A Calm Blue Ocean - IM Fusion Pro 50 Gallon AIO Lagoon

[jazzfisher]

Hang in there!
I'm assuming the Yashas were sold to you as a male/female. Sometimes it takes a couple of days to get together-fingers crossed.I bought a male & female (that weren't a pair). And they had a little bit of a go around, but are happy together with their little shrimp. I also have a female in my other tank with her shrimp, she's doing great. Going to see a Yasha today-hopefully its a male for my solo female.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Hang in there!
I'm assuming the Yashas were sold to you as a male/female. Sometimes it takes a couple of days to get together-fingers crossed.I bought a male & female (that weren't a pair). And they had a little bit of a go around, but are happy together with their little shrimp. I also have a female in my other tank with her shrimp, she's doing great. Going to see a Yasha today-hopefully its a male for my solo female.

Thanks for the info and good luck finding your male goby!

Yes, they were sold with the request for a male and female. They've been in the tank since March 30 so I don't know if there is much hope on them changing their minds at this point. They don't seem to fight but they don't associate either. The shrimp went in just over a week ago (wow those guys are hard to find for sale). I think the one goby paired up with it within the day. Still, as long as they aren't trying to kill each other, I'm not too upset, just a bit disappointed at not getting my cool bonded pair nesting with their shrimp like I did with my YWGs and their Tiger.

Some good news, my gorgonian is being re-shipped Monday. Fingers crossed!

 

[jazzfisher]

Its a boy!!! Yay! He's in there but they haven't seen each other yet!
I haven't tried Gorgonians yet, but would like to.

 

[TheWB]

Warning, a little venting incoming!

Some days I think I should just go back to xenias and kenya trees.

More coral frustration!

Got a WYSISYG frag from a major vendor. Wrong frag.
Got a couple frags from a different major vendor. Bubble algae.
Got a frag from a small vendor. Flatworms (was told by the vendor to do a freshwater dip, flatworms hate that!).
Got a frag from a specialty vendor. Arrived 91F and is pretty much just skeleton this morning.
Accidentally fried a favorite coral with too much light (turns out badly spaced lights can create a hot spot like the surface of the sun).

So much $$$ and frustration!

The nano tank hasn't been much better.

Ordered a pair of Yasha Gobies, a Candy Cane Pistol Shrimp and a fighting conch. Got one fish that was DOA with a Tiger Pistol Shrimp and a crown conch. Had to rehome the shrimp and conch.
Reshipped and got 2 Yasha Gobies but they both appear to be female. No shrimp but got 4 conchs.

On the good news front, I did finally get a shrimp but had to order from someone else. It has successfully paired with one of the Yashas but the other goby has been outcast so I guess just sorta good news. Not quite what I was going for.

So yeah, first I'm going to try to get a refund on my boiled coral, then I think I'm going to spend the day on some cable management. Or maybe be safer and watch a movie.

This hobby isn't easy.

Dude, that’s quite the run of bad luck. Sorry to hear of it. I hope things get resolved to your satisfaction. I’m lucky enough to have an LFS I trust when it comes to buying fish so I’ve never bought one online. Not that I’ve bought a new fish in a year and a half because I feel like I’ve got a good thing going with my current fish and don’t want to chance introducing any diseases. I know for sure that the aiptasia and bryopsis both came from online purchased frags but that’s also partially my fault for not having a great plan for dipping/cleaning the frags when they arrive. I’m not real comfortable cutting frags off of plugs but I need to get over that.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Dude, that’s quite the run of bad luck. Sorry to hear of it. I hope things get resolved to your satisfaction. I’m lucky enough to have an LFS I trust when it comes to buying fish so I’ve never bought one online. Not that I’ve bought a new fish in a year and a half because I feel like I’ve got a good thing going with my current fish and don’t want to chance introducing any diseases. I know for sure that the aiptasia and bryopsis both came from online purchased frags but that’s also partially my fault for not having a great plan for dipping/cleaning the frags when they arrive. I’m not real comfortable cutting frags off of plugs but I need to get over that.

It's mostly just a series of stupid things but man, you really need to have your seatbelt buckled up for this hobby! That said, I'm glad there are so many online retailers out there. I live in the middle of nowhere so the hobby would probably not be possible without them. I still find it crazy the extent to which things going wrong is normal. I often think the learning curve is straight up and down, too. ;Hilarious

After we lost Cheese I definitely got the itch to add another fish to the 50 but even with places selling pre-quarantined stuff there is always a chance. Remember that part about stuff going wrong! Also all my guys get along well and just like two Yasha gobies that sit in opposite corners, I'd hate to introduce a trouble maker to a happy tank.

Going to try to do some pictures tomorrow of all the new additions. In spite of everything, lots going on!

