Salty_Taste650's Tonga Branch 50Gal Softie Lagoon

[Salty_Taste]

IG: Salty_taste650
04/12/2023

Tank: Innovative Marine 50Gal Lagoon
Dimensions: Length 29.92” Width: 23.62” Height: 16.14”.

• Light: Orphek Atlantik V4
• Return Pump: MightyJet Pump 528 GPH
• Heater: (2) Eheim Jager 150W+ Inkbird ITC-306A
• ATO: Tunze Osmolator 5017 (NOT CURRENTLY USING)
• Power Head: (2) MP 10QD Mobius Ready
• Skimmer: IceCap K1 Nano-Protein Skimmer (NOT CURRENTLY USING)
• Sand: Aragonite Live Reef Sand
• Rocks: Marshall Island + Fiji + Tonga Branch

Livestock:
Fish:

• Wild Super Black True Percua Clownfish Bonded Pair
• ORA Yellowline Cleaner Goby

Clean Up Crew:

• Peppermint Shrimp
• Emerald Crab
• Cerith Snail
• Asterina Starfish
• Astrea Snail
• Trochas Snails
• Bristle Worms
• pom pom crab

Softies:

• OG Weeping Willow Toadstool
• Bahama Llama Weeping Willow Toadstool
• OG Japanese Weeping Willow Toadstool
• Japanese Deepwater Toadstool
• Chinese Long Tentacle Toadstool
• (Salty_Taste) Nick's Sleepy Willow Toadstool
• Fiji Yellow Toadstool
• Palau Green Nepthea
• Yellow + Purple Stereonepthea
• Pulsing Singularia
• OG Godzilla Bounce
• Gonzo's Golden Dragon
• Tie Dye Jawbreaker
• Mark Poletti Purple Monster Jawbreaker
• Green Star Polyp
• Grubb's Gorgonian
• Purple Candelabra Gorgonian
• Purple Plume Gorgonian
• Purple Eunice Gorgonian
• Pink Zipper Zoas
• Scambled Egg Zoas
• Ruby Red Xenia
• Koji Wada

LPS:

• Croc Island Master Button Scoly
• Australian Blasto Wellsi
• WWC OG Rainbow Blasto
• Fat Head Dendro's

OTHER:

• Pom Pom Gracilaria
• Dragons Breath
• Red Mangroves

 

[Salty_Taste]

Thanks for tuning into my thread! This is my new upgrade from the 14Gal Peninsula...
I hope to document this build more and create content for YouTube for this series. Enjoy!

Innovative Marine 50Gal Lagoon

 

[Salty_Taste]

Cycle Begins: 04/12/2023

Finally got it wet! Water and rock taken from my dad’s 150G, grabbed a bag of media from his tank and tossed it display. Still need to rescape using more rock when I have the time.

The plan is to cook for the first month as is, hopefully build up some bacteria to dump in a bottle of pods by month 2, lastly begin transferring livestock.

Excited to try out the new lights! Orphek Mounting Arm Kit coming in about a week

 

[Salty_Taste]

Loving the new set up!

Next on the to-do list:
- Controller Board
- Redo Aquascape
- Create Schedule w/ Gateway
- Par Meter

Very Happy with Mounting Arm Kit! 13-14in from the top of the acrylic.

(2) Mp10QD Mobius Ready

 

[danieyella]

Nice find, I'm sure this will be beautiful

 

[Gumbies R Us]

The setup is already starting to look amazing!!

 

[Salty_Taste]

Nice find, I'm sure this will be beautiful

The setup is already starting to look amazing!!

Thank you for the kind words!

Couldn't be more excited for what is to come!

 

[Salty_Taste]

Rocking w/ this aquascape for now, get it…..
3 weeks in, hoping to get livestock in around the 1 month mark.

Connecting Light w/ Existing gateway has been HORRENDOUS to say the least. After 2+ hours tinkering attempting to pair the light together with the app, I finally was able to get it into Slow Acclimation mode. Now it's time to check par!

