iHexBot's Modified IM Lagoon 25G

[iHexBot]

Tank Specs

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Display: Heavily modified Innovative Marine Fusion Lagoon 25 gallons.
Lighting: 1 set of Dave Fason's NanoBox Duo Plus M mounted 6" above the water line.
Biological Filtration: 1" of CaribSea Arag-Alive special grade reef sand and 15lbs. of live rock.
Circulation: Jebao WP10 on "Else" mode and a 1056 GPH return pump on setting "7".
Skimmer: Skimz SN123 Monzter mini protein skimmer.
Mechanical Filtration: Filter sock, BRS GFO, and BRS ROX 0.8 carbon
Metering: A generic digital thermometer, Hannah Checkers for alkalinity, phosphate, and calcium, salifert for magnesium, and API for pH, nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia, and Milwaukee Instruments for salinity. I keep a Google spreadsheet of my parameters which can be found here.

 

 

Maintenance Routine

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• Salinity: 1.025
• Temp: 78° - 78.5° Fahrenheit
• pH: 8.0 - 8.3
• Calcium: 420
• Alkalinity: 7.7 - 8.5 dKH
• Magnesium: 1350 ppm
• Nitrate: 0 ppm
• Phosphate: 0.00 ppm

Weekly 4 gallon water change. I am currently using AquaForest probiotic reef salt but plan on switching to AquaForest regular reef salt after my current probiotic supply runs out. I feed my fish daily, alternating between frozen mysis and NLS pellets. I wash the filter socks weekly and clean the pumps and skimmers about once a month. I replace my RODI sediment filter, carbon blocks, and DI resins every three months, and also replace the GFO and ROX carbon every three months.

 

 

Fish

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COMING SOON

 

 

SPS

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COMING SOON

 

 

LPS

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COMING SOON

 

 

Soft Corals

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COMING SOON

 

 

Invertebrates

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COMING SOON

 

 

- iHexBot

[reefist]

I have heard they are a b***h to get out without bloodying yourself up. I was thinking about picking up the 25g Nuvo Black tanks and throwing my Tunze 9004 in the corner with a couple of 6040s. I have a Duo plus M already. Do you have it on an IM stand? $300 seems a little steep. Is it solid?

[iHexBot]

They are definitely a bitch to get out; however, if you do it carefully you should be able to avoid any cuts and scrapes. It just takes a lot of time and patience...and a shit load of razor blades...and a hammer when all else fails.

 

The 25G Nuvo Black series is nice but for some reason they don't use low iron glass (unless they have revamped their first generation of the Nuvo Black series).

 

I built my own stand for $80.00 and couldn't be happier. $300 for a stand is quite steep, especially when it is known to be a little wobbly and known to warp with exposure to water .

[gus6464]

Pics!!!!

[iHexBot]

IM Fusion Lagoon 25G with the baffles removed and bottom glass panel drilled:

 

 

 

 

Stand drilled to fit the bulkheads:

 

 

 

 

DIY sump:

 

 

 

 

Protein skimmer and return pump:

 

 

 

 

Acrylic for the overflow box:

 

 

 

[Droy008]

Very interesting, keep us posted!

[Cencalfishguy56]

IM Fusion Lagoon 25G with the baffles removed and bottom glass panel drilled:

 

 

Stand drilled to fit the bulkheads:

 

 

DIY sump:

 

 

Sump skimmer and return pump:

 

 

Acrylic for the overflow box:

 

so sick

[iHexBot]

Bought an NPT Loc-Line Connector but unfortunately it did not fit through the hole in my overflow box because it was threaded and my overflow box hole is not. Spent four hours sanding the threads away:

 

 

 

 

It fits!:

 

 

 

 

Also had to file the edges of my overflow box so that they would become round and could then fit flush up against the tank's silicone:

 

 

 

 

Siliconed the overflow box together:

 

 

 

 

Finished product:

 

 

 

[iHexBot]

Decided I wasn't a fan of removing the threads off of the NPT connector. Went back to the store, bought another one, and did things the right way. I bought a 1/2" 14 NPT tap, and manually added threads to the overflow boxes return hole:

 

 

 

 

The threaded NPT connector now threads through the threaded overflow box return hole!

