Sara’s IM 25g Lagoon

[JoshH]

Wish I watched that before I started with Dr Tims. There was probably a crap ton of ammonia from my Live sand. And then I added more.

I missed where you started with "Live" sand, you are probably right. Not a whole lot of life in those bags, not saying it's an ammonia sink. But certainly could have contributed to your super high numbers. Looks like things are slowly getting back on track though

 

[Jeff in Toronto]

Great build thread! I am also in the GTA; the folks at Fragbox seem great. I'm doing research prior to getting my first tank, and feeling that I want to get a Red Sea Reefer 170, as apparently bigger is better for beginners. Are you at all worried about stability with the 25, or are you pretty comfortable with it given past experience?

 

[saramachen]

I agree bigger is better for beginners. I am not overly concerned with stability on the 25g, but time will tell

I was looking at the Redsea setup before I purchased the Innovative Marine. I just got better bang for my buck (I’m my opinion). I picked up the entire set up - including rock, sand, salt, test kits, 2 AI Primes, heater/controller, powerheads & ATO for $1900. The RedSea was about $1700 after tax for their max nano.

But the RedSea tanks are pretty!

 

[Rmckoy]

Wish I watched that before I started with Dr Tims. There was probably a crap ton of ammonia from my Live sand. And then I added more.

Is there is any organic matter that could decompose in the sand would contribute to elevated ammonia . Which I can see possible .
Ghost feed or raw shrimp method still seams a lot easier .

as for cuc . Once cycled there will be enough bacteria, lighting to create algae and even left over food from the fish you will add soon after cycle is complete.

I’d hold off on a conch but snails , hermits would never go wrong
.

the only issue I can see would be the hermits killing snails for their shells .

 

[saramachen]

Is there is any organic matter that could decompose in the sand would contribute to elevated ammonia . Which I can see possible .
Ghost feed or raw shrimp method still seams a lot easier .

as for cuc . Once cycled there will be enough bacteria, lighting to create algae and even left over food from the fish you will add soon after cycle is complete.

I’d hold off on a conch but snails , hermits would never go wrong
.

the only issue I can see would be the hermits killing snails for their shells .

Yeah, I have read many a posts about the hermits killing the snails, and emerald crabs eating soft corals. I think going in with my eyes open it will be ok. And I plan on providing extra shells up front. The Conch will def be a later addition.

 

[saramachen]

I agree bigger is better for beginners. I am not overly concerned with stability on the 25g, but time will tell

I was looking at the Redsea setup before I purchased the Innovative Marine. I just got better bang for my buck (I’m my opinion). I picked up the entire set up - including rock, sand, salt, test kits, 2 AI Primes, heater/controller, powerheads & ATO for $1900. The RedSea was about $1700 after tax for their max nano.

But the RedSea tanks are pretty!

Just to add on this:

I also do not work full time, and right now I am home with my kids. This provides me with extra hours which makes maintenance easier. Eventually I will be back in the office, but even that is only 4-5 hours a day.

 

[Jeff in Toronto]

Just to add on this:

I also do not work full time, and right now I am home with my kids. This provides me with extra hours which makes maintenance easier. Eventually I will be back in the office, but even that is only 4-5 hours a day.

Makes sense! Yes since I've never had a tank before I'm thinking bigger will definitely be better for me. The Red Sea folks just announced this month that they are introducing a fleece roller; I will probably wait until that's available before purchasing; from what I've been hearing, these rollers represent a tremendous innovation. Cheers, jeff

 

[saramachen]

Jan 11 2022

I ran some errands today (Grandma swung by to watch the kids) and I passed our local Big Al’s, so I popped in. I doubt I’ve been in that store in 10 years, and it’s actually in worse shape then I remember . Tanks were dirty, lighting was crap - couldn’t see the colours on any of the fish. They had a lot of purple tangs and they all looked dull. Their Frag tank looked decent. And they had nice looking Indo Green Torch Frags for $100 (they were a good size frag, lots of sweepers) but I don’t know if that’s a good price or not.
They had no Bengaii Cardinals for sale, they had a beauty of one in the frag tank, it was quite big.

Came home and tested - this is cycle day 6.
Salinity 1.020 - lowered it to promote bacteria growth
Ammonia - 1.2
Nitrite - >1
Nitate 10

SUPER annoyed with the Red Sea Ammonia test. So I decided to do a test on Fresh saltwater:

Practically identical to the results from my tank water

 

[Rmckoy]

Jan 11 2022

I ran some errands today (Grandma swung by to watch the kids) and I passed our local Big Al’s, so I popped in. I doubt I’ve been in that store in 10 years, and it’s actually in worse shape then I remember . Tanks were dirty, lighting was crap - couldn’t see the colours on any of the fish. They had a lot of purple tangs and they all looked dull. Their Frag tank looked decent. And they had nice looking Indo Green Torch Frags for $100 (they were a good size frag, lots of sweepers) but I don’t know if that’s a good price or not.
They had no Bengaii Cardinals for sale, they had a beauty of one in the frag tank, it was quite big.

