SPS. I brought the nitrates back up to ~5 PPM and the STN keeps creeping on most of the acros now. My best guess is that it was too late? I'm keeping a close eye on the ones that are still showing polyp extension and focusing on keeping phosphates and nitrates stable. My alk/cal/mag have been steady, so it's nothing out of whack there. The blue sympodium is definitely looking skinny.

The mangroves are finally showing life and seem to be doing great. Can't wait until they're taller than the lights so you can see them better.

 

[Griev]

It's been far too long since I updated my build thread, I've been quite busy helping take care of our new daughter!

The tank has been experiencing issues with mysterious bacteria blooms that I believe were contributing to swings in nitrate and phosphate and potentially even directly causing fish deaths. It's been a frustrating journey, but I think I've got things stable now.

It all started when I lost some Spotbreast Angelfish I'd recently ordered online. I wasn't ever able to identify the cause of losing all 4 fish, and I just guessed it was velvet. I did a fallow period of 76 days and reintroduced the fish I was able to catch and treat. They all did fine so I started adding additional fish. Anthias I added would slowly die off with no visible symptoms. A rabbit fish I got from a local who's had it for 6 months (so I knew it was healthy) broke out in legions within 3 days of being added to my tank, and I had to catch and treat him with meds. He recovered and was able to be readded to the display and has been fine since. Another order of angelfish died off within 3 days, no visible signs of distress or disease.

Parameters were stable. No detectable nitrates, so I started dosing nitrates to get it to 3-4 ppm as to not bottom out. I had a small problem with phosphate swings between 0.03 and 0.3 because of the algae scrubber. It worked really well, but would yoyo when I harvested the algae, as I'd removed the biomass that was using up the phosphates and had to regrow back. I don't think this was the cause of the fish deaths directly, but I do believe they contributed to blooms of whatever was harming the fish as the water would get a little cloudy but then clear up after a few days. Fish would be less active and hide more during these blooms. My best guess was that the bacteria itself would infect the fish directly or the rapid bloom was depleting oxygen but with the flow and aeration I've got going, this seemed less likely.

So I gave up on my algae scrubber only experiment and bought a skimmer to help keep nutrients more stable and to help remove floating bacteria. I also added a UV light to my scrubber loop to help kill any nasties still living in the water. Went full nuclear option because I'd had enough.

This is the bacteria and gunk it pulled out on the first day (remember nitrates are 0-3 and phosphate max 0.3). Side note; this skimmer is amazing. So easy to set up, surprisingly quiet, and I haven't once had to fiddle with once since setting it up.

So far it seems to be working. Nutrients are staying stable and the water is now crystal clear. I added more anthias and so far so good, no mysterious deaths and all the existing fish seem more active and are eating like crazy. I lost all my SPS during this, and a few torch heads.

Keeping my fingers crossed that things will continue to be stable, no more mystery fish deaths, and I'll be able to get back on track with my corals.

I picked up some softies to get the right side corals growing out. Yellow leather and some pink nepthia. Going to probably add some green nepthia as well if these continue to do well.

One thing that certainly wasn't negatively impacted was my aiptasia. They apparently love the water and have been multiplying like crazy. So I brought in some specialists...

So cool to watch, too bad they're nocturnal. Rare to catch them out and about until they multiply more.

I'll trying and post more updates as the tank hopefully continues it's upswing.

 

[TheWB]

Congratulations on the new baby!!! That’s a perfectly good reason not to be keeping up with your updates Lol.
I’m sorry to hear about the bac blooms and your fish/coral losses but hopefully that’s all behind you now. Looking forward to seeing your vision for this tank come together.

 

[Griev]

So far so good with the tank regaining stability. Alk/Cal have been solid and I've been slowly bringing phosphates down. Tested 0.13 today, and all the corals are happy and showing signs of growth. Cyanobacteria is slowly fading away as I get the levels back in line.

Been 3D printing things again. These are little filter sock baskets so I can get to any media easier vs fishing it out of the bottom of the sock.

I also made a little fan holder for my evaporative cooling fan so it was a little better secured.

Next project is a shade to go around the lights to reduce glare while I'm at my desk. Prototyping something now.

 

[tautog83]

Awesome stuff ! I have this tank on order , couple questions . Do you think it needs any covers for the main overflow box ? I'm worried that a wrasse will be able to fly in there . It looks like the euro brace covers the rest of the overflow without the plumbing . I see you used vca adapters on the return , were you able to just snap them on the loc line or did you have to buy an adapter ? Finally , I got a 36" sump and looking back probably not best idea. When you power off about how many gallons flood the sump ? I kept my mp40s because my last tank was 3/4" as well and they were able to hold . I like all your 3d printed innovations, I was going to get something printed for the overflow based on your answer. Keep it going !

 

[Griev]

I think you'll really like the tank.

The rear euro-brace covers most of the rear chamber making it impossible for a fish to jump back there. Only in the middle is it open, and the included mesh cover leaves only a small gap. I'd be impressed if a fish got back there, but having had a wrasse jump through a tiny opening myself... nothing is 100% wrasse-proof, lol.

The flow adapters I actually printed myself from some open source files, but they pop right onto the loc line, no adapter needed.

I use a one way flap valve on the return line so it's only a couple gallons from the rear chamber. Sump level only goes up an inch or so.

Hopefully that's helpful info!

 

[tautog83]

Awesome , very helpful!!. You have any suggestions with what might work for that small space ? You'll have to print those adapters for me good luck moving foward , getting excited for sure

 

[Griev]

It would be pretty straightforward to build some spacers (or 3D print some) to close that gap. Could just have a U shape at the bottom to sit on top of the rear weir.