Jackal's Nuvo EXT 50 Lagoon

[Jackal227]

Look who made it out of quarantine and into the Lagoon:

Yellow Coris Wrasse:

 

Longnose Hawkfish:

 

Lawnmower Blenny:

 

With these new additions the tank is pretty well stocked fish wise.  So now the focus will turn towards filling in the rocks with corals. 

 

Speaking of corals the splatter hammer is starting to split: 

 

Also the Green Slimer Acro is finally starting to grow out.  It's much nicer than a nub now and it's shown great polyp extension in this tank: 

[Jackal227]

So I have some sad news.  I lost my male clown this week. 

 

I found him laying on the sandbed breathing heavy and he was dead an hour later.  I'm not sure what happened to him as I've had him for 3 years.  The only odd thing that I noticed the morning before he died I saw the two clowns sleeping on opposite sides of the tank.  They've always slept together before so I noted it as being odd.  Maybe there was a dispute between them but I never saw it.  The female clown continues on and the rest of the fish have been doing well together. 

 

I've also added some Berghia Nudibranches to the tank to try to rid the Aiptasia:

 

I also added a few new corals with the Berghia.

Red and Golden Chalices:

 

Orange Setosa:

 

A couple more Zoa frags: 

 

Platygyra:

 

The Anemone is still holding strong on the same rock that it started with: 

 

The Hawkfish has been very entertaining to watch: 

 

The Urchin was running around with his hat today: 

 

The Monti Cap may need a trim soon.  It's gotten quite large: 

 

5 Months FTS:

 

Overall the tank is coming along nicely.  There has been a bit of cyanobacteria on the sand this week.  I increased the flow from the pumps a bit and will stop feeding reef roids until it passes.  The corals have all progressed nicely. 

 

Next up is to start adding some more acros to fill out the top of the rocks. 

[Jackal227]

Well, I found some more bad news today.  The last few days I've noticed some white areas on one of my Digitatas.  Looking closely today I believe that I've found the culprits: 

 

It certainly appears to be Montipora eating Nudibranches 😨.

 

I pulled out the two Montis and dipped them.  Had around 15 Nudi's come off in the dip.  After the dip I've moved them into the Biocube for observation.  

 

Currently the other Monti's aren't showing signs of damage but I fear that I'll be removing them next. 

 

I'm surprised that the Coris and Leopard Wrasses haven't been eating these things since they always seem to be hunting.

 

At least the rest of the corals are looking good: 

[ninjamyst]

good luck with the nudibranches!  i had them before and dipping and quarantining all my montis in another tank helped.  

[ef4life]

Bummer on the nudibranchs. What dip are you using to get rid of them?

[Jackal227]

8 minutes ago, ninjamyst said:

good luck with the nudibranches!  i had them before and dipping and quarantining all my montis in another tank helped.  

Yeah I think I'll have to end up having to move them all to stay ahead of them.  How often did you dip yours? 

 

8 minutes ago, ef4life said:

Bummer on the nudibranchs. What dip are you using to get rid of them?

I'm currently just using CoralRX because that's what I had on hand.  It weakened them enough that they came off easily with a turkey baster.  I've read that it doesn't kill the eggs though so dipping will have to be repeated often. 

[ninjamyst]

22 hours ago, Jackal227 said:

Yeah I think I'll have to end up having to move them all to stay ahead of them.  How often did you dip yours? 

 

I'm currently just using CoralRX because that's what I had on hand.  It weakened them enough that they came off easily with a turkey baster.  I've read that it doesn't kill the eggs though so dipping will have to be repeated often. 

I dipped once a week for a month.  I used Coral Revive but CoralRX is probably even better.  The montiporas were not happy and it took a while for them to regain color.  I think I lost a frag or two during this.

[Jackal227]

I did a second dip today and only found 2 Nudibranches on the Digitata so it is a significant decrease.  

 

As a precaution I've also moved all of the rest of the Monti's into the Biocube for observation.  I didn't find anything while dipping them but I would like to be sure before adding them back to the tank. 

 

The tank is looking much more empty without the Montipora colonies but it'll hopefully just be temporary. 

