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ReefSafe's Lagoon 25: Lots of Euphyllia!


ReefSafeSolutions

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ReefSafeSolutions

Hey gang,

 

After my 16g went down on me (completely my fault, I lost track of time and didn't maintain a good feeding schedule with no fish. Lesson learned.) I've decided to upgrade tanks. I just ordered an Innovative Marine Lagoon 25 from Salty Supply, and I traded in my other rock for some dry rock.

 

It looks artificial to me, which I actually prefer, as I'm not overly thrilled with pulling stuff out of the ocean. (This statement does not apply to the diamond goby below, by the way) I'd like to try and make this tank as ocean-friendly as I can, meaning that as many creatures as possible will not come from the ocean, and if they do, hopefully they will come from farmed portions of the ocean. (I can't believe some of the capture techniques out there!!)

 

Here's what I've come up with. I'm pretty happy with it but I'm wondering if the two rocks stacked up in the corner could be blended into the rocks they are resting on better (sorry, horrible sentence). I'm gonna use black sand, so until the rock turns ugly green/brown, it'll pop against all the black in the tank. Once it goes purple, it'll look great again.

 

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Stocking plans:

 

Many, many LPS corals, with a heavy emphasis on Euphyllia.

Bright zoas that don't grow so fast that they take over my rocks.

Maaaaaaayyybbbeee some SPS if I can get a skimmer that works well.

Perhaps some softies...leathers, mushrooms, branching GSP, etc.

 

But mainly LPS.

 

I don't plan on going nuts with the fish...a couple of clowns, because clowns are hilarious. And they are captive bred, which I can dig. I'll probably get a diamond goby, if I can find one that will eat shrimp. I need to do more research on other captive bred fish though, see what else I'm kinda stoked on.

 

The equipment won't be anything special...I'll still use my AI Nano Sol light until I can afford to upgrade to a full spectrum light. Probably use the stock pump, and I'll probably have to build some media baskets because I don't really care for filter socks. I'll be building a skimmer that will fit in the back chamber anyways, so media baskets will be easy.

 

 

 

Anyways, what do you guys think about the rock? Looks good, or needs work?

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ReefSafeSolutions

Thanks! I think I'd like to blend the rocks a bit more, anyone have any tips on the best way to do that? I've got plenty of tools to get the job done, I just don't want to end up with a pile of dust...

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ReefSafeSolutions

Love the scape. Love the stocking plans, huuuge fan of euphyllia. Make sure keep a space for a nice big torch :)

 

 

 

I'm thinking that bottom right rock will be loaded with all sorts of torches...maybe a torch-only tank! No hammers allowed! :lol:

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ReefSafeSolutions

Lets not get hasty. Ive got three awesome hammers I wouldnt trade for anything!

 

 

Haha, that's fair. I actually love hammers, and frogspawns...but torches take the cake!

 

I assume those hammers won't be fragged any time soon..?

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ReefSafeSolutions

InTank has you covered for the media baskets and whatnot, unless you just prefer to DIY, which is awesome if you do :D

 

http://shop.mediabaskets.com/Fusion-Lagoon-25_c134.htm

 

And I hope you enjoy the Lagoon, I've been loving mine!

 

 

I do enjoy a project, to be honest! I'll be building a stand for the tank so between that and designing and CNC'ing some media baskets and a skimmer, I'll have plenty of projects!

 

Now...let's talk about dry rock and cycling/phosphate leaching. As I understand it, this rock will need to cure and cycle, which I'm fine with. I don't have issues with the wait time. Might add some bottled bacteria to jump-start things, but would adding water and maybe some media from my dad's established tank more or less do the same thing as bottled bacteria?

 

It also won't be a problem to do the curing/cycling in the actual tank right? I see lots of people curing their rock in brute trashcans for stench reasons...but since there's literally no organic material on these rocks, stench shouldn't be an issue. I hope.

