Mel's IM 25g kitchen lagoon

[Melfy77]

I'm a shallow tank person. All these years getting my armpits wet...ughhh I hated it🙄  So I pulled the trigger and got myself the Lagoon!!!!!😁

 

I still have my 30g FO. Turns out major ich outbreak showed its ugly face. I do not have a QT tank so I think my inverts and small pieces of LR will go in my 2.5g for at least 8-10 weeks and fish will get treated in the tank (which I was gonna take down anyway)

 

Not sure what I want to do with the lagoon tank if my fish die but we'll see when we get there. For corals: no sps for sure (tried them before and hated every minute of it lol. Just unhappy expensive colourful sticks and plates... I admire those of you who keep a sps dominated tank! And the dosing.....nope. never again lol. but def. softies for corals.

 

Equipment 

IM lagoon 25g

Kessil A80 with gooseneck and controller 

Bubble magus QQ1 HOB (currently on my 30g tank)

75w Fluval heater

Stock return pump (for now anyway)

Fluval C2 powerhead (LOVE those, they're dead silent!!! Even more than a tunze IMO)

Plexiglas lid

 

Rocks and sand

10 lbs caribsea hawaiian black (because of the tank location I wanted a darker looking tank and it's got specs of white and brown/red so stuff won't show too much, as opposed to pure black)

 

10lbs mix of my own LR, caribsea life base rock and south rock. (Thankfully some of my LR was in my pico tank so not exposed to ich)

 

Livestock

Pair of yellow watchman gobies with pistol shrimp

And I don't know 

 

I had the gobies in my pico because of their size (less than an inch) and knew they'd go in a bigger tank at some point. So I transferred the LR and gobies the lagoon.  My plan is to wait couple of weeks so bacteria will colonize the remaining rocks. 

My CUC will be in QT  lol. Very useful. I'll get a few snails for the algae 

For fish I'll see what survives the outbreak. I have a pair of pink skunk, sailfin blenny and valentini puffer. The blenny and puffer seem ok but the clownfish not so much.

 

The first pic is the view from my bedroom. I like it! 🙂

[WV Reefer]

3 minutes ago, Melfy77 said:

I'm a shallow tank person. All these years getting my armpits wet...ughhh I hated it🙄  So I pulled the trigger and got myself the Lagoon!!!!!😁

 

I still have my 30g FO. Turns out major ich outbreak showed its ugly face. I do not have a QT tank so I think my inverts and small pieces of LR will go in my 2.5g for at least 8-10 weeks and fish will get treated in the tank (which I was gonna take down anyway)

 

Not sure what I want to do with the lagoon tank if my fish die but we'll see when we get there. For corals: no sps for sure (tried them before and hated every minute of it lol. Just unhappy expensive colourful sticks and plates... I admire those of you who keep a sps dominated tank! And the dosing.....nope. never again lol. but def. softies for corals.

 

Equipment 

IM lagoon 25g

Kessil A80 with gooseneck and controller 

Bubble magus QQ1 HOB (currently on my 30g tank)

75w Fluval heater

Stock return pump (for now anyway)

Fluval C2 powerhead (LOVE those, they're dead silent!!! Even more than a tunze IMO)

Plexiglas lid

 

Rocks and sand

10 lbs caribsea hawaiian black (because of the tank location I wanted a darker looking tank and it's got specs of White and brown/red so stuff won't show too much, as opposed to pure black)

 

10lbs mix of my own LR, caribsea life base rock and south rock. (Thank fully some of my LR was in my pico tank so not exposed to ich)

 

Livestock

Pair of yellow watchman gobies with pistol shrimp

And I don't know 

 

I had the gobies in my pico because of their size (less than an inch) and knew they'd go in a bigger tank at some point. So I transferred the LR and gobies the lagoon.  My plan is to wait couple of weeks so bacteria will colonize the remaining rocks. 

My CUC will be in QT  lol. Very useful. I'll get a few snails for the algae 

For fish I'll ses what survives the outbreak. I have a pair of pink skunk, sailfin blenny and valentini puffer. The blenny and puffer seem ok but the clownfish not so much.

 

The first pic is the view from my bedroom. I like it! 🙂

 

Looks good in that spot. 😊 I never want black sand until I see black sand......and then I want it. 😄

 

cute kitty in the window. 

[Melfy77]

12 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

 

Looks good in that spot. 😊 I never want black sand until I see black sand......and then I want it. 😄

 

cute kitty in the window. 

Yeah I wanted something different. So far I'm very happy with the look.

