TheWB’s IM Lagoon 50

[Pauliex77x]

Jealous that i wont be able to keep a Tang

 

[Pauliex77x]

Glad the algae is under control it seems. Is there anything you wish you would have or could have done to prevent it or is it just something that everyone has to deal with?

 

[TheWB]

What kind of tang do you have? I have the same tank. I want a tang but I thought the tank might be to small.

It’s a Tomini Tang. This tank is too small for any other Tang and most would argue that it’s also too small for this one. However, I needed a good algae grazer so I took a chance and so far the fish seems comfortable. It doesn’t display any aggression towards its tank mates and swims all over the tank picking at algae and hanging out with its best friend the wrasse. As long as it seems happy I’m going to stick with it. If it gets aggressive or shows signs of not being happy then it will be re-homed. So far, so good.

Do you have a build thread for your Lagoon? I’d love to check out what you’ve done with it. Thanks for checking out my tank.

 

[TheWB]

Great to hear. Glad it's getting better!

Thanks. How’s your tank doing?

 

[TheWB]

Glad it went ok during the power outage, that can be stressful for sure.

Yes, it went as well as could be expected but I feel unprepared. I really need to figure out a battery system to keep at least one pump running. I just haven’t made that a priority and I should.

 

[TheWB]

Glad the algae is under control it seems. Is there anything you wish you would have or could have done to prevent it or is it just something that everyone has to deal with?

I wish I would have done a big water change back in late May before the fish went in. I never really got my nitrates down after cycling. I have limited capacity to store mixed saltwater so the most I can change at one time is about 13 gallons. I really need to figure out some space in the garage to bump that up to 50 gallons of storage capability. That’s easier said than done considering how much stuff is in my garage. We used to have a bigger garage and we are paying the price for downsizing in that area, although my house is much nicer so the tradeoff is one that I’ll take. I also would have included herbivores in my initial stocking plan. I wasn’t going to do any herbivore fish and that wasn’t smart. Messing these things up is how you learn though, so I’m learning.

 

[Pauliex77x]

I wish I would have done a big water change back in late May before the fish went in. I never really got my nitrates down after cycling. I have limited capacity to store mixed saltwater so the most I can change at one time is about 13 gallons. I really need to figure out some space in the garage to bump that up to 50 gallons of storage capability. That’s easier said than done considering how much stuff is in my garage. We used to have a bigger garage and we are paying the price for downsizing in that area, although my house is much nicer so the tradeoff is one that I’ll take. I also would have included herbivores in my initial stocking plan. I wasn’t going to do any herbivore fish and that wasn’t smart. Messing these things up is how you learn though, so I’m learning.

Im actually gonna be making a mixing cart tomorrow for myself. The Herbivore stocking is something i may run with. I need to see what i can keep in a 25 though.

 

[intricate_reefer]

Thanks. How’s your tank doing?

Things are going good thanks for asking. I'll probably do an update here soon, might break out the camera tomorrow and get some pictures.

 

[W Haymaker]

Thanks. How’s your tank doing?

It's been good. I actually started cycling my 50 gallon down in the basement. My anemones are getting close to my clam and closing in on my corals so I want to get those out of there sometime this winter.

 

[TheWB]

It's been good. I actually started cycling my 50 gallon down in the basement. My anemones are getting close to my clam and closing in on my corals so I want to get those out of there sometime this winter.

Yeah, you’ve got a lot of nems. A bigger home seems like the way to go. Is it a Lagoon 50 or a different brand?

 

[W Haymaker]

Yeah, you’ve got a lot of nems. A bigger home seems like the way to go. Is it a Lagoon 50 or a different brand?
[/QUOTE

It's the same as yours. That's why I'm riding on your coattails here . You lead and I'll follow!

 

[TheWB]

Oh my goodness no, run while you still can. Or just do the opposite of what I do and you’ll be fine

 

[TheWB]

Some updated pics of my coral. Favia seems to be getting better after some tissue loss a while back. There used to be a few more Zoa polyps but it’s now settled on 6 large ones and while they look great the growth has stalled. The Acan has always looked good, has great extension of feeder tentacles, eats well whenever it’s offered food and is open and puffy most of the time. However, as good as it looks it hasn’t grown any new heads, it has two when I got it and it’s got the same two now, 6 months later. Basically I have three fairly nice looking corals that grow very slowly or not at all. In an effort to see if I can kickstart some growth I’ve started adding a small amount of Brightwell Reef Code A and B. Added 5 ml each last week after water change and 7.5 ml this week after water change. It’s early so no new growth although the Favia looks the best it’s looked in a while. My ph has also bumped up a little and no longer drops under 8 at night, it’s holding steady now around 8.1 so I think this small amount of dosing has been beneficial. Going to stick with the small weekly additions for a while and see how things go.

