𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮'𝓼 𝓵𝓪𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓷

[olive]

hello! this is my build thread for my first reef tank, a innovative marine 25 gallon lagoon. i hope to post at least one photo of my tank each week here to keep track of my progress and share it with others. my goal with this tank is to keep things simple, take things slow, and enjoy creating my own slice of the ocean. 

 

equipment: 

- im 25 lagoon

- current usa orbit marine ic led

- jebao ow-10 wavemaker

- eheim jager 75w heater

 

filtration:

- 20lbs marco rock

- 20lbs caribsea bahamas oolite sand

- filter floss

 

stocking:

-  pair of ocellaris clowns (benny & june) 

 

 

 

[olive]

reserved for photos!

 

5/30 ~ first day of cycle bacteria bloom!

[olive]

here are the inhabitants of my other tank, pippin (peregrin took) the betta and smeagol the snail . just some photos to share while i wait for my new tank to arrive 

 

[olive]

the tank arrived on thursday! i got sand and rocks in today. any opinions on my aquascape?

[FISHnChix]

I like it😁.. just make sure and expoy it together once your satisfied... 

 

Happy Reefing!!

 

[olive]

Update- I changed up the scape a bit to add a few caves, but I won't be able to add water until quarantine is over . I think I am starting to go a little crazy

 

Anyway, this extra time had allowed me to think more about stocking my tank. I really like the look of the Leopard Toby Puffer, I'm just a little scared it'll get a taste for inverts and coral. Anyone have any experience with this little guy?

[olive]

 

i created an instagram for my tank! plus photos of one of my cats because he loves "helping" with cable management 

[WV Reefer]

2 minutes ago, olive said:

 

i created an instagram for my tank! plus photos of one of my cats because he loves "helping" with cable management 

Looks great so far........and cute cat! 

[Ratvan]

Nice rock work, how high above the tank is the lighting out of interest?

[olive]

41 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

Looks great so far........and cute cat! 

Thanks!

[olive]

11 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Nice rock work, how high above the tank is the lighting out of interest?

Thanks! The lighting is currently just sitting on the brackets the light comes with, so probably 4” off of where the water will be. I am planning on buying the current USA mounting arm once I get corals though, which puts the light 6-8” off the water. 

[olive]

My current USA mounting arm came in today. Looks super clean! Tank is still lacking moisture, waiting till school is over in two week to get water. I have too many finals to start my tank rn. 

[SaltyGallon]

That's a lovely natural looking scape!

[olive]

7 minutes ago, Azur said:

That's a lovely natural looking scape!

Thank you so much! I have no experience with aquascaping so I was thrilled to have it come out like that.

[SaltyGallon]

11 minutes ago, olive said:

Thank you so much! I have no experience with aquascaping so I was thrilled to have it come out like that.

You wouldn't guess haha! You've got a nice mix of big and small rocks - which is simple but people often overlook it! What are your plans for corals? 🙂

[olive]

8 minutes ago, Azur said:

You wouldn't guess haha! You've got a nice mix of big and small rocks - which is simple but people often overlook it! What are your plans for corals? 🙂

Taking a hammer to some of the rocks was the best part 😂

Going for a softy dominated tank with some acans, euphyllia, and RFAs. Softy dominated tanks are so underrated imo

[olive]

We've got water! Pictures tomorrow when it clears up

[olive]

 

as promised, here is the tank with water. it was clear this morning but now I have a bacterial bloom. the cycle is getting underway quickly and nitrites are already detectable after dosing ammonia and seachem stability last night. I removed the smallest island and decided to create a acan garden in the front. going to put something tall like a gorgonian of finger leather behind the arch. other than that, I'm really not sure what I'm doing for coral. any ideas? 

[ECLS Reefer]

I'm super curious how you got your font changed for your tank Name? I wanted to do something fun with my new tank title too, but I can't get NR to cooperate ☹️

[olive]

34 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

I'm super curious how you got your font changed for your tank Name? I wanted to do something fun with my new tank title too, but I can't get NR to cooperate ☹️

 I went to this: https://lingojam.com/FontChanger website. I copied the text that I wanted and pasted it into my title. I do this on a laptop on google chrome if that helps too. 

[ninjamyst]

looking good!

[ECLS Reefer]

2 hours ago, olive said:

 I went to this: https://lingojam.com/FontChanger website. I copied the text that I wanted and pasted it into my title. I do this on a laptop on google chrome if that helps too. 

Thanks so much! I don’t know why it wouldn’t work just by using native computer fonts. Great hack!

[olive]

20 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

Thanks so much! I don’t know why it wouldn’t work just by using native computer fonts. Great hack!

You're welcome!

[olive]

cycle is still chugging along. ammonia has dropped and nitrites and nitrates are showing up.

[olive]

ammonia is at .2-.5 today! it is my understanding that lower levels of nitrites don't mater in marine aquariums so that means my cycle is almost over. getting a fine bacterial/algae like film on my power head as well. switched my flow around so that I didn't get as much of a disco ball effect. 

 

I also re-scaped the tank. I really liked the old scape but it didn't show off the depth of the tank well. pictures to come later when the water clears!