Lagoon gets an upgrade: IM NUVO EXT 100

sugar · May 20, 2024

beamers said:
Did you pre-plan your rockscape? I found myself moving rocks around for days even after i thought i had everything set up. breaking apart rods and glue because i said to myself "going to leave it like this forever" and forever lasting 3 hours.

The plan was to take a lot of time and and carefully design a scape! But I did not do that. Lol.

I ran into a mental roadblock when I started to wonder what I would do with all the coral-covered rock in my current tank which will all be moved over.

So, the left side of my new scape I really like (with a few more small tweaks). But the right side will change. I will probably take out some of the larger rocks and smash them up for smaller pieces and rubble, to make room for my coral/rock pieces that will have to go in.

The right side of my scape is too chunky and large anyways and I wanted more space between the two main "islands" and maybe fit a smaller structure for my zoa garden between them! All while trying to make as many caves and tunnels as I can.

I am literally the WORST for constantly changing up my scape and never happy. I think my new plan will work for my needs!

I got more glue and epoxy to help things hold together and be super careful to not drop rocks or have them fall over.

Nano_Man · May 20, 2024

Love the lighting and it looks stunning already
Like you said some head scratching coming up with the rock scape . But it just shows take your time and it all comes together. But again you’re tank and lights are stunning thank you for the share

BubblesandSqueak · Jun 18, 2024

No posts in almost a month. How's the baby? (And how's the tank)

Northern Flicker · Jun 18, 2024

sugar said:
It was a productive weekend!

We got the light fixture mounted and bulbs in. It looks GREAT to me! The AI Primes will be added later on. Cable management will be done also.

Unfortunately, one of four bulbs failed after about an hour of use. I reached out to the shop I bought it from and if they won't/can't help then I will try to reach out to ATI. Not a big, big deal but a little disappointing.

I got the ATO all hooked up as well. Right now, I really just have the return pump, heaters, lights and the ATO running while it cycles. I'll only have the lights on four about 8 hours a day or so.

We took a break from the tank and had to give the dogs and garden attention too!! Third pup not pictured!

I have the same light and had the same problem! ATI bulbs that didn't fire, no returns. Sucks, but oh well.

I have two Primes mounted on mine and I am growing SPS, but I may upgrade to Hydra 32s if the budget allows. Looks really sharp.

Nano_Man · Jun 18, 2024

All the best things you have to wait
What is it looking like now I wonder?

Naekuh · Jun 18, 2024

hey @sugar that sand you bought is the same sand i used and i realized, if you dont keep stiring it at the start, it will clump up harden and turn into almost a rock.

6 Months after setting my tank im still sifting though the sand breaking up the chunks which stuck togother for my sand sifting sleeper goby to keep it nice and clean.

But if your gonna have wrasses and they dive into one of those chunks... the results will not be good.

So keep sifting though the sand so it does not clump up and harden.

sugar · Jul 10, 2024

BubblesandSqueak said:
No posts in almost a month. How's the baby? (And how's the tank)

Detailed update coming in hot!

Baby is good! We're 26 weeks long today!! Lots of movement which is pretty wild to experience for the first time.

Tank is coming right along, and we have more fish arriving today!!

sugar · Jul 10, 2024

Northern Flicker said:
I have the same light and had the same problem! ATI bulbs that didn't fire, no returns. Sucks, but oh well.

I have two Primes mounted on mine and I am growing SPS, but I may upgrade to Hydra 32s if the budget allows. Looks really sharp.

Yep. Well, it's my bad as I had ordered ALL of this equipment during holiday deals and hadn't had the chance to set anything up due to basement flooring and painting, but in hindsight I should have just set up the light fixture and tested the bulbs right away. I didn't get a lot of sympathy from the supplier as I hadn't tested the bulbs for 5 months... fair enough. I went elsewhere for a replacement bulb, and this supplier has specific instructions for testing within 30 days and will provide replacements for failures, so I appreciated the upfront clarity there.

I actually had some trouble with the AquaticLife fixture since we noticed the entire front of the fixture has dropped basically an inch since we initially set it up! More on that in the update post.

sugar · Jul 10, 2024

Naekuh said:
hey @sugar that sand you bought is the same sand i used and i realized, if you dont keep stiring it at the start, it will clump up harden and turn into almost a rock.

6 Months after setting my tank im still sifting though the sand breaking up the chunks which stuck togother for my sand sifting sleeper goby to keep it nice and clean.

But if your gonna have wrasses and they dive into one of those chunks... the results will not be good.

So keep sifting though the sand so it does not clump up and harden.

Oh that's good to know. I do try to keep it stirred up anyways, but that's an excellent reminder for me to not slack! I actually had a sand sifting goby arriving today but the supplier reached out and said he wasn't in good enough shape to ship (props to them, I appreciate the transparency).

I do have a fighting conch and may get another when the tank matures a bit more, and definitely add that diamond goby!

Nano_Man · Jul 10, 2024

Pictures please when you get time
When I read your threads you seem like a chilled out person which is good in this hobby
Did you say you’re lighting bracket is coming away from the wall or did I read wrong if so you can buy a 2 part resin and put it in the hole s then screw it up before going of . Once off you would be able to swing off it

sugar · Jul 10, 2024

Oh gosh where to even start. I've got to get into more regular updates! No one wants to read a novel! Lots going on over here.

Just this week I FINALLY finished the rockwork and am super happy with it - lots of big, open caves throughout. The photos above are still the "before" (the right side was still just a pile of rocks). I never thought it could happen, but I'm content and have zero desire to change it up. The photos can't do it justice, as you can't really get a sense of all the caves and access points but I'll get some nicer photos when everything is done done - I still have rubble, shells and corals laying in the front so it looks cluttered at the moment.. corals still need to be re-mounted.

The "after"

Bad pic, should have grabbed the orange lens! I'll get some video of the fish swimming through the rocks. Of course, just need to clean up the front and open it up. Oh, this photo also has all the corals I dumped in from the Lagoon so it's looking extra chaotic!

Between my two big islands, I've kept my zoa garden. It issss a lot of rock but I've left room for corals to grow up, and all around the rocks, so it should end up looking OK!

Two weeks ago I noticed the light fixture looked... off. Come to find out the entire front of the fixture has dropped about an inch since we set it up! Aquatic Life has been so great to deal with and they think what's happened is the back screws are slipping causing the front to come down. So, that's going to be the task for today: fixing that, and mounting one of my two Primes. The other Prime is still on the Lagoon/QT for now.

If you ever end up in a scenario like me, check the mounting brackets for a clue as to what's going on - there's this ribbon/tape on the underside of the bracket and it is bunched up from the fixture sliding back on the bracket I believe.

Speaking of QT, I've had 4 new fish in QT and finally just added them to the 100g two days ago! A melanurus wrasse, one-spot foxface, kole tang and banggai cardinal. (Hopefully the video looks OK???)

Everyone came looking incredible, and were eating immediately. Super happy with that. Now they're in with my bicolor blenny, two clowns and watchman goby. Apart from the goby remaining loyal to his cave, the other 7 fish are always out swimming together. So far, so good!

Just in time, because I have more fish coming today. I was hoping this would be it for new fish and I'd call the tank stocked, but two fish out of this order I'll have to wait on which is fine... I went a little crazy anyways.

Coming in today should be:

- coral beauty angelfish
- royal gramma
- triplespot wrasse
- yellow and purple wrasse
- red fin fairy wrasse
- citron goby

Coming in another time:

- orange back fairy wrasse
- diamond goby

The fish supplier reached out to me yesterday as they were preparing the order and told me those last two weren't in the best shape for shipping so they offered to swap them out or wait. I'll wait and see if they will be available again! I really appreciated the transparency.

So, those new fish will go into observational QT when they arrive today. I haven't ordered fish from these guys so I'm hoping for the best.

I'm new to wrasses so I'm very interested, slightly scared, to see how everyone will get along. I'll be keeping a very watchful eye over the halichoeres and see how they make out when the time comes to add to DT from QT. With my order I also added an acclimation box so that will likely be used to start. I wish I hadn't added the melanurus first.. but.. we'll just act as needed.

If I can get the last fairy wrasse and the sand sifting goby, that would put me at 16 fish, plus my inverts, and I'd be good with that. I just hope everyone comes in healthy and in the end they all play nice.

The only other thing is watching water parameters and maintening while things stabilize. I should do my first water change here soon, and over the next few days and weeks dial in dosing. I have the last bit of 2-part I'm using up and have some AFR I'll be switching to. Nutrients are zero, as I expected they would be, so I'll have to watch that and perhaps dose a bit until things mature and stabilize. Lots of film algae on the glass (like I need to scrape every day/other day) but the rocks and sand are good. (???)

In the meantime, I'll work on trying to take some better pictures!

sugar · Jul 10, 2024

Nano_Man said:
Pictures please when you get time
When I read your threads you seem like a chilled out person which is good in this hobby
Did you say you’re lighting bracket is coming away from the wall or did I read wrong if so you can buy a 2 part resin and put it in the hole s then screw it up before going of . Once off you would be able to swing off it

No actually we checked that too! Still mounted to the wall and hasn't budged, but in my update you can maybe see what I mean. The back end of the fixture (mounted to an extension bracket, then to the wall bracket, with screws) managed to slide back toward the wall causing the front of the fixture to drop down closer to the tank (while the back end still stayed at the same height from the tank). We must not have tightened those screws enough!

