Griever Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 (edited) Welcome to my Lagoon Tank project! I've been out of the game for a few years, moving across country and welcoming my son into the world. My goals for this project are to create a coral focused tank with a very light bio-load that is low maintenance and as automated as my budget will allow. Latest Full Tank Shot Specifications 50 Gallon Innovative Marine AIO Lagoon Tank (30"L x 24"W x16"D) NanoBox Wide Quad Tunze 9004 Skimmer (On an 8 hour timer at night) Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO EcoTech VorTech MP40 Cobalt Neotherm 100w Heater InTank Media Basket Running Floss and Chemi-pure Elite Two Quarts of CerMedia Bio-Filter Spheres Livestock - Fish/Inverts Pair of Mocha Clownfish Longnose Hawkfish Midas Blenny Royal Gramma Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp ORA Pink Pincushion Urchin ORA Derasa Clam Livestock - Corals Green BTA Purple Tipped Green Frogspawn Gold Torch Rainbow Trachyphyllia Blue Sympodium (Trying to get it to carpet the bottom glass) Red Dragon Macro Algae Assorted Zoos from AquaSD Assorted Acropora from AquaSD Edited December 21, 2019 by Griever New topic 4 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted March 29, 2018 Author Share Posted March 29, 2018 First progress post! Got the tank set up and started working on the aquascaping. I spent an embarrassingly large amount of time moving and stacking rocks last night to get something I was completely happy with. I also upgraded the return nozzles to the IM Spin Streams and got the old MP10 set up (needed a new wet-side). Still waiting on the Osmolator and the heater, and then I'll get it wet and start cycling. To be determined is deciding on a light and mounting method, and deciding if I want to run skimmer-less or not. I'm planning a really light bioload, so I might try without and see how it goes. As far as lights go, I'm planning a mixed reef and I think I want to stick to LEDs for general ease of use and power usage. I've got it currently narrowed down to the Radion XR30W Gen4 with a diffuser kit or the NanoBox Quad Wide. I really want to avoid disco-ball effects, that was the only thing I hated about the Reefbreeder LEDs I had on my previous tank. Anyone have experience with either of those lights and have recommendations? 3 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 51 minutes ago, Griever said: First progress post! Got the tank set up and started working on the aquascaping. I spent an embarrassingly large amount of time moving and stacking rocks last night to get something I was completely happy with. I also upgraded the return nozzles to the IM Spin Streams and got the old MP10 set up (needed a new wet-side). Still waiting on the Osmolator and the heater, and then I'll get it wet and start cycling. To be determined is deciding on a light and mounting method, and deciding if I want to run skimmer-less or not. I'm planning a really light bioload, so I might try without and see how it goes. As far as lights go, I'm planning a mixed reef and I think I want to stick to LEDs for general ease of use and power usage. I've got it currently narrowed down to the Radion XR30W Gen4 with a diffuser kit or the NanoBox Quad Wide. I really want to avoid disco-ball effects, that was the only thing I hated about the Reefbreeder LEDs I had on my previous tank. Anyone have experience with either of those lights and have recommendations? Welcome back. Scape looks good so far. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Indiana Reefin Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Really nice setup! 1 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted April 1, 2018 Author Share Posted April 1, 2018 Updates! Tunze auto top off installed and filled the tank with water. Only thing left is to decide on a light, but I've started the cycle process. 1 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted April 14, 2018 Author Share Posted April 14, 2018 Updates! I did a little modification to raise the water level about half an inch to fully cover the return nozzles. Ion't have a great picture of it, but I basically used a wedge to carefully break off the plastic overflow channels on the back and re-glue them a little bit higher. Really happy with how it ended up. I also used the Red Sea mesh top kit to fashion up an anti-carpet-surfing and anti-baby-throwing-things-in-the-tank lid. Really impressed with the kit, nice high quality pieces. First livestock going in, a pair of mocha clowns. Now I wait for the lights. Decided on the nanobox quad-wide, should be here in a few more weeks. 2 Quote Link to comment
Zuma Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Looking good, how long did you cycle the tank for? Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted April 19, 2018 Author Share Posted April 19, 2018 34 minutes ago, Zuma said: Looking good, how long did you cycle the tank for? Two weeks. Seeded with some live rock from my LFS after a week, and a bottle of Tim's the day before I added the fish (probably snake oil, but can't hurt)! Quote Link to comment
Jake270 Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Looks good. I used some media from one of my other tank when I set up my Red Sea 250 and a bottle of Tim's as well, didn't seem to hurt and everything has been remaining stable. Quote Link to comment
