IM Lagoon 25 softie tank- with lots of DIY

lotekfish · Nov 28, 2020

According to my R2R profile I Joined here back in 2007. Thirteen years without ever having a build thread? Let me fix that. My Innovative Marine Lagoon 25 showed up today and the dog was only mildly interested in this new development. Lots to do before this thing gets wet.

lotekfish · Nov 28, 2020

Here's some back story. I've been keeping reef tanks for over 13 years with a little break when I had a big move a few years ago. When I sold off my old 30 gallon cube before the move I thought I was done, but you know, you're never really "done" once you've been hooked, you're just on pause. So I started up again 3 years ago with a $20 Petco 20l, converted to an AIO, with a Current Loop LED light. A humble restart.

lotekfish · Nov 28, 2020

A year after the 20l was started I was at my LFS and saw an IM Nuvo 20 on clearance sale. I wasn't super happy with the current tank, and since the Nuvo 20 would fit on the same stand...plus had low iron glass and better filtration... I snatched up the good deal. This was my first good quality tank with low iron glass and I was very impressed with the build quality. I've been running with this for 2 years now. This is the most recent FTS

lotekfish · Nov 28, 2020

Did I mention lots of DIY? Well I never really liked the Ikea stand I had the tank on (but it worked as a cheap start) so I've been meaning to build a better one but if I'm going through the trouble of building a custom stand it might as well be for a slightly bigger tank. And before I went through the trouble of swapping stands and tanks I had to address a bigger problem which was the terrible flooring currently in our living room. Yep, so before I can even start with the new tank I've got a flooring project. I've started at least- the tank goes in the corner next to the sofa. The old flooring is the reddish colored stuff in the foreground. It was installed by the previous owner and had to be the cheapest flooring available. It's basically printed MDF and the seams lift every time it gets wet. The new brownish flooring is waterproof laminate and is hopefully kid-proof, dog-proof, and reef accident proof.