Innovative Marine Lagoon 50 AIO Build and Progression

[AfricanReefBoy]

I've been out of the hobby for a couple years now. I kept a lot of my equipment and have finally decided it's time to jump back in. I started with the Innovative Marine Nuvo 20 AIO and have now upgraded it to the Innovative Marine Lagoon 50 AIO.

Equipment:
. 2 Radion XR15 Blue Gen5
. XHO Light Strips
. Overflow caddy with ChemiPure Blue and filter floss
. ATO
. ApexEL & WMX module
. Trident
. Innovative Marine Skimmer
. Innovative Marine Grow Light
. Hang Off Back Refugium
. Three MP10s
. Maxspect BioBricks
. Innovative Marine Return Pump
. 150 Watt Heaters (2)
. Fan

Fish List:
. Gem Tang
. Desjardini SailfinTang
. Splendid Fairy Wrasse
. Dusky Wrase
. Two Mocha Storm Clownfish
. Hermits, trochus and conch
. Urchin and sand sifting starfish

Coral:
. Couple torches
. Couple tester SPS ( birdsnest and PC Rainbow)
. GSP
. Blasto

Aquascape is pretty minimalist...

Please enjoy the progress and I always welcome any feedback. Thank you.

 

[blaxsun]

Another Hydrofil fan!

 

[AfricanReefBoy]

Another Hydrofil fan!

Absolutely! Love them!

 

[Texfisher33]

Nice tank. I just started with the same tank a month or two ago. How do you have your water level set? Are you running a single or dual media baskets?

 

[AfricanReefBoy]

Nice tank. I just started with the same tank a month or two ago. How do you have your water level set? Are you running a single or dual media baskets?

Thank you! I really like the dimensions on this tank. Yours is looking awesome as well. My water is set to about an inch below the top of the tank, I have always run my IM tanks with a little extra water. I also have a HOB refugium for pods and a little extra water volume. I am currently running a single media basket, but I have already ordered another one and will be running dual baskets. What kinda lights are you running? Do you plan to do acros?

 

[nuxx]

Tank and setup look great

 

[AfricanReefBoy]

Tank and setup look great

Much Appreciated! Thank you

 

[jimmypencil]

are you dosing kalk? if so how much, what method, how long did you wait to start dosing it etc.

 

[AfricanReefBoy]

are you dosing kalk? if so how much, what method, how long did you wait to start dosing it etc.

I am doing kalk. I have been for about 3 months now. I waited a couple months after starting the tank before I start dosing Kalk. I just upgraded to this tank from a IM Nuvo 20. I mix about a 2 gallon bucket of RO/DI water to max saturation, I dose it at 10ml every 2 hours until my Alk is around 8.5, then turn off my dosing until the Alk drops to around 8.3 and then I does again. I try to keep my Alk around 8.5. I am going to be switching to dosing ESV two part after I finish this bag of BRS Kalk. I am not a fan of putting Kalk in the top off because evaporation happens too randomly for me. I hope this helps even a little.

 

[Texfisher33]

Thank you! I really like the dimensions on this tank. Yours is looking awesome as well. My water is set to about an inch below the top of the tank, I have always run my IM tanks with a little extra water. I also have a HOB refugium for pods and a little extra water volume. I am currently running a single media basket, but I have already ordered another one and will be running dual baskets. What kinda lights are you running? Do you plan to do acros?

I do have a second basket. I was running the water high but i'm not pulling out all the fine particulates id like to so I lowered it yesterday so all water has to go through the media baskets. It still hasn't cleared like i expected so i'm wondering if i'm somehow getting fine air bubbles. I've been getting some larger air bubbles that I haven't located the source of.

I am running 2 AI Hydra 26HD. They seem to be doing the job for now. I will likely add some acro at some point but i'm in no rush currently. I moved a tank the last time time and always struggled with all coral previously. I'm trying to take it slow this time. I'm already having better luck with the Favia than I ever had before.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Tank is nice and organized, well done. Can't wait to see what gets added to the tank overtime!

 

[AfricanReefBoy]

I do have a second basket. I was running the water high but i'm not pulling out all the fine particulates id like to so I lowered it yesterday so all water has to go through the media baskets. It still hasn't cleared like i expected so i'm wondering if i'm somehow getting fine air bubbles. I've been getting some larger air bubbles that I haven't located the source of.

I am running 2 AI Hydra 26HD. They seem to be doing the job for now. I will likely add some acro at some point but i'm in no rush currently. I moved a tank the last time time and always struggled with all coral previously. I'm trying to take it slow this time. I'm already having better luck with the Favia than I ever had before.