 

On a positive note I did add some new Acros to the frag rack today.  They'll make some nice additions once they color up:

From left to right: 

-JF Fox Flame

-TCK Pikachu

-CC Needle In a Haystack

-PC Rainbow

 

[ninjamyst]

nice picks for the acros!

[Jackal227]

8 hours ago, ninjamyst said:

nice picks for the acros!

Thank you! 

 

Hopefully they do well because I really like the colors on them.  The Bonsai seen right below them has done great in this tank and the Green Slimer is really taking off too (the Royal Gramma's new hiding spot 🙄😞

 

The Monti's seem to be doing fine in quarantine:

It's amazing how flourescent they are under the heavy blues on the Biocube.  I may have to adjust the lagoon lights to add this look back into the early mornings and evenings.  

[Saltwaterfish]

Nice looking tank...

 

Do you notice any bow in the glass at all?

[Jackal227]

4 hours ago, Saltwaterfish said:

Nice looking tank...

 

Do you notice any bow in the glass at all?

Thank you. 

 

I haven't noticed any bowing in the glass.  It's quite thick and seems well built. 

 

Why do you ask? 

[Addinali]

On 5/9/2020 at 8:05 PM, Jackal227 said:

So I have some sad news.  I lost my male clown this week. 

 

I found him laying on the sandbed breathing heavy and he was dead an hour later.  I'm not sure what happened to him as I've had him for 3 years.  The only odd thing that I noticed the morning before he died I saw the two clowns sleeping on opposite sides of the tank.  They've always slept together before so I noted it as being odd.  Maybe there was a dispute between them but I never saw it.  The female clown continues on and the rest of the fish have been doing well together. 

 

I've also added some Berghia Nudibranches to the tank to try to rid the Aiptasia:

 

I also added a few new corals with the Berghia.

Red and Golden Chalices:

 

Orange Setosa:

 

A couple more Zoa frags: 

 

Platygyra:

 

The Anemone is still holding strong on the same rock that it started with: 

 

The Hawkfish has been very entertaining to watch: 

 

The Urchin was running around with his hat today: 

 

The Monti Cap may need a trim soon.  It's gotten quite large: 

 

5 Months FTS:

 

Overall the tank is coming along nicely.  There has been a bit of cyanobacteria on the sand this week.  I increased the flow from the pumps a bit and will stop feeding reef roids until it passes.  The corals have all progressed nicely. 

 

Next up is to start adding some more acros to fill out the top of the rocks. 

I like the depth you created with the rock scape looks amazing.

[Jackal227]

10 hours ago, Addinali said:

I like the depth you created with the rock scape looks amazing.

Thank you! 

 

I really enjoy the depth of this tank and the fish seem to as well. 

 

When I was looking at tanks I was concerned that I needed a taller tank, but after having it for a while now I'm very happy that I didn't go taller.  This one is very easy to work in.  I can still reach front to back without a step. 

[Jackal227]

Update on the Montipora eating Nudibranches.  Dips 3, 4, and 5 still yielded Nudibranches (only a couple each time though).  I think that I'll have to increase the frequency of dipping to try and get ahead of them.  They appear to reproduce quickly. 

 

The rest of the tank seems to be holding steady.  The LPS have been doing well and growing new heads often. 

Acan Garden:

 

Hammers:

 

Huge Duncan Colony:

 

Favia Garden:

 

 

[Jackal227]

Some snails eat hair algae, but mine just wears it as a hat as it roams around the tank : 

[Jackal227]

Overdue update:

The tank is still chugging along. 

 

For the bad news I found my female clownfish dead on the sand about a week ago.  There was no signs of injury and the behavior hadn't changed so I'm not sure what happened.  Both of the clowns were with me for over three years and their deaths have been puzzling.  The rest of the fish are doing well and getting fat.  That puts me down to six fish.  I do have 3 in quarantine that are about ready to move out. 

 

For the corals, most of the new Acros STN'd on me.  The PC Rainbow was large enough that I fragged the tip off and it seems to be growing now.  The blue Slimer and all of the existing SPS are doing well.