Zuma Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 59 minutes ago, Griever said: Two weeks. Seeded with some live rock from my LFS after a week, and a bottle of Tim's the day before I added the fish (probably snake oil, but can't hurt)! Sounds good. Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted April 23, 2018 Author Share Posted April 23, 2018 Figured I'd share a wider shot of where the tank is. Just finished adding the floating shelves this past weekend, waiting on my Nanobox lights to arrive so I can figure out a clean mounting solution for them. 3 1 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 A few new additions and a FTS. It's tough waiting on lights, but from what I've seen the Nanobox will be worth the wait. 😁 4 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted May 4, 2018 Author Share Posted May 4, 2018 Something is on its way... 3 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 On 4/23/2018 at 2:49 PM, Griever said: Figured I'd share a wider shot of where the tank is. Just finished adding the floating shelves this past weekend, waiting on my Nanobox lights to arrive so I can figure out a clean mounting solution for them. The tank looks perfect in that spot. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted May 11, 2018 Author Share Posted May 11, 2018 Got the nanobox set up and added some starter corals. Everything looks pretty happy so far! 1 Quote Link to comment
Jono Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Looking good! And it looks great on that desk! Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 9 hours ago, Griever said: Got the nanobox set up And you didn't give us the full room shot for this? Really like your office corner here, gonna steal this concept for my next home office. 1 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted May 11, 2018 Author Share Posted May 11, 2018 3 hours ago, micoastreefing said: And you didn't give us the full room shot for this? Really like your office corner here, gonna steal this concept for my next home office. Haha nope because I'm still waiting on the 80/20 order of black anodized aluminum to cleanly mount the light. Right now it's just sitting on two pieces of wood set across the tank and looks terrible... 😅 1 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 Lazy Saturday on the reef... 2 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted May 22, 2018 Author Share Posted May 22, 2018 Order from 80/20 finally showed up. No more Nanobox sitting on top of two planks of wood for me. Ended up making a cradle for the lights because I didn't fully trust the hanging hardware. 2 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 On 5/21/2018 at 11:16 PM, Griever said: Order from 80/20 finally showed up. No more Nanobox sitting on top of two planks of wood for me. Ended up making a cradle for the lights because I didn't fully trust the hanging hardware. Could you share some part list/costs on those 8020? Also, is it mounted on the back of the tank? Or did you attach the vertical to the wall? Latter probably makes more sense. Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted May 25, 2018 Author Share Posted May 25, 2018 7 hours ago, micoastreefing said: Could you share some part list/costs on those 8020? Also, is it mounted on the back of the tank? Or did you attach the vertical to the wall? Latter probably makes more sense. Yeah I attached it to the wall, seemed easier that way with the way I'm set up. So far really liking the wide quad and the mounting hardware. Very easy to adjust. Not sure how helpful this will be because of the way 80/20 labels stuff... but here's the invoice of what I ordered. I will say that the quality of the 80/20 parts is awesome, but be prepared to wait if you order the black anodized. Took nearly four full weeks to fulfill my order. They did do a great job sending me updates though. Item Part Number Qty Subtotal 40-4020-Black-FB 40-4020-Black-FB 1 $18.19 Length 28 x $16.24 40-4020-Black-FB-Length Cut to Length Qty: 1 #40-7010 $1.95 40-4020-Black-FB 40-4020-Black-FB 1 $11.23 Length 16 x $9.28 40-4020-Black-FB-Length Cut to Length Qty: 1 #40-7010 $1.95 40-4336-Black 40-4336-Black 1 $7.68 75-3422 75-3422 4 $2.68 40-1981 40-1981 1 $0.32 3839 3839 1 $0.37 3860 3860 1 $0.10 40-2823 40-2823 1 $2.65 Subtotal: $43.22 Shipping & Handling: $17.69 Tax: $4.71 Grand Total (Incl.Tax): $65.62 1 2 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted May 27, 2018 Author Share Posted May 27, 2018 Set up a mixing station so I can mix up 50G of saltwater at a time. Should make water changes much less time consuming. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
Griever Posted May 29, 2018 Author Share Posted May 29, 2018 Got some gross brown hair algae popping up. Put some algeafix in there, we'll see if it does anything or it's just snake oil. Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 Gorgeous reef build @Griever, I missed your return earlier, welcome back! You clearly have some serious DIY skills, I really like your 80/20 Nanobox light hanging solution! Very clean. Another member here recently built a tank stand from a type of 80/20 frame, and then skinned it with wood. Such an awesome system! Where did you pick up the 50 gallon water storage tank? That will be convenient to have! Sorry to see the algae, but you'll get through it! I'd try to offer some advice, but I'll leave it to the algae experts here! Quote Link to comment
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