 

Regarding phosphate leaching...I have no idea where this base rock was manufactured, or what company made it. I'll try to find out today. But I was reading last night that people have some serious issues with artificial rock and phosphate leaching, while others say it's a normal part of the reef. Not sure what to believe here, so would it be worthwhile to give the rocks an acid bath?

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I'm not an expert by any means, but will share my approach based on the research I did regarding not using live rock. Mine probably wasn't completely "Dead/Dry" as I had pulled it from my existing tank about a month and a half before I set the new one up, and my prep of said rock consisted mainly of soaking it in a bin of vinegar and water with circulation, changing the water out about every 4 days. I did this for about 3 to 3 1/2 weeks then drained it and left the rocks to air dry inside. AC is running constantly since I live in FL, so the air is dry and have lots of evaporation ( I go through over a gallon and a half in my ATO in a week on just the 25 Lagoon). An acid clean of the rocks was not a practical option since I live in an apartment, so my plans from the start included GFO in a reactor in the back chamber to deal with phosphate in an ongoing basis, just in case.

I used bottled bacteria, MBT to start but switched to AquaForest Bios after about 2 weeks, and would recommend either option, even if you are starting with live sand and rock. I'm still adding a drop of Bio S with each water change. I would use seed media/ live rock from a trouble free tank, but don't think using old water would do much, other than adding waste for the bacteria to work with. My understanding is that the beneficial bacteria clings to surfaces (rock, glass, media, etc) and not really hanging around in the water column.

The rock that I prepped and used was not in any way "cured" before I set it up in the tank, and as such I had about a 5-6 week cycle before I felt I was ready to add just a few small hardy frags that were still alive in my old tank. It will probably be another 6 months to a year before I "finish" my cycle, if there is such a thing.

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ReefSafeSolutions

Thanks for the input guys!

 

I started 3 tanks with dry rocks and just added them to new saltwater and cycled them for 2 weeks with BioSpira or MB7 or Dr. Tim's.

 

So...pardon my confusion. Are you saying you used each of those different bacteria brands for each of the three tanks you set up? I'll have to pick up some of the BioSpira or MB7...not sure I want to pay double the price of either of those for the Dr. Tim stuff.

 

I'm not expecting the bacteria to completely cycle the tank in a matter of days, but I'm sure it will help move things along. Starting from dry is a new experience for me, I apologize if my questions are considered "rookie" questions.

 

 

Progress made today. Got the rock formation glued together. Only had one mishap, the two rocks that I epoxied on top actually broke apart, but not at the glue joint. The rock on the left crumbled, so I had to do some minor touch up. I now have a little crevice there on the top, but it should be easy to fill in. I'll probably break up the little island, because it's going to be huge if I leave it that size.

 

I'm pretty happy with the glue job. I used WaterWeld from JB Weld...it's white, so it blends in nicely with the rock. Seems to me it's exactly the same as the aquastick stuff out there, just not as many color options.

 

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So...pardon my confusion. Are you saying you used each of those different bacteria brands for each of the three tanks you set up? I'll have to pick up some of the BioSpira or MB7...not sure I want to pay double the price of either of those for the Dr. Tim stuff.

 

First two nano tanks, I used Dr. Tim's. For 75 gallons tank, I used BioSpira. I also added MB7 after cycle was almost done just to keep seeding the system with more bacteria.

 

But not knowing where your rock came from can be a challenge...

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ReefSafeSolutions

I'll give the store a call tomorrow and see if they can tell me where they got it from. I know literally nothing about dry rock, other than some people complain of phosphates.

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ReefSafeSolutions

More progress today.

 

First of all, my LFS gets the dry rock from "some random guy who drives around and drops it off every week or so." So, I'm not really sure what I'm dealing with. Sweet.

 

Got the stand all framed. At 30" tall, I find it a little short, so I need to rework it later this evening and give it another 5-6". Since the tank is only 12" tall, having it on a 30" stand may look a bit goofy, so the added height on the stand will look better.

