Paulie's Lagoon 25

Pauliex77x · Jan 2, 2020

TheWB said:
You’re Nitrite is probably fine then but I’d still check it a couple more times. Unless you really like them I would avoid hermit crabs. I got mine to handle some hair algae when it first broke out in my tank. They knocked it out in short order and then immediately converted into a roving band of snail murderers. If I had it to do over again I would have just gone with snails to start with and left the hermits out. I believe there are some dwarf hermits you can get that are supposed to be less aggressive, although who knows if that’s really true or not. Available here: https://www.ipsf.com/index.html
I actually wish I would have gone with a package from this place when I started adding livestock to my tank. I had all dry rock so some diversity would have been beneficial. Its too cold where I live right now to trust a delivery of anything alive to my house when I might not be home so I’ll probably get some stuff from there once the weather gets better.

Same here as far as the weather goes. I wouldnt try to get anything delivered live until at least april. I dont feed enough to add more than a single crab at the moment and im not even sure there is enough of a diatom bloom left to sustain more than a snail. Like i said im in no rush. I think im at the point where testing twice a week will be the norm so ill definately continue to test nitrites for the time being. At least until i see them hit zero for a while.

Pauliex77x · Jan 5, 2020

Did some testing and my weekly WC today.

Ammonia <.15
Nitrites 0
Nitrate <2 ppm

Im gonna assume my cycle is complete, but even if im mistaken i dont plan on making any changes to stocking as far as fish go anytime soon. I do pIan on running my AI prime on a 6 hour schedule for a while so i can enjoy the fish a little. At least on weekends when we're home all day. Ill just run to the LFS for a snail or 2 if i see a diatom bloom.

fuge light, phosphate test kit, and some chaeto and pods will be my next purchases. Maybe a PH test kit as well. I have a good idea of what fish livestock i want to add but any suggestions i'd be happy to hear them. Was hoping to make a Mandarin the centerpiece but not sure if the tank is big enough or if i'd be able to sustain a pod population large enough. Ill do more research on it though.

as far as corals go i plan on starting off slow with some of the softies, definately want a zoa garden, a torch, a gorgonian or 2. MAYBE some GSP. Hoping that the single AI prime will be enough for those?Eventually ill get a second one or just get a hydra 32 because i definatly would like to try to keep sps and LPS on the higher rocks. Im rambling though thats a long ways down the road. Keeping stable params getting the fuge going and the pod population is the next few weeks mission.

this will be my last update for a while so here are some pics of the tank that i took yesterday and today.

I highly recommend the pump for doing WC. While i have no problems lifting buckets, saving your back is key. Work smarter not harder lol.

fish have almost doubled in size and seem to have settled in really well. Hoping they like their home.

the rock was in a bucket dry for about 10 years but some of the red/purple spots look like coralline. I didnt seed any. Could it have come back even after being dry for all these years?

Anyways im excited and happy with the progress so far. The fritz 900 didnt exactly work as advertised but other than that its been fun.

TheWB · Jan 5, 2020

Pauliex77x said:
Did some testing and my weekly WC today.

Ammonia <.15
Nitrites 0
Nitrate <2 ppm

Im gonna assume my cycle is complete, but even if im mistaken i dont plan on making any changes to stocking as far as fish go anytime soon. I do pIan on running my AI prime on a 6 hour schedule for a while so i can enjoy the fish a little. At least on weekends when we're home all day. Ill just run to the LFS for a snail or 2 if i see a diatom bloom.

fuge light, phosphate test kit, and some chaeto and pods will be my next purchases. Maybe a PH test kit as well. I have a good idea of what fish livestock i want to add but any suggestions i'd be happy to hear them. Was hoping to make a Mandarin the centerpiece but not sure if the tank is big enough or if i'd be able to sustain a pod population large enough. Ill do more research on it though.

as far as corals go i plan on starting off slow with some of the softies, definately want a zoa garden, a torch, a gorgonian or 2. MAYBE some GSP. Hoping that the single AI prime will be enough for those?Eventually ill get a second one or just get a hydra 32 because i definatly would like to try to keep sps and LPS on the higher rocks. Im rambling though thats a long ways down the road. Keeping stable params getting the fuge going and the pod population is the next few weeks mission.

this will be my last update for a while so here are some pics of the tank that i took yesterday and today.