 

[TheWB]

I made a Fuge basket out of some egg crate and zip ties. The area in the back chambers of this tank for a refugium just isn’t very big and I wanted more real estate for growing some macro to help with nutrient export and to feed the Tang. I received an order of Red Ogo today from Algaebarn along with some pods and a free container of live nano brine shrimp. The basket is attached with some suction cups that came with the egg crate. I threw it all in and waited patiently for the Tang to start munching on the delicious algae. Hasn’t really happened yet, he’s going his thing busily picking at the rocks but when some Ogo floats by he just ignores it. The wrasse just ate some which I thought was weird.

I also took a couple of top down shots of the favia and acan with the light on. The light prevented a decent top down shot of the Zoas but I think I got a pretty good one of the Zoas with the favia in the background. I won’t be winning any photo contests but I liked the shot so there it is.

 

[Pauliex77x]

What makes you say that the 2nd chamber is too small for a fuge?

 

[TheWB]

What makes you say that the 2nd chamber is too small for a fuge?

I’m not using the 2nd chamber for the Fuge, it’s in the 1st chamber in an InTank caddy with the IM Chaetomax light and a couple of Marine pure cubes. My skimmer is in the 2nd chamber. The Fuge would be better in the 2nd or 4th chambers but the skimmer doesn’t fit anywhere else and the heater is in the 4th chamber. 5th chamber has the IM Aquashield UV unit. I’m out of room. Plus I liked the idea of the tang being able to go up and graze on whatever is sticking through the sides. This might turn out to be a failure but ya never know unless you try.

 

[Pauliex77x]

Ahhh IC. Thats alot of hardware lol. Only ask because im using the fuge basket in the second chamber along with a skimmer in the other second chamber. Wasnt going to bother filling it if it wasnt big enough to do the job.

 

[TheWB]

Ahhh IC. Thats alot of hardware lol. Only ask because im using the fuge basket in the second chamber along with a skimmer in the other second chamber. Wasnt going to bother filling it if it wasnt big enough to do the job.

Yes, I’ve got a lot of stuff in there . I don’t want the heater in the display or the return chamber so the Fuge had to be in the 1st chamber. I just decided to maximize the real estate between my two return nozzles. Hopefully it works and the macro grows, sucks up nutrients and provides some food for the tang. He’s nibbled on a few pieces of it now so maybe he’s warming up to it.

 

[TheWB]

Well, the Red gracilaria is pretty much toast. It didn’t even make it 24 hours before it all turned white and shriveled up. The Ulva seems to be fine in my new basket but the gracilaria was red when I went to bed that night and white when I woke up the next day. So far I’ve purchased 3 different kinds of macro from algaebarn and only 1 has grown. Ulva grows, Chaeto never grew and the gracilaria flamed out in record time. Now the gracilaria may not do well with Vibrant in the system so this is probably my fault but the Ulva has been fine so I thought I was probably good. I guess it’s just not meant to be. It’s too bad because the Tang was starting to eat the gracilaria. I did gather up the remaining pieces that still looked structurally ok and placed them in a different spot with less light. Who knows, maybe it will make a comeback.

Changed water and did some cleaning this morning. I tried to suction out as much of the green cyano as I could using a small pump that has a bottom inlet. It’s smaller and less powerful than the one I use for water changes. I put both pumps in the tank after I stirred everything up and blew off the rocks and let them run into a filter sock for about an hour. Then I took out 4.5 gallons and replaced with newly mixed water. It’s still pretty dirty in there, lots of detritus on the rocks but I’m making progress cleaning up from the bad algae breakout. Vibrant has done its job.

 

[intricate_reefer]

Well, the Red gracilaria is pretty much toast. It didn’t even make it 24 hours before it all turned white and shriveled up. The Ulva seems to be fine in my new basket but the gracilaria was red when I went to bed that night and white when I woke up the next day. So far I’ve purchased 3 different kinds of macro from algaebarn and only 1 has grown. Ulva grows, Chaeto never grew and the gracilaria flamed out in record time. Now the gracilaria may not do well with Vibrant in the system so this is probably my fault but the Ulva has been fine so I thought I was probably good. I guess it’s just not meant to be. It’s too bad because the Tang was starting to eat the gracilaria. I did gather up the remaining pieces that still looked structurally ok and placed them in a different spot with less light. Who knows, maybe it will make a comeback.

Changed water and did some cleaning this morning. I tried to suction out as much of the green cyano as I could using a small pump that has a bottom inlet. It’s smaller and less powerful than the one I use for water changes. I put both pumps in the tank after I stirred everything up and blew off the rocks and let them run into a filter sock for about an hour. Then I took out 4.5 gallons and replaced with newly mixed water. It’s still pretty dirty in there, lots of detritus on the rocks but I’m making progress cleaning up from the bad algae breakout. Vibrant has done its job.

Such a shame about the macro, I bet it the vibrant. Strange it doesn't seem to be affecting the Ulva as much. When used it, it killed my chaeto. What are you plans once the algae is finally completely gone, are you going to continue using the vibrant with just the maintenance dose of bi-monthly or monthly?