IM Lagoon 50 Build AIO

[Bsnow0053]

Do you still have the crate the tank came in? I'm curious about it's dimensions, wondering if it will fit in the back of my SUV, I'm going to pick it up myself. I know the tanks dimensions itself will fit just fine but not sure how much bigger that crate makes it.

What suv do you have? I ran into problems with delivery literally FedEx delayed it 4 times and I got fed up and drove the hour and a half in a snow storm to get it, took the wife's SUV which is a Kia Sorento with 3rd row just folded seats down and crate and box for the stand fit in perfect, just had to take the pallet off of the bottom of the crate. I'd bring somebody with you too cause If I'm not mistaken the FedEx guys aren't allowed to touch it to help you put it in. Also make sure you open the box and inspect it before you sign any of the paperwork cause they will try to have you sign right when they bring it out, but any damages you'll be liable for after signing

 

[evo187]

Do you still have the crate the tank came in? I'm curious about it's dimensions, wondering if it will fit in the back of my SUV, I'm going to pick it up myself. I know the tanks dimensions itself will fit just fine but not sure how much bigger that crate makes it.

yup, the crate is 40Lx30Wx27H

 

[evo187]

Might as well do a quick update.

My fairy wrasse went carpet surfing, so he is gone. He had jumped once and I found him in the back chamber after hours of searching the floor and house. I was convinced my german shepherd ate him off the floor. This time it made it out of the tank and ended up in the hallway, or my german shepherd helped him on his travels. How he made it through the netting on the tank cover i will never know. Morbid I know, but i even tried fitting his dried body through multiple holes and he would not fit.

After watching Outer Range I am convinced he found one of those time portal holes.

In other news I ordered some kalwasser to help raise my PH. I am going to run it through the ATO for now just to see how it goes. Ordering a dosing pump in two weeks and I will move it into its own container. I'm still only dosing 1ml of alk daily, mag after water changes to bring it up to 4500, and calc is still stable with water changes.

My first IPC test will be going out next week as well. I'm mostly interested to see my RODI results as I'm still convinced there are trace pollutants using only the 4 stage RODI system.

Near future plans are still to add the Aquatic Life 24" T5 fixture running 2 B+, 1C+, and 1 Actinic, and upgrade to a 7 stage RODI system if my ICP test comes back bad.

 

[MaD_ReefeR]

What suv do you have? I ran into problems with delivery literally FedEx delayed it 4 times and I got fed up and drove the hour and a half in a snow storm to get it, took the wife's SUV which is a Kia Sorento with 3rd row just folded seats down and crate and box for the stand fit in perfect, just had to take the pallet off of the bottom of the crate. I'd bring somebody with you too cause If I'm not mistaken the FedEx guys aren't allowed to touch it to help you put it in. Also make sure you open the box and inspect it before you sign any of the paperwork cause they will try to have you sign right when they bring it out, but any damages you'll be liable for after signing

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee, back seats fold down. I have shoved a queen size mattress in here folded in half when I move down to Florida lol. And yes I plan on opening the crate once I get it, when I IM called me to tell me how the delivery works they told me to make sure I opened it and do a quick inspection and afterwards when I sign it to put subject to inspection so I would have 24 hours to open everything up and if anything was damaged to give them a call.

yup, the crate is 40Lx30Wx27H

thanks, should fit just fine

 

[Bsnow0053]

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee, back seats fold down. I have shoved a queen size mattress in here folded in half when I move down to Florida lol. And yes I plan on opening the crate once I get it, when I IM called me to tell me how the delivery works they told me to make sure I opened it and do a quick inspection and afterwards when I sign it to put subject to inspection so I would have 24 hours to open everything up and if anything was damaged to give them a call.

thanks, should fit just fine

Yea you should definitely be good and yea honestly mine was package super well was pretty impressed

 

[TheWB]

Might as well do a quick update.

My fairy wrasse went carpet surfing, so he is gone. He had jumped once and I found him in the back chamber after hours of searching the floor and house. I was convinced my german shepherd ate him off the floor. This time it made it out of the tank and ended up in the hallway, or my german shepherd helped him on his travels. How he made it through the netting on the tank cover i will never know. Morbid I know, but i even tried fitting his dried body through multiple holes and he would not fit.

After watching Outer Range I am convinced he found one of those time portal holes.

In other news I ordered some kalwasser to help raise my PH. I am going to run it through the ATO for now just to see how it goes. Ordering a dosing pump in two weeks and I will move it into its own container. I'm still only dosing 1ml of alk daily, mag after water changes to bring it up to 4500, and calc is still stable with water changes.

My first IPC test will be going out next week as well. I'm mostly interested to see my RODI results as I'm still convinced there are trace pollutants using only the 4 stage RODI system.

Near future plans are still to add the Aquatic Life 24" T5 fixture running 2 B+, 1C+, and 1 Actinic, and upgrade to a 7 stage RODI system if my ICP test comes back bad.

Sorry about your wrasse. It’s always a bummer. My Orange back fairy wrasse ended up on the floor not long after I got him but I was there to put him right back in. I wasn’t so fortunate with the larger of my two zebra barred dartfish and it got crispified under the lights after getting through the screen top. It happens.

 

[evo187]

So currently I have 3 fish; Sailfin Tang, Lightning Maroon Clown, and a Six Line Wrasse. I'm thinking about adding a yellow wrasse. I'd love to find one with the white belly but I don't see them often anymore.

Not sure what else to add as I am more interested in corals. I like fish that do a job. Thinking maybe a sand sifting goby of some type. Any suggestions?

 

[TheWB]

So currently I have 3 fish; Sailfin Tang, Lightning Maroon Clown, and a Six Line Wrasse. I'm thinking about adding a yellow wrasse. I'd love to find one with the white belly but I don't see them often anymore.

Not sure what else to add as I am more interested in corals. I like fish that do a job. Thinking maybe a sand sifting goby of some type. Any suggestions?

Have you added anything since the Maroon and the Six Line went in? Those are two fairly unwelcoming fish in a small amount of space. Six line might not like the yellow wrasse too much. A sailfin tang in a tank this size isn’t going to be too friendly either after a while. That’s an interesting mix of fish you’ve got there.

 

[Maximus93101]

A sailfin tang in a tank this size isn’t going to be too friendly either after a while.

I have a small sailfin tang in my 50 AIO, but I got him with the plan of moving him out down the line when he starts to get too big for the tank, or by that time, it might be time to upgrade the tank. (We all know how this ho by goes ;0) Eventually, he will need to go becasue Sailfins do eventually get VERY big. Im just saying my plan is to move hime once he starts to get too big, in say a year or two.

Regardless, my tank is newer at only 3 months old and I must say my Sailfin has been a champion at keeping the hair algae at bay. There was one poit where I thought the hair algae was going to start going nuts as I could see three days of growthall over the rocks, but it never got close to beng bad. I attribute that fact to Sailfin as he is constantly grazing on the rocks.

He has been a great addition for me so far.

 

[H2Orchard]

Love your tank. I would really love to build a Lagoon style myself. I was looking at this particular tank when I saw your thread. Would you recommend this tank? I like the AIO option.

 

[H2Orchard]

Love your tank! Ot looks gorgeous. I've been researching this tank as well. Would you recommend it? I currently have a 30 gallon with a canister filter but I have always loved lagoon tanks.

 

[evo187]

Love your tank! Ot looks gorgeous. I've been researching this tank as well. Would you recommend it? I currently have a 30 gallon with a canister filter but I have always loved lagoon tanks.

I would defiantly recommend the IM tanks. This is my second one and will upgrading to a larger one in the future. The aquariums are flawless (at least the 2 that I have owned). The lagoon dimensions are perfect to me. I do sometimes wish I had a sump, but if you plan to keep things simple like I have, I think the AIO is the way to go.

 

[AfricanReefBoy]

Current Status (4/8/22)

The tank hasn't missed a beat, but there have been a couple of changes. First was the yellow tail blue damsel was evicted. The first thing I wanted to add was a juvinile sailfin tang now that I had a little more space. The damsel was very rude and the decision was made to take him to the LFS. While trading him in I picked up a Carpenters Flasher Wrasse to take his place.

A few weeks later I also added a juvenile six line wrasse that I may end up regretting down the road. For now he is a model citizen. I have added a few more euphyllia, acans, and mushrooms over the last few weeks as well. One bing a HUGE toxic green walling hammer. It's hard to tell in the pictures but it's about 9"x5" when expanded.

I am planning on adding some tester SPS in the next couple of weeks. I have (2) green birdsnest and a green slimer ordered. I am also planning on adding a few more choice euphyllia, acans, and zoa. I don't plan on adding any more fish for now. Everyone gets along so well, I don't want to mess with a good thing.

I also plan on getting better at taking pictures of the tank, sorry they are not great

Current Livestock
Juvenile Sailfin Tang
Juvenile Six Line Wrasse
Carpenters Flasher Wrasse
Lightning Maroon Clown
(3) Blue Leg Hermits

Looking Awesome!

 

[evo187]

Update with no photos. I will get some added soon to make up for the wall of text. All reef tanks have ups and downs, but this tank has had a lot of downs over the past months, all a result of too many changes too quickly.

8 months of changes: First I added the second SLW-20 and that created a lot more flow. Corals were less than amused by this change and I spent two months trying to adjust pump positions, flow rates, and flow schedules but nothing seemed to help. Instead of putting things back to the way they were I decided to redo my rock work to help break up flow. After redoing the rock work I realized I had a lot more shadowing so I added a 3rd 16HD to the tank which gave amazing spread and eliminated all shadowing! More flow and more light, these are the keys to a successful reef tank. What could go wrong!

I'll tell you....... corals don't like change. And I forgot to plug back in my heater resulting in the tank temp dropping to 70 degrees. Not good at all.

All of my corals were in what the heck mode at this point. My SPS, huge walling hammer, smaller walling hammer, and my torch started to recede and soon I lost them. I did multiple ICP tests over the months and they all come back fine. I changed my lighting schedule multiple times thinking that would help, and it didn't. All of the other corals were alive but still not as open as they once were. I chased lighting schedules, water parameters, and flow patterns for months and months without much luck. This leads to today and I am basically doing a soft reboot of the system now.

1. Removed the (3) AI Prime 16HDs and replaced them with a G6 XR30. The light is currently running a reversed version of the Reefdudes AB+ schedule at 30%. I'm home in the evenings and prefer the whiter look so that is why I reversed it.
2. Removing the SLW-10 and replacing them with two Nero 3s. I want to have a bit more control over the flow than the Jebao pumps offer. I like the idea of lower flow at night and ramping up and down independently.
3. Adding VCA RFGs to the returns
4. Upgrading my 4 stage RODI system to a 6 stage with the Smart Buddy. I just don't want to worry about water quality anymore. I'm also updating my mixing station this spring to hold 30 gallons of fresh and NSW.
5. Adding a Tunze 9004 skimmer. This may end up being a waste of money but figured it couldn't hurt.
6. Adding a doser. I'm not sure what I am going to go with yet. I don't want to dose kalk in my ATO and hand dosing B-Ionic anymore.

 

[evo187]

Current Parameters

• Temp - 77
• Salinity - 35ppt
• Calc - 440
• Alk - 8.6dkh
• Mag - 1350
• PO4 - 0.03
• NO3 - 5ppm
• Dosing 3ml B-Ionic Daily

Current Livestock

• Maroon Clownfish
• Sailfin Tang
• Six Line Wrasse
• Flame Angel
• Cleaner Shrimp
• Misc Clean Up Crew

Current Coals

• Red Monti Cap (getting very big)
• Green BranchingFrogspawn
• Orange Branching Hammer
• Green Branching Hammer
• Purple Splatter Branching Frogspawn
• Peach Branching Hammer
• Cheetah Panties Mushroom
• Orange Rhodactis Mushroom
• Misc Zoas and Pallys
• Misc Mushrooms

I plan on adding five more high quality hammers and frogspawns in the next month or so. I'm also going to add green monti cap, purple monti cap, and hardy SPS this summer.

 

[bBurn18]

Sorry to hear about the recent struggles. Sounds like a good reboot plan.

 

[proud-Noob-aquarist]

Long story short I have kept reef tanks on and off for about 20 years. Some of them turned out well, others not so much. In 2018 I moved into a new home and had plans to set up a large tank but it never got any traction. January 2020 I decided I would go the nano route as a quick fix to my reefing addiction and purchased a Nuvo 20. Fast forward to February 2022 and the itch to upgrade could no longer be ignored. The Lagoon 50 seemed like the perfect upgrade as I could still use the majority of the equipment from the Nuvo 20 and save a little money. I still have plans for a large reef tank, but with kids getting older I just don't have the disposable cash I once had. Between sports, Roblox, and Fortnite skins, money for my hobbies come last in order of priorities. I'm sure many can relate.

The plan is to be a mixed tank with easy to keep SPS on top, and LPS on the bottom. I'm trying to keep the system as simple as possible relying on dosing , passive chemical filtration, and water changes.

I'm also not great at taking photos yet, but trying to get better at it.

Current Build as of 4/8/22

Equipment:
IM Fusion Pro 2 50 AIO Lagoon
(2) AI Prime 16 HD
(2) IM Custom Caddy running filter floss and Chemi Pure Blue
(1) IM Filter Sock ( only use for a few hours after water changes)
Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152
5 Gallon ATO Reservoir
(2) Jager 75Watt heater
Jebao SLW-10 Powerhead
Tunze Nanostream 6055
Stock IM return pump
(40lbs) Marco rock / Half from the Nuvo 20
(40lbs) Special Grade Arag-Alive sand (rinsed to remove everything from the bag it ships in)
(2) Jager 75Watt heater

Saltwater Mixing Station
Coming Soon!
20gal Brute hooked to BRS 4 Stage 75GPD
Still mixing saltwater in 5 gallon buckets

3/4/22 - Tank arrived nicely packaged. Nothing broken and tank was perfect. Fedex was nice enough to move it into the garage for me.

Loving your progress! I’m about a month away from purchasing that same tank! Do you have any tips on after market upgrades or general things you’d advise someone who’s looking to get your same tank?

 

[evo187]

Loving your progress! I’m about a month away from purchasing that same tank! Do you have any tips on after market upgrades or general things you’d advise someone who’s looking to get your same tank?

No real tips that I can think of as far as the tank or upgrades go. I bought a second basket that I use InTank white/blue filter floss in. I only use the sock after I do a water change to really polish the water and get all of the crud out of the water column.

I've had really good luck with the IM media reactor so far. I run half the recommended amount of Seachem Phosguard in it and it keeps my PO3 right at 0.03 - 0.04. I change the media once a month.

The only thing I can really think of is be sure you want a AIO shallow reef tank, and make sure you have a specific type of reef in mind. It's hard to balance PAR and water flow for a mixed reef in this shallow of a tank. I've caught the SPS bug pretty bad and I'm currently debating between selling all my LPS and doing upgrades on pumps and things in this tank, or just going ahead with upgrading to a larger tank with a sump.

 

[evo187]

Off topic to the above, but all of my corals have reacted very well to the G6 XR30. I have corals bouncing back that I thought would never make it. I was really grasping at straws when I switched from the 3 AI Primes, but so far I am very happy with the results.