 

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ReefSafeSolutions

And with the 6" extension:

 

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Not a huge difference in height, but it sure looks a lot different.

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ReefSafeSolutions

Got it covered in plywood:

 

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Need to get the surface smooth by filling in holes/gaps/etc. with putty, then sand and paint. Shelves and door will come later, likely once the tank is up and cycling.

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providence

I think you'll be happy changing your stand to 36in. It's going to look like a lot of stand and not much tank given the dimensions of the Lagoon but having the tank at eye level when you're on the couch and higher up when you're standing is great.

 

My DIY stand for the Lagoon is at 36in tall and I wouldn't change it.

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ReefSafeSolutions

Yeah, the 36" is much more pleasing to the eye...30" seemed very low. No progress to report today, but tomorrow I'm hoping to get the first coat of paint done, maybe even both coats. I like using exterior paint to provide more protection from the inevitable water drops.

 

Once the paint is dry I'll be ready to put the tank up...and at the rate the tank is moving from FL, I might even have shelves and a door finished before the tank arrives :P

 

I was going to do another tank with the Hawaii Black sand, but I think I'm going to go with Fiji Pink this time for a nice white look. Not to mention, the black sand doesn't play well with glass, and scratches are inevitable. I'm hoping with Fiji Pink, the scratches won't be as frequent. I've had difficulty keeping my sand bed clean before, so the plan is to get a diamond goby for a nice clean look. I'm not sure if that will have an impact on my live sand though...as I understand it, they eat little critters from the sand, but not the bacteria? I keep reading different things about these fish.

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ReefSafeSolutions

Got the stand painted...here's a picture of the first coat. Haven't snapped a pic of the finished job yet because I broke down the 16g and stuffed all the equipment inside the new stand! Needless to say, it's messy and ugly right now.

 

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The freight shipping from Salty Supply sure is taking forever. I should have paid for shipping! According to the tracking info, it's still in GA. Which bites, because I ordered the tank a week ago.

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ReefSafeSolutions

The tank is FINALLY HERE!!

 

Geez...that took forever. Salty Supply's customer service was fantastic, but the freight company they used isn't so fantastic. The tracking information indicated that it arrived in San Diego...and then the next update said it was on its way to Los Angeles! I had to call them and figure out what was going on and ended up just picking it up from the warehouse myself. (Which was a good call, I saw them dig it out of the back of the warehouse :blink: )

 

So anyways...I'm doing the leak test now, but I did put the rocks in to size them up. I may have gotten a bit carried away :rolleyes:

 

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As you can see, the tallest portion of the rock is about an inch below the return nozzle and the overflows. With sand, I wouldn't be surprised if the peak of the rock was exposed. I'm not opposed to this, as I'm a fan of the "low tide" style tanks, but I wanted to get everyones' opinions and perhaps get some insight I might not have. I do realize this limits the coral placement a little bit.

 

Also, the main rock is a little bit too close to the front of the glass for my liking. I think I need to chip off about 2-3" off that portion right by the glass. The island rock is also slightly too large so I might have to bring that one down a little bit. Or I could butt it up right against the main rock or move it over a little bit more. Maybe I won't actually resize that rock just yet.

 

Anyways, the next update will likely be a cycling tank!!!

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ReefSafeSolutions

I love the depth the lagoon tanks offer, very cool design!

 

So far no leaks. I have the tank under some foam, because come to find out, the plywood I used for the surface of the stand has a high spot about 2mm tall. Just enough for the rubber leveling mat of the tank to not do anything and stress the bottom glass. Hopefully the foam will absorb the imperfections. The stand is perfectly level, aside from the dang high spot.

 

Later today I will drain the fresh water from the tank and drill holes in the back of the stand so I can run power strips inside the cabinet. And add a shelf, if everything goes well. Door will come later. Looks like I'll need to set up my Raspberry Pi tank controller again as well...fun!

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