Aaron's Cove Build - 25g IM Lagoon Tank

[Aaron Shapiro]

Welp, I reckin' it's time for an update.

First things first I've added a pair of clowns from Cultivated Reef. They're "MochaVinci's". The smaller of the two had tougher time coming around after shipping but they've both recovered nicely and are buddies.

I've had several pairs of clownfish and these two are easily the most social. After a few weeks, the larger one will come right up to the surface to greet me. It's pretty cool.

After that everything calmed down and I was going to let things sit about before gluing my corals down and building my Zoa garden...Then the algae came.

I know this is part of the whole process but I've never gotten it this bad before during a cycle. At this time, for a CuC I only had maybe two hermits, and two Astrea snails along with maybe 10 small ceriths. I think this crew wasn't able to keep up with the algae so I added a few more hermits, a Mexican turbo snail...and the big guns:

I've always wanted an Urchin and my LFS had a Pencil Urchin that was a little bit smaller than a goofball. We'll see how he does.

Lastly, I purchased a Nano Skimmer. This is the IceCap K1 Nano Skimmer. It came highly recommended and I was very excited to get it.

So this is by no means a comprehensive review but I wanted to share my experience after 48hrs. I received my Icecap K1 Nano Skimmer on Friday. Assembled and installed it Friday late afternoon. Upon plugging it in discovered that it’s handily the noisiest thing in my house. You can hear this thing two rooms over (see video). After doing some research I learned that the pump should break-in in a few weeks. (This is entirely subjective and I hope my current noise levels are within the scope of other people’s experiences.) I’ve contacted Icecap to see if this is normal and to see if perhaps I can replace the silencer and/or the pump. I’ll keep everyone posted on what happens with that.

Now the silver lining here is....as seen in the picture above after running ~36 hours. This thing is a BEAST at skimming. I’ve got it hooked up to a WiFi-enabled plug currently set up to run at night while I’m asleep, as well as when I’m not sitting in that room. I’m really hoping it “breaks in” to a point I can leave it on 24/7.

Does anyone else have experience with these??

Anyway, that's where I'm at now. Looking forward to getting this algae under control so I can start placing my corals. Let me know what you all think!

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

Alright, I figure I owe you guys an update...

Let's talk first about the IceCap K1 Nano Skimmer. I had a rough start with this piece of equipment.

If you read above, I complained about how loud this thing was and even tried to return it to MarineDepot -- apparently, there's no way to test a Skimmer and keep it in a returnable state. Anyway, since I stuck with it, I decided to try and work with Coralvue. To their credit, they were extremely responsive and sent me a new silencer right away. The silencer didn't correct the problem, and I reached back out. They sent out a new pump ASAP, and THAT solved my problem. The K1 Nano still makes some sound, but it's manageable in my home office. I'd now recommend this piece of equipment with the caveat that it took some CS work to get mine in good working order. Check out this skimmate after 36hr:

I can't seem to get it skim drier, but I'm not going to complain at this point.

Alright, moving on... I've added quite a bit and need to slow down. It's a battle between going to the LFS (the only place I break quarantine for) and seeing all the pretty corals and knowing that my tank needs time to stabilize and settle. Either way, I've got stuff in here, so I'm observing my parameters and livestock health.

No real new fish - I have two clowns and the Firefish. I did pick up a Yasha Goby a week or two ago, but I haven't seen him since I introduced so he's either alive under the rock or dead the CuC dealt with him.

I also started my Zoa Garden.

This is a bit older of a picture, but I've cleared the sandbed entirely.

I've added a few LPS:

Zoas and Acans are my all-time favorite, so I've got my gardens going... Also, a teensy RBTA sitting there - he's stayed where I put him since day one. Hoping my clowns find him.

I also picked up an Ironman Mushroom - and this posed a problem for me. I've never received a coral that didn't come on something substantial I could glue down. When I added this Shroom, he just tumbled around my tank. So, I took a specimen cup that he came in and drilled it full of holes, then put him in there with some rubble rock I had leftover. Hopefully, he attaches soon, and I can place him in my scape.

