New IM 25 lagoon

[Ksturg]

I got out of the hobby a couple years ago due to an unforeseen move. My wife recently bought me a 25 lagoon and this is my first ever nano tank. I tried something different this time rather than the traditional cycle process. I set the tank up and bought 2 clowns and added a bottle of Dr Tim’s one and only. The tank completely cycled in one week with ammonia never going above.25ppm and nitrite reaching .25ppm then they both disappeared and I have 5ppm nitrate. The only mistake I made was not getting my reactor for the gfo fast enough to get ahead of the diatoms. But overall things went well and I have started to add coral. This is what I’m running a lagoon 25 with an ai prime sol, jbj nano ato, and a mini max reactor.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Nice! Is the lagoon an all-in-one (AIO)— I can’t remember? A nice Chalk Bass would be good in that tank, and a Fang Blenny.

BRS sells a nice feeding port for that screen. Have fun!

 

[reefstarterpack]

Looking good.

can’t wait to get my Lagoon Thursday and start planning out my build.

 

[cconnolly]

Welcome back to the hobby! I’m loving this tank so far and look forward to following along with your journey

 

[Ksturg]

Nice! Is the lagoon an all-in-one (AIO)— I can’t remember? A nice Chalk Bass would be good in that tank, and a Fang Blenny.

BRS sells a nice feeding port for that screen. Have fun!

It is an all in one and it’s a challenge but I am enjoying it!

 

[Ksturg]

Welcome back to the hobby! I’m loving this tank so far and look forward to following along with your journey

I love this tank as well it’s not too big of a footprint but big enough for what I want to put in it.

 

[happyhourhero]

Welcome back! Love my 25. A great little tank for sure!

 

[Ksturg]

Can you guys post some pics of your tanks? And maybe what you are running? I am running 2 filter socks and a IM mini max reactor in the left chamber. The right chamber I have the heater and media basket with ceramic rings. Just want to get ideas of what other people are doing with this tank.

 

[JumboShrimp]

My IM AIO is only a 20-gallon, but I bought a second media basket (because I love the convenience of cheap filter floss over socks). I just have the tank flossed-up ( ) and the water is crystal clear.

 

[cconnolly]

Can you guys post some pics of your tanks? And maybe what you are running? I am running 2 filter socks and a IM mini max reactor in the left chamber. The right chamber I have the heater and media basket with ceramic rings. Just want to get ideas of what other people are doing with this tank.

Here are a couple quick cell phone shots and a quick description of what I’ve built. It’s been running about 3 months now and should be adding some fish next week. For now just blood shrimp, decorator crab, conch and other CUC are hanging out with the corals. I’ve got a build thread going if you’re interested in more details.

I’m running the InTank trays in both overflows with floss on top and biopure blocks on the bottom and a chemipure blue packet on one side. I’ve got the next layer of chambers setup with an Eshops Nano Skimmer v2 and an InTank fuge insert. In the return chamber I’ve got the stock pump, pair of Cobalt Neotherm heaters hooked to an InkBird controller and a Duetto ATO sensor.

I’m running a Hydra 32 on the mounting arm for lighting. It’s overkill but between my wife wanting a clam and my preference to be able to reuse it if we end up upgrading the tank I figured why not.

For water movement I’ve got the stock return nozzles and an MP10. The flow pattern on the MP10 is kinda tight so recently ordered a wide dispersal attachment for it to see if I like that better before calling it settled.

Absolutely love the shallow depth and wide profile of the tank. Had way more aquascaping options and not having to get your whole arm wet every time you need to adjust something is awesome.

 

[happyhourhero]

Can you guys post some pics of your tanks? And maybe what you are running? I am running 2 filter socks and a IM mini max reactor in the left chamber. The right chamber I have the heater and media basket with ceramic rings. Just want to get ideas of what other people are doing with this tank.

From back right to left. UV > marine pure spheres and all for reef tube output > return pump and ato sensor > marine pure spheres with a bag of carbon on top > heater and piece of pinky pad floss.
Here is a recent FTS:

 

[Ksturg]

I like both those tanks and I’m jealous mine has only been going for a few weeks. I may end up getting rid of the filter socks I’m not sure yet. On a positive note I took my wife and kids shopping and out to eat today…we stopped by a fish store and picked up a gorgeous yellow hammer ( the guy was really not trying to sell it) I’ll post pics once it opens up. Anyway while at dinner they all decided we needed a bigger tank. They have great taste as they have chosen the Red Sea reefer xl 525 so looks like I may be getting a bigger tank. Do you guys have any tips or tricks for the 25 lagoon? I’m not used to nano tanks so it’s been a bit of a challenge.