I wonder why that is. I haven't had a problem running my water a little higher with two baskets in the IM Nuvo 20. Maybe there is something slightly different in the design of the IM Lagoon 50 that does that. I had some weird bubbles in my IM Nuvo 20 that turned out to the my bio brick was blocking my return pump a little and causing bubbles. Are the bubbles coming through the return nozzle?

I was thinking about running those Hydras. I had a Radion XR15 Blue laying around so I bought another one from someone on here and went with two of those and some XHOs. I am glad you are having a better go of it now. Moving tanks can always be a pain in the butt!! Keep me posted! I got a few hardy SPS to try out and see how things go. A couple birdsnest and a PC Rainbow, so fingers crossed.

 

[AfricanReefBoy]

Tank is nice and organized, well done. Can't wait to see what gets added to the tank overtime!

I so appreciate that. Took me a while to get all the wires together. I am trying to take my time stocking it, I want to get coral and fish that I will really enjoy! Do you have a tank set up?

 

[Texfisher33]

I wonder why that is. I haven't had a problem running my water a little higher with two baskets in the IM Nuvo 20. Maybe there is something slightly different in the design of the IM Lagoon 50 that does that. I had some weird bubbles in my IM Nuvo 20 that turned out to the my bio brick was blocking my return pump a little and causing bubbles. Are the bubbles coming through the return nozzle?

I was thinking about running those Hydras. I had a Radion XR15 Blue laying around so I bought another one from someone on here and went with two of those and some XHOs. I am glad you are having a better go of it now. Moving tanks can always be a pain in the butt!! Keep me posted! I got a few hardy SPS to try out and see how things go. A couple birdsnest and a PC Rainbow, so fingers crossed.

So after looking at it closer, it appears most of what I assumed was small debris were microbubbles. I turned the two gyres off (which are both fully submerged) and they have disappeared and the tank "cleaned up".

The Hydras are fine but I would probably run Radions if given the choice between them. I got a deal on mine a while back and this is the first time i've been able to use them.

 

[ScottW]

Great looking tank, we have basically the same things including the Gem haha.. I did change my radions out, I hated the new G6 blues.

 

[AfricanReefBoy]

So after looking at it closer, it appears most of what I assumed was small debris were microbubbles. I turned the two gyres off (which are both fully submerged) and they have disappeared and the tank "cleaned up".

The Hydras are fine but I would probably run Radions if given the choice between them. I got a deal on mine a while back and this is the first time i've been able to use them.

I'm glad to hear that you figured out what the problem was. I've never used the gyres. Is this your first time using them? How do you like the flow?

 

[AfricanReefBoy]

Great looking tank, we have basically the same things including the Gem haha.. I did change my radions out, I hated the new G6 blues.

Much appreciated! I see we really do basically have the time setup. My Gem is a real a$$hole! She picks at my cleaner shrimp until they die. But I gotta love her. Why did you hate the G6 Blues? I am not sure how I feel with these G5 Blues yet, this is the first time I am really using them. I've been using my G4s for the longest time.

 

[ScottW]

Much appreciated! I see we really do basically have the time setup. My Gem is a real a$$hole! She picks at my cleaner shrimp until they die. But I gotta love her. Why did you hate the G6 Blues? I am not sure how I feel with these G5 Blues yet, this is the first time I am really using them. I've been using my G4s for the longest time.

I really liked the G5 blues, I never should have dumped them. I also HATE Mobius talk about a totally awful interface, I wish they had a better app. I didn't like the color on the 6, I could never dial it in like I could on the 5. Don't upgrade if you are thinking about it, save the cashola for corals

My gem will have 84x31x15 basically all to him/herself, he/she is really good with my other fish so I have been lucky there, but I will say my cleaner shrimp is nowhere to be found so the gem may have killed it...

 

[AfricanReefBoy]

I really liked the G5 blues, I never should have dumped them. I also HATE Mobius talk about a totally awful interface, I wish they had a better app. I didn't like the color on the 6, I could never dial it in like I could on the 5. Don't upgrade if you are thinking about it, save the cashola for corals

My gem will have 84x31x15 basically all to him/herself, he/she is really good with my other fish so I have been lucky there, but I will say my cleaner shrimp is nowhere to be found so the gem may have killed it...

Dually noted! No upgrading to the G6s then. I am not too picky as long as it can grow some Acros. I really like the blanket of light they hug the tank in. But I definitely hate the Mobios App. I can never connect to my Radions.

Yeah, I got an awesome deal on my Gem so it's going to every build. I have 100G in storage right now, then the big mama build when I move into my house. I've never had a tang do that to my shrimp before. My Desjardini didn't even look twice at it.

 

[ScottW]

You can 100% grow some acros with those G5's! I gave up on trying to connect, I got them set and deleted the app b/c I would get so mad it never connected, all they have and that is the best they could come up with, grrr.

She will love that big tank for sure!