IceCap k1 Nano Protein Skimmer Review:
- Great Job w/ Skim
- Easy to dial in
- Little bit Noisy

 

[Salty_Taste]

Innovative Marine 50Gal Lagoon Tank Transfer Success

 

[Salty_Taste]

Those are some pretty cool clownfish.. Oh wait thats my thread!

Humbling feeling to be featured on Humblefish LOL

 

[Salty_Taste]

3 Month Update

Good:
- Tank Nutrients have finally balanced out
- Clownfish Pair hosting every coral + Becoming territorial (Spawning Soon)
- Mandarin Pair do the Courting Dance 2-3 times Weekly
- Mangroves + Corals Showing Good Growth
- Coraline Algae Growth

Bad:
- Algae / Dinos / Cyanos - time to introduce CUC. (Nothing too major yet - Normal Cycling)
- Neon Goby jumped out this morning when I woke up
- Saltwater Molly doesn't eat algae anymore (Fat Garfield)
- Bacteria Infection on Mushroom

New ADDITIONS:
- Pulsing Singularia Colony
- Purple + Yellow Stereonepthea

Livestock Considerations:
- Neon Cleaner Goby
- Yellow Cleaner Goby
- Molly
- Baby White Tail Kole (Temp for Algae then Transfer)

 

[Salty_Taste]

SOFTIE LOVERS! Finally had time to take some pictures!

Mangroves Growing! Time to Trim

Macro: Dragons Breath + Pom Pom Gracillaria + Ulva

LPS Corner: Button Scoly + Acans + Blastomussa

Despite all the roadblocks that I document on this build thread, the tank is truly thriving. I hope you enjoy

 

[Lebowski_]

Salty this tank is stunning. I wish I could see it in person as I can tell from the pics that it has all kinds of depth and little hidden gems.

One of the neatest tanks I’ve seen on here.

You must be thrilled!

 

[Salty_Taste]

Salty this tank is stunning. I wish I could see it in person as I can tell from the pics that it has all kinds of depth and little hidden gems.

One of the neatest tanks I’ve seen on here.

Thank you for the kind words! Glad to be able to share my little reef w/ the community! Now to somehow come out with a YouTube video to spread exposure!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Beautiful tank!!

 

[Salty_Taste]

Beautiful tank!!

Means a lot! Thanks for taking the time out to check out my thread

Inspired by the TOTM growing up, so only right to document my build thread

 

[Salty_Taste]

Bahama Llama Weeping Willow has finally reached its way to the Bay Area!

Big Shoutout to Mok-Yi (Inappropriate Reefer) & Lynn (Reef Nerd Aquatics) for making this possible. Mok-Yi has been a YouTube inspiration of mine for many years now and partly where my love for soft corals originates from. We have come full circle not only developing relationships w/ those in the hobby but finally being able to trade and share a piece of this story for my own. We did it y'all. LETS GOOOOOO

 

[Salty_Taste]

Softie Heaven. Can’t wait until they all grow out.

From Left to Right
1. Kevin’s Weeping Willow
2. Bahama Lama Weeping Willow
3. True Fiji Yellow (straight from Walt Smith Live Rock)
4. Chinese Long Tentacle Leather
5. Kevin’s Japanese Weeping Willow

Koji Wada colony in the back along with various macro from Pom Pom / Ulva / Dragons Breath

Clowns starting to get comfortable and doing the mating twitch.. Hopefully we see eggs by end of the year!

 

[Salty_Taste]

Tonga Branch + Fiji +Pukani Rock

Been holding out a while to get my hands on some good stuff. Finally got some real rock. Re Scape in the near future?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Tonga Branch + Fiji +Pukani Rock

Been holding out a while to get my hands on some good stuff. Finally got some real rock. Re Scape in the near future?

I always liked how those Tonga Branches look