IM 50 Lagoon build thread

[jimmypencil]

The time has come. Ive had a 13.5 evo for a couple years now and i just upgraded to a IM 50 lagoon! I already have the tank up and running but i haven't transferred any live stock yet.

Equipment:

XR30 pro g6 light
2x - hygger hg-951 wave makers
apex el
in tank media baskets with filter floss, chemi pure blue, and media balls
stock return pum
neotherm 200 watt heater (god help me)
40 lb fiji pink sand
20 something pounds of live rock

spent $350 on rock and water for new tank the other day and was blown away lol i didnt realize the cost of rock when i set up my nano a couple years ago.

so currently, im trying to figure out some things with the apex before transferring my stuff over. its been super cold here and its taken a few days for the temperature in the new tank to even come up to 76...maybe this shouldnt be the so case let me know. i was having some issues with the apex randomly turning off some of my outlets so maybe thats why but i just got the apex figured out pretty much so hopefully that issues resolved. ive also been getting voltage warnings but i hear thats not really an issue? never used an apex and just set it up yesterday morning so bear with me.

also heres my temp log

not sure what happened last night. The apex shut off some of my outlets last night including my return pump and im guessing my heater so maybe thats what happened but it couldnt have been for longer than an hour... also had my fan blaring like a jet engine in my room but i dont think that justifies a drop like that. I just reset the apex and configured all my outlets so hopefully thats all resolved. im gonna go grab another heater for redundancy and peace of mind tomorrow.

Currently waiting for new tank to get up to temp and im also dealing with some aiptasia in the nano (have a few posts about that if you want to check them out) so ill be transferring my livestock over in the next couple days.

Here are some pics

1. nano
2. current scape
3. first scape

let me know what you think!

 

[jimmypencil]

Current issue... does salinity drop in a still jug of freshly mixed saltwater??

last night i checked the salinity of both tanks to see if the nano is out of range.

new tank 1.025
nano 1.026-1.027

i took the ato off the nano and moved it to the current tank...dont even remember why but i just poured about .5-1 gallon into the nano and transferred the ato. so last night when i was messing with my heater in the new tank i guess i bumped into the ato sensor and i realized this when testing salinity this afternoon.

new tank 1.022-1.023
nano - 1.026

i look at my ato reservoir (a 5 gallon jug) and see that almost half is missing. so that explains that. BUT i have 2x 5 gallon jugs left over from when i went to LFS and got 50 gallons of salt water for new tank 2 days ago (didnt account for rock sand quipment etc). i test salinity in both jugs....1.022. i recalibrate my refractometer with rodi water... dead on. test both tanks and both jugs again... all readings are the same.

so what i dont understand is - i used 8 jugs of the same salt water and my salinity in the tankwas 1.025 last night, why would two jugs have less salinity? is it because i stored them with out heat and they were stagnant? did the guy at the LFS somehow mess up on two of the jugs? just a really strange circumstance.

i put the ato back on the nano to slowly lower the salinity to 1.025 and i will wait for evaporation on the new tank to bring it up to 1.025.

im just overwhelmed and none of this makes sense to me right now.

 

[OldRed1]

Current issue... does salinity drop in a still jug of freshly mixed saltwater??

last night i checked the salinity of both tanks to see if the nano is out of range.

new tank 1.025
nano 1.026-1.027

i took the ato off the nano and moved it to the current tank...dont even remember why but i just poured about .5-1 gallon into the nano and transferred the ato. so last night when i was messing with my heater in the new tank i guess i bumped into the ato sensor and i realized this when testing salinity this afternoon.

new tank 1.022-1.023
nano - 1.026

i look at my ato reservoir (a 5 gallon jug) and see that almost half is missing. so that explains that. BUT i have 2x 5 gallon jugs left over from when i went to LFS and got 50 gallons of salt water for new tank 2 days ago (didnt account for rock sand quipment etc). i test salinity in both jugs....1.022. i recalibrate my refractometer with rodi water... dead on. test both tanks and both jugs again... all readings are the same.

so what i dont understand is - i used 8 jugs of the same salt water and my salinity in the tankwas 1.025 last night, why would two jugs have less salinity? is it because i stored them with out heat and they were stagnant? did the guy at the LFS somehow mess up on two of the jugs? just a really strange circumstance.

i put the ato back on the nano to slowly lower the salinity to 1.025 and i will wait for evaporation on the new tank to bring it up to 1.025.

im just overwhelmed and none of this makes sense to me right now.

What salt are you using?

 

[RobbieMaynard]

Nice upgrade

 

[jimmypencil]

What salt are you using?

no idea, i have always gotten it from LFS, never had an issue. just doesn't make sense that two of the jugs would have less salinity for no reason.

 

[jimmypencil]

Current issue... does salinity drop in a still jug of freshly mixed saltwater??

last night i checked the salinity of both tanks to see if the nano is out of range.

new tank 1.025
nano 1.026-1.027

i took the ato off the nano and moved it to the current tank...dont even remember why but i just poured about .5-1 gallon into the nano and transferred the ato. so last night when i was messing with my heater in the new tank i guess i bumped into the ato sensor and i realized this when testing salinity this afternoon.

new tank 1.022-1.023
nano - 1.026

i look at my ato reservoir (a 5 gallon jug) and see that almost half is missing. so that explains that. BUT i have 2x 5 gallon jugs left over from when i went to LFS and got 50 gallons of salt water for new tank 2 days ago (didnt account for rock sand quipment etc). i test salinity in both jugs....1.022. i recalibrate my refractometer with rodi water... dead on. test both tanks and both jugs again... all readings are the same.

so what i dont understand is - i used 8 jugs of the same salt water and my salinity in the tankwas 1.025 last night, why would two jugs have less salinity? is it because i stored them with out heat and they were stagnant? did the guy at the LFS somehow mess up on two of the jugs? just a really strange circumstance.

i put the ato back on the nano to slowly lower the salinity to 1.025 and i will wait for evaporation on the new tank to bring it up to 1.025.

im just overwhelmed and none of this makes sense to me right now.

ok nevermind, called guy from LFS and he says that they usually start new systems at 1.022 or 1.023... interesting. whatever atleast i know im not insane. so i still plan on getting salinity in the nano to 1.025 and i guess i will still raise salinity in new tank to 1.025 as well??? some input would be appreciated!