Yea I think it’s smart. You will be better off in the long run. Are you getting any coralline starting to grow yet? And what are you plans for more fish?
TheWB’s IM Lagoon 50
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TheWB
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I have 3 small rocks from the lfs that are covered in coralline. So far there is only one spot about the size of a dime on the Stax that is new coralline growth. I’m using the AccuraSea1 salt by Two Little Fishies and I have not yet tested its levels for calcium or alkalinity but I don’t believe they are elevated. I will probably need to supplement if I want to get coralline to really take off. I’m reluctant to do that because I don’t want to start adding anything I’m not testing for.
Currently I’ve got the two clowns, two zebra barred dartfish and the orange back wrasse. There will for sure be a royal gramma and another wrasse, either another fairy or flasher or maybe a small yellow, haven’t decided yet. My wife really wants a flame angel as a centerpiece fish but I think this tank is too small and I want to keep LPS so that’s probably out. I might consider a captive bred FA though if I could find a really small one. Other fish under consideration are a pair or trio of green banded gobies, a yellow candy hogfish as an alternative to a second wrasse, and various nano fish such as yellow and green clown gobies and maybe a pair of captive bred azure damsels or black axil chromis who hopefully don’t kill each other like the blue/green ones do. I’m pretty open to different fish although I do tend to like pairs and trios.
If it were me I would start testing maybe once every week or two to start getting your levels in order for when you decide on coral. It’s super simple to do and easy to maintain when you have no coral. Once you get them where you want only will need a small tweak here and there if your doing water changes. If you need any help just let me know. Are you testing for nitrates and phosphates?
You have some great ideas for fish. I would love to have a dwarf angel, it’s such a shame some are known to go after corals. Wrasses are nice too and a couple would be sweet. Do you quarantine you fish?
You have some great ideas for fish. I would love to have a dwarf angel, it’s such a shame some are known to go after corals. Wrasses are nice too and a couple would be sweet. Do you quarantine you fish?
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TheWB
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Sorry, I should have worded it better. I meant testing for calcium and alk when I said I didn’t want to add anything I wasn’t testing for, not that I wasn’t testing at all. I test for Nitrates and phosphates but not too often, I should actually do that tonight. The Hanna Phosphate Checker is actually kind of a pain to use and I’m not sure I’m getting accurate readings. Last time I used it I ran the test 4 times and only once did it register a level which was .11, every other time it came up 0. Might be defective. Getting the reagent in, mixed up and bubble free is just not something I’ve been able to master in the time it gives you to do it. Very frustrating. I have a reactor and some gfo I can use to reduce the levels but I don’t have too much algae and I’m inclined to just let the tank do it’s thing rather than mess with it too much. As I get closer to corals I will be sure my nutrients are in check, I really don’t want bad algae outbreaks after corals go in. I realize that’s not totally within my control but I’m trying to do the right things leading up to that point.
I do realize a dwarf angel is a gamble so it’s probably not happening. There are plenty of other options as long as I don’t cave to pressure from the family. I do not currently quarantine but my lfs does a nice job with putting everything through hypo before they go on display. I trust them about as much as you can trust anyone without a full blown dedicated qt with meds for 30 days. It’s a risk but I just don’t have the space to do a proper qt right now. My garage gets too cold in the winter so that’s not really an option and there’s nowhere else in the house to put one. Ive been working on the wife to at least let me set up temporarily in our bedroom with an observation tank but that’s not gaining a lot of traction. She’s awesome so I don’t want to rock the boat on that too hard.
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TheWB
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I appreciate the offer to help with coral adjustments by the way. I’ll be hitting you up when the time comes for some advice. Thanks.
Which phosphate checker do you have? The low, ultra low phosphorus(pb), or ultra low phosphate(ppm)? I had the low version and had a hard time getting 0 readings and timing out. I purchased the new ultra low phosphate(ppm) one and have had really great results and they extended the timeout. I fill, then wipe with micro fiber towel, place in checker, add reagent, shake for 2 minutes, hold the vile up to the light and tap it with my finger nail while inverting up and down to get bubbles out, wipe again, get reading. This method seams to be accurate for me. I know they say to rinse with rodi after use but I just use tap water. My water is pretty good and I always rinse right away and don’t find it messes up my readings.