 

 

 

 

Now I can add a threaded elbow onto the NPT connector to attach the return line to:

 

 

 

 

I have roughly 6 more hours before I can add water to the overflow box to make sure it doesn't leak, if it doesn't it's time to finish this re-design up! Here is the bulkhead preparation:

 

 

 

Anddddddddddd, I finally joined the band wagon and just put an order in with Dave Fason for a Duo Plus M !

[iHexBot]

Leak tested the overflow box tonight, no bueno

[Tmr8188]

I have heard they are a b***h to get out without bloodying yourself up. I was thinking about picking up the 25g Nuvo Black tanks and throwing my Tunze 9004 in the corner with a couple of 6040s. I have a Duo plus M already. Do you have it on an IM stand? $300 seems a little steep. Is it solid?

I have the IM stand (2 actually) and it is quite solid and no warping yet. I opted for the IM stand because I wanted a high gloss stand and there were 2 options to achieve that:

1. Build a regular stand and get some very high quality plywood and sand the crap out of it and apply like 10 layers of high gloss paint.

2. Build a wood frame and use acrylic as paneling. The cost of acrylic and no access to a cnc machine shot that idea down.

 

Neither of those options appealed to me.

Bought an NPT Loc-Line Connector but unfortunately it did not fit through the hole in my overflow box because it was threaded and my overflow box hole is not. Spent four hours sanding the threads away:

 

 

It fits!:

 

 

Also had to file the edges of my over flow box so that they became round and could fit flush up against the tank's silicone:

 

 

Siliconed the overflow box together:

 

 

Finished product:

 

I like it. I most likely will never do that to mine, but your are doing it right! What equipment are you gonna run in the sump?

[iHexBot]

I like it. I most likely will never do that to mine, but your are doing it right! What equipment are you gonna run in the sump?

 

I am going to run a Skimz SN 123 and a Jebao DCT 4000. Probably will add a filter sock at some point and maybe some chemi pure, purigen, zeovit, etc.

[iHexBot]

Today I moved my stand to it's final resting spot. It will be located next to my couch and will receive very little to no sunlight at all from the windows. I also drilled a hole in the side of the stand to allow for a grommet so I can mount all of my controllers on the outside stand panel:

 

[iHexBot]

Got my Duo Plus M today! How high off the water are ya'll mounting these? Also, what are your suggestions regarding the channel settings? The light is extremely well constructed, but I have my worries about the mounting bracket. It doesn't seem to have a very good hold on the tank. I don't think it would tip over on its own, but if someone accidentally bumped into it I don't think the bracket is strong enough to stop it from falling right into the tank. Next time around I think I will go with the hanging kit . This turned out to be a defect with the screws, after contacting Dave he promptly sent me some new screws and got me squared away.

 

[DCUEVAS74]

Got my Duo Plus M today! How high off the water are ya'll mounting these? Also, what are your suggestions regarding the channel settings? The light is extremely well constructed, but I have my worries about the mounting bracket. It doesn't seem to have a very good hold on the tank. I don't think it would tip over on its own, but if someone accidentally bumped into it I don't think the bracket is strong enough to stop it from falling right into the tank. Next time around I think I will go with the hanging kit .

 

 

What setup. Great job on the overflow! No worries on the bracket for the duo, It will hold well. I've had two of these over the years from Dave and never had any problems. Heck, I've even bumped them pretty good when doing maintenance. The only thing that would move is the light which I just repositioned anytime it happened. I've had one with a hanging kit before and have to say I prefer the mount. Looks cleaner IMO. Can't wait to see this up and running. Good luck!