 

[JumboShrimp]

My IM AIO 20-gallon with softies had every type of algae known to man for about 6-9 months. Now it has more or less cleared itself-- and I test nothing (except Salinity every so-often, if I'm going to add a new fish. Definitely no water changes.) So I'd say be patient and let it do it's thing--absent any emergency.

 

[Ksturg]

My IM AIO 20-gallon with softies had every type of algae known to man for about 6-9 months. Now it has more or less cleared itself-- and I test nothing (except Salinity every so-often, if I'm going to add a new fish. Definitely no water changes.) So I'd say be patient and let it do it's thing--absent any emergency.

I was running gfo but I turned the reactor off cause I’ve got through the diatoms and cyano…an issue I am having though is I can’t get my nitrates up…I like them between 5-10ppm. I don’t do water changes and never have with any tank I’ve had. I just feel like there is more room for error with a nano but idk. It’s like I have to learn the hobby all over again.

 

[reefstarterpack]

What kind of rock did you go with? Was looking at the Caribsea South Seas base rock since you get 40lbs for around $80 and since I should have a good amount of extra pieces I can do the aqua scape better but the short height of the tank kind of worries me. If the pieces are too tall etc, can I take a hammer to them and make them smaller? I like the idea of the South Seas rock as it requires no cure and just a rinse in RODI to be ready to build. Will probably get a couple lbs of live rock from my LFS to help in the cycling process

 

[Ksturg]

What kind of rock did you go with? Was looking at the Caribsea South Seas base rock since you get 40lbs for around $80 and since I should have a good amount of extra pieces I can do the aqua scape better but the short height of the tank kind of worries me. If the pieces are too tall etc, can I take a hammer to them and make them smaller? I like the idea of the South Seas rock as it requires no cure and just a rinse in RODI to be ready to build. Will probably get a couple lbs of live rock from my LFS to help in the cycling process

I went with all dry rock not sure what kind it was and I went with one big piece of the man made rock. The man made rock was very large so I took a hammer and chisel and broke off pieces till I got it the size I wanted. I also spent a lot of time at the lfs picking through boxes to find small pieces that would go together well. I use dry rock because I want to cut down on the amount of hitchhikers that get into the tank. If it was me I would stay away from the live rock you don’t need it to quick cycle the tank. If you have a small tank just grab some Dr Tim’s one and only dump it in add 2 clowns and you will basically skip the cycle. It worked perfect for me and the cycling process has really changed over the years . I believe it took me right at a week to cycle with ammonia and nitrite never going over .25 ppm.

 

[cconnolly]

Try asking around with your local reef community. Odds are someone has leftover dry rock that will either be free or cheaper than any other source you can get from LFS or online

 

[Ksturg]

This is the crap I’m dealing with today!

 

[Ksturg]

Here are a couple quick cell phone shots and a quick description of what I’ve built. It’s been running about 3 months now and should be adding some fish next week. For now just blood shrimp, decorator crab, conch and other CUC are hanging out with the corals. I’ve got a build thread going if you’re interested in more details.

I’m running the InTank trays in both overflows with floss on top and biopure blocks on the bottom and a chemipure blue packet on one side. I’ve got the next layer of chambers setup with an Eshops Nano Skimmer v2 and an InTank fuge insert. In the return chamber I’ve got the stock pump, pair of Cobalt Neotherm heaters hooked to an InkBird controller and a Duetto ATO sensor.

I’m running a Hydra 32 on the mounting arm for lighting. It’s overkill but between my wife wanting a clam and my preference to be able to reuse it if we end up upgrading the tank I figured why not.

For water movement I’ve got the stock return nozzles and an MP10. The flow pattern on the MP10 is kinda tight so recently ordered a wide dispersal attachment for it to see if I like that better before calling it settled.

Absolutely love the shallow depth and wide profile of the tank. Had way more aquascaping options and not having to get your whole arm wet every time you need to adjust something is awesome.

What inkbird controller are you using?

 

[cconnolly]

What inkbird controller are you using?

ITC-306A