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Cultivated Reef

Dark Side of the Lagoon


Clown79

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17 hours ago, Subsea said:

Initially, the tank was placed in a section of the galley that was not normally used.  As time went by, I noted more and more, people occupied tables near reef tank.  I did mostly filter feeders and sponges, it was a great job perk.  Often, if I had trouble sleeping, Inwould watch the tank.

 

I am so much enjoying my 120G new build.  It got wet on dec 20.  So, it is one month old today.

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Is this the work tank?

It's really cool and obviously many gravitated to it?

 

Reefs are so fascinating and relaxing.

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Sorry, above picture are of my 30 day old new build.

 

The Filter feeder tank on the drill shop was difficult to design because of being on the ocean and rough seas sloshing water around in tank.  We designed a removable acrylic top with an o ring grove to seal top of tank.  Saltwater was piped throughout ship so we ran  a line in.  On the out line we ran a slight back pressure on drain line so that no air bubble was ever in top of tank.  Very dim light.

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On 1/10/2018 at 11:19 AM, Clown79 said:

Thank you to everyone.

 

Tank has been doing great. I have had very few issues.

 

Santa was really good to me :D

 

I got for christmas the Aqamai Wavemaker, media basket, coral viewer/ magnify glass, and Alk hanna Checker. So happy!

 

I took my Jebao out and replaced with the aqamai.

 

love this wavemaker.

You can customize your water movement throughout the day or choose a preset program. All with my phone.

There is a lot of choice and control with this wavemaker.

Its very powerful but the movement is gentle. My corals seem to really like it.

I am currently using a preset program but I hope to customize one soon. I'm monitoring the corals during various settings.

The size and shape is great. It doesn't stand out, blends really well. I love the magnet on it. I can direct the PH in so many directions.

 

Hanna Checker - this tester is great. Its so easy and takes no time to do a test. no more guessing colours. I want more of them.

 

Coral viewer - this is great. I can view my corals top down, the magnify glass is removable, and it makes taking top down photos easier.

 

 

I had a small algae issue start up and I now have it under control. I had a small amount of algae developing in 2 of my chambers. Very odd. I clean them every week and there isn't anything in there.

I drained them, wiped the algae off and then spot treated with 3% peroxide.

 

I changed out my Purigen too.

 

It's already helping.

 

 

I have moved some things around

 

I moved my poisen ivy acan from my 10g into the 25g. I purchased 2 additonal frags that were on sale for $5, they were not in good condition but they have repaired and grown already.

 

My ricordea have grown and split. The birdsnest is growing like crazy.

 

I added a chalice as well. I had to have it. it's a crazy bright orange.

 

 

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Beautiful tank. Perfect aquascape with healthy corals. The key always the clean water. What filtration are you using? Do you have media reactor too?

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1 hour ago, HoffyZ said:

Beautiful tank. Perfect aquascape with healthy corals. The key always the clean water. What filtration are you using? Do you have media reactor too?

Thank you very much.

 

In my media basket I use purigen, matrix carbon, filter floss, and phosguard.

 

I bag my own media so I control the qty and change it more often.

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46 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Thank you very much.

 

In my media basket I use purigen, matrix carbon, filter floss, and phosguard.

 

I bag my own media so I control the qty and change it more often.

Skimmer or media reactor? How often do you change the media? Sorry for the lot of question. I have an IM lagoon also and trying to set the best filtering.

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No worries. Ask as many questions as you need to. We all learn from asking?

 

I have no skimmer, no reactors.

I use a controller for my heater, manual top ups and dosing.

I like my systems very low key.

 

I change my carbon every 2 - 3weeks. I rinse the media bag with every waterchange, the bags can collect detritus on them.

 

My floss is changed 2 times a week, on waterchange day and  in the middle of the week. Sometimes more if needed.

 

Purigen is changed when it starts going brown, the bag is rinsed every week.

 

Phosguard- this should be used as needed. Testing phos should be done while using it. I use tiny amounts and change as needed.

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32 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

No worries. Ask as many questions as you need to. We all learn from asking?

 

I have no skimmer, no reactors.

I use a controller for my heater, manual top ups and dosing.

I like my systems very low key.

 

I change my carbon every 2 - 3weeks. I rinse the media bag with every waterchange, the bags can collect detritus on them.

 

My floss is changed 2 times a week, on waterchange day and  in the middle of the week. Sometimes more if needed.

 

Purigen is changed when it starts going brown, the bag is rinsed every week.

 

Phosguard- this should be used as needed. Testing phos should be done while using it. I use tiny amounts and change as needed.

Aha, My setup is differnet but I can find similar components. I have a media reactor with active carbon. Somewhere I read that they used to change every 3 month. I upgraded my tank in November after my wife crashed with overfeeding it. The carbone reactor made a big change. The hair and dyno were gone during few days. Basicall the new snails did a good job on hair algae too. I have a Mame protein skimmer and I love how it works. 

