Rob’s 30g Tonga Shroom Garden

intricate_reefer

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Thought I’d share my reefing journey. I will keep this first post updated with current full tank shots and equipment. Thanks for stopping by and Reef On!!!

IM 30L started 1/19
FTS 12/24/2019 (then was a zoa frag tank) (Now restarted to shroom garden lol)
D427B330-E20E-4800-A169-0FBCA8FF6B57.jpg

IM 30L Equipment
2x Ai Primes with 3D reefing diffusers
2x Sicce 1.0 returns
RFG Nozzles
2x Neotherm 75w heaters
Ecotech MP10
Icecap K1 Nano Skimmer
Smart Micro ATO
IM 5g Reservoir
Intank floss holder with floss
IM Midsize UV with floss
Apex EL
Neptune DOS with B Ionic 2 part


IM 25g Lagoon Started 1/20
FTS 10/04/20
8FC0F9AE-4E7C-4C08-BA04-8B1C659E5B65.jpeg

IM 25 Lagoon Equipment
2x Prime HD with 3D reefing diffusers
2x Sicce 1.0 returns
RFG Nozzles
2x 50w Neo Therms
MP10
Icecap K1 Nano Skimmer without bracket
Smart ATO Micro
IM 5g reservoir
IM desktop media basket with floss
IM Desktop UV with floss
Apex EL
Kamour X1 Dosers with DIY All for Reef


SR80 Frag tank started 9/20
FTS 11/02/20
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IM SR80 Equipment
2x Kessil 360x
Universal mounts from aquariumlowcost
2x IM Midsized Mighty jet returns
1x 150w Neotherm heater
MP10
Cadlight PLS 50 elite skimmer
Smart ATO Micro
Banshee 10g reservoir
4" hydroponic net pot with floss
IM Misized UV with floss
Apex EL
2x Kamour X1 pro dosers with B ionic 2 part

Fluval Spec V 5g pico Started 12/20
FTS 12/09/20 (Retired)
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Fluval Spec V Equipment
Pulaco 95gph return pump from amazon
RFG Nozzle
Nicrew Classic LED from amazon 18"
Hygger 50w heater from amazon
Floss just stuffed into first chamber
Auto Aqua ATO Lite
Apex Jr

Innovative Marine 30L Tonga Shroom Garden Started 4/21
EEA0CE15-7A4F-404D-9CAE-24F49C19BE22.jpeg


IM 30L Equipment
-2x Ai Primes with 3D reefing diffusers
-1x Jabeo DCS 1200 return
-2x IM spin stream nozzles
-No power heads, return only
-2x Neotherm 75w heaters
-Icecap K1 Nano Skimmer
-Smart Micro ATO
-IM 5g Reservoir
-Intank floss holder with floss
-IM Midsize UV holder with floss(no uv bulbs, works really well as a floss holder, almost better than the intank ones)
-Apex EL
-Neptune DOS with B Ionic 2 part

My Instagram if anyone is interested intricate_reefer
 
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smilinteddy

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Welcome! We have a 30L "club thread" that you should definitely check out if you haven't done so already, and you should post a link to your build thread there. Many of the other 30L owners have posted links to their build threads there and you can check out a lot for them in one place.
 
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intricate_reefer

intricate_reefer

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Looks awesome!
You got some very attractive pieces in there.
The sicce pumps are an awesome upgrade for the smaller IM tanks.
I’m definitely be looking forward to watching this thing mature! :)

Thanks! Yea the sicce pumps seemed like the ones to get. All the reviews were great and I figured I’d run two smaller in cases one were to fail.
 
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intricate_reefer

intricate_reefer

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Great tank!
My IM 30L is going to get wet in about a month, doing a lot of the same things you are doing with equipment.
Keep the info coming

I’m really loving this tank. Seems so much bigger than 30 gallons when looking at it. I think you will really enjoy it.

I did a lot of research on the equipment and I think I made some good decisions. Only thing I kind of regret not getting are xr15s instead of the primes. I’m happy with them but just think I would like the radions better.

Looking forward to seeing you set yours up. Are you going to do a build thread?
 
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intricate_reefer

intricate_reefer

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Welcome! We have a 30L "club thread" that you should definitely check out if you haven't done so already, and you should post a link to your build thread there. Many of the other 30L owners have posted links to their build threads there and you can check out a lot for them in one place.

Awesome thanks, I’ll definitely check out that thread and post a link. Awesome we have a place for us all to come together
 

TheWB

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Nice looking tank. I used Stax also in my IM Lagoon 50. It’s a lot of fun to work with. I almost got the 30L, they do seem like they’re bigger than they are when you look at them head on.
 
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intricate_reefer

intricate_reefer

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Nice looking tank. I used Stax also in my IM Lagoon 50. It’s a lot of fun to work with. I almost got the 30L, they do seem like they’re bigger than they are when you look at them head on.

Yea what you did with the stax rock is amazing. Wish I would have been a little more creative lol. It seemed difficult with this tank just because the depth is so small.
 

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Yea what you did with the stax rock is amazing. Wish I would have been a little more creative lol. It seemed difficult with this tank just because the depth is so small.

Thanks, your scape looks pretty creative to me. I like how it turned out. Do you have any pictures from before the coral went in? I’d like to see how you laid it out. One of the main reasons I chose the Lagoon 50 was to have some depth to the scape. It’s basically a 30”x20” footprint. I got it before the 50 EXT came out. Makes me wish I would have waited so I could have had the extra 4” of depth. I may upgrade one day and at least I’ll be able to use the same stand.
 
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intricate_reefer

intricate_reefer

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Thanks, your scape looks pretty creative to me. I like how it turned out. Do you have any pictures from before the coral went in? I’d like to see how you laid it out. One of the main reasons I chose the Lagoon 50 was to have some depth to the scape. It’s basically a 30”x20” footprint. I got it before the 50 EXT came out. Makes me wish I would have waited so I could have had the extra 4” of depth. I may upgrade one day and at least I’ll be able to use the same stand.

I mean I’m happy with it. It’s just I see some of the scapes people do with the stax rock and I’m just like wow! I do think it’s working well as Im into the chalices and favias and the scape gives me plenty of flat spots. With limited space I’m not really glueing too much down as I’m sure I’ll have to be fragging in the future.

Yea I’m really missing that depth you get with the 25 and 50 lagoon. I was going to get the 25 but then this came up locally for a good deal. Your right though those EXTs would give us a lot more space. They have a 30 ext as well and I thought about a future upgrade and keeping the stand. Then I thought again and was like if I’m going to go through all that work I might as well get something at least double the size.

Here’s an old picture so you can see the scape a little better(might have to zoom in). Also a couple pictures of my rat nest of wires I said I’d show you. I’ll probably just leave them but really should get the power bricks up at the very least.

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7228e32b79988401b7989c566cbf20a2.jpg
 
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TheWB

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I mean I’m happy with it. It’s just I see some of the scapes people do with the stax rock and I’m just like wow! I do think it’s working well as Im into the chalices and favias and the scape gives me plenty of flat spots. With limited space I’m not really glueing too much down as I’m sure I’ll have to be fragging in the future.

Yea I’m really missing that depth you get with the 25 and 50 lagoon. I was going to get the 25 but then this came up locally for a good deal. Your right though those EXTs would give us a lot more space. They have a 30 ext as well and I thought about a future upgrade and keeping the stand. Then I thought again and was like if I’m going to go through all that work I might as well get something at least double the size.

Here’s an old picture so you can see the scape a little better(might have to zoom in). Also a couple pictures of my rat nest of wires I said I’d show you. I’ll probably just leave them but really should get the power bricks up at the very least.

d7ae09db0e3b6c648af84360f4df36fb.jpg


0e9c14eec2451352ace256ca704f08f8.jpg


7228e32b79988401b7989c566cbf20a2.jpg

I think the lower profile scape works really well in the 30L. Especially because I think it would be very easy to block flow in that style of tank. I have some space constraints along with Wife Acceptance Factor issues so, while I’d love to go bigger it’s probably not going to happen. I also am digging the relative freedom of the weekly 5 gallon water change. Took me 10 minutes yesterday start to finish since I’d mixed the water the night before. Going bigger is probably more work than I want to do.

At least with the wire management you’ve got some room to breathe but at some point you may want to tidy that up a little . If for no other reason than to make it easier to disconnect a probe or pump if you need to. I get it though, my current tank is the first one where I tried to do any wire management at all. One of the least fun things about this hobby but once it’s done, it’s done.
 

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As far as power brick mounting, I know there are lots of mounting sold as accessories (brackets and such) but I have done all mounting with self adhesive Velcro that I bought off Amazon. It is easy to use and makes it so that if I ever need to pull anything off to adjust or move etc. I'm not having to re-drill screw holes or leave screw holes behind.
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intricate_reefer

intricate_reefer

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As far as power brick mounting, I know there are lots of mounting sold as accessories (brackets and such) but I have done all mounting with self adhesive Velcro that I bought off Amazon. It is easy to use and makes it so that if I ever need to pull anything off to adjust or move etc. I'm not having to re-drill screw holes or leave screw holes behind.
f463d6d132544940bb81c6620953169e.jpg
9a21c9c0ab28e3d25f0e360b8098803f.jpg

Nice thanks for the tip. Yours really looks nice. I feel kinda embarrassed now. One day I’m going to have to sit down and fix it. Probably should do it soon as I need to give me returns a cleaning. Did you just use the 2” x 4” strips or did you use the little squares
 
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smilinteddy

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Nice thanks for the tip. Yours really looks nice. I feel kinda embarrassed now. One day I’m going to have to sit down and fix it. Probably should do it soon as I need to give me returns a cleaning. Did you just use these, the 2” x 4” strips or did you use the little squares?

6ea15c4b9e761e37f5b0774142d706df.jpg
I bought these really long strips of adhesive Velcro from Amazon and I cut them to fit.
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9e8636074bd4256b5b36a562c9b7518e.jpg
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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