 

[TheWB]

It's mostly just a series of stupid things but man, you really need to have your seatbelt buckled up for this hobby! That said, I'm glad there are so many online retailers out there. I live in the middle of nowhere so the hobby would probably not be possible without them. I still find it crazy the extent to which things going wrong is normal. I often think the learning curve is straight up and down, too. ;Hilarious

After we lost Cheese I definitely got the itch to add another fish to the 50 but even with places selling pre-quarantined stuff there is always a chance. Remember that part about stuff going wrong! Also all my guys get along well and just like two Yasha gobies that sit in opposite corners, I'd hate to introduce a trouble maker to a happy tank.

Going to try to do some pictures tomorrow of all the new additions. In spite of everything, lots going on!

Yeah, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. I’ve been very fortunate with fish and coral but have run into my problems with algae and aiptasia. Flux RX is going in tomorrow to try and kill off the bryopsis.
Looking forward to seeing a current FTS and updates on your fish and corals tomorrow.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Lots of pictures! Someday I'll figure out how to do justice to these corals. The colors are always off (not being able to get the red of the blasto really irks me) and how you get things in focus I really don't know. I swear my next cell phone will be all about the camera.

And a bonus shot of the frags that Big Mama was eating (not sure she was actually the cause of the pocillopora's issues but moved it just in case), safe and recovering well in my nano:

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

So I did a really cool thing. I got a microbiome test done at AquaBiomics. I've had a couple ICP tests done since starting this hobby but those don't come close to being as fascinating as this microbiome analysis. In fact it was so cool that I'm going to get one done for my nano now, too. I bet the results are dramatically different.

What did I learn? My tank is really sterile. Like unusually sterile. Perhaps I've been too careful and too conservative with it. My tank, after nearly 11 months, still looks somewhat like bottled bacteria. So I guess I have a new project, Project: Biodiversity!

Pros of this test? There is no way you're going to get a more detailed picture of what's going on in your tank. They are even able to test for many common fish diseases as well as other pests. And you don't just get a bunch of lists and pie charts, they follow up with you by email to discuss the findings. You aren't left confused and overwhelmed by a list of scientific names. They want you to understand the results. That personal touch takes the test to the next level.

Cons? Well, it takes a long time to get results. They send them out in batches for DNA sequencing and in all I think I waited 3 weeks, and it was only that short because I waited until fairly close to the submission deadline to send in my samples (my tank is probably already different since I added a lot of corals and some live rock rubble since then). It's also somewhat pricy at $99.

Anyway, super cool test, I feel like I learned a lot about my tank and about the way I care for it. I will definitely be doing it again.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

So I've got something weird going on with my tank and I'm having a hard time getting to the bottom of it. For some reason my PO4 has been climbing rapidly since Feb/March. I'm now maxing out my Hanna even diluting 50%. I'm gearing up for a 30% water change tomorrow (that's the biggest I'm equipped to handle). I'll test again after and if there is an improvement I'll probably do another. But the question still remains, what on earth changed? Going back through my notes and test results and there just isn't an obvious culprit and I'm grasping at straws. Anyway, step 1, water change, and we'll go from there!

 

[TheWB]

So I've got something weird going on with my tank and I'm having a hard time getting to the bottom of it. For some reason my PO4 has been climbing rapidly since Feb/March. I'm now maxing out my Hanna even diluting 50%. I'm gearing up for a 30% water change tomorrow (that's the biggest I'm equipped to handle). I'll test again after and if there is an improvement I'll probably do another. But the question still remains, what on earth changed? Going back through my notes and test results and there just isn't an obvious culprit and I'm grasping at straws. Anyway, step 1, water change, and we'll go from there!

Good luck, I hope you can get to the bottom of the PO4 problem. Have you cross checked the Hanna with another test just to make sure it’s not malfunctioning?

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Good luck, I hope you can get to the bottom of the PO4 problem. Have you cross checked the Hanna with another test just to make sure it’s not malfunctioning?

Thanks! I have the Hanna standards which check out. Of course that doesn't rule out bad reagents but when I tested my fresh saltwater it came out zero as expected. I do have a Red Sea Phosphate test but it's never been accurate for me. Wish it was, that 0.12 suddenly looks really nice! Fortunately I just sent out an ICP test last week. Hopefully the results come back quickly to confirm.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Well, the 30% water change appears to have been at least somewhat successful. PO4 is still out of range for an undiluted water sample but I'm encouraged that there was a reduction. I'm actually surprised since past experience has shown water changes to have little impact on PO4. I'll test again in a few days and then gear up for another 30% next week! I don't think I'd used my Brute for a water change since I originally filled the tank. I hope it doesn't become a regular necessity.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Got my ICP test back. The bad news, my Hanna ULR Phosphorus checker works great. The good news...well...the antimony is gone.