So, fingers crossed there. The next step I need to take is raising my Alk. It's testing out at 6.2dkh, I'd like to be closer to 8.5, so I'm going to SLOWLY start stepping it up, then see if I can maintain with All For Reef. I've got some Tropic Marin Balling Part B, and I'm going to mix some of that up today, thinking maybe .5 dkh daily - perhaps even .25. We'll see.

Thanks, everyone! Let me know what you think. I'm going to leave you with a majestic video of my Reef King:

 

[New&no clue]

Just read through your build thread. I recently started a Nuvo 30 which I really like, but man my skimmer sucks compared to yours. I had read small skimmers don’t produce nice dark skim... but after seeing those pictures it’s clear just mine doesn’t. Also I love cultivated reef, they are local so I go pick up a lot of corals there. Good luck with your tank, I’ll be following along.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

Just read through your build thread. I recently started a Nuvo 30 which I really like, but man my skimmer sucks compared to yours. I had read small skimmers don’t produce nice dark skim... but after seeing those pictures it’s clear just mine doesn’t. Also I love cultivated reef, they are local so I go pick up a lot of corals there. Good luck with your tank, I’ll be following along.

Thanks!! What skimmer are you running?

 

[New&no clue]

Thanks!! What skimmer are you running?

I have the Nuvo midsize skimmer. It is whisper quiet and is either bone dry, or half full of a light brown liquid.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

I have the Nuvo midsize skimmer. It is whisper quiet and is either bone dry, or half full of a light brown liquid.

gotcha, well I wouldn’t say the Icecap is whisper quiet but it pulls a lot out of the water.

 

[New&no clue]

Are you sticking with your initial plan for corals, I’ve been debating what to put in mine. As it’s shallow I don’t want something that grows too tall.

 

[Nick Steele]

Nice looking tank! You set up and plan seems to be working out and it looks good!

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

Are you sticking with your initial plan for corals, I’ve been debating what to put in mine. As it’s shallow I don’t want something that grows too tall.

Yeah, Acans and Zoas...Currently, I'm in the depths of the uglies and my zoas aren't super happy, so I'm hoping they can hang with me through the algae.

My Acans are fine and fluffy though, I find that pretty funny personally.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

Nice looking tank! You set up and plan seems to be working out and it looks good!

Thanks, hopefully haha

 

[Mikeltee]

Looks good. It would be nice of you to get a new rock to house a nem for those clowns. They like a nice deep crack to hide if need be. If they are happy they wont move.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

Looks good. It would be nice of you to get a new rock to house a nem for those clowns. They like a nice deep crack to hide if need be. If they are happy they wont move.

There's a RBTA in there already. ;-)

 

[jcolliii]

Like the tank so far! I'd suggest a bit of care when you start the AFR with a small coral load. Their dosage recommendation mat be way too high. I'm currently only at 1.5ml per day, and that keeps my alk right around 8.2 or so. Maybe a half dose the first day and test alk 12 hours later - it takes a while for the chemicals to dissociate, react, or whatever they do, but the alk will not show up right away.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

SO I figure it's about time for an update. Let's start with some equipment updates:

First, I am building a new larger tank that I started talking about here.

As a result, I am going to, slowly, transition this 25g Lagoon into a frag grow out setup. I've swapped my Nero5 out for an MP10, the Nero along with one more will go into the new tank.

I've always loved these pumps they're just spendy.

I also added an ApexEL, although this will move to the larger tank as soon as it's setup. Nice to have some smart control now though.

As for livestock... I've added some corals. I'm beginning to see that I REALLY need to chill and let things settle in. I picked up a Forest Fire Digi and I'm relatively sure that I'm going to lose it. Call it a lesson learned.

But I've picked up some cool Zoas, which are all doing well here are some favs:

Rainbow Incinerators

TSA Fuzzy Navels

CB OG White Zombie

Hopefully, I'll be able to grow a nice Zoa garden in the bigger tank, and still grow some of these out to sell or trade.

The last big thing I picked up was a Yasha Goby and Pistol Shrimp pair. They're so cool, but the pistol shrimp is an absolute BULLDOZER -- looking forward to getting him into a larger home.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

I got another project taken care of last weekend. I found a 55g Brute Trashcan for free in a local reefer FB group, so I went and picked it up. Then @Jimmeh lee helped me plumb and drill it as a RODI reservoir.