I highly recommend the pump for doing WC. While i have no problems lifting buckets, saving your back is key. Work smarter not harder lol.

fish have almost doubled in size and seem to have settled in really well. Hoping they like their home.

the rock was in a bucket dry for about 10 years but some of the red/purple spots look like coralline. I didnt seed any. Could it have come back even after being dry for all these years?

Anyways im excited and happy with the progress so far. The fritz 900 didnt exactly work as advertised but other than that its been fun.

Looking good. Seems like you’re on the right track.

Pauliex77x · Jan 5, 2020

TheWB said:
Looking good. Seems like you’re on the right track.

Hope so. Im actually starting to wonder though if a single AI prime is gonna be enough light in the tank. I know eventually ill need the hydra or something of that ilk for lps/sps but hoping the single puck will be ok for some zoa's acans and torches to start off. I guess ill ask in the lighting forum.

TheWB · Jan 5, 2020

Pauliex77x said:
Hope so. Im actually starting to wonder though if a single AI prime is gonna be enough light in the tank. I know eventually ill need the hydra or something of that ilk for lps/sps but hoping the single puck will be ok for some zoa's acans and torches to start off. I guess ill ask in the lighting forum.

The Prime is a great light and you’ve only got 12” of depth on that tank. You might need to turn it up fairly high to make Zoas happy but Acans are usually more of a lower light coral. You’ll be better off getting a second Prime 16 rather than a HD32 because you’ll be able to spread them out a little bit and reduce shadowing. There should also be Par charts on IM’s website you can reference for that tank but I bet two Prime 16s would be fine.

Pauliex77x · Jan 5, 2020

TheWB said:
The Prime is a great light and you’ve only got 12” of depth on that tank. You might need to turn it up fairly high to make Zoas happy but Acans are usually more of a lower light coral. You’ll be better off getting a second Prime 16 rather than a HD32 because you’ll be able to spread them out a little bit and reduce shadowing. There should also be Par charts on IM’s website you can reference for that tank but I bet two Prime 16s would be fine.

I actually got a regular prime HD on sale as they were selling them off. Could look for a second one used i guess but i dont plan on rushing into SPS or even LPS for that matter. Was actually looking to save a few bucks but if a single puck cant handle even some softies i have no choice

TheWB · Jan 5, 2020

Pauliex77x said:
I actually got a regular prime HD on sale as they were selling them off. Could look for a second one used i guess but i dont plan on rushing into SPS or even LPS for that matter. Was actually looking to save a few bucks but if a single puck cant handle even some softies i have no choice

Sorry, didn’t mean to imply a prime couldn’t handle softies, if definitely can. No need to get something else right now. I’d wait and see how things go once you’ve added some coral and then make a decision. That’s one of the beautiful things about this hobby though, there’s always something that needs to be upgraded.

Pauliex77x · Jan 5, 2020

TheWB said:
Sorry, didn’t mean to imply a prime couldn’t handle softies, if definitely can. No need to get something else right now. I’d wait and see how things go once you’ve added some coral and then make a decision. That’s one of the beautiful things about this hobby though, there’s always something that needs to be upgraded.

Always lol. Wondering too if i can avoid adding a wavemaker for a while. I have 2 sicce syncra 185gph return pumps in the sump. Might. Be enough for some softies if i add a couple spin stream nozzles or some rfg's.

TheWB · Jan 5, 2020

Pauliex77x said:
Always lol. Wondering too if i can avoid adding a wavemaker for a while. I have 2 sicce syncra 185gph return pumps in the sump. Might. Be enough for some softies if i add a couple spin stream nozzles or some rfg's.

