'Tis An Innovative Marine 50 Lagoon Build

[Tactical Reefkeeping]

Sorry do you know when they go on good sale because I am am looking to upgrade to the same tank you have I love it I have the smaller version the 25 gallon and do you know if I could use one Ai prime on the 50 gallon laggon or two

 

[Homewrecker]

Sorry do you know when they go on good sale because I am am looking to upgrade to the same tank you have I love it I have the smaller version the 25 gallon and do you know if I could use one Ai prime on the 50 gallon laggon or two

So I avoid shopping during the major holidays and buy during the summer sales or just Black Friday

 

[Tactical Reefkeeping]

Thankyou so much for the information

 

[Arkayology]

Nice tank! Any updates?

 

[Homewrecker]

Work has been absolutely nuts lately so I figured I'd do a nice update

FTS, in daylight

Side view

I've recently gotten into planted aquariums too so feel free to checkout my planted tank. Currently fighting some algae issues while I figure out the correct dosages for Flourish products.

​

 

[Arkayology]

So you have x2 Mp40s on this tank? What do you have them set to? I am thinking about buying an IM 50 EXT SPS dominant and wondering if I need MP10s or 40s.

Nice updated tank shots!

 

[Homewrecker]

So you have x2 Mp40s on this tank? What do you have them set to? I am thinking about buying an IM 50 EXT SPS dominant and wondering if I need MP10s or 40s.

Nice updated tank shots!

Yes I do. I have them set comically low or it'll blow my sand everywhere. The highest they're set to is 13%.
For this tank I would go with 2 MP10s, not just bc the 40s are super overpowered but because you will have less issues with fish being chewed up by the 10s. Currently the fish are fine but they're all a little larger than the average IMO. So if you're wanting gobies or some nano fish you'll have plenty of headaches with the 40s. I would also recommend maybe an AI Orbit 2 as it will do tons of the "bulk" water flow and random flow generators or an MP10 for randomization.

 

[Homewrecker]

Okay, popping in to say that there are big updates coming...





I removed the sand.

 

[Arkayology]

 

[Tahoe61]

Hi.

What's the lighting on that gorgeous planted tank? Are you using Co2 on it?

 

[Homewrecker]

Hi.

What's the lighting on that gorgeous planted tank? Are you using Co2 on it?

Those were hyger lights. I’ve since replaced them with Radions and yes def pumping CO2 in. I’ll update that one too.
For a while the planted tank got most of my attention so the reef was my red headed step child for sure

 

[Homewrecker]

I haven't brought my camera home from work lately so you guys are gonna have to suffer through a cellphone pic update.

I was having horrible low nutrient issues for months with a mix of horrible hair algae and dinos from the lack of nutrients. In an effort to resolve that issue I started dosing nitrate and phosphate only for the algae to take advantage of it VERY well. I would clean the glass off and it would get disgusting by the next day HOWEVER with Hanna and Salifert tests it was 0. This algae was very effective at using the available nutrients. This is what I looked at daily.

To try and resolve this I added larger algae eating fish and a new clean up crew. While the snails helped a bit, the fish had zero interest in this algae so they were returned to my LFS. Alongside all this algae I had lots of sediment causing issues within the tank. I'm not sure exactly where all this sediment came from but even with a light basting of the rock it was really bad. I ordered a roller mat and while it was not designed for an IM tank, I was able to modify it's fit and make it work. I will say, this did help but I went through a whole roll of fleece in 2 weeks. I'm not sure if it was old sediment or new but it sure did pick it up! Finally, still dealing with algae, dinos, AND sediment issues I went ahead and caved.... I removed the sand. This was my last resort because I really do prefer the look of it but I honestly would have torn down this whole tank if things didn't make a turn for the better.

And here we are 1 month from the above picture. Arguably, looking a whole lot better. However, with virtually zero coral growth in the year that this tank has been up I will be starting to ramp things up and turn this into an acropora paradise. Stay tuned.

For those interested in the planted tank, it has grown in really well.

 

[Arkayology]

I had the same issues - nearly undetectable nitrate and phosphate. I decided, like you, to add a little to keep corals happy. Well, now I have a bunch of cyano coating the sandbed. I am going to wait it out though as I don't want to remove it. I think things will balance out sooner or later.

Good luck with things moving forward!

 

[Homewrecker]

I had the same issues - nearly undetectable nitrate and phosphate. I decided, like you, to add a little to keep corals happy. Well, now I have a bunch of cyano coating the sandbed. I am going to wait it out though as I don't want to remove it. I think things will balance out sooner or later.

Good luck with things moving forward!

I might try again later with Fiji pink. What sand do you have?

 

[PizzaIan339]

Sorry do you know when they go on good sale because I am am looking to upgrade to the same tank you have I love it I have the smaller version the 25 gallon and do you know if I could use one Ai prime on the 50 gallon laggon or two

1 ai on a 50 gallon is way to small I would say at least 2 if not 3

 

[Arkayology]

I might try again later with Fiji pink. What sand do you have?

I'm a big fan of Tropic Eden sand. I've used it on my current tank as well as the last one. I like the look of the sand - it has small pieces of pink and red granules on top of the white aragonite. I did a 50/50 mix of reeflakes and mesoflakes size, but if I did it over again I would just get mesoflakes.