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IM 25G Macroalgae Lagoon (1 Viewer)

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smootie

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Hi everyone! I've been lurking around here ever since I found out I was moving to Houston last year. When I saw a used IM 25 gallon lagoon for cheap on Craigslist a couple of weeks ago I figured it was time to pull the trigger and set up a tank again. Picked up a bunch of supplies at OceanLife Aquariums today (thanks for the recs, everyone, and shoutout to Jose, who was SUPER awesome and got me everything I needed plus some great advice) and set everything up this afternoon. The idea is to keep everything as simple as possible because I'm lazy.

Equipment:
Innovative Marine 25 gallon Fusion Lagoon
Innovative Marine APS stand

Lighting:
Kessil 160WE Tuna Sun light
Kessil gooseneck with 90° adapter
3/4" black velcro cable wrap

Scape:
CaribSea Fiji Pink, 20 lbs
Live rock, 9 lbs

Shopping list for the future (nice-to-have's):
Kessil A-series spectral controller
Sicce Syncra 1.5 pump
Vivid Creative Aquatics random flow generators x 2
Heater?

Livestock:
I'm hoping to collect some macros in Galveston next weekend after Moody Gardens. Will probably order some stuff from Gulf Coast Ecosystems, too, for some variety. Will likely add some softies and inverts after the tank cycles and stabilizes. For now, I'm just glad to be done toting water!

Pics:

IMG_7492.jpg
IMG_7493.jpg
IMG_7494.jpg
 
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smootie

smootie

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The stock return pump is quite loud - I can hear it over my tv! Looks like I'll be upgrading to the Sicce sooner rather than later.

Maybe I can use the IM pump for mixing saltwater? Speaking of which, I'm using Fritz RPM salt for the first time (never heard of the brand before this week actually) and it dissolves much more easily than the Instant Ocean salts I've used before. I've been told that it takes some time to stabilize but I don't think this will be an issue with macros.
 
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smootie

smootie

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Upgraded the stock pump to a Sicce 1.5 today. It was super loud until I knocked some air out of it. Hopefully it will be silent once it breaks in.

The increase in flow is nice - 221 to 357 gph. It raised the height of the water in the display portion by half an inch (which looks better IMO and lets me increase the water volume by about half a gallon).

The water is starting to smell funky, though, which isn't great.
 
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Almost like my little tank. Although I’ll be upgrading to a 75/G in the near future. You need something for flow!

www.marsh-reef.org/member-tanks/57756-my-humble-25-g-rimless-build.html
 
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smootie

smootie

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After Moody Gardens I picked up some incredible macros from the INCREDIBLY generous chris85. There were a ton of pods and other critters in it (at least three brittle stars, which I kept, and some bristleworms, which I am on the fence about)!

I am working on IDing everyone, but here is the current state of the tank. A few of the macros are from Reef Cleaners, but the vast majority are from Chris. I cannot express how much I love the red algae in the left side view of the tank! (I put it in the shadier side of the tank to keep it dark red.)


FTS_08-18-2018.jpg
front-left.jpg
front-right.jpg
left.jpg
right.jpg
 
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smootie

smootie

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Almost like my little tank. Although I’ll be upgrading to a 75/G in the near future. You need something for flow!

www.marsh-reef.org/member-tanks/57756-my-humble-25-g-rimless-build.html

I'm trying to keep the tank's lines as clean as possible so hopefully the Sicce will be enough and I won't need to add more hardware (as an aside, the Sicce is dead silent now and it's wonderful). If that's not enough flow, I'll probably upgrade the pump to the 538 gph MightyJet.

I just love your 25G setup - that stand is so classy!
 
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I'm trying to keep the tank's lines as clean as possible so hopefully the Sicce will be enough and I won't need to add more hardware (as an aside, the Sicce is dead silent now and it's wonderful). If that's not enough flow, I'll probably upgrade the pump to the 538 gph MightyJet.

I just love your 25G setup - that stand is so classy!


Ohh I see, you’re just doing a macro algae tank. Yeah that will be enough flow.

Looks good man!
 
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smootie

smootie

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Since I can't do anything with the tank right now except water testing and waiting, I spent Sunday decorating the generic black APS stand to match the aesthetic of the rest of the living room.

morocc - 1.jpg morocc - 3.jpg morocc - 2.jpg

The gold panels are decorative metal sheets from Lowe's that were cut with tin snips to fit over the black glass that is underneath. They are held on with magnets so they are easily removable/replaced (gotta consider that resale value!).

It's a challenge to get the metal to lay flat but it's doable with enough patience. I just haven't had enough coffee yet today to fix the panel on the right.

The lampshade was made from the same material to tie everything together and make the lamp and stand look like a matching set.

My only complaint about the Kessil lights is the cords. The gooseneck and light are sleek, but once you add cables it gets messy. People have to use zips ties to keep things neat. Right now I'm using velcro cable wrap that goes around the gooseneck and cords, but I think once I add a spectral controller, I'm switching over to a spiral cable wrap to make everything smooth and less lumpy.
 

sneezebeetle

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Looks amazing!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

Carrie17

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Very nice!

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk
 
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smootie

smootie

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Diatoms and cyano have invaded which was not unexpected. Diatoms have covered the front third of the sandbed, and cyano is growing on the g. hayi (which I didn't notice at first because it blends right in). I've ordered a couple of random flow generators from Vivid that will hopefully help, but otherwise I'm just planning to wait it out. Also the cactus caulerpa is steadily disintegrating. I was going to take it out but I figured it will release some nutrients into the the water for the other macros.


morocc - 1 (1).jpg morocc - 2 (1).jpg
 
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smootie

smootie

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My order from Gulf Coast Ecosystems came on Wednesday - four new species and a replacement for one that had melted away. Diatoms are gone and haven't some back, despite tap water top-ups. Cyano is still hanging around, which is why I moved some macros around to improve flow.


macro_09022018 - 3.jpg
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macro_09022018 - 2.jpg

Picking up some frags tomorrow from MARSHians, and I placed an order for zoas and ricordea from GCE. Looking forward to more colors in the tank!
 

frankc

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That looks really nice! If you want to add some free Halimeda to the mix, let me know. I have an obscene amount of that stuff right now.
 
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smootie

smootie

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I might have gone a little overboard with adding frags this week.

Ricordea and zoas from Gulf Coast Ecosystems:
guyzos - 1.jpg guyzos - 2.jpg guyzos - 3.jpg

A bunch of stuff from Ocean Life (whose names I don't recall) and some frags from a MARSHian:
guyzos - 4.jpg guyzos - 5.jpg guyzos - 6.jpg guyzos - 7.jpg guyzos - 8.jpg

Hypnea pannosa (can't tell from this pic but it's iridescent blue) from GCE:
guyzos - 9.jpg
 
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