TheWB’s IM Lagoon 50
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TheWB
Valuable Member
Thanks, I thought so too and had to pull the trigger.
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TheWB
Valuable Member
Little update. The Lamarck's Angel didn't make it. It was quite active and happy looking for a couple of weeks but it never ate that I could see. It ignored everything I tried to give it. I've never had a fish do that before, especially one I saw eating at the LFS and that had been there for a while. Never showed any outward signs of disease and it didn't struggle at all. Just looked fine one day and then gone the next. I'm pretty bummed about it.
I am almost ready to go online with a holding tank in the garage. I have a 20 gallon long with an AIO kit ready to go. All I need to do is clean up a heater for it and it'll be operational. The Lagoon is overcrowded with coral so I'll be moving some of the bigger Zoa rocks out to frag, sell off, give away, whatever. It will also become my new observation tank for new fish so I can make sure they are eating properly. Since the clown lives in the Zoas it may go down there too. I'm debating whether to move it or leave it in the display with the 6 rainbow bubble tip nems to see if he will finally think about living in one full time. He has toyed with the idea but always goes back to the Zoas. I'll have pics once its ready for action.
Current FTS.
I am almost ready to go online with a holding tank in the garage. I have a 20 gallon long with an AIO kit ready to go. All I need to do is clean up a heater for it and it'll be operational. The Lagoon is overcrowded with coral so I'll be moving some of the bigger Zoa rocks out to frag, sell off, give away, whatever. It will also become my new observation tank for new fish so I can make sure they are eating properly. Since the clown lives in the Zoas it may go down there too. I'm debating whether to move it or leave it in the display with the 6 rainbow bubble tip nems to see if he will finally think about living in one full time. He has toyed with the idea but always goes back to the Zoas. I'll have pics once its ready for action.
Current FTS.
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TheWB
Valuable Member
It took much longer than I had intended it to but the 20 long garage holding tank is finally up and running.
It has a Tenecor 20long AIO conversion kit including the lid.
I used the 428gph ac pump that came with my Lagoon 50 so there is plenty of flow.
I’m using the IM Helio 200w heater/controller. It did well keeping a similar sized tank in the garage heated to 77 degrees when it was in the 30’s outside.
I rigged up an absolutely horrible looking light mount for the spare Radion XR15 gen 4 I never got around to selling.
For an ATO I’m using the Reefbreeders Prism and so far it’s working like a champ. Using a 2gallon tank I had laying around for the reservoir.
It’s been seeded with a large bag of Seachem matrix that has been cooking in my main display for over a year. There’s also some Stax Rock sitting on top of some IM Snapgrid and one small life rock branch piece which came from @jcolliii when he sent me some coral a while back. I also stuck in the remains of the rubble tree I superglued together way back when this thread started that was supposed to go in the original Lagoon 50 display. That seems so very long ago now.
Here’s what it looks like.
The light mount is ugly but functional.
The Tenecor diy AIO worked really well. The top fits great but I’ve decided I don’t like that it’s all one piece. The rear chambers have their own cover but I wish it was not connected to the main cover. It makes removing it to work in the tank more of a chore than it should be. The feed door is a nice feature and I have a perfectly sized feeding cup 3d printed by @tharbin that works very well.
All other equipment works well and as expected.
Currently the only inhabitants are two standard fire fish.
They will live here for a while as I move some of the coral from the lagoon 50 down here. From there I will frag up some of the zoas I want to keep (Devil’s Armor, Vivid Rainbows, Rastas, Pink Zippers, Scrambled Eggs, one other that I can’t remember the name of, and maybe some Bam Bams but probably not) and then trade in the main colonies.
Doing all of that will set the stage for….
It has a Tenecor 20long AIO conversion kit including the lid.
I used the 428gph ac pump that came with my Lagoon 50 so there is plenty of flow.
I’m using the IM Helio 200w heater/controller. It did well keeping a similar sized tank in the garage heated to 77 degrees when it was in the 30’s outside.
I rigged up an absolutely horrible looking light mount for the spare Radion XR15 gen 4 I never got around to selling.
For an ATO I’m using the Reefbreeders Prism and so far it’s working like a champ. Using a 2gallon tank I had laying around for the reservoir.
It’s been seeded with a large bag of Seachem matrix that has been cooking in my main display for over a year. There’s also some Stax Rock sitting on top of some IM Snapgrid and one small life rock branch piece which came from @jcolliii when he sent me some coral a while back. I also stuck in the remains of the rubble tree I superglued together way back when this thread started that was supposed to go in the original Lagoon 50 display. That seems so very long ago now.
Here’s what it looks like.
The light mount is ugly but functional.
The Tenecor diy AIO worked really well. The top fits great but I’ve decided I don’t like that it’s all one piece. The rear chambers have their own cover but I wish it was not connected to the main cover. It makes removing it to work in the tank more of a chore than it should be. The feed door is a nice feature and I have a perfectly sized feeding cup 3d printed by @tharbin that works very well.
All other equipment works well and as expected.
Currently the only inhabitants are two standard fire fish.
They will live here for a while as I move some of the coral from the lagoon 50 down here. From there I will frag up some of the zoas I want to keep (Devil’s Armor, Vivid Rainbows, Rastas, Pink Zippers, Scrambled Eggs, one other that I can’t remember the name of, and maybe some Bam Bams but probably not) and then trade in the main colonies.
Doing all of that will set the stage for….
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navada718
Active Member
Nice Qt, what size AIO are you getting?
I just (this past Wednesday) impulsively bought a 4 months used IM 80 gal aio for a great deal. We're both upgrading from a IM 50.
