The Warelock’s Tank

[The Warelock]

Hi R2R. I think my first build thread post was removed/deleted? :(

Anyways, here’s my first aquarium. It’s a 25 gal lagoon tank. It’s been running ~6 months-ish.

I watched YouTube BRS video series to learn how to start a tank, posted on reddit to get feedback, and of course prefixed any google searches with “reef2reef” lol! Goal is/was to have a small marine reef tank that doesn’t cost me too much time, money, and maintenance. Decided to stick with soft corals and inverts.

Here’s a nice picture I took by accident when my BTA decided to hide and this was the only angle I could see it from:

Here’s what it looks like when the BTA is front and center:

Here’s what it looks like when BTA was hiding:

Here’s my tank stand. Used 8020 15 series with basic anchors and height adjustable wheels to keep everything level. The slotted aluminum is great for hiding wires, there’s only one wire visible (power strip cable) and even that could be hidden better with an extension cord. The random bucket is just being used as an ATO reservoir.

Tank is very low maintenance. I do a small weekly water change about 3-5 gallons depending on if I need to vacuum any spots. After the water change I will add a couple capfuls of nitrates and chaetogro and swap out the filter fleece I cut from a large roll. And that’s basically it for the week. No skimmer/doser/pumps/uv/scrubbers/etc. just filter fleece. If I do put my hands in the tank to add/remove/change anything, then I’ll put a small bag of carbon in the tank for a week to make sure chemical warfare isn’t an issue. I don’t have any fish. It’s still a new tank and I swapped out one large rock with a new piece so phosphate levels can still do whacky things. If they get too low I will spot feed some reefroids. Otherwise I don’t feed anything regularly. Also have trochus snails in the display and a mexican turbo snail in the rear chamber that eats any random little pieces of macroalgae that may get to the return pump filter.

Happy to answer any questions. Also happy to receive any criticism or concerns to be aware of.

 

[Tahoe61]

That's wonderful!

Is it the IM 25 gallon lagoon?
What lighting are you using?
Is the roller fleece the IM drop in?

My IM nano is on wheels as well. I love being able to move the tank around as needed.

 

[The Warelock]

That's wonderful!

Is it the IM 25 gallon lagoon?
What lighting are you using?
Is the roller fleece the IM drop in?

My IM nano is on wheels as well. I love being able to move the tank around as needed.

Yes it’s an IM 25 lagoon. Using AI Prime light. No roller fleece, I use the IM media caddy and cut squares from a large roll of filter fleece to put at the top of the caddy. Yes the wheels were good for the setup and I haven’t had to move it yet but nice to have the option!

 

[The Warelock]

Mushroom corner, it appears to be maybe splitting right now, it has gotten really flat and huge and there’s a hole opening up!

Bubble-tip anemone, it has walked around the rock island but never crossed sand (hopefully never will!)

 

[The Warelock]

As I keep some macroalgae freely floating in my tank, I had to take my mexican turbo snail out of my display area. While looking to rehome the snail, I decided to place it in my back chambers. This turned out to be an amazing placement and my turbo snail now lives in my back chambers permanently.

Even though my macroalgae is no longer dying and shedding like a golden retriever in summer, there are still bits of it that may be in my water column (I suspect the hermit crab likes to rip it up sometimes). The turbo snail keeps my back chambers clean and gets the occasional macroalgae snack, with the added bonus of keeping this debris out of my return pump filter :)

 

[kevgib67]

Wow, looks great, well done!

 

[twentyleagues]

Nice tank!

 

[The Warelock]

I hate my tank, I’m about to do something drastic…

 

[The Warelock]

All my zoas got wiped out by spiders, my nem somehow committed sudoku in the tiny overflow grate? macroalgae is a PITA.

Just doing acans, mushrooms, zoas, and a couple of frogspawn. just pieces I really like. I don’t care if it takes years to grow them out. I’m only keeping what I really like even if my tank looks like garbage for years until they grow out.

I’m getting rid of all the ugly rocks I used because they were free. I’m gonna do a couple of nice rocks, maybe a little arch or something. MINIMAL ROCK. AND I DONT LIKE SAND ANYMORE, it just makes the light reflect everywhere and look spastic.

CHANGE IS COMING. I AM NOT HAPPY AND HOPE BIG CHANGE WILL HELP ME FEEL SOMETHING. I KNOW THIS IS PROBABLY NOT HEALTHY BUT THIS IS WHERE I AM.