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TheWB
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According to the box it’s called Handheld Colorimeter Phosphate LR and the code is HI713. I’ve had it for a while and it times out pretty fast so I’m guessing you have a newer improved model. It looks like this. Says ppm on it but like I said, I’ve had it for quite a while. What do you think?
According to the box it’s called Handheld Colorimeter Phosphate LR and the code is HI713. I’ve had it for a while and it times out pretty fast so I’m guessing you have a newer improved model. It looks like this. Says ppm on it but like I said, I’ve had it for quite a while. What do you think?
Yea that’s the regular low range and isn’t as accurate for ultra low levels and times out quick. If you can try to upgrade to the new Ultra low phosphate ppm checker H1774. I think it will fix your issues.
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TheWB
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Sounds like that’s what I need to do. Thanks for the info.Yea that’s the regular low range and isn’t as accurate for ultra low levels and times out quick. If you can try to upgrade to the new Ultra low phosphate ppm checker H1774. I think it will fix your issues.
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TheWB
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Thanks, I’ve been following your build thread and like what you’ve done as well. Stax has been fun to work with. I’d definitely use it again. I have all sorts of ideas and no more tank space to build them.
I’ve got a ways to go. I’ll probably be adding another prime soon to help with the SPS side of things and am going to structure things a little different way.
I’ve started to get a little coralline on the stax and it’s improving the look.
What’s the fish list for yours gonna look like?
I’ve started to get a little coralline on the stax and it’s improving the look.
What’s the fish list for yours gonna look like?
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TheWB
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I have exactly one spot of coralline so far on the Stax. It’s going very slowly but I’m sure it will get there.
My general stocking plan is to add a Royal Gramma, another Wrasse or Yellow Candy Hogfish and then any of a bunch of different nano sized fish I’ve got my eye on. I like the look of lots of fish. Corals will come later after the fish load has stabilized. There will be an RBTA in the mix pretty soon as well. I want it to settle into a spot before I add coral.
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TheWB
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Well, that whole “coral will come later” comment from yesterday turned out to not be true at all 
I got a good deal on some frags today so I said screw it, I’m gonna alter the plan and see how it goes.
Micromusa and a Devil’s Armor zoa.
Dragon Soul Favia
My Emerald Crab already tried to murder the Zoa so it’s on probation and may need to go. Hopefully it opens back up again in the morning.
I got a good deal on some frags today so I said screw it, I’m gonna alter the plan and see how it goes.
Micromusa and a Devil’s Armor zoa.
Dragon Soul Favia
My Emerald Crab already tried to murder the Zoa so it’s on probation and may need to go. Hopefully it opens back up again in the morning.
Well, that whole “coral will come later” comment from yesterday turned out to not be true at all
I got a good deal on some frags today so I said screw it, I’m gonna alter the plan and see how it goes.
Micromusa and a Devil’s Armor zoa.
Dragon Soul Favia
My Emerald Crab already tried to murder the Zoa so it’s on probation and may need to go. Hopefully it opens back up again in the morning.
Haha [emoji23], those frags look nice. Really like that dragon soul. Just take it slow and test. I think you will be fine. Do you have any algae issues at all? One tip I can give you is don’t feed you coral until the tank is more established and nutrients have balanced out. I made that mistake and ran into some algae problems. Unless you nutrients are zero, then go ahead and feed away.
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TheWB
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Thanks, I really like the Dragon Soul too, that's what kinda put me over the edge, it was only $25 for 4 heads. Then I couldn't get just one so I grabbed two more, can't have just one coral in the tank.
Before I did my last water change Nitrates were at 5 so that's under control. I have a little algae growth on the back wall but nothing serious. I'll be monitoring and the plan now is for nothing else to go in for at least a month. I believe I've got things under control. May have to evict that Emerald Crab though, I had to stop it from eating the zoa, it pulled the plug out of the Rock and was chopping away at the skirt. I put the frag in a place where the crab doesn't go so hopefully that solves the issue.