I have RFG’s and they work great. Softies and LPS generally don’t need a lot of flow to be happy but you don’t want dead spots either. You can always add a wave maker if you decide you need one.

Pauliex77x · Jan 5, 2020

TheWB said:
I have RFG’s and they work great. Softies and LPS generally don’t need a lot of flow to be happy but you don’t want dead spots either. You can always add a wave maker if you decide you need one.

I will eventually. Its a long way away but i do want to keep a few sticks so ill need one or two.
I actually just found a video with a par chart with a single ai prime 8.5 inches above the water of a lagoon 25. It should be ok for softies. Just wont be able to keep them on the edges.

Pauliex77x · Jan 10, 2020

Quick little update. My wife's co-worker wanted to break down her tank that had a few snails, 2 clowns and a bunch of live rock. Took it off her hands for a great deal. Made a quick quarantine tank and they seem to be doing well so far.

Not sure what im gonna do with them as of yet but couldnt pass up on them. Snails will be added sometime today so i can start running the lights a bit more on the lagoon.

Pauliex77x · Jan 11, 2020

I wasnt going to post for a while but it seems that i have an issue. Did my testing today and my nitrites are at 1ppm and my nitrates are back up to 50. I added 5 snails yesterday which is the only change in the last week. I did slack on changing my filter floss and let them sit for 6 days but idk if thats the reason for the spike. Thought the cycle was done, apparently not. Im not overfeeding in the slightest. Pellets get fed to the clowns once a day and they eat all of them (about 4-5 bites each).

the only thing i can think of is the sump section is still dirty. Got the tank used and i did the best i could to clean it out. There was very little left over residue when i was done in the hard to reach spots under the 1st and second chamber but i cant see it being enough to cause a 50 ppm spike in nitrates.

ill test again tomorrow before my weekly WC. Maybe the test was wrong.

TheWB · Jan 11, 2020

Which test kit are you using?

Pauliex77x · Jan 11, 2020

TheWB said:
Which test kit are you using?

Salifert kits. Forgot to add Ammonia is always at 0. Heating up a 5 gallon bucket to do a change today before tomorrow's weekly change.

TheWB · Jan 11, 2020

I was just thinking that the Nitrite might be a false positive if it’s within the margin of error on that test kit. A water change Is a good idea for the Nitrate though. I think the single biggest mistake I made was not doing a much larger water change than I did right before I put my first fish in the tank post cycle. I didn’t get all of the Nitrate out at that time and I’ve been chasing that to get it down ever since. It’s never good when you have to chase any number in this hobby.

Pauliex77x · Jan 11, 2020

Im not so worried about the numbers as they arent terrible. My concern is the spike. Im not adding anything to the tank other than a CuC until its stable enough that i dont see spikes of 50 ppm in 6 days. Unless thats normal for a tank this size. The snails i added are nessarius i think, they burrowed into the sandbed right away but its a new tank i wouldnt think that would cause a spike. No way its trapped that much nitrate in onky a month.

Pauliex77x · Jan 12, 2020

So apparently having a nitrite reading in your water gives the salifert test kit a false positive on nitrates. Plan now is to wait until i have zero Nitrite before doing any more water changes. Here is a pic of the diatom bloom in full effect now that the light has been on for about 12 hours this weekend between yesterday and today.

Dont think these snails are gonna help with the diatoms lol. Maybe some trochus snails next weekend will help.

Pauliex77x · Jan 19, 2020

So the diatom bloom seems to have disappeared on its own (no thanks to snails). Just had to clean the inside of the glass and back wall for the first time. It was getting kinda grimey.

Still getting a nitrite reading of 1ppm almost 7 weeks in. Might get another bottle of fritz 900 to see if that helps move things along but not sure if its worth it at this point.

Looking into budget builds for a 10 gallon quarantine tank that i can eventually turn into a frag tank. Innapropriate reefer had a pretty cool build that im probably going to copy.