Yassuo's Intern's 25 Fusion Lagoon Build

[Yassuo'sIntern]

Hey R2R!

I'm excited to begin documentation of my 25 gallon Innovative Marine fusion lagoon (All in One)

It's not my first time here on R2R, I've been in a bit of a slump with the hobby over the past few months, and I figured, new start, new tank, new account!

So a little background to get out of the way, I currently have a 40 breeder reef which has been set up for a little over a year, unfortunately due to tank neglect it doesn't look great right now.
I had a Jebao return pump failure which has lead me to purchase this new lagoon tank. Currently the 40breeder is without filtration so I was in a rush to get the 25.
The tank arrived this morning, but I had to get to college so I didn't have time to bring it in the house, but I'll be posting pictures over the next coming days.
Let's get this show on the road

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Looking forward to seeing the new build.

 

[Yassuo'sIntern]

Excuse me for being MIA, I had an unexpectedly busy weekend and wasn't able to get much work done except for some tank shopping.

So here's a picture of the current 40 gallon, as I mentioned it had been neglected for a little while, hence the mess. I do not want to scrape the algae off the glass as that is the best source of filtration for this tank at the moment.

The plan is to drain about 10 gallons from this tank, and put in gallons of fresh salt water for the new lagoon, which will be sitting in the same spot which this one is.
I'll be using the same sand (not as much), and the same rocks as they've been seeded for quite some time now.
Due to a NOPOX overdose there's a lot of red slime algae on the rocks, which I'll scrape off before escaping the new tank.

I'm aware things are currently not looking very good, but I'm up for the challenge of restoring this system in the new lagoon
You'll also notice that one of my blackbox lights is a different color, unfortunately the blue diodes stopped working on it, the good news is I'll only need one light fixture for the lagoon

 

[Yassuo'sIntern]

Looking forward to seeing the new build.

Thank you!

 

[Yassuo'sIntern]

Hey y'all, so a quick update

If you haven't heard, the Pacific Gas and Electric company (PGnE) has officially cut power to 800,000 residents in California starting Wednesday at midnight. Currently in the Bay wind is extremely high, and there is a low humidity level. In the past PGnE power lines have been blamed for fires, so as a precaution they have cut power to many residents, unfortunately, including me (as of last night around 11:45 pm). They gave us this warning on Tuesday and by the time I could react all the generators in nearby Costco stores were sold out.

So my tank has been without power for a while now, I won't be home for another 2 hours, I'll check up on everything when I get home.
I feel terrible I should have reacted sooner, currently I have two fish (damsels).
I'm not worried about the water temp as it is still warm in the Bay (it's been around 80 for the past three days)
I am worried about water flow though, I'm certain I'll be losing some coral pieces fingers crossed I don't lose everything

PGnE has been incredibly vague about when they will restore power for our county, according to their twitter they have begun restoring power in certain counties but it is a lengthy process as they have to send crews to visually inspect each power line for damage.

Will update on the tank situation when I get home.

 

[Yassuo'sIntern]

Update: Power came back on Thursday night, all fish (I only have two) and corals made it thankfully!
After that sigh of relief I began tearing down the 40B

I first started by giving the pumps a MUCH needed vinegar solution soak. The two pumps are a Jebao DC RW-4 and a Hydor Koralia rated for 1400 gph.

I moved the coral into a temporary housing situation while I completed tear down of the system, I later put in the powerhead after the vinegar soak.

 

[Yassuo'sIntern]

This is the 40B shortly after take down. Yikes. It's pretty easy to see why people go bare bottom, look at all that gunk!

Here's me spray painting cinder blocks for the stand.

I should explain why I'm using cinder blocks for my stand
1) my tank is in my garage, therefore it doesn't need to be super refined/pretty, once the tank gets going the focus is going to be on what's in the tank, not what the tank is sitting on
2) I found that spray painting cinder blocks leads to a cool texture gradient (some of the paint seeps into the pores)

Here's the completed stand, I'm overall happy with the result considering the price. The stand is 5 cinder blocks high, each cinder block is 8 inches tall, so 40 inches in height. The cinder blocks are 16 inches in depth, which isn't enough to cover the depth of the tank (19 inches), so I used two sets of cinder blocks. In the front I used 8x8x16 blocks, and stacked right behind it are 8x8x8 blocks. So 24 inches of depth in total. At the very top, just to add a little additional height I added two 2 foot long wood planks (also spray painted black).
A challenge with this stand was getting it even, cinder blocks aren't even from the get go, so some shimming work was required.

 

[Yassuo'sIntern]

Anyway with that of the way, it's time to focus on the main attraction!

Here's the tank in its box

First impressions: I'm loving the form factor! Having a small but deep tank is exactly what I like

 

[Yassuo'sIntern]

First piece new equipment needed for this tank was a new heater, the Eheim Heater I was using on my 40B was far too large for this system so I ordered in a new one. Eheim Jager's in my opinion are some of the best heater's you can get in the reefing hobby today.

 

[Yassuo'sIntern]

After the stand was set up, it was time to get the tank filled with sand, as well as aquascaping it. I probably should have leak tested the tank before beginning work on it, however I was in a rush to get the livestock in as they had undergone so much stress.

Here's a picture of the Aquascape completed in the first go. I wanted to make sure I have a central arch as well as several overhangs, while maintaining open space, which I was able to do. All of the structures are held together freely, except for two overhangs which I super glued in place.
I will admit, it is quite strange to see a small number of rocks take up so much space, as my previous tanks were 40, 120, and 90 gallons.
All in all I'm pleased with this scape and I do not see myself needing to change it.

Here are side views from each side

 

[Yassuo'sIntern]

I know I've posted a lot, but here's a picture of the tank all setup and running

Now you'll notice the Blackbox light is totally wonky, and that's because its only going to be on there for there for another two days.
AI recently released a new wave of lights to top their current lineup, and as a result BRS had a clearance sale to wipe current inventory. I was able to snag a AI Prime HD for 167 dollars, which to me, Is thrilling!
This will be my first "high end" light, I'm excited to use the features to control each channel and what not.

I currently most of the corals in the sand bed because I want to toy with the new light first.
You'll also notice there's a bag floating in there, I decided to go to the LFS to get a fish, and walked out with a small red goniopora frag.
Well that's all for now, I'll be posting equipment, full stock list, and my plans for the tank later