 

[Oldsman]

Been reading thru your build , and know you'll figure out your increased PO4 . My little biocube had crazy high PO4 that I found after I purchased the Hanna, but slowly been able to reduce it without any chemicals. Like you I'm dreading bottoming out and having Dinos..stay strong you'll whip this !

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Been reading thru your build , and know you'll figure out your increased PO4 . My little biocube had crazy high PO4 that I found after I purchased the Hanna, but slowly been able to reduce it without any chemicals. Like you I'm dreading bottoming out and having Dinos..stay strong you'll whip this !

Welcome to my build!

I do think I'm narrowing things down. I'm glad I tend to make a note anytime I make changes to the tank (although there are a few things I've done that I didn't write down and I'm kicking myself a bit). If nothing else, the detective work has been interesting.

I am starting to strongly suspect the change from Sustainable Aquatics to TDO pellets may have been a contributing factor.

So I've got another 30% water change planned for tomorrow, I'll let things settle and test on Friday. If I can at least get the numbers to stop climbing it will be a start!

Might be time to transplant my pulsing xenia from the nano. Borderline invasive? Sure. But also one heck of a nutrient sponge!

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

According to my notes, today is my tank's first birthday!

It's been quite the year with a surprising number of differences between this tank's first year and my previous tank's first year. This one got dinos, that one got cyano, this one has crazy high nutrients, that one had almost none.

I have become a lot more adventurous with corals and fish. My knowledge is much greater but still so lacking. The road to tank maturity is still long.

Nevertheless, Happy Birthday 50 Lagoon, may the coming year bring much needed stability!

 

[TheWB]

According to my notes, today is my tank's first birthday!

It's been quite the year with a surprising number of differences between this tank's first year and my previous tank's first year. This one got dinos, that one got cyano, this one has crazy high nutrients, that one had almost none.

I have become a lot more adventurous with corals and fish. My knowledge is much greater but still so lacking. The road to tank maturity is still long.

Nevertheless, Happy Birthday 50 Lagoon, may the coming year bring much needed stability!

Happy tank birthday!! Post a day 1 and a current FTS for comparison. It’s always fun to see how far you’ve come.

 

[dyno]

Last week I started cycling my second ever saltwater aquarium. As the days have gone by I've realized that in spite of many lessons learned over the previous year I still know very little.

What better way to boost my learning potential than to start a build thread on Reef2Reef!

A little history (or maybe a lot of history):

Last June I took my first steps into the saltwater world. I'd had some freshwater fishbowls in the past, my father had kept some small freshwater aquariums, but I think all I really knew was that tap water was bad.

So I filled my first saltwater tank with tap water. Treated of course but still tap water. But I'm getting ahead of myself already.

I admit I had done very little research but even at that it's hard to understand the implications of some things without experiencing it for yourself. Things like "reef ready" didn't mean much and AIO tanks were something completely unfamiliar. So I walked out of the shop with a 46 Bow, a canister filter, an LED light, flow pump, cycled rocks, a bag of sand, and a bag of salt.

It looked like this:

A thing of beauty! At least a few days later it was a thing of beauty.

After the initial purchase, I was actually really patient with my tank. I had read as much as I could about cycling and, with API test kits in hand I tested and tested and tested!

July 1 I finally added my first little dudes to the tank. Some cerith snails, astraea snails, trochus snails, and some blue leg hermits. I have never had so much fun watching snails and crabs and I sat in front of the tank for hours every day watching them truck around every surface.

I got diatoms, cloudy water, bryopsis...oh the bryopsis. The CUC were happy to demonstrate that it was not on the menu. I learned about fluconazole. I added UV. I got an RODI system. I upgraded my test kits.

A few weeks later, when things had settled a bit, it was time for fish! A pair of tiny clowns and a pair of tiny gobies. Who knew fish could be so awesome? A few days later I got a pistol shrimp for the gobies and had the thrill of seeing them pair up immediately! And I thought watching the fish was fun!

It was some time after that when I decided to add corals. All softies with a final collection that included small frags of kenya tree, xenia, gsp, and a toadstool. Needless to say, in 46 gallons, this is the whole tank now. I had read the warnings. We are in exponential growth mode now!

Over the year that I've had this tank I have enjoyed it immensely, and fought it frequently.

Every time I cleaned the canister filter I managed to have a wreck. My hardwood floors cried. Had to ditch the canister. With an intense paranoia about anything that took water out of the tank (and potentially to the floor) I went with the Tunze 9004 skimmer and Tunze 3162 filter. So much easier to maintain! And my clowns were overjoyed, choosing the skimmer as their new host.