 

The green Slimer has really grown into a nice little colony: 

 

The Bonsai has gotten large:

 

The Monti's are back in the tank but are still looking rough from all the dips.  I'm hoping that they recover with a little time.  

 

All the LPS have been doing very well.  They've shown quite a bit of growth in this tank.

Acan Garden:

Hammers gaining new heads constantly:

Zoa Garden is filling in nicely: 

 

I'm still seeing small patches of cyanobacteria so I've been slowly increasing the speed of the powerheads.  I've increased them from 30% up to 45% over the last few weeks. 

 

I also noticed the tank was cloudy one night and found my Trochus Snails spawning.  It's the 1st time I've witnessed it happening: 

 

Overall things are doing well.  Future plans are to finish off the Euphyllia Garden on the center bridge and to add some more SPS to the top. 

 

7 Months FTS:

Top Down View:

 

 

 

 

[Jackal227]

The tank is holding steady.  I've upped the water changes to weekly over the last month and the corals have all been doing well. 

 

I picked up a few new corals that I've been wanting: 

 

Orange Plate with blue tentacles: 

 

Frogspawn:

 

Cristata:

 

Unknown Green Acro:

 

Red Planet:

 

Myagi Tort:

 

The new Euphyllia help to fill in the middle arch: 

I look forward to watching them grow in. 

 

The BTA has started to bubble up and the tips are getting a nice green color: 

 

The Red and Golden Chalices are starting to color up nicely (Hawkfish cameo): 

 

August FTS:

 

Right side: 

 

Left side: 

 

Still dealing with some cyanobacteria on the sand, but overall the tank is doing well right now. 

[Jackal227]

The pair of Yellow Tail Damsels that have been in quarantine have moved into the Lagoon.

 

The blue color adds some nice contrast to the tank.

 

[Srt4eric]

@Jackal227 how do you like the Noopsyche K7 Pro II? I just picked up a 40 gallon to upgrade from my biocube 16 and I'm having a hard time deciding on lights. 

[Jackal227]

3 hours ago, Srt4eric said:

@Jackal227 how do you like the Noopsyche K7 Pro II? I just picked up a 40 gallon to upgrade from my biocube 16 and I'm having a hard time deciding on lights. 

I've been very happy with it and the corals all seem happy too.  They do have a shimmer on the sandbed which I tend to like.  I also like the two toned look of them as well. 

 

I believe it's one of the best lights for the money.  The only downside that I could find is that they don't have wifi connectivity.   It hasn't bothered me because I haven't changed the settings since the initial setup.

 

There are some good threads on R2R about them if you want to see some PAR numbers. 

[Jackal227]

I found a large Fighting Conch at the LFS this week.  This is the biggest one I've seen and it has already started cleaning up the lingering cyanobacteria on the sand: 

 

The Utter Chaos and King Midas Zoas have been multiplying.  I really enjoy the colors on these two: 

 

The Green Slimer gets bigger every day: 

 

The little nub that I saved on the PC Rainbow frag has started entrusting on the rock.  It was so tiny that I didn't know if it would survive.  I look forward to seeing this one grow out: 

 

[Jackal227]

I'm really enjoying the top down pictures of the lagoon.  It looks like a different tank from this angle.  I've been taking pics during the water changes: 

 

Also found this menacing emerald crab challenging me to a fight: 

[jservedio]

Looks awesome! Quick question for you - about how much rock did you end up putting in the display? You have roughly the same amount of rock I was planning to go with, albeit in a very different scape and am trying to get an idea of how much total rock I'll end up with?

[Jackal227]

1 hour ago, jservedio said:

Looks awesome! Quick question for you - about how much rock did you end up putting in the display? You have roughly the same amount of rock I was planning to go with, albeit in a very different scape and am trying to get an idea of how much total rock I'll end up with?

Thank you. 

 

I bought 2 40lb boxes of the Liferock because I found it on sale for less than Marco rock.  After aquascaping I put the remaining rock in one of the boxes and it was full.  So I'm guessing that I used around 35-40 lbs in the tank.