Nano_Man · Jul 10, 2024

sugar said:
Oh gosh where to even start. I've got to get into more regular updates! No one wants to read a novel! Lots going on over here.

Just this week I FINALLY finished the rockwork and am super happy with it - lots of big, open caves throughout. The photos above are still the "before" (the right side was still just a pile of rocks). I never thought it could happen, but I'm content and have zero desire to change it up. The photos can't do it justice, but I'll put some up. I'll get some nicer photos when everything is done done - I still have rubble, shells and corals laying in the front so it looks cluttered at the moment.. corals still need to be re-mounted.

The "after"

Bad pic, should have grabbed the orange lens! I'll get some video of the fish swimming through the rocks. Of course, just need to clean up the front and open it up.

Between my two big islands, I've kept my zoa garden. It issss a lot of rock but I've left room for corals to grow up, and all around the rocks, so it should end up looking OK!

Two weeks ago I noticed the light fixture looked... off. Come to find out the entire front of the fixture has dropped about an inch since we set it up! Aquatic Life has been so great to deal with and they think what's happened is the back screws are slipping causing the front to come down. So, that's going to be the task for today: fixing that, and mounting one of my two Primes. The other Prime is still on the Lagoon/QT for now.

If you ever end up in a scenario like me, check the mounting brackets for a clue as to what's going on - there's this ribbon/tape on the underside of the bracket and it is bunched up from the fixture sliding back on the bracket I believe.

Speaking of QT, I've had 4 new fish in QT and finally just added them to the 100g two days ago! A melanurus wrasse, one-spot foxface, kole tang and banggai cardinal. (Hopefully the video looks OK???)

Everyone came looking incredible, and were eating immediately. Super happy with that. Now they're in with my bicolor blenny, two clowns and watchman goby. Apart from the goby remaining loyal to his cave, the other 7 fish are always out swimming together. So far, so good!

Just in time, because I have more fish coming today. I was hoping this would be it for new fish and I'd call the tank stocked, but two fish out of this order I'll have to wait on which is fine... I went a little crazy anyways.

Coming in today should be:

- coral beauty angelfish
- royal gramma
- triplespot wrasse
- yellow and purple wrasse
- red fin fairy wrasse
- citron goby

Coming in another time:

- orange back fairy wrasse
- diamond goby

The fish supplier reached out to me yesterday as they were preparing the order and told me those last two weren't in the best shape for shipping so they offered to swap them out or wait. I'll wait and see if they will be available again! I really appreciated the transparency.

So, those new fish will go into observational QT when they arrive today. I haven't ordered fish from these guys so I'm hoping for the best.

I'm new to wrasses so I'm very interested, slightly scared, to see how everyone will get along. I'll be keeping a very watchful eye over the halichoeres and see how they make out when the time comes to add to DT from QT. With my order I also added an acclimation box so that will likely be used to start. I wish I hadn't added the melanurus first.. but.. we'll just act as needed.

If I can get the last fairy wrasse and the sand sifting goby, that would put me at 16 fish, plus my inverts, and I'd be good with that. I just hope everyone comes in healthy and in the end they all play nice.

The only other thing is watching water parameters and maintening while things stabilize. I should do my first water change here soon, and over the next few days and weeks dial in dosing. I have the last bit of 2-part I'm using up and have some AFR I'll be switching too. Nutrients are zero, as I expected they would be, so I'll have to watch that and dose a bit until things mature and stabilize. Lots of film algae on the glass (like I need to scrape every day/other day) but the rocks and sand are good. (???)

In the meantime, I'll work on trying to take some better pictures!

You’ve got some nice fish coming . They are going to be living it up in that set up lol . Some people cover the front of the tank when introducing new fish so they aren’t getting startled. And if one is wanting to fight the mirror trick works sometimes. But hopefully you won’t need any of this. Good luck

sugar · Jul 10, 2024

Nano_Man said:
You’ve got some nice fish coming . They are going to be living it up in that set up lol . Some people cover the front of the tank when introducing new fish so they aren’t getting startled. And if one is wanting to fight the mirror trick works sometimes. But hopefully you won’t need any of this. Good luck

Thanks!! I'll remember these for when the time comes! The current new fish have settled in fine but I might cover up the QT for these new new fish. The QT is actually in our main living space so is generally pretty busy with my boyfriend and I, and our three dogs. I definitely don't want the fish to be any more stressed than they will be when they get here!!