That’s a good deal for sure. I don’t trust any type of crabs or shrimp. If they don’t eat the coral they will tear them up going after food when feeding, especially lps. I have none and snails only.
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TheWB
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Yeah, I should have thought the crabs through a little more. I had hair algae for a while back when I first turned the light on. Hermits made short work of that but they aren’t doing anything snails don’t also do for me now. The emerald crab came with the clean up crew I got from Reefcleaners and he looks cool so I thought, why not. Now that I have fish and a little coral it seems like a bad idea. He’s easily removed if he doesn’t behave.
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TheWB
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Little update. I’ve been letting the tank do it’s thing for a while now but today was finally the day to do a deep clean and try and reset things. I’ve been feeding heavily since the beginning of June to try and fatten up the new fish. Unsurprisingly my nitrates and phosphates started creeping up despite weekly water changes and some Chaeto in one of the back chambers. That wasn’t enough to counter the N & P. Yesterday I tested and Nitrate was at 25 on Salifert and Phosphate was at a whopping .35 on my new Hanna checker.
So today I pulled everything out of the back chambers, cleaned my return pump, and pumped out all the detritus that had settled back there, which was a lot. Those hard to access areas in the center chamber that are under the two other chambers on each side are brutal to try and clean out. There isn’t much room for my arm back there and I was trying to scrub the bottom with a toothbrush. That didn’t work too well. I have a pump that draws from the bottom so I ended up using that to pressure wash the back chambers and then pump out the filthy water. Wasn’t perfect but it worked well enough. Always a good feeling to give the tank a good cleaning. I was pretty surprised that I haven’t had a bad algae outbreak with that much phosphate. Since water changes alone aren’t cutting it I fired up the IM midsize reactor with some gfo and I’m cutting back on the feeding until things get back under control. I’ll test again tomorrow and see where I’m at.
An all in one tank made sense for this build due to the space I had available and a second floor location. We were trying to keep the total weight down. When this tank inevitably gets upgraded in the next few years I’ll be switching to a sump. The IM 50 ext has the same footprint as the Lagoon 50 so it’ll use the same stand and I gotta believe cleaning a sump has got to be easier than cleaning the rear chambers of the all in one. There’s just too much stuff back there and the space is too tight for my large hands. I knew that going in but now that I’ve done my first big maintenance it’s really hitting home.
So today I pulled everything out of the back chambers, cleaned my return pump, and pumped out all the detritus that had settled back there, which was a lot. Those hard to access areas in the center chamber that are under the two other chambers on each side are brutal to try and clean out. There isn’t much room for my arm back there and I was trying to scrub the bottom with a toothbrush. That didn’t work too well. I have a pump that draws from the bottom so I ended up using that to pressure wash the back chambers and then pump out the filthy water. Wasn’t perfect but it worked well enough. Always a good feeling to give the tank a good cleaning. I was pretty surprised that I haven’t had a bad algae outbreak with that much phosphate. Since water changes alone aren’t cutting it I fired up the IM midsize reactor with some gfo and I’m cutting back on the feeding until things get back under control. I’ll test again tomorrow and see where I’m at.
An all in one tank made sense for this build due to the space I had available and a second floor location. We were trying to keep the total weight down. When this tank inevitably gets upgraded in the next few years I’ll be switching to a sump. The IM 50 ext has the same footprint as the Lagoon 50 so it’ll use the same stand and I gotta believe cleaning a sump has got to be easier than cleaning the rear chambers of the all in one. There’s just too much stuff back there and the space is too tight for my large hands. I knew that going in but now that I’ve done my first big maintenance it’s really hitting home.
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TheWB
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Friday full tank shot. I moved the front left rock with the Favia up and to the middle. The Favia seemed to be receding just a little and I want to see if a little more light helps it out. It’s got a new eye that’s been very slowly splitting off so maybe this move will speed it along. Still kinda feeling out where the corals want to live.
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