I also ordered a float valve and ran the RODI line directly into this. So now I should always have ~50 gallons of RODI on tap. I later-days project will be to set up an adjacent saltwater jug, but for now, this is good.

As for anything else... Since I've started my larger tank build (my build link), I've stopped purchasing livestock for the 25g. Since this tank is going to be transitioning into a frag/grow out system I don't want to get anything too settled in -- but in the meantime here are some photos I've taken over the last couple weeks:

This splatter hammer was scaring me. It wasn't opening up like I had come to expect, and I was worried that I had overlooked something and was killing it. Examining the skeleton, I noticed 4-5 vermitid snails on it. (I haven't observed them anywhere else in the tank). I was unsure if these could cause it, but I dove in with my bone cutters and smashed the bases of their tubes best I could reach, and the hammer fluffed back up. I'm glad because there are six baby heads on the back of this thing.

These guys are SO fluffy right now.

Quarantine hair -- but in all seriousness, I have zero hair algae anywhere apart from on TWO of my snails.

This plate coral has made up for how lackluster my Scoly was (traded the Scoly back to my LFS)... Amazing feeding response.

This Ironman mushroom was a significant stressor for me, never really occurred to me that mushroom corals may come unattached to a plug, and you can't glue him down... When I got him, he had a death grip on a teensy piece of empty vermitid snail tubing (from the LFS), so I just dotted glue on that and stuck him to the rock - he's been here ever since and opened roughly 2" wide.

These two Zoa colonies are real tangible examples of what I have loved about this tank. Both of these started as two polyps and have grown to 5+ in the last ~ two months. This was what made me realize I was going to want a grow-out tank.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll be updating my build thread on the larger tank soon as more equipment arrives. I am also going to be taking the 32HD off of this tank and putting two Prime 16's over it and then transferring the 32 to the larger tank. Fingers crossed that goes well - my LFS has a par meter I can borrow.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

One really quick update:

Swapped out the lights over my 25. Previously I had a Hydra 32HD over this tank, now it has 2 Prime 16HD's. The 32HD is going over my new, larger tank.

Really digging the look overall. I will say, however, that the rigid AI mounts are ENORMOUS pains and I wouldn't suggest them or use them again.

I was able to borrow a PAR Meter locally and get really close with these lights. Hopefully, everything is healthy and happy after this somewhat sudden change.

Updates will slow here a bit as I get my new tank up and settled, once I can move some livestock over there and get frag racks in here you'll be seeing some more regular updates.

 

[TexAgReefer]

One really quick update:

Swapped out the lights over my 25. Previously I had a Hydra 32HD over this tank, now it has 2 Prime 16HD's. The 32HD is going over my new, larger tank.

Really digging the look overall. I will say, however, that the rigid AI mounts are ENORMOUS pains and I wouldn't suggest them or use them again.

I was able to borrow a PAR Meter locally and get really close with these lights. Hopefully, everything is healthy and happy after this somewhat sudden change.

Updates will slow here a bit as I get my new tank up and settled, once I can move some livestock over there and get frag racks in here you'll be seeing some more regular updates.

Nice! Probably a better overall solution than the Hydra. If you're concerned about any potential lighting difference, just use the acclimation mode. Set if for 2-3 weeks and then you don't have to worry.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

Nice! Probably a better overall solution than the Hydra. If you're concerned about any potential lighting difference, just use the acclimation mode. Set if for 2-3 weeks and then you don't have to worry.

yep. I matched it really close with a par meter. I may still acclimate over a couple weeks.

 

[tomkun]

yep. I matched it really close with a par meter. I may still acclimate over a couple weeks.

Hey I'm starting a 25 lagoon soon and I was stuck deciding between 2 ai primes hd or a hydra 32hd. Which did you prefer on your lagoon.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

Hey I'm starting a 25 lagoon soon and I was stuck deciding between 2 ai primes hd or a hydra 32hd. Which did you prefer on your lagoon.

Honestly flip a coin. I have two Prime’s now only because I’m taking the 32 to use over a larger tank. They’re both great.