TheWB’s IM Lagoon 50

TheWB · Sep 11, 2023

For some reason all of the nems have retracted after todays water change and I can actually see my scape. These are not great pictures because of the glare.

Edit: Wow, now that I see them on a monitor instead of my phone these pics suck even worse than I originally thought.

TheWB · Sep 14, 2023

The other firefish jumped out of the garage tank. While I give the Tenecor top high marks for the fit and how it looks I gotta give it an F for containing fish, which is its number one job. Cannot recommend for smaller fish.

Having no fish in the tank something had to be done so I went to the nearest LFS. I was just gonna get a pair of damsels, but I don’t really want damsels. Then I saw a whole tank full of salt water acclimated black mollies and we had a winner. Grabbed a couple of them for $4.99 each and home we went. There’s a bit of an algae problem in that tank right now as it goes through the uglies so these two should be just the ticket. They are already pecking away at whatever is in front of them. I’ll see if they can keep up, otherwise maybe I’ll get a couple more.

TheWB · Oct 3, 2023

I’ve been trying to think of a more streamlined approach to mixing up fresh saltwater for water changes. Now that I have two tanks running my old way of doing things has become very inconvenient. I was taking water upstairs to mix it up and then taking some back downstairs to the garage tank. It was madness. Unfortunately at the moment I don’t have enough room for a traditional water mixing station in the garage. All of the room on the top of the workbenches is occupied.

The other thing that was throwing me off was the cost of safe water storage containers. I like to be able to see inside so I’m not a fan of the black or gray Brute garbage cans. After much thought it occurred to me that I could just get another 20 long with the lid and use that on the bottom shelf under the garage tank. So I went and got one and tonight I filled it up one gallon at a time so I could mark it off. A 20 long actually only holds 16 gallons of water so that’s messing me up a little bit. I could probably squeeze another gallon in there but it would be touching the versa top at that point and I’d really need to get 18 gallons in there in order to mix up 4 packages of the TLF AccuraSea1 salt mix that I like to use. It mixes to 35ppm in 4.5 gallons so 18 would have been perfect. I’ll just have to settle for mixing 13.5 gallons at a time. At some point in the future I’ll redo the whole thing and use a bigger mixing tank. This will work much better for now.

I’ll still have to carry water up the stairs to change the main tank but now all mixing will be done in the garage and I’ll be able to make more than 4.5 gallons at a time. There’s no easy way to run a water line upstairs so I could pump it up there, at least no way that wouldn’t cost a small fortune and have wife approval. This is better than before and as good as it’s gonna get for a while.

TheWB · Oct 11, 2023

Some current pics.

TheWB · Oct 13, 2023

Took some shots of my fish today.

Took a while to get the Tang to come out. After all this time it’s still skittish when I’m close to the tank.

TheWB · Oct 13, 2023

Some zoa pics and general tank shots.

TheWB · Oct 14, 2023

Hey look, it’s the top bracing and the filter wall for my new tank upgrade.

And the beginnings of the new stand from Alufab.

Woodyman · Oct 22, 2023

TheWB said:
Hey look, it’s the top bracing and the filter wall for my new tank upgrade.

And the beginnings of the new stand from Alufab.

can't wait to see what you do with this!

ams3210 · Nov 13, 2023

TheWB said:
Some zoa pics and general tank shots.

Wow! So incredible! Love your tank.

TheWB · Nov 13, 2023

Thank you, and thanks for checking it out. Funny enough the replacement for this tank is arriving tomorrow so this one will be coming down soon. I’m gonna miss it in some ways but both my fish and corals need more space and less anemones. Can’t wait to get started on the next chapter.

ams3210 · Nov 13, 2023

TheWB said:
Thank you, and thanks for checking it out. Funny enough the replacement for this tank is arriving tomorrow so this one will be coming down soon. I’m gonna miss it in some ways but both my fish and corals need more space and less anemones. Can’t wait to get started on the next chapter.

Woah, that's awesome!! How exciting, taking the dive and switching over to a new system. Can't wait to see how it comes along. I can hardly imagine everything that goes into breaking down a tank and transferring it over, I hope you post lots about that process and wish you luck!

TheWB · Nov 13, 2023

ams3210 said:
Woah, that's awesome!! How exciting, taking the dive and switching over to a new system. Can't wait to see how it comes along. I can hardly imagine everything that goes into breaking down a tank and transferring it over, I hope you post lots about that process and wish you luck!

Have you seen the size of my current build thread??? It's for sure that I'll be blathering on about the new tank endlessly whether anyone wants to hear about it or not, lol. I have a plan for the transfer when the time comes and I'm hoping it will all go smoothly. Or it will be a big cluster, either way it will all be documented in a new thread. I contemplated keeping this one going and changing the title but I think new tank, new thread seems like a better idea. Start fresh. I still need to finish the new scape and cook it for a little while while I'm leak testing the new tank and finalizing equipment so it will actually be a while before a new thread really gets going.

TheWB · Nov 14, 2023

I wasn’t going to do this here but what the heck.

ams3210 · Nov 15, 2023

TheWB said:
I wasn’t going to do this here but what the heck.

A thing of beauty!

navada718 · Nov 15, 2023

TheWB said:
I wasn’t going to do this here but what the heck.

The back sump chamber space is ideal for an AIO. Looking good. Keep us updated.

TheWB · Nov 15, 2023

ams3210 said:
A thing of beauty!

Thanks, I think it turned out really well.

TheWB · Nov 15, 2023

navada718 said:
The back sump chamber space is ideal for an AIO. Looking good. Keep us updated.

The back chambers are a full 8” wide. Plenty of room for everything I want to put in there, including my hands.

Fungusamongus · Dec 13, 2023

TheWB said:
Some current pics.

Beautiful. That is a huge nem.

TheWB · Dec 13, 2023

Fungusamongus said:
Beautiful. That is a huge nem.

Thanks, I really like their orange/teal color palette. That’s not just one though, it’s nine, and they are not going in the new tank. If you’d like one, or all nine, just let me know, lol.

Fungusamongus · Dec 13, 2023

TheWB said:
Thanks, I really like their orange/teal color palette. That’s not just one though, it’s nine, and they are not going in the new tank. If you’d like one, or all nine, just let me know, lol.

Ha! I may take you up on that offer in about 9 months. My tank is a bit too new and i dont want to kill one. Still need more stabilization. Your new tank is amazing. Cant wait to see more