TheWB’s IM Lagoon 50

[TheWB]

When do the new lights come in? I bet you are pumped

Funny you should ask, I was trying to find that out yesterday. I sent an email to see if I could get an update. No response so far but it hasn’t even been 24 hrs. When I bought them I think there was a blurb on the website about shipping mid December but the mounts weren’t going to be available until the end of the month. There’s no info on the website or their Facebook page so I thought I’d ask. We’ll see. I knew it was going to be a little while when I placed the order. It will be nice to get them but I’m not impatient.......yet

 

[jcolliii]

Funny you should ask, I was trying to find that out yesterday. I sent an email to see if I could get an update. No response so far but it hasn’t even been 24 hrs. When I bought them I think there was a blurb on the website about shipping mid December but the mounts weren’t going to be available until the end of the month. There’s no info on the website or their Facebook page so I thought I’d ask. We’ll see. I knew it was going to be a little while when I placed the order. It will be nice to get them but I’m not impatient.......yet

Ohhhh.... I HATE waiting! It's the worst!

I ordered some new seats that I had made with the fabric and thread colors I wanted for my Mini in September. They are finally in production, but won't be shipping until some time at the end of December or early January. IT'S KILLING ME! AHHHHH!

Anyhow, hope you get your new lights soon. Waiting sucks though.

 

[TheWB]

Ohhhh.... I HATE waiting! It's the worst!

I ordered some new seats that I had made with the fabric and thread colors I wanted for my Mini in September. They are finally in production, but won't be shipping until some time at the end of December or early January. IT'S KILLING ME! AHHHHH!

Anyhow, hope you get your new lights soon. Waiting sucks though.

Waiting is kind of a bummer but what are a gonna do, they arrive when they arrive.
Which Mini do or have? I’m a pretty big guy and the Mini was one of the only small cars with good fuel economy that I’m able to fit in comfortably. I ended up going with a Civic instead back in 2015 for a bunch of reasons but I could own a Mini someday.

 

[jcolliii]

I have a 2003 Mini Cooper S supercharged that I bought brand new in 2003. I am slowly re-modding, restoring, and lightening up. I don't care for any of the non-supercharged models, and I really dislike the most recent gen - they have really departed from the initial ethos that generated all of the excitment around the cars. Now they are bloated SUV-like plastic-ey junk IMO. Love the gen 1 cars so much - I've never been attached to a car like I am to this Mini.

Seats were in pretty rough shape and weigh around 50lbs each. My new Braum (Advan models) are all a very dark grey with double blue stitching all around the outer edge. Both the new seats together should weigh in around the weight of one stock seat.

 

[TheWB]

I have a 2003 Mini Cooper S supercharged that I bought brand new in 2003. I am slowly re-modding, restoring, and lightening up. I don't care for any of the non-supercharged models, and I really dislike the most recent gen - they have really departed from the initial ethos that generated all of the excitment around the cars. Now they are bloated SUV-like plastic-ey junk IMO. Love the gen 1 cars so much - I've never been attached to a car like I am to this Mini.

Seats were in pretty rough shape and weigh around 50lbs each. My new Braum (Advan models) are all a very dark grey with double blue stitching all around the outer edge. Both the new seats together should weigh in around the weight of one stock seat.

Sounds like a fun project for you. Is the lightening up of the car so you can get more speed?

 

[jcolliii]

Not a big speed guy. More about quickness!

 

[TheWB]

Reefi website has been updated and the shipping date for the Uno is listed as late Dec now. I thought I’d read somewhere that the lights were shipping mid Dec and the Mounting Arms were going to be later in the month. Not a big deal as getting the lights first doesn’t really do me any good if I can’t get it mounted on the tank. I can wait.

12/20 update: Problems with production on the Uno according to an email I received. Now it’s looking like sometime in Jan for delivery. Oh well, they will be worth waiting for.

 

[TheWB]

Just was looking at the tank and I see a movement that seems different from what’s usually going on. My mystery emerald crabs both made an appearance for the first time in I don’t know how long. Most of the time I don’t even remember that I have them, they never come out when the lights are on. Nice to finally see them again. Now if only the two peppermint shrimp would put in an appearance. Apologies for the quality of the pics, the glass is kinda dirty. I threw in some coral and FTS as well just for the heck of it. My tank is teeming with life, some good, some not so good as the large amounts of algae and aiptasia in the following pics illustrate. Those peppermint shrimp really aren’t getting it done. Too cold to risk ordering berghia so I’m probably going to have to put up with them a while longer.