 

I swapped my right media with chaeto with jbj nano glo but I’m not satisfied with it. The chaeto starts rotten around the bulbs.

 

 I’m using the general IM filtration of the left side. I’ll change to purigen and phosguard. I like this combo.

 

I have red mangroves to eat the nutrients but they don’t work as I expected.

 

I still attemp to use more biological filters but something doesn’t operate.

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  • 3 weeks later...
6 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Scape looks fantastic and everything looks happy :) Great job!

Thanks!?

I changed a bit, coral placement wise. Gotta get a new pic up.

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  • 3 weeks later...
13 hours ago, Tamberav said:

What return pump are you using? Trying to figure out what to go with.... hm.

Right now I'm using the stock return pump and an aqamai kps wavemaker.

 

I plan on upgrading pump but the original is working well.

6 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

Hi Clown. I started following this when you first started the build, but then somehow missed it. Just caught up. Looks great and great write up. How about a new current FTS!

Thank you so much.

I have been planning on putting up photos but it's been a busy week. Definitely will be doing a full update with photos?

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1 minute ago, Clown79 said:

Right now I'm using the stock return pump and an aqamai kps wavemaker.

 

I plan on upgrading pump but the original is working well.

Thank you so much.

I have been planning on putting up photos but it's been a busy week. Definitely will be doing a full update with photos?

 

Awesome thanks! I think I will stick with stock to begin with as well. 

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36 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

 

Awesome thanks! I think I will stick with stock to begin with as well. 

You're welcome.

 

I found the stock pump in the 10g very weak and loud. That was replaced within a month.

 

I expected the same with 25g but so far it's done well.

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Hi Clown...love the build and info here.  I am in the beginning stages of making the same kind of move.  I will be upgrading from my 14g biocube to a Red Sea Reefer 170.  I have some time to plan as I gather materials but the part that is giving me the most heartburn is the issue of the actual transition.  your info here is very helpful and has put my mind at ease to a certain degree.  Can you now add anything you would have done differently or details you perhaps missed after the fact?  Did the corals acclimate easily enough?  

 

Thanks again for all the info!!

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1 minute ago, Duane Clark said:

Hi Clown...love the build and info here.  I am in the beginning stages of making the same kind of move.  I will be upgrading from my 14g biocube to a Red Sea Reefer 170.  I have some time to plan as I gather materials but the part that is giving me the most heartburn is the issue of the actual transition.  your info here is very helpful and has put my mind at ease to a certain degree.  Can you now add anything you would have done differently or details you perhaps missed after the fact?  Did the corals acclimate easily enough?  

 

Thanks again for all the info!!

Thanks!

 

Actually the transition went very smooth.

 

I was expecting difficulties or surprises but the surprise was there was no major issues.

Which was great?

 

I had apprehensions as I myself had never upgraded a tank. 

I made lists of things I needed, I had all my transfer stuff piled together and organized.

 

No one wants to be searching last minute for something they need, especially while doing a transfer. That's when you end up making a mistake.

 

The one set back I had that day was the air pump for the holding containers. It was not powerful enough for the gang valve. Luckily I had the battery back up one(and batteries) which definitely could handle the job.

 

All my livestock was fine, I had no issues with anything dying or damage. It took a few days for everything to open up but that was it.

 

If you have anything specific you're unsure of, don't hesitate to ask.

 

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MarcusCox24

Great info and beautiful tank.  My IM25 is arriving tomorrow, and I'm doing my research to prepare my switch.  Currently have a 29g Aqueon, but want something a little more sleek and efficient.  I've been having a hard time determining which route to take for filtration, so the recent input was greatly appreciated!  Are you using the socks that come with the tank, or are you using the custom caddy?  Thanks in advance!

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3 hours ago, MarcusCox24 said:

Great info and beautiful tank.  My IM25 is arriving tomorrow, and I'm doing my research to prepare my switch.  Currently have a 29g Aqueon, but want something a little more sleek and efficient.  I've been having a hard time determining which route to take for filtration, so the recent input was greatly appreciated!  Are you using the socks that come with the tank, or are you using the custom caddy?  Thanks in advance!

Thank you.

 

I was using the sock in 1 and basket in the other chamber. I washed the sock 1 time a week and soaked it in a peroxide/water bath and replaced it with a clean one.

 

Now I have 2 baskets. Its cheaper than the socks and less maintenance. 

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CarolinaShoreReef
On September 16, 2017 at 1:19 AM, Clown79 said:

No the shelf isn't removable. I do manual top up, always have, even on my 55g. 

 

With the money spent on upgrade and next ro/di unit, I have no plans for ato. 

 

I like my systems very simple. 

 

The only equipment transfer is my sw2. 

 

 

Just wondering, and you've probably already addressed this but I'm reading through this thread from the start, are you still manually topping off? Do you go on vacations and if so do you just find someone to top off for you? I know, stupid question but I just can't trust anyone with it lol. 

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I once went on vacation for a few weeks and had my mom do the water changes :o She never had an aquarium in her life. She did great! :lol: 

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