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VictoryBell's IM Lagoon 25 - 1 year old!


VictoryBell

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VictoryBell

Hey all,

I'm Vicky, and this is the progression of my very first saltwater tank.  As of this post, it is a little over 2 1/2 months old.

 

Equipment :

Tank: Innovative Marine Lagoon 25

Light:  Current USA Orbit Marine IC LED

Pump : Siccie 1.5

Powerhead: Vortech MP10

ATO : Tunze Osmolator Nano 

Filter Sock

 

 

Livestock: 

Ocellaris Clownfish x 2

Tailspot Blenny (As of 4/28/2018)

Banggai Cardinal

Nassarius Snail x 2

Halloween Hermit Crab (Hence, the shells at the bottom...><)

2X Blue Legged Hermit Crab

Turbo Snail (He keeps the tank so clean!)

Tuxedo Urchin (As of 4/28/2018)  Returned to LFS b/c he was eating corals.

2 X Skunk Cleaner Shrimp ( As of 5/14/2018)
Tiger Conch

 

 

Coral:

Yellow Fiji Toadstool

Neon Green Toadstool

Purple Whip Gorgonian

Red Mushroom

Pulsing Xenia

Clove Polyps   Eaten/destroyed by Urchin (??)

Green Star Polyps

Bubble Coral

Duncan

Green Stylophora

Blue Mushroom (as of 4/28/2018)

 

Macro Algae:

Red Dragons Breath

Green Codium

 

 

 

January, 2019

29ED7616-5560-40A7-B728-E7FCC6CD3B75.thumb.jpeg.f97080c17ef298f8859eefd01f0a3700.jpeg

 

 

April, 2018

 

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snailapril2018.jpg.771259581a9ec82d65835ee042555e97.jpg

 

I know hermits are murdery but I really like this guy. So far he's very polite.

hermitapril2018.jpg.e67eabe6b363766df0d988c20dd17b1a.jpg

 

The Hermit Crab loves to hang out under the yellow toadstool.

008.thumb.jpg.e0b1ed8476e602abf1659366cc45ac8a.jpg

 

 

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VictoryBell
51 minutes ago, ChristopherDido said:

Love it! How do you like the light? Was thinking about that one when I do finally get a chance to upgrade down the road. 

Thank you ^_^

 

The light is OK so far I have no complaints. (It's my first tank and first light so I don't have much to compare it to :happy:)

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VictoryBell
1 hour ago, Sharbuckle said:

I think youre off to a great start. Your aquascape is perfect for that shape of tank. Great job 

Thank you! :D I spent a lot of time playing with the aquascape beforehand, it’s actually one of the reasons I chose this tank (wider and more room to play with the rock placement).

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Tank looks great.

The lagoon is a really nice tank.

 

You shouldn't have any issues with the light keeping softies or lps.

 

Love the yellow Fiji leather- I'd love one.

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VictoryBell
10 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Tank looks great.

The lagoon is a really nice tank.

 

You shouldn't have any issues with the light keeping softies or lps.

 

Love the yellow Fiji leather- I'd love one.

Thank you!

Yeah , I don’t plan on keeping anything super difficult until I get a lot more experience. 

The Yellow Fiji is my favorite coral so far, it’s so bright and cheerful looking :happy: 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
VictoryBell

Update:  I whipped out the good camera to get some tank photos.

 

 

Meet Blenson, the Tailspot Blenny. He's still very shy but has started actually hanging out on the rocks instead of hiding all the time.

 

blenson1-1_small.thumb.jpg.a7ec5e489023326e74745df426833c41.jpg

 

 

"Herman", my Halloween Hermit Crab. He's the most docile inhabitant of the tank  (I was worried about getting a hermit since they have a rep. for being "murdery" ). He put up with the Nassarius snails crawling all over him one night when they were greedily trying to get at the mysis shrimp I fed the tank. (I also think I have copepods now given the white things in the picture, yay)

 

herman1-1_Small.thumb.jpg.123fb6d7b032a0ef7c447f9865602144.jpg

 

I reached the hair alage stage in my tank and decided to try a tuxedo urchin. I haven't named him yet. He's obsessed with my clove polyps and keeps taking pieces of it to wear as a hat. ><  In this photo, he's sleeping on top of my Turbo Snail.

urchin1-1_small.thumb.jpg.e8efab72414e5ba429d85d618da5f9c7.jpg

 

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VictoryBell

I got the confidence to add a Cleaner Shrimp to my the tank.

