25g IM lagoon mid century build. 1 year update/comparison.

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Thank you @LiverockRocks.
The sand is here. I bought the 25lbs treasure chest of gulf sand. It was triple bagged in a foam chest. It arrived looking fantastic and natural. It smelled like a visit to the salt marshes here in Jacksonville. Very fresh clean fantastic stuff. It's also pretty heavy and looks.to be staying in place with a lot of flow. The additional cost is very much worth the price on my opinion. I'll never start a tank with someone else's substrate.


I am ready for fish now. I have 2 on the way From Dr. Reef. About to post my final stock list, and gonna stick to it.

Orange stripe Randal's prawn goby
Flame hawk
Black cap basslet
firefish (just a regular cheap one)

and gonna move my 6 year old black and white clown in.

I apparently like to live dangerously, when it comes to inverts. I already have a pom pom crab, about 2 years old. I also have a 3 year old candy cane pistol shrimp. He's pretty big.


I am gonna put him in with the goby and let them get settled in before I cut Ethan Hawksfish loose. I feel bad about the pom pom crab. But I haden't seen that crab in over 5 months in a 14 gallon tank. The day I got my shipping notice from Dr. Reef the pom pom showed up.... Good luck and God bless pom pom crab.

Last but not least. I started this tank with microbacter7 and a halloween hermit 3 weeks ago. Maybe the black cap today. I'd like him to be comfy before the twitchy fellows show up.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

First hitchhiker to show his face.

 

[Amber.]

First hitchhiker to show his face.

I love how you have been updating this with your stocking lists, and build! I can’t wait to see the other hitch hikers that may have come along! Very excited! Beautiful stand, beautiful build!

 

[DDenny]

Looks awesome makes me want to rush and get mine done and going.

 

[nuxx]

Looking great

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I love how you have been updating this with your stocking lists, and build! I can’t wait to see the other hitch hikers that may have come along! Very excited! Beautiful stand, beautiful build!

Don't encourage me!!! Actually I really appreciate it. I've started to wonder if this tank and stand were like a child's art work. Only mom can love it.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Looks awesome makes me want to rush and get mine done and going.

Don't rush. I promise you will be happier if you take your time.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I changed the stock list again when I was at the LFS. It's final.

Chalk bass (in tank now)
Purple firefish (also in tank)

Flame hawk (In QT at Dr reef)
Orange stripe Randal's (in QT at Dr. Reef)

Candy cane pistol (in my 14 IM)
6 year old Black and Clown (in my IM)

Tank has been pretty steady
5ppm trate
0 trite
Not reading any ammonia

425
1300
9

I decided to drop in some cheap frags from LFS and some even cheaper frags from my 14g.

Mind trick monti
Seasons greetings monti
Random acro stick #1
Random acro Stick #2
Bubblegum digitata (this guy fell off the frag rack and landed on a cyphestra that went to war on it) no better piece to test on.

All of them are cheap and easily replaceable in case when things go wrong.

I understand the virtues of having a heater in your display versus the rear chambers. I'm trying to get along with it. I don't think this publicly visible relationship is gonna last.


Hitchhiker #2- not sure if tiny whelk. I think yes. Regardless, it's in a safe place

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I had to make a call I wasn't ready for.

My IM 14 has been running the same jebao SLW wave pump for 5 years. It just died tonight. I don't really want to buy equipment for a tank I am phasing out.

I moved a few pieces over. I still expect a bout of the uglies. But I am keeping my fingers crossed that after cycling with microbacter7 and feeding a hermit crab too much every day for 3 weeks then adding TBS live sand will be enough to keep these pieces from getting too cranky with me.

But I also moved some LPS and zoas. SMH this was supposed to be a SPS reef. Now it's gonna be SPS dominant.

In case anybody is in the Jacksonville Fl area and wants free coral. Tomorrow night I'm going to frag a bit of bubblegum digitata, I have two very small heads of the hammer in this photo also. They popped up out of a dead portion of skeleton on a larger colony I had purchased a couple years ago. There are also some daisy cutter zoanthids, a fair sized Xmas favia (I'll drop a photo at the bottom) the favia rock also will have bubble gum digi on it.

So if you are close and want to come get it.
Daisy cutter zoas
2 heads of Hammer
Xmas favia

I also have a couple heads of the torch/cristata in this photo. Maybe 10ish it's a little weathered from a clown hosting it for the last 2 years. But it grows and splits heads regularly.

Send me a pm if you are interested. I have too much on my plate to ship any of these though.

 

[DDenny]

I had to make a call I wasn't ready for.

My IM 14 has been running the same jebao SLW wave pump for 5 years. It just died tonight. I don't really want to buy equipment for a tank I am phasing out.

I moved a few pieces over. I still expect a bout of the uglies. But I am keeping my fingers crossed that after cycling with microbacter7 and feeding a hermit crab too much every day for 3 weeks then adding TBS live sand will be enough to keep these pieces from getting too cranky with me.

But I also moved some LPS and zoas. SMH this was supposed to be a SPS reef. Now it's gonna be SPS dominant.

