Aaron's Cove Build - IM 25 Lagoon

[Aaron Shapiro]

Hey All,

Been a little dormant since January. Long story short, I am a recent returner to saltwater aquariums. As a kid, I kept several tanks in my bedroom, but after an unfortunate back-siphon incident that led to the recarpeting of several rooms in the house... My folks asked me to get rid of the tanks.

 

Fast forward 15+ years, I got the bug again. But, as is my style, I made a few false starts. Bought a Biocube 32g and couldn't stand the distortion of the front panel, then I purchased a preowned setup from a local reefer, but it wasn't set up in a way that I liked -- so I sold that to another local reefer.

 

After that, I wasn't sure that I'd be back. But just as Corleone said... "Just when I thought I was out...." you know the rest.

 

Introducing my new Innovative Marine 25g Lagoon system. With this build, I knew I wanted to do some sort of "cove-like" aquascape. This will be a mixed reef, with a serious focus on Zoas and Acans... MAYBE some Acros near the top once I get going, we'll see.

 

I had everything shipped to my folks while I was out of town. They texted me this:

 

 

I asked them to open the tank to make sure everything was intact... It was.

 

Once I was home I brought it inside and got it set up on this old metal drafting table that I use for some photography. I should still have plenty of space to take pictures, but this is a great spot for the tank:

 

 

You can see where I had taped out the profile of several different tank sizes.

 

I'd contemplated the IM 25 lagoon (which I picked) the 20g Peninsula, and the Waterbox 20g Cube. Ultimately I preferred the broader/shallower profile of the lagoon.

 

 

Next up was aquascaping. What I've done in the past was tape out the interior dimensions of the tank, then do a dry run to make sure I can get what I want (or close to it). This is all dry rock from Reef Cleaners -- can't recommend this stuff enough. As you can see I was going for some sorta "cove" structure with little cave and what not. Picture some real dope Scoly in the middle of that cove someday..... Then you'll get my vision.

 

 

Here's how it went together in the tank. I can never get them together the same way twice, but this is pretty close. I intentionally didn't want to glue or epoxy them so I can pull pieces out when I need to frag corals off of them. This will all come apart pretty easily and go back together without too much fuss.

 

You know what comes next...

 

 

I guess I should talk a little about the gear here... So here's my list:

 

• Tank: Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion Lagoon 25 Gallon
• Lighting: AI Hydra 32 with HMS Rigid Mount
• Return Pump: Sicce Silent 1.5 (upgraded from the IM Mightyjet)
• Heater: Cobalt NeoTherm 100W
• Flow: AI Nero5
• ATO: Auto Aqua Smart ATO Micro
• Substrate: Carib Sea Special Grade Live Sand
• Salt: Tropic Marin Pro Reef
• Misc: JBJ Digital Thermometer, PolypLabs Coral View Lens V2.0, Fritz Glass and Acrylic Cleaner, and lastly BRS Flex-Fit ball cap (arguably the most important piece of the build).

 

I was originally going to go with an AI Prime on a gooseneck, but figured with the nearly 24" footprint it'd be worth jumping up to the 32. That being said this light has been a gigantic pain in my ****. Firstly in the HMS mount instructions, AI doesn't tell you that the 32's cord is thicker than the 26's was. So when you're trying to cram the cord into the groove on the mount it just won't go. I even tried using a hardcover copy of Clive Cussler's The Sea Hunters to mash that cord in, but no go... Only to discover after some googling that they included cord clips for the 32's cord. That's fine, but I wish the directions had said so.

 

Secondly, I'm using both the AI light and AI powerhead... However for whatever reason right now I can't get both connected to one "tank" in the AI app. So I have a "tank" setup for my light, and a "tank" set up for the powerhead. I've emailed AI to see what they say about that. Apart from these little hiccups, I'm a fan of their products.

 

I also went ahead and upgraded the stock mighty jet DC pump with a Sicce Silent 1.5...which has so far proven to be less than silent. I'll need to see if I can address that soon. I just figured most folks upgrade their stock pumps eventually, let's just do it now.

 

For filtration, my tank came with a 200-micron sock and the IM media caddy. Looking at other build threads it seems like EVERYONE uses the inTank accessories with their Innovative Marine tanks. For the time being, however; I wanted to try using the sock and caddy... So far the caddy only has the included floss in the top and nothing anywhere else. Once all the sludge from the rocks and sand clear I'll get it loaded up. Likely with just floss on the top, maybe a Chemipure product, and some bio media.

 

I also picked up some SeaChem Matrix and little mesh baggies for it, not sure where I'll put that yet.

 

I think that's it... I opted for the Nero because I enjoy the AI ecosystem, the Auto Aqua ATO based on a friend's recommendation, and the Cobalt Heater because they're highly reviewed and slimmmm.

 

Enough jabbering, here's the tank with rock, sand, and water in it all cleared up. I'm very pleased with how it all came out. Tomorrow will bring bacteria and ammonia so we can get everything rolling...

 

 

Looking forward to hearing what folks think, and I'll try and keep this thread up to date best as I can.

 

-Aaron

[Aaron Shapiro]

Alright.... and we're off!

 

 

Add just over 15ml of the Nitrocycle and both bottles of TurboStart. The only reason I used two was because one was expired so I decided to double up. Then the SeaChem matrix went into the back compartments. I'll test ammonia tonight to see if we're cookin'

 

Later this evening....

 

 

It starts...

[rfried]

Wondering what your settings are going to be for the Hydra. Thinking about the same setup for a IM 20G and kind of worried about how to deal with the intensity. Want to keep it simple and stick with one of the pre-set options but figured that would be way too bright for such a shallow tank. You have any ideas on how to deal with that? I don't know much about the AI app, but from what I've read there is no intensity knob that will turn down the different colors together and you have to manually change the percentages for each color spectrum.

[StillCycling]

Looking forward to an update. I just started cycling my im25 as well!

[JPLagoon]

hey, just curious if you've got an update for this tank? I'm setting mine up very similar to yours and wanted to see how it was going?