 

Not the greatest phone photo and my glass needs to be cleaned 😑

image1.jpg.d9a3925d7619d1f4c9ce9e58df92aa97.jpg

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VictoryBell

Decided to do some macro photography tonight!

 

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I added this Sinularia a few days ago and it looks absolutely lovely.

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A better shot of my cleaner shrimp who is settling in nicely. (He desperately wants to clean the clowns but they want nothing to do with him.)

shrimpy1-1_small.thumb.jpg.49c4648d407d37c47b8a617b83ec6e78.jpg

 

I managed to get a shot of my shy tailspot blenny.

blenson2-1_small.thumb.jpg.e59b2507194ab8f4fa70991a1935e85d.jpg

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VictoryBell

I was taking photos the other day and got a very well timed shot of my blenny eating film algae off of the glass.   🙂

 

blensonkissingglass-1_small.thumb.jpg.6a0dc89fb20e5149dcb1931edc980a37.jpg

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VictoryBell
10 hours ago, Sharbuckle said:

Great photos. What do you use to take them?

Thank you! For photosI use my Canon Rebel T5i eos 700D with the canon macro lens ef-s 35mm.  Or, if I'm lazy and don't feel like getting out my camera, I use my iphone.

 

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  • 1 month later...
VictoryBell

My tank is over 5 months old woot!

 

I started a new job recently . Because I'm not home much during the day now, I'm not messing around in the tank too much and this seems to be a good thing. My cyano seems to be pretty much gone and I noticed growth on some of my corals!

 

I did have to take my Tuxedo Urchin back to the LFS though. My theory is there wasn't enough algae in the tank for him and he started eating the corals due to hunger. I didn't want to see the poor thing slowly starve.

 

I've also taken to trying to capture my animals personalities in my spare time when I paint. (I paint all day for a living and I'm trying to find interesting subjects to paint in my spare time for more practice.)

 

Here's a nervous Banggai Cardinal. 🙂

cardinalfish.thumb.jpg.5549e45efbf3ff310f45f1e9cd5aa520.jpg

 

annnnnd.....

 

Full tank shot for July 2018. (The glass is a bit messy, I haven't had a chance to clean it this week. ><) (

I know, I have a lot of seashells. I added them for the Halloween Hermit Crab. I know which ones are his favorites now, so I'll be taking some out hehe.

julytankshot_small.thumb.jpg.e0f04deca6e012a3b68f513352918690.jpg

 

 

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VictoryBell

I didn't realize I forgot update on the two newest editions! (I got busy with work and I guess I forgot.) I've had these two guys for about a month now.

 

I added a conch! He's the weirdest looking little guy.

conch1_small.thumb.jpg.5fc0f3b3aff3637d848296b6d4b83b78.jpg

 

Added a Banggai Cardinal as my final fish. Despite Cardinals being known for just "sitting there", he's got a lot of personality. He's just not as boisterous as the clownfish.

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VictoryBell

He’s cute and has quite a personality. However, he’s territorial. He sometimes nips at the clownfish if they get too close to his little hole that he lives in. Never anything violent, he just warns them off. He’s never bothered coral or anything either. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow Vicky, I am sorry that I haven't noticed your tank until now.  It is really nice and you are doing a wonderful job with it, especially being a first tank. 

I really like like the figi leather too and I love blennies.  They have a lot of personality packed in their small bodies.

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6 hours ago, vlangel said:

Wow Vicky, I am sorry that I haven't noticed your tank until now.  It is really nice and you are doing a wonderful job with it, especially being a first tank. 

I really like like the figi leather too and I love blennies.  They have a lot of personality packed in their small bodies.

Thank you! The fiji leather is my favorite so far; it's so yellow. I wasn't sure about the Blenny at first because he was so shy, but he's super social andeveryone's buddy now. Any time a friend comes over and sees the tank, he's their favorite fish.

5 hours ago, DaveFason said:

Great tank. Love the leathers!

Thank you! 

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  • 3 weeks later...

My tank is officially a year old as of last Tuesday!

 

A few weeks ago, in celebration of this achievement, I treated myself and bought a long tentacle toadstool. I absolutely love it! (Though the Yellow Fiji Leather is still my favorite.)

 

 

toadstoollong1_small.thumb.jpg.6e1e868666fbda5e7c645c8d06e83d88.jpg

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