In case anybody is in the Jacksonville Fl area and wants free coral. Tomorrow night I'm going to frag a bit of bubblegum digitata, I have two very small heads of the hammer in this photo also. They popped up out of a dead portion of skeleton on a larger colony I had purchased a couple years ago. There are also some daisy cutter zoanthids, a fair sized Xmas favia (I'll drop a photo at the bottom) the favia rock also will have bubble gum digi on it.

So if you are close and want to come get it.
Daisy cutter zoas
2 heads of Hammer
Xmas favia

I also have a couple heads of the torch/cristata in this photo. Maybe 10ish it's a little weathered from a clown hosting it for the last 2 years. But it grows and splits heads regularly.

Send me a pm if you are interested. I have too much on my plate to ship any of these though.

Wow that stinks wish I was closer than a 36hr drive time away lol

 

[srobertb]

I have a few IM AIO’s. The mighty jet pumps are great but I would recommend keeping one on hand. They can clog quickly. I have I think the same sized one but it’s FW right now. Have you considered running two return pumps instead of a PH? I keep forgetting to check if they would fit back there w/o screen guards. Two returns + eductors on the nozzles may be enough flow vs a powerhead. I have the 10g version (SW) and the one return pump with eductors is great as the only flow.

Also, I just learned about 2020 aluminum late in life (built a computer case) and I love it. I’m trying to think of new ways to use it.

Looks great. I’m no furniture expert but your stand gives Wakefield vibes and I dig it!

 

[jabberwock]

Fellow IM 25 reefer and stand builder following.

Looking great!

I am switching from the low home made stand to the taller APS stand for better viewing and maintenance access.

 

[girlsdad_AAA]

Love you aquascape!

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I have a few IM AIO’s. The mighty jet pumps are great but I would recommend keeping one on hand. They can clog quickly. I have I think the same sized one but it’s FW right now. Have you considered running two return pumps instead of a PH? I keep forgetting to check if they would fit back there w/o screen guards. Two returns + eductors on the nozzles may be enough flow vs a powerhead. I have the 10g version (SW) and the one return pump with eductors is great as the only flow.

Also, I just learned about 2020 aluminum late in life (built a computer case) and I love it. I’m trying to think of new ways to use it.

Looks great. I’m no furniture expert but your stand gives Wakefield vibes and I dig it!

It's in an old tank. I have never used a mighty jet in anything. My other im used a sicce 1, that's the tank with the bad wave maker. I do have many spare pumps. Just not the wave maker controller. I was slow rolling shutting down that tank. Now I am speeding it up.

It got a old hydro koralia to hold it over while I finish up. You can barely fit any pump in the back of an IM 14.

As to the Wakefield vibes. Stop, you are making me glow. Not necessarily that brand, but certainly that era is what I was shooting for. My house is a 1963 mid-century modern. I wanted this stand to fit in like it's been here since day one.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Wow that stinks wish I was closer than a 36hr drive time away lol

Probably if I hadn't left gods country (central Texas) we would be close.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Fellow IM 25 reefer and stand builder following.

Looking great!

I am switching from the low home made stand to the taller APS stand for better viewing and maintenance access.

I'll be sure to follow your thread. I love other people ideas.

I was already following it. Very nice setup.

 

[jabberwock]

Probably if I hadn't left gods country (central Texas) we would be close.

I was born in Big Spring...

 

[Amber.]

I don’t think you will be fighting the uglies too bad. As long as you are adding your coral and the live sand, the critters should be able to keep most of it at bay. Just keep a toothbrush handy. Poor timing in the jebao failure - but you got a lot of years out of it atleast! You can also invest the money you would be using to replace said pump and use it toward more equipment or frags!

Also, think of it this way - you were going to move it all over eventually - better now than never. It also helps having the older rock for stability and helping seed and feed the new organisms you had gotten with your live sand.
Looking awesome!

ps - wish I lived closer! I’m stuck in New Mexico!

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I don’t think you will be fighting the uglies too bad. As long as you are adding your coral and the live sand, the critters should be able to keep most of it at bay. Just keep a toothbrush handy. Poor timing in the jebao failure - but you got a lot of years out of it atleast! You can also invest the money you would be using to replace said pump and use it toward more equipment or frags!

Also, think of it this way - you were going to move it all over eventually - better now than never. It also helps having the older rock for stability and helping seed and feed the new organisms you had gotten with your live sand.
Looking awesome!

I agree entirely. Also, a second point of failure for me is when I try and run multiple tanks. This is a good way to keep from running 2.

Thank you for all the kind words.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

This is gonna be terrible. I can't stand micro-bubbles. I hate when things are out of my control and the only answer is "wait".

Ice cap K1 nano. Bought from fosters and smith around when BRS announced the buyout. Never used. To be honest I never even opened the box because it was Ice Cap. I knew it was going to be quality.

It's not. It's what I would expect a ali express/wish . com skimmer to look like. Not the knockoff of the K1 nano. But the absolute most terrible "fish reef fresh saltwater clear filter skimmer" you can buy from those places.

That said. There are plenty of people happy with their K1 nano and supposedly they work. Ice cap cheaped out on this one. Shame on them. After all, I would have spent more on a quality piece with some QC. The reason I bought it was brand recognition and past quality.

I'm going to break it in and see how it performs before I make a decision.