The glass lid. My nemesis. Sure, evaporation is almost not a thing. But the constant condensation kills the lighting, and I had to cut the glass to fit the Tunze skimmer...did not go well. So now it's a cracked glass lid. The lid is heavy, awkward, and the plastic strip across the back still lets the nerites escape!

The sand...that fine sand. So pretty. So hard to deal with. Dropped a powerhead in it one day. Couldn't see into my tank for a week. No, I had not rinsed the sand first. Lost over an inch of that sugar fine stuff to the syphon while battling cyano and probably another 5 pounds just in routine maintenance. When I had the canister it was always full of sand. It's so pretty and I hate it!

So many experiences, like hair algae that my urchin likes to wear as a hat but not eat, bristle worms the size of great white sharks, spaghetti worm hotel, aiptasia, xenia and kenya tree forests! I still don't know what I'm doing. I really wish I'd made a build thread for this tank. So many mistakes but a lot of make it work moments too.

As the story goes, 5 members of my original CUC turned one yesterday, and right now I'm working on making them, and all my other little guys a better home, minus the uninvited guests!

Introducing my IM Fusion Pro 50 Gallon AIO Lagoon

Similar water volume but a whole new footprint. And best of all, no more clutter!

Things that have changed:

RODI from day one! Our tap water is pretty low TDS but I still always wonder what might have settled into the rocks from the first fill of the old tank.

Dry rocks - I recognize the benefit of live rock and cycled rock but I found out from my first tank that I'm just still too much of a noob to know how to deal with pests. I know better than to think I can ever avoid all pests but to start knowing it's clean I can feel a bit more in control of what's going on, and least for today.

Larger substrate! - CaribSea Special Grade. And I rinsed the heck out of it! 21 buckets of rinse water! The picture above is day one. Night and day from the old tank.

The AIO aquarium, of course! So many things, but one of the biggest has been the shallow form. I can easily reach any part of the display. No more searching for unusually long scrapers. Pleasant to view from the top and both sides. I'm just crazy about the shape of this tank.

Equipment so far (not all installed yet)

IM Fusion Pro 50 Gallon AIO Lagoon w/ stand
2 x AI Prime 16
Tunze 3155 Osmolator
IM MiniMax Reactor
IM NuvoSkim DC Skimmer
IM AquaShield UV Sterilizer
IM ATO Reservoir 5 gallon
BRS titanium heater 200w
Inkbird C929-A Smart WiFi Controller
Vortech MP40QD
Instant Ocean Salt
CaribSea Special Grade Dry Sand
Reef Saver and Reef Saver Foundation Rocks
Fritz TurboStart 900
Algae Barn Nitrocycle

Tank was filled June 22. Rocks and sand all heavily rinsed. I put a filter sock on each overflow and let the few fines that were left in the substrate filter out for a couple days.

Bacteria added June 25 and the first ammonia dose. At this point I started following the schedule on Dr Tim's site for testing and re-dosing ammonia. I also elevated the temperature in the tank to encourage the bacteria to do their thing!

We are currently at Day 8 of the cycle. Last ammonia dose was on Day 6. I could share pictures of the previous test results but really the relevant one is today:

The API "what is this color" minigame! Honestly this game makes me crazy but I never did get better tests for ammonia and nitrite.

So that's where we're at! I've got a million thoughts and concerns about all of my equipment and how it works and goes together, but maybe I post for another day. So far so good!

I really enjoyed what you wrote, great read! I hate bristle worms too, they creep me out. I had a rock that was so full of them it was crazy! Some were 3-4 inches long after a while, disgusting. I tried to appreciate them as a normal creature in a reef, but yeah ewww. I also love invertebrates, they are fascinating!

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Happy tank birthday!! Post a day 1 and a current FTS for comparison. It’s always fun to see how far you’ve come.

Great idea! Just managed to beat the clock before the lights started ramping down lol

It does start to feel like it's happening when you see this perspective. Corals are all doing weird things since I just fed (and I see someone has tried to take my Tracy Morgan for a ride again) but I'm not unhappy with what I see. Hiccups and warts, but the progress is real.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I really enjoyed what you wrote, great read! I hate bristle worms too, they creep me out. I had a rock that was so full of them it was crazy! Some were 3-4 inches long after a while, disgusting. I tried to appreciate them as a normal creature in a reef, but yeah ewww. I also love invertebrates, they are fascinating!

Thanks for reading along! My nano is now the epic bristleworm house. Some are bigger than the Yasha goby that lives there. Time to build a trap again. I'm quite sure they do good work but that tank just crawls at feeding time! I'd love to make a comment about how the 50 doesn't have any bristlworms yet but you know what would happen then lol.

I just sent out an AquaBiomics test for the nano to see what makes it different biologically from the 50 (it even grows sps without issue). If it turns out that corals do better in the nano because it has bristleworms...well I don't know ;Hilarious