Came home and tested - this is cycle day 6.
Salinity 1.020 - lowered it to promote bacteria growth
Ammonia - 1.2
Nitrite - >1
Nitate 10

SUPER annoyed with the Red Sea Ammonia test. So I decided to do a test on Fresh saltwater:

Practically identical to the results from my tank water

I believe there might be something wrong with the test kit .
But . As new ways of cycling have evolved perhaps your cycle is complete ?
One person comes to mind
@brandon429

it’s common for ammonia to show false positive , and we all have learned over the years that testing nitrite is irrelevant in marine .
the fact that nitrates are detectable . Can we say this tank is ready to start adding livestock ?

 

[saramachen]

I believe there might be something wrong with the test kit .
But . As new ways of cycling have evolved perhaps your cycle is complete ?
One person comes to mind
@brandon429

it’s common for ammonia to show false positive , and we all have learned over the years that testing nitrite is irrelevant in marine .
the fact that nitrates are detectable . Can we say this tank is ready to start adding livestock ?

He was helping me the other day He said to just wait till the 18th, not to bother testing anymore. But thats not my personality LOL. He was very helpful, and yeah this test is broken. Not gonna buy more tho as what are the odds i'll test ammonia after the 18th? it would be a waste of $.

 

[brandon429]

make sure to select a disease prevention protocol from the disease forum, if you skip that step your fish are more likely to die than any form of important step skipping you could make. you paid for ready able bottle bac, and when it works on the assigned date, use that ability responsibly.

 

[brandon429]

this ammonia dropped due to a water change, that needs to be standout here but its lost in the pages. follow the assigned start dates given, how you test in the interim does not matter now since bac didnt move all that down, your water change did.

 

[brandon429]

forgot this was already troubleshot/start date assigned in different thread

so many to keep up

 

[Rmckoy]

He was helping me the other day He said to just wait till the 18th, not to bother testing anymore. But thats not my personality LOL. He was very helpful, and yeah this test is broken. Not gonna buy more tho as what are the odds i'll test ammonia after the 18th? it would be a waste of $.

I haven’t tested ammonia in this tank since it was setup .
the only thing I test religiously is nitrates , salinity and alkalinity

 

[Rmckoy]

this ammonia dropped due to a water change, that needs to be standout here but its lost in the pages. follow the assigned start dates given, how you test in the interim does not matter now since bac didnt move all that down, your water change did.

For the record …..

Rods is not available in Canada .

 

[brandon429]

Hey neat detail to know I wonder if it’s supply chain issues
Perhaps simply not available due to sales territory


whatever the best frozen coral mix is, that’s ideal

 

[saramachen]

I got all excited for a few minutes to order a cleaner shrimp and emerald crab LOL. I will wait

 

[brandon429]

Hey if it helps I honestly 100% think they’ll be fine now




the 18th assigned start date putting you well past day ten on a cycling chart (ammonia drop date) and well past the deposition time for this bacteria from dr reefs thread (about four days or less) was just to assign a hands off don’t look back easy insurance date.
given the details of this build and the surface area afforded by the rocks, and the incredibly low bioload of those animals, specific to this well fed cycle I claim those would work right now and the light feed you’d be providing them, never too much to cause a spike, hyperseats the rest of the bac just the same.


that reading isn’t going to spike with that tiny planned bioload I say add em honestly. We’d love to track the prediction outcome if you do, it’s not a rush you’re past a few markers and that reading is nh3 compliant above after your big water change anyway.


lastly, about ten thousand examples exist for people adding two clownfish plus that bottle bac on day one, no feed, and they are all fine. Your intended bioload is much less. For this one customization changeup, add in one ounce of liquid bottle bac to the setup along with the new additions it’ll work perfectly.


then from there on out cease ammonia concern, you can still test but not react to readings since after nh3 conversion we expected some color from the kits vs zero. Slowly work up for fish, you can add more interim stuff next week. Get the two starter animals if you’d like they’ll be fine.

 

[Rmckoy]

Hey neat detail to know I wonder if it’s supply chain issues
Perhaps simply not available due to sales territory


whatever the best frozen coral mix is, that’s ideal

I’ve contacted rod directly years ago …
At the time it wasn’t available here .
I might try to contact him again

 

[saramachen]

Hey neat detail to know I wonder if it’s supply chain issues
Perhaps simply not available due to sales territory


whatever the best frozen coral mix is, that’s ideal

I remember reading somewhere it was one of the ingredients our government wouldn't allow.

I believe LRS reef frenzy will be a good substitute.