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TheWB
Valuable Member
That’s great, I love the SR80. That scape looks really cool too. Can’t wait to see it with some coral and fish.
My new one will be similar in width and height (1” taller) to an SR80. I got a whole big story on how this came about and why the new tank will be the way it is. Not quite ready to write all that out though. New tank should be here in about a month. I’m working on getting a stand designed right now. I’ll have a lot more detail soon.
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TheWB
Valuable Member
Thanks. I’m going to have sand again. I miss that look. I didn’t mind going bare bottom after the move last year because I had enough zoa colonies to cover the entire front of the tank so that you really can’t even tell there’s no sand. With the new one I want to bring back more open space and give the fish more room to swim. I like the crowded look I have going on now but I like the more open look better. I think this scape will allow me to keep the sand stirred up fairly easily. I may end up with one or two more little single rock islands up front with a specific coral to highlight. Or maybe some RFA’s toward the front. It will just be nice to have room for options. I’ve been kinda bummed about not having space for anything new over the last several months. Looking forward to new beginnings.
cwerner
Active Member
I had a tank crash fairly recently so many of my colonies are back to grow-out phase. I think if you go sand make sure to get a couple of fish that interact with it. Makes it a lot more fun if you have some sand-sifting gobies or wrasse's. Plus it keeps your sand bed turned over.
I'm interested to see your new tank since I'm strongly considering acrylic for my next build as well. The strength, clarity, and weight savings are not insignificant, and the price is not THAT far above a premium glass tank especially custom ones.
I'm interested to see your new tank since I'm strongly considering acrylic for my next build as well. The strength, clarity, and weight savings are not insignificant, and the price is not THAT far above a premium glass tank especially custom ones.
tharbin
2500 Club Member
I really like that aquascape. That open look is just great. Kind of wish I could get passed my stubborn insistence on a wall of rocks. Next time I place an order with someone that carries Stax, I think I'll pick up a small box to play with.The new tank is going to have a roughly 46.5” x 21.5”ish display area.
I’ve been playing around with this new scape. Anyone’s thoughts on it are welcome.
Gumbies R Us
Certified Noob
Love the aquascape!The new tank is going to have a roughly 46.5” x 21.5”ish display area.
I’ve been playing around with this new scape. Anyone’s thoughts on it are welcome.
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TheWB
Valuable Member
I did read a little about your tank crash on your thread. That was a bummer and I'm sorry you had to go through it.
I haven't totally decided yet but the sand might be a pretty thin layer, maybe only 1/2 to 3/4 deep. I want it for the look mostly. That will affect what I can get that lives in it full time. TBD at this point.
My new one, which is made of 1/2" on the bottom and 3/4" everywhere else is going to weigh 125 pounds according to the builder. Combine that with the aluminum profile stand and I'm off to a pretty good start in the weight category. It's going on the second floor so keeping the tank and stand lighter along with the AIO format to avoid external plumbing was all part of the plan from the beginning. I also got a good deal on the tank so from that standpoint it was very affordable. An SR80 and stand would have been cheaper than what I'll end up spending for the custom tank and stand but I wanted some specific things in the aio section that I can't get from IM and while I'm happy with my current aps stand I wanted something with a little more flexibility. Going custom just made sense for me. When you see the aio section you'll understand why.
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TheWB
Valuable Member
The garage holding tank is humming right along.
I moved a caulastrea, a Duncan and a small zoa rock from the main display last week. The zoas were fine in the old tank but the other two were really struggling due to all of the anemones crowding them out and stinging them. These pics are very blue but you can see that there’s a lot of flesh coming back on the caulastrea and the Duncan has one full head and 4-5 that are just kinda peeking out. This is a nice surprise as I had basically written them both off and now I’m optimistic for a recovery.
The firefish are weird eaters. They don’t attack food the way I expect hungry fish to do. I drop 5-10 thawed out brine shrimp in, because I don’t want to over feed, and they just look at them for a few seconds and then they each eat a few, and then they just stop. I don’t feell ike they are getting so much food that they could be full but I guess they are. I just thought that since the recommendation was for at least two feedings per day that they’d get a little more aggressive eating only once.
Here’s a couple of pics of the coral.
I moved a caulastrea, a Duncan and a small zoa rock from the main display last week. The zoas were fine in the old tank but the other two were really struggling due to all of the anemones crowding them out and stinging them. These pics are very blue but you can see that there’s a lot of flesh coming back on the caulastrea and the Duncan has one full head and 4-5 that are just kinda peeking out. This is a nice surprise as I had basically written them both off and now I’m optimistic for a recovery.
The firefish are weird eaters. They don’t attack food the way I expect hungry fish to do. I drop 5-10 thawed out brine shrimp in, because I don’t want to over feed, and they just look at them for a few seconds and then they each eat a few, and then they just stop. I don’t feell ike they are getting so much food that they could be full but I guess they are. I just thought that since the recommendation was for at least two feedings per day that they’d get a little more aggressive eating only once.
Here’s a couple of pics of the coral.
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TheWB
Valuable Member
Bad news. One of the firefish in the garage tank has disappeared. No sign of the body either in the tank or anywhere outside of the tank that I can find. It’s a stone cold whodunnit. No ransom note was received. The other firefish and the hermit crab do not look bloated like they’ve eaten to much. I’m ruling out cannibalism. I’ve lost fish before, it happens, but I just hate it when there’s no way to know what happened.
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TheWB
Valuable Member
I tried to take some top down pics to illustrate the anemone takeover in the Lagoon. Unfortunately there’s no way to take good top downs with the lights on without getting a lot of reflection. Here’s what I got.
This last one is with the light off.
This last one is with the light off.
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