I have 2 ragdoll cats, brother and sister and they look very similar; can't tell if it's Max or Chloe lol. Although both ears look dark so I'd say Max 😉

 

Max is the one on the right, Chloe on the left. They're 8 months old and 10lbs already haha.

[WV Reefer]

17 minutes ago, Melfy77 said:

Yeah I wanted something different. So far I'm very happy with the look.

I have 2 ragdoll cats, brother and sister and they look very similar; can't tell if it's Max or Chloe lol. Although both ears look dark so I'd say Max 😉

 

Max is the one on the right, Chloe on the left. They're 8 months old and 10lbs already haha.

They are so cute! 😃

[billygoat]

Another 25 Lagoon on the block! I want one so badly! 

 

Looking forward to seeing how this project develops. ^^ Pretty cats too!

[Melfy77]

3 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

They are so cute! 😃

Thanks 😊 they are also super cuddly. I got them when they were 8 weeks old. Chloe was barely over a pound. They've grown quite a bit lol.

[Melfy77]

Well a lot had happened since my last update. I just had an ich wipe out in my 30g FO. Lost my pink skunks and my sailfin blenny. Only my valentini puffer made it and that's because I ended up transferring him in the lagoon because he seemed unhappy. He was struggling to get food because the clowns ate all of it, no matter how much food I put in the tank. They would even steal the food IN the puffer's mouth!!! So decided to put it in the lagoon. And 2 days later the outbreak started...so far the puffer looks good. He's been there almost a week.

My 30g got cleaned and is now in my girls's bedroom. I will set it up again in a week or so and will have a Finding Nemo look hahaha. The CUC is in QT for the next 2 1/2 months. 

 

Also went to my LFS (the only one I really trust as he always keeps his fish in QT for couple of weeks) and pickup up some nice mangroves!!! 😁

[ef4life]

Sorry about all your fish, but the lagoon looks great,  I’m a fan of the black sand too, I have it in my 29 biocube and I wish I put it in my 40b too.

[Melfy77]

11 hours ago, ef4life said:

Sorry about all your fish, but the lagoon looks great,  I’m a fan of the black sand too, I have it in my 29 biocube and I wish I put it in my 40b too.

Agree! I'm dealing with diatoms right now and at least I'm not noticing it on the sand lol

[Mike P]

The lagoon looks good! I’m using black sand in my tank and love the look of it. Sorry about your ich outbreak, I had that happen last year and lost all but one fish.

[Melfy77]

2 hours ago, Mike P said:

The lagoon looks good! I’m using black sand in my tank and love the look of it. Sorry about your ich outbreak, I had that happen last year and lost all but one fish.

I never had ich before. We don't have copper here. I didn't have the equipment and enough salt for TTM and I had the feeling I would screw up hypo. It started one day and 2-3 days later all the fish were dead!

[Melfy77]

well that's just perfect...my puffer went  floor surfing...found him this morning 😞

I had an cheap plexiglas lid but couldn't use it because of the mangroves so was trying to figure out a way to use a mesh lid...guess I wasn't fast enough...

don't think I'll be buying another one...

[FISHnChix]

25 minutes ago, Melfy77 said:

well that's just perfect...my puffer went  floor surfing...found him this morning 😞

I had an cheap plexiglas lid but couldn't use it because of the mangroves so was trying to figure out a way to use a mesh lid...guess I wasn't fast enough...

don't think I'll be buying another one...

Ah man that sucks you lost all your fish now!! Sorry to hear about that.. honestly if all your fish but the puffer died from ich there is a good chance the puffer had it too and could have contaminated your new tank since you put him in there.. (unless your put him in a qt and treated him first) .  Might want to think about going follow before adding fish to the new tank. 

 

Happy reefing!

[Melfy77]

15 minutes ago, FISHnChix said:

Ah man that sucks you lost all your fish now!! Sorry to hear about that.. honestly if all your fish but the puffer died from ich there is a good chance the puffer had it too and could have contaminated your new tank since you put him in there.. (unless your put him in a qt and treated him first) .  Might want to think about going follow before adding fish to the new tank. 

 

Happy reefing!

Yeah thing is I have 2 yellow watchman in that tank as well (but showed no sign; no white spots, no abnormal breathing nothing) I'll wait a few weeks. I'll add frags, let the tank mature. I want a colorful fish...maybe even a damsel even though it's likely to be aggressive. They are very nice fish IMO and can make a nice centerpiece. And pretty sure the gobies would be fine.

[Fernzpat]

So sorry to hear that!

[Melfy77]

Well a lot has happened since my last post. Got some frags: some zoas, hairy mushroom and rainbow clove polyps. And I decided I wanted to keep my fish IN the tank so made a lid out of an amazon DIY kit (tried to use the IM mesh lid kit I had but that thing is utter garbage!!!!).