 

[The Warelock]

IM DOING IT. I WENT TO LOCAL STORE AND GOT A BAG OF REBORN MEDIA TO USE AS SUBSTRATE. I GOT A BUCKET AND THREW IN A FEW CUPS OF THE SAND FROM MY TANK AND DUMPED THE BAG OF REBORN IN THERE TOO. I PROBABLY SHOULDVE RINSED THE REBORN BECAUSE THE WATER IS ALL GREY AND CLOUDY NOW. OH WELL I KEEP MOVING FORWARD. I DONT HAVE ANY STARTER BACTERIA SO HOPING THE ESTABLISHED SAND WILL SEED THE REBORN MEDIA BUT I ALSO DUMPED A BUNCH OF DR TIMS ECO-SOMETHING BACTERIA IN THE HUCKRT BECAUSE THATS ALL I HAD. ONWARD!

 

[The Warelock]

HOW LONG SHOULD I LET THIS STUFF SIT IN THE BUCKET BEFORE USING? LIKE A WEEK? TWO WEEKS? I RHINK IM GOING TO REPLACE HALF MY SANDBED WITH THIS REBORN MEDIA. I AM GOING TO FIND A NICE ROCK TO ADD TO THE BUCKET IN THE NEXT DAY OR TWO TOO. GOING TO REPLACE LIKE 3/4 OF MY ROCK AND HALF MY SAND. THIS WONT CAUSE A MINI CYCLE RIGHT?

 

[The Warelock]

THE CLOUDINESS DISSIPATED AND HALF RHE BUCKET IS FILLED WITH REBORN CORAL SKELETON AND I HONESTLY DONT THINK ANY PUMP COULD PROPERLY CIRCULATE FLOW AMONGST THAT THICKNESS. DO I JUST LEAVE EVERYTHJNG TO SIT IN THE BUCKET AS IS? WHO KNOWS. I THINK I WILL GIVE IT A WEEK AND JUST ADD IT TO THE TANK AND PRAY THERES NO MINI CYCLE OR ANYTHING CRAZY. I DONT HAVE FISH ANYWAYS SO EVEN A MINI CYCLE WOULDNT HURT MY LPS AND SHROOMS RIGHT? I THREW ANOTHER COUPLE OF CUPS OF TANK SAND ON TOP IN CASE IT HELPS.

 

[The Warelock]

THE BUCKET SMELLS RANK, I SHOULDVE RINSED THE REBORN! OH WELL, STILL MOVING FORWARD. I DONT THINK THE WATER IS CIRCULATING IN ANY WAY BUT WHAT CAN I DO? THERES TANK SAND ON BOTTOM AND TOP SO HOPEFULLY ITS DOING SOMETHING GOOD. ILL GIVE IT TWO WEEKS I THINK, MAYBE DO A FULL WATER CHANGE AFTER A WEEK TO RINSE IT OUT. IF I LEAVE HALF MY SAND AND ONE BIG ROCK THAT SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO KEEP THE TANK STABLE AND HELP POOPULATE BACTERIA ON ALL OF THIS CORAL RUBBLE I THINK BUT THEN AGAIN I DONT KNOW WHAT IM DOING.

 

[The Warelock]

ITS STARTING TO FEEL REAL. ALL CORALS REMOVED FROM ROCKS, SOMEHOW MY FRAGRACK HAD THESE EXTRA PIECES TO EXTEND IT AND ALLOW ME TO PUT A LOT OF PIECES ON IT, THE REST I TRIED TO MOVE TO ONE SIDE WITHOUT TOUCHING, MOVING ALL THE SAND TO ONE SIDE. WILL SIPHON THE SAND AND DECIDE HOW MUCH TO REMOVE TOMORROW, AND BEGIN ADDING THE REBORN SUBSTRATE THATS BEEN SOAKING FOR LIKE 2 DAYS NOW. I PROBABLY SHOULD LET THE REBORN SOAK FOR LIKE MONTHS? BUT I STILL HAVE ONE LARGE ESTABLISHED ROCK AND WILL LEAVE ABOUT HALF THE SAND SO I DONT THINK THERE WILL BE ANY ISSUES AS LONG AS I MONITOR PARAMETERS A BIT MORE CLOSELY OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS? ANYONE KNOW WHAT I CAN EXPECT? WILL REBORN MEDIA BIND PHOSPHATES? I PLAN TO NOT FEED THE CORALS ANYTHING UNTIL I HAVE AN IDEA OF WHATS HAPPENING AFTER ADDING ALL THE NEW STUFF. ITS JUST REBORN SUBSTRATE + ONE SMALL ARCH DRY ROCK I FOUND AND THREW INTO THE BUCKET TO SOAK FOR A COUPLE DAYS WITH THE REBORN.

MAYBE DOCUMSNTING THIS WILL HELP SOMEONE ELSE WHO FREAKS OUT AND DECIDES TO DO SOMETHJNG SIMILAR IN THE FUTURE.

