MOB122's IM10 & IM25 Journal

[MOB122]

Greetings Nano-Reef.com -

 

Started out with just an IM10 and quickly decided to add an IM25 Lagoon for a DT. The lagoon is a work in progress.

 

When I bought the IM25 I purchased 10 lbs or dry rock and 20 lbs live sand. My plan is to move my 10.5 lbs of live rock from the IM10 into the IM25 after the new 10 lbs cure and cycle. I want to then convert my IM10 into a frag/qt tank using something like Seachem Matrix. I still need a light and some odds and ends for the IM25. Is it crazy to think the current A360WE will be discounted when the A360X comes out? Can hook the A360WE up to my spectral controller and i'm going to be hunting for that discount over the holidays.

 

The IM25 will eventually sit closest to the couch and the IM10 will rest to the left from the direction of my pictures. My custom stand isn't quite done yet either.

 

IM10 Equipment:

Kessil A80 Tuna Blue w. Spectral Controller

IM CustomCaddy Media Basket

Sicce Syncra .5 Pump w. Spinstream

Eheim Jaeger 50W Heater

Tunze Nano Osmolator

IM10 Filtration:

Filter Floss (replaced every 2-3 days)

10 lbs Aquamaxx EcoRock

.5 lbs live rock form LFS to help seed tank

10 lbs live sand

Livestock:

1 Black Snowflake Clown

Pistol Shrimp

Blue Legged Hermit Crabs

1 Nassarius Snail

 

IM25 Equipment:

Sicce Syncra 1.5 Pump

Eheim Jaeger 75W Heater

Tunze Nano Osmolator

Nanobox Duo

Artfully Acrylic custom one-piece Lid

 

IM25 Filtration:

IM Media basket w filter pads And Seachem Matrix

Chemi-pure Blue

10 lbs BRS Dry Rock

20 lbs live sand

IM DC Skimmer

Livestock:

Bonded Pair of Extreme Helmet Picasso Clowns from Sustainable Aquatics

Tailspot Blenny

Trochus, Astrea and Nassarius Snails as well as Mexican red-legged Hermits

*Should be adding a Yasha Goby and Pistol Shrimp withinthe next week or so

 

Coral:

Zoas, Palys, various euphyllia, acans, Duncan, fungia, scoly. More to come.

 

 

FTS - 10/22/18

Built this stand myself.

 

FTS - 9/29/18

 

FTS - 8/31/18

 

FTS - 8/19/18

 

7/1/19 or thereabouts:

 

[Daniel91]

Welcome!

 

I have the exact same equipmet. Nice little setup!

 

Dan

[MOB122]

Thanks Daniel! I saw you just started to add some corals. Your tank looks cool.

 

What is your plan with corals and do you think the A80 is going to be sufficient for them? I'm looking to start out with a Hammer soon. Curious if the Clown will host it.

[Daniel91]

I want a “beginner” mix of it all, so the A80 will be fine for me. The A80 is definitely sufficient for most LPS, softies, and starter SPS. With that being said, if I ever decided to go heavy into the more light demanding SPS, I would upgrade instantly. 

 

I’ve heard of clowns hosting just about everything. Even hammers. Again, it’s all about the specific clown.

[MOB122]

New additions today. A Hi-Fin Rose Goby. Felt lucky to get such a good picture shortly after adding him. He's found a hole in the live rock that's pretty secluded and he looks pretty comfy. Also added a pistol shrimp. No photo - only a video, which i don't know how to post. They weren't purchased "pre-bonded" because they didn't have any at LFS today. The shrimp, of course, has dug a burrow under live rock in another part of the neighborhood. They're not really anywhere near one another. Can anyone tell me what the pairing process is like?

[jparadise]

I plan on doing the same hi fin with a pistol shrimp. I’m curious to know if there is a way to help them pair. Nice Setup so far. Definitely will be following your progress. 

[MOB122]

Jparadise - I just went out to look at the tank shortly after lights out. Hi-Fin was swimming around a little with my clown and eventually made his way over to the shrimp's burrow. I guess that's all it took. Less then 6 hours after acclimating them and dropping them into the tank. Cool moment to catch. Their burrow is in the back of the tank near a comfortable spot on our couch for viewing, too. It'll definitely add abunch of activity to an otherwise dead spot in my aquascape.