I couldn't decide on a new fish. I was just so picky lol. When I went to the LFS this afternoon I was gonna take only the zoas but as I was looking in one of their, swimming along with some chromis I noticed a carpenter's wrasse that has been there for many weeks. That fish was on the top of my list!! Its color was faded but in a LFS tank it's to be expected IMO. Talked with the LFS (I really like them because they are honest and know their stuff, but are also very happy to take time to talk with customers.) Lfs said they recommanded 40g for this little guy and knew I had a 25g. Told her the dimensions (24x17 ish because of the overflow) with tons of swimming room. She said she was not too worried considering the other fish I have (2 YWG always at the bottom haha). So I took the wrasse home with me😁 as soon as I put the bag in the tank its color started to come back and wow this fish is gorgeous. Fed some LRS frenzy and it ate like a pig lol. 

 

Will try to get better pics tomorrow

[Melfy77]

M. Wrasse is doing great! Now taking flakes!!! My very "did it myself lid and you can tell" seems to be working considering the wrasse hasn't jumped lol.

Got some frags from a fellow reefer yesterday. Toadstool, finger leather, kenya tree and 3 or 4 small mushrooms for 60$ CAD which I think is very nice! I've decided this tank is gonna be all softies! I love softies! And no dosing!!!

 

I also found an Eshopps nano skimmer on kijiji. Figured I would give it a try. Foam has started to form and finally got rid of most the the microbubbles (soooo many at first the wrasse was petrified lol). Now waiting to see how it's gonna perform!

 

I'm also debating getting a 2nd kessil A80 for the tank. More wattage but also better cover. I really like the kessil and even more the "no cooling fan". One less failure point lol.

 

Thinking of 1 or 2 more fish for this tank. Maybe a cherub angelfish. I'm not sure yet. Any input? 🙂

 

here you can see my 2 YWG hanging out. They were force to relocate themselves after the wrasse decided he was taking their home lol. One is yellow the other one is kinda greyish lol

[Melfy77]

Ended up getting an AI prime HD...soooo much better! Much brighter (obviously expected it lol). Also changed the netting for 1/4". Got the 18" gooseneck, my mangroves are finally getting some light😁 now just have to decide on the setting.

 

As for my Kessil A80, it's now on my daughter's totally non reef tank hahaha. At some point it will have a pair of ocellaris with a BTA.

[Melfy77]

Got this bad boy coming this week!! I like the mp10 but simply cannot justify spending 400$ (canadian dollars) on one...then I wouldn't be able to buy any live stock for the next 6 months lol

 

https://www.aquariumdepot.ca/innovative-marine-wavelink-aio-dc-powerhead-165-1-500-gph.html

[Melfy77]

Did a waterchange yesterday...which resulted in me siphoning the sand...up going BB lol. My previous IM 10 was BB and I really like it. First thing I noticed was how much brighter and cleaner the tank looked! My conch will have to be rehomed.

 

The leftover sand will be taken out with my weekly waterchanges. Most of the sand is gone though. I had some algae on the gravel which wouldn't go away even with good flow.

[Ratvan]

I loved the tank with the black sand but personally I think it looks even better BB

Definitely agree it makes everything look a lot bright and clean

[Melfy77]

10 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

I loved the tank with the black sand but personally I think it looks even better BB

Definitely agree it makes everything look a lot bright and clean

Thanks! 🙂 looks even better in person! My phone does a great job at taking bad pics lol. I remember my previous BB tank it did fine and I never had algae issues. We'll see how it goes. Might try to glue some coral frag at the bottom and see how  it grows.

[5*Chris]

Beautiful tank and BB looks very nice

[Daniel91]

Looks very clean BB. 

 

I have black sand in my IM10 but want to go BB..

[Melfy77]

Thank you!! 🙂 I'm looking forward to all the sand being gone lol.

I'm thinking about removing my YWG pair, since I can't really put  a pistol shrimp in a BB I was considering redoing the 10g tank with proper sand and put them by themselves with a shrimp. The fun part is gonna be catching them lol. Anyone has an easy DIY fish trap? 

 

My IM wavelink is here!!! It's so tiny!! Like the size of an egg!! There's not that many reviews out there (most of them good ones though) so excited to try it! I didn't want a jebao because I've had bad experience with their wavemakers. Aqamai looks really nice but the app issues kept me from trying it. Of course I want a vortech mp10...but my bank account has a different opinion🙄. So we shall see!!

Also woke up to this: chances are I won't see any baby snail but the way I see it, it means my tank must me kinda doing ok if snails are spawning...considering it's a very young tank