 

[The Warelock]

OK PANIC IS KIND OF SETTING IN BECAUSE REALIZING DIATOMS WILL PROBABLY BE A THING AGAIN AFTER INTRODUCING A NEW DRY ROCK AND THE CORAL SUBSTRATE. I THINK IM JUST GOING TO GET IT OVER WITH TONIGHT. GET ALL THE ACANS GLUED TO THE NEW ROCK AND JUST THROW MY SHROOMS OVER THE NEW REBORN SUBSTRATE. I DONT EVEN KNOW IF I HAVE ENOUGH OF THE NEW SUBSTRATE, I GOT ONE BAG. BIGGEST IMMEDIATE CONCERN WILL BE FIGURING OUT HOW TO GLUE ALL THE ACANS TO THE NEW ROCK WITHOUT KEEPING EVERYTHING OUT OF THE WATER FOR TOO LONG. THE EPOXY I NORMALLY USE DRIES UP HARD PRETTY QUICK. MAYBE ILL DO LIKE THREE AT A TIME AND THEN GIVE THEM LIKE 30 MINS BAXK IN THE WATER BEFORE THE NEXT THREE?

 

[The Warelock]

ILL PROBABLY SCRUB ALL THE TROCHUS SNAIL SHELLS AND GIVE THEM A LITTLE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE BRUSHING SO THAT RANDOM HAIR ALGAE DOESNT JUMP TO THE NEW ROCK/SUBSTRATE TOO. ITS THE ONLY HAIR ALGAE IN MY TANK.

 

[The Warelock]

I ADDED THE NEW ARCH ROCK I FOUND AND GLUED MOST OF MY ACAN PIECES TO IT AND HAVE BEGIN ADDING THE REBORN SUBSTRATE AND PLACING MY SHROOMS ON IT. OG BOUNCE IS ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL ROCK I AM KEEPING I WILL TRY TO REMOVE IT LATER THIS EVENING BECAUSE I JUST WANT THIS OVER WITH SO I CAN FOCUS ON OTHER THINGS AND MONITORING PARAMETERS AFTER THIS SHOCK HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE TANK. ALSO I HAD A HUGE YUMA THAT I MISSING??? I NEED TO SCRUB THE TROCHUS SHELLS TOO.

 

[The Warelock]

DONT KNOW HOW DEEP THE REBORN SUBSTRATE SHOULD BE SO IM KEEPING IT TO JUST ONE LAYER FOR NOW, FIGURE MKRE CAN BE ADDED LATER TO CREATE MORE DEPTH OR BUILD UP CERTAIN AREAS TO MANIPULATE FLOW OR WHATEVER.

 

[The Warelock]

I WENT WITH A DEEPER LAYER! I HAVE NOW REPLACED ABOUT HALF THE SAND WITH REBORN THAT WAS BEEN SOAKING IN A BUCKET FOR 2-3 DAYS. ADDED ONE NEW DRY NANO ARCH ROCK AND GLUED MOST OF MY ACAN PIECES TO IT AND I DONT KNOW HOW ITS EVEN GOING TO LOOK WHEN IT GROWS OUT MORE BECAUSE THE ROCK IS ALL WEIRD AND NOT FLAT SO ACANS PROBABLY GONNA STALL GROSTH AT SOME POINT. I GUESS WE’LL SEE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN TWO YEARS MAYBE OR HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES TO GROW OUT. IM TRYING TO GO UKTRA MINIMALIST SO I HAVE SELARSTED OUT ALL THE CORAL PIECES I WANT TO JUST GET RID OF. TRIED TO LIST THEM IN R2B MARKETPLACE ONCE AND DIDNT GET ANY INTEREST, MAYBE ILL JUST LIST THEM AT 50% OF WHAT I DID BEFORE. I DONT KNOW. HOPING IVE LEFT ENOUGH OF THE SAND AND THE ONE EXISTING IS ENLUGH TO SEED ALL THE NEW MEDIA AND THE NEW ARCH ROCK TO AVOID GOING THROUGH TOO KUCH KF AN UGLY PHASE. WE WILL SEE.

 

[The Warelock]

I LIKE HOW THE FLOOR IS TURNING INTO A GIANT SHROOM BOX THOUGH MY BIG YUMA IS STILL MISSING?! I THINK HES INSIDE MY ROCK?? OG DIDNT WANT TO LET GO OF THE ROCK LAST NIGHT, WILL TRY TO REMOVE AGAIN THIS EVENING. THEN A SMALL WATER CHANGE AND LET THE TANK FINALLY REST AND SETTLE WITHOUT DISTURBANCE FROM MY MANIA.