 

 

[MOB122]

Finally figured out how to post a video. Had to do a 3 gallon WC this morning as nitrates went from 10 to 20 since last week’s WC. Everyone is settled back down:

 

[MOB122]

Sad News. My goby jumped either last night or this morning. I have the stock Innovative Marine lid on, so I'll look at getting a better, tighter fitting lid before getting another goby if i go that route. Not sure if the shrimp is alive but i'm guessing he'll lay low for a couple days. I'll look for sand movement when watching my tank.

 

Do I need to replace the goby with another goby to help the shrimp along? I'm missing the symbiotic relationship already. Just a super cool thing to watch. But i also find myself wondering what other fish I could put in there that'd be a good combo with a single clown. Would anyone recommend trying to add another clown? I'm a beginner, but have done my research and feel my jumper is almost a right of passage at this point. Still sucks though. I'm definitely going to prevent that possibility as best I can moving forward. What my best next move people?

[Daniel91]

If you do not get yourself another Goby, get a Tailspot Blenny. Amazing fish.

[falcooo]

I have a Yellow Watchman Goby paired with a Pistol Shrimp. The YWG stays almost exclusively on the bottom half of the tank. I think I've only seen him go to the top half a few times, and that was only because I was feeding. I'm not sure if that's a common trait or not, maybe others can confirm, but that'd help from having another jumper.

[MOB122]

My hi-fin never left the bottom until he jumped. It’s a head scratcher but ultimately I think I might have been able to prevent it. Hindsight is 20/20, of course and this could be totally wrong but, I was thinking back to what I did different and realized for some random reason I threw in a small chunk of pellet food for the pistol to see what he’d do. Well he grabbed it right away, but I think it attracted some hermits to their burrow and caused the goby to freak out. They’re super skiddish obviously so I think he bailed shortly after.

 

The last time I used pellets were for ghost feeding and then right after cycling to keep the CUC alive until adding fish and algae appearing. All flake food otherwise.

[MOB122]

After my Hi-fin bailed on me I realized i wanted to get a tighter lid, but was also interested in doing things right in regard to fish and coral acclimation. Every other hobby i'm active in has taught me the investment up front is worth the heartbreak of ruining your long term vision - in this scenario a small reef tank. My new goal is to have an awesome IM25 display tank and use my IM10 as a Fish/Coral QT/frag tank. You could say things spiraled out of control pretty quickly regarding additional investment, but I'm really enjoying this hobby and wanted more than the IM10 could ultimately give me. Plus having a spot to QT is great peace of mind. I'm also building a custom stand that will match the beadbord walls and trim you see in the pictures with a butcherblock-ish sort 3/4 inch thick top. Some shots:

 

[MOB122]

Slow but steady work on the stand. Went to a local lumber yard and bought some Calico Hickory for the top of the stand. My neighbor builds furniture in his garage, so he offered to teach me how to manufacture a top (the only reason i decided to do anything custom). Well... it's turned into a larger project than expected... We couldn't get the hickory perfectly level with a planer and plenty of sanding, so I had to come up with a creative solution. The investment has grown too large at this point to bail. I decided to go with galvanized piping and an elevated (and also perfectly level!!) 3/4 inch sheet of pine spray painted black. The 10 Gallon will eventually go beside the Lagoon leavin about 2 feet of open cabinet top.

 

 

[devaji108]

nice love how the stand turned out.

 

I am really thinking about the lagoon as well whats your thoughts on it so far?

 

[MOB122]

It’s really early to tell but I like the increased aquascape options of the larger footprint already. I’m thinking about doing a total of 15lbs live rock instead of 25 (lb per gallon winds you up with a lot of rock).

 

The quality of the tank is great!

[MOB122]

Current view. What should I supplement biological filtration with if I choose to stay with only 10-15 lbs live rock and 20 lbs sand? Eventual plan is to get to 4-5 fish and a host of corals - mostly LPS and easier SPS. Is current live rock and sand possibly enough once established?

[MOB122]

New Haul from Marine Depot. Have a Nanobox Duo M and Clearview Lid on the way. 

[MOB122]

Quite a bit of progress on the lagoon since my last update. Fish, corals, blah blah blah. Video and Pictures:

 

 

 

I cant stop rescaping. Goal is to have a zoa/paly peninsula to the right. Acan garden even further right. Eupyllia garden in the center. Duncan should grow out a ton to fill out the left side of the tank. Scoly and fungia might eventually get some friends on the central front of sandbed.

[MOB122]

Scoly pic: