IM lagoon 50

[jimmypencil]

IM 50g Lagoon AIO

EQUIPMENT:
Apex EL
XR30 G6 with diffuser (30% intensity)
Nero 3s x2 (Random flow 35%-55%)
Hygger mini wave maker for extra flow by the acros (Random mode)
Stock Mighty Jet return pump (Max flow on wave setting)
Tunze 9004 dc skimmer
AquaUV 15W UV with newa 1200 pump 295 gph
In-tank media basket (filterfloss, chemipure blue, biomedia)
in-tank fuge basket (not using)
Tunze 3181 algae reactor (not using)
Versa pump (kalkwasser)
Tunze osmolator 3155 ATO
Tunze long algae scraper (highly recommend)


LIVESTOCK:

Fish/Inverts

Pair of Clowns
Yellow Hogfish
Six Line
Tomini Tang
banggai cardinal x2
Chalk Bass
Yellow Banded Possum Wrasse
Orchid Dottyback
Tailspot Blenny
Skunk Cleaner Shimp
Astrea Snails, Hermits, Nassarius Snails, Tiger Conch, Starfish

Corals

yellow octo spawn
devils hand leather
two neon green toad stools
red/green favia
raja rampage chalice
WWC fire echino chalice
clove polyps, gsp, zoas
green slimer
forest fire monit
pink birds nest
starburst monti cap
red monti cap
tequila sunrise monti cap
yellow finger leather
green sinularia leather
princess peach acro
blue stag
orange ricordea
green eggs and ham monti
red/green blastos
green frog spawn

Started the tank 12/24/22 with Live rock from a few different Lfs and 40lb fiji pink live sand. Theres some real reef, some $20 a lb snake oil rock, and then random pieces of dry rock that were mixed in with the live rock at the LFS. I started the cycle with one vial of Prodobio Bio Digest, and daily dosing of MB7. i got diatoms about 2-3 weeks in and i got 5 jars of galaxy pods from algae barn (overkill i know, there was a deal!). i also started dosing 12ml of phyto and 50 ml of PNS probio daily once ammonia and nitrate were consistently reading zero and then i added coral to the tank.

been trying to get my nutrients dialed in
levels as of 1/22/23:
Alk: 9
calcium: 450
magnesium: 1250
Nitrate: 12
Phosphate: .07 (read zero a few days before this test so ive been dosing neophos)
salinity: 1.025
Ph: 7.95-8.15

waiting on recirculating co2 scrubber attachments for my tunze 9004 to bump ph a bit. also planning on using tunze algae reactor and maybe running it for like 6-8 hours a day and see how it goes.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Tank looks great so far!!

 

[death-by-reef]

Nice lookin tank m8

 

[steveschuerger]

Very nice so far. I’m a fan of IM tanks myself, with an SR60.

 

[william Lutman]

Nice tank

 

[Giantclownfish]

That's a really cool tank

 

[TheWB]

That's a nice looking scape. I also like the fish stocking choices you made.

 

[Dickeybrazil]

Looks great! Can you share a pic of your Tunze 9004 dc skimmer mounting?

 

[jimmypencil]

Looks great! Can you share a pic of your Tunze 9004 dc skimmer mounting?

i can send a pic later when im home. its just in the first champer and i mounted it with the magnets.

 

[jmarina]

Looking Awesome!

 

[jimmypencil]

Looks great! Can you share a pic of your Tunze 9004 dc skimmer mounting?

Here’s a pic. Unfortunately I have to mount the magnets on the outside of the tank so I can fit the co2 scrubber attachment on there but I love the skimmer!

 

[jimmypencil]

Here’s a pic. Unfortunately I have to mount the magnets on the outside of the tank so I can fit the co2 scrubber attachment on there but I love the skimmer!

Got the recirculating scrubber attachment from fishofhexaquatics. I just set the scrubber up yesterday but so far it looks like it’s working. It took my ph from 7.9-8.1 to 8.05-8.25!

 

[jimmypencil]

heres some new pics, got some acros, montis, and lps inbound this week so i will update again when those arrive.

 

[jimmypencil]

heres a couple more pics. follow my insta account for better footage lol @reefpencil
added a couple acros, a tomini tang and lps since my last pic

 

[evo187]

Any Updates?

 

[jimmypencil]

Any Updates?

Theres been some struggles recently. Mainly fish disease, what looks like ich on a couple fish but maybe brook on the clownfish. Removed the clowns to treat with formalin and qt but one of them died, the other fish in the tank have had mild ich for a couple months so i installed a 15W UV to manage, they all look good and eat well. Really dont want to rip everything apart to qt all the fish, stress corals, and have to worry about nutrients, But im open to it because i set up a qt and got all the meds (formalin, ruby rally, copper, etc).

Corals look good, acros and all sps other than monti caps have been doing great. Monti caps bleached just a little bit over night a week or so ago when i dosed some MB7 when my phosphates were .1 and the next morning they were .01 lol. i corrected it the next day and they came back pretty quick. ill send an updated pic after work. i also was trying to get my xr 30 light intensity from 30% to 35% with acclimation mode, but once it got to 33% and the nutrients dropped, i saw the beaching on the caps and a major increase in algae growth. i dropped lights back down to 30% slowly, test/dose nutrients daily, and increased the flow a good bit on the nero 3s and also added a small powerhead i had on hand where my acros are. I wont touch anything going forward lol ive been tinkering too much.

i do a 5 gallon water change weekly and I test daily for alk (target 8.3) and phosphate (target .05 -.1). If my phosphates get below .05 which seems like every day (if i dont dose) i can see a negative effect on a couple corals (chalice, digi monti). so i dose about 5ml of neophos daily, and i dose 300ml kalkwasser with versa pump on continuous mode.

i started dosing 15ml phyto (from eldrigde on reef2reef) and its had a good impact on the corals it looks like but i also got a slight diatom bloom recently but im not worried about it.

Coraline algae is starting to show up on the power heads, back glass, and theres little spots on the rocks. so in summary lol corals are doing well but i really wish i qtd my fish before adding them.

Hows your tank going?

 

[evo187]

Had one mishap with not plugging back in my heater and lost my giant wall hammer but other than that everything is going good. Just changed over from 3 16HDs to the XR30 G6 Blue and everything is responding nicely! I should update my build thread

 

[jimmypencil]

Had one mishap with not plugging back in my heater and lost my giant wall hammer but other than that everything is going good. Just changed over from 3 16HDs to the XR30 G6 Blue and everything is responding nicely! I should update my build thread

Glad to hear it

 

[jimmypencil]

here are some update pics! Everything doing pretty well, just added some montis. Phosphates have stabilized (.04-.08), alk steady at 8.3 (using kalkwasser through Versa pump) but with windows closed I haven’t been able to get ph above 8.05 but I’m not worried about it.

 

[calval_24]

Nice setup. I just picked one up and have 2 Nero 3s also. Do you still have the Neros mounted on the back wall? How do you like the flow with them in the back? I’m having trouble finding the ideal spots for mine