 

[intricate_reefer]

Looks good, your corals seem like that have been growing quite a bit. Question, why is the heater in the display and not in the back?

 

[TheWB]

Looks good, your corals seem like that have been growing quite a bit. Question, why is the heater in the display and not in the back?

Thanks, some of the Zoas have filled in quite nicely and so has the Duncan and the Acan to some extent. It had one growth spurt where it went from 2 to about 12 heads and then stopped. Other things like the Chalice, the Frogspawn, the Blastos and the Trumpet look good but don’t grow. I still have some issues with getting parameters in order, Nitrates are ok but Phosphates need some work. They aren’t ridiculous but I think the ratio is a little out of whack. I’m not really one to chase numbers plus I’m lazy and don’t want to test all the time so it is what it is right now. Several nice corals. More algae than I’d like and way too many aiptasia.
‘Speaking of lazy, that’s the answer to your question about the heater. I took it out of the back and put it in the display last time I cleaned out the back chambers. I didn't want to rush and I didn’t want a big temp drop. Just never put it back. Now my probe rack is in that chamber and I’m probably going to move a bag of matrix from the middle to that chamber as well so there’s really no room. I have one of the BRS titanium heaters with a controller that I have not gotten around to installing yet, trying to get some more time out of the Neotherm. Once I make the switch I’ll put the heating element in the middle chamber since its smaller and there will be enough room. I’ll park it down at the bottom by the return pump. There’s never enough room in an AIO for everything you want to fit.

 

[TheWB]

I saw a thread earlier today asking for coral growth posts from Jan to December. It got me thinking about my tanks progression this year as I get close to the 2 year anniversary of it getting wet. I have not looked back in the thread very much and frankly I’d forgotten what was going on a year ago. That’s probably because 2020 seems like it’s lasted forever. Turns out I was battling algae (big surprise) and had just added the Tomini Tang. There were only a couple of corals and they were not really growing. The tank looked like this last Jan 5th.

and now it looks like this.

By no means is this tank perfect or anywhere near as nice looking as so many that I see on the forum and follow regularly but it’s come a long way. Actually sorta looks like a reef now. A reef that still has way too much algae but I’m working on it.

 

[jcolliii]

I'd call that progress! Loking good!

 

[TheWB]

Let me know if the conchs touch the hair - I have a couple persistent patches I would like to get rid of.

The Conch climbed up on the rocks today to get at some algae. So there you go, it went after the hair algae.

 

[jcolliii]

Now that is an interesting result! Thanks!

 

[tnw50cal]

Those 2 Radion XR15 blues are working great on my IM50 lagoon. Still can't thank you enough for the suggestion as well as the picture of yours mounted.

 

[TheWB]

Those 2 Radion XR15 blues are working great on my IM50 lagoon. Still can't thank you enough for the suggestion as well as the picture of yours mounted.

No problem, I was happy to help. Our tanks really need the extra light or a longer fixture to be properly lit. I’m excited for my upgrade to the Reefi Uno’s but they are now delayed until sometime in January. Waiting is no fun but they were such a good deal on the pre-order and I’m sure they’ll be worth the wait.
I have not seen an update for your tank in a while, how’s it going?

 

[tnw50cal]

It's doing good. I think today is 2 months up and running. Bought a 1" baby Orchid Dottyback for it last weekend that's in QT now. should go good with the Biota baby Coral Beauty that's in there now. I've been packing it with SPS only(mostly Acros). Got the 2 Radions running at 45% above that they were burning the corals.
When you get your new lights up and running can you post some pictures?

 

[TheWB]

It's doing good. I think today is 2 months up and running. Bought a 1" baby Orchid Dottyback for it last weekend that's in QT now. should go good with the Biota baby Coral Beauty that's in there now. I've been packing it with SPS only(mostly Acros). Got the 2 Radions running at 45% above that they were burning the corals.
When you get your new lights up and running can you post some pictures?

There will be pictures once the new lights arrive for sure. I’d love to have a Coral Beauty but I’d be worried about nipping since all I have are Zoas and lps. Too risky plus my bioload probably shouldn’t get and heavier anyway. At least not until I get the algae under better control. Looking forward to seeing pics of your new guys once they’re in the tank.

 

[TheWB]

Update from Reefi, the Uno‘s and mounting arms will be loaded in a container on 1/15 and should arrive at Port of Seattle on 2/12. Distribution from there should be fairly quick I hope. Depends how fast they clear customs and Reefi starts sending out the orders. The waiting continues. My patience would be declining quickly if I hadn’t got the 20% preorder discount.

 

[Dj City]

The tank is looking GOOD!