[iHexBot]

Mounted the tank on the stand and mounted the controllers:

 

 

Got everything arranged inside of the stand, might add a filter sock later down the road:

 

 

 

 

And finally added some water. Unfortunately, the bulkheads are leaking. I am hoping that this is because I didn't remove the neoprene fabric from the bottom of the tank. Tomorrow I will take apart the plumbing, remove the neoprene, and try to secure the bulkheads again. I have them as tight as I can possibly get them (by hand only). If this isn't the issue not sure what to do next...might have to silicone the bulkheads themselves, but I am trying to avoid this. Any who, here is a picture, almost there!

 

 

 

[DCUEVAS74]

Man, that happened to me on my last setup. I think it ended up being a bad gasket I think or maybe I had it on too tight. I'm sure it will stop once you work on it a bit. Good luck!

[DaveFason]

Looking awesome. You will be fine with the bracket. Just make sure your spacer is adjusted correctly and you will be fine.

 

-Dave

[ReefMagix]

Very nice LOL but isnt there a tank you could save a ton of money on and not have to remove baffles that you already paid for? Im pretty sure there are lots available.

[Cencalfishguy56]

Mounted the tank on the stand and mounted the controllers:

 

 

Got everything arranged inside of the stand, might add a filter sock later down the road:

 

 

And finally added some water. Unfortunately, the bulkheads are leaking. I am hoping that this is because I didn't remove the neoprene fabric from the bottom of the tank. Tomorrow I will take apart the plumbing, remove the neoprene, and try to secure the bulkheads again. I have them as tight as I can possibly get them (by hand only). If this isn't the issue not sure what to do next...might have to silicone the bulkheads themselves, but I am trying to avoid this. Any who, here is a picture, almost there!

 

where is it leaking at? Mine were leaking at the threads and I had forgotten to wrap the threads in threaded sealing tape lol

[iHexBot]

Very nice LOL but isnt there a tank you could save a ton of money on and not have to remove baffles that you already paid for? Im pretty sure there are lots available.

 

Yeah, there definitely are, but I originally bought this tank as an AIO. I used it as an AIO for over a year and then decided that I would like to reclaim some of the space. At this point it was cheaper for me to remove the baffles since I already had the tank then it was to buy a brand new one .

where is it leaking at? Mine were leaking at the threads and I had forgotten to wrap the threads in threaded sealing tape lol

 

Mine is leaking in two places. Both from the connections between the bulkheads and the glass and between the bulkheads and the threaded adapters. Lessons that I learned: threaded tape must be applied in a clockwise direction AND threaded tape should be applied generously .

[Cencalfishguy56]

 

Yeah, there definitely are, but I originally bought this tank as an AIO. I used it as an AIO for over a year and then decided that I would like to reclaim some of the space. At this point it was cheaper for me to remove the baffles since I already had the tank then it was to buy a brand new one .

 

 

Mine is leaking in two places. Both from the connection between the bulkhead and the glass and between bulkhead and the threaded adapters. Lessons that I learned: threaded tape must be applied in a clockwise direction AND threaded tape should be applied generously .

lol I agree! I was mad at myself luckily it was a leak test when I noticed and fixed it up but get it all sorted out?

[iHexBot]

Removing the neoprene fabric from below the bulkheads has fixed the leak between the tank and the bulkheads. However, the connection between the bulkheads and thread adapters are still leaking ever so slowly. I really would like to get this tank running, so for the mean time I am going to silicone my thread adapters into the bulkheads since the teflon tape doesn't seem to be doing the job for me. I know this is more of a patch then a fix, but I can always buy new bulkheads at will later down the road if the need arises.

[iHexBot]

Quick update - it's been 24 hours now and the silicone has solved the problem. I have 0 leaks. It's go time!

[Scorched]

I know you already siliconed the adapters into the bulkheads but the correct product to use is pipe joint compound. Its basically teflon tape in paste form.

 

 

The tape is meant for metal pipes.

 

I used to use the tape on bulkheads for my own tank when I initially set it up. It sealed the first time but after a few months it started to form a slow leak that eventually turned into a constant drip. I go into work one day and find the floor all wet. I had to run to the hardware store and pick up some of this paste in the can. It sealed on the first try and hasn't had a drop since. It also never dries or hardens so the fittings can still be removed with some torque if you need to disassemble.