IM Lagoon 25 Filtration

[NateDnw]

Hey guys,

I have an Innovative Marine Lagoon 25 that is running some LPS and some SPS corals so far. Everything seems pretty happy but I am not super satisfied with the return chamber and filtration in the tank due to what feels like lower than normal water levels back there.

I am running two media baskets right now, one with just filter floss, and one with filter floss, some bio media, and chemi-pure blue. I also have a Tunze 9001 skimmer and a reactor that's running some biopellets. I have never been super satisfied with the water levels in the return chamber and have always wondered if i just have too much restricting the water flow which is keeping the water levels low. I have been considering several changes to the filtration chamber and am wondering your thoughts. Here are the scenarios ive been thinking about:

1) Remove 1 media basket and replace with reactor filled with 50/50 carbon/GFO.
2)Remove 1 media basket and replace with small fuge
3) Do both, and not have any media basket in the tank anymore

Thoughts?

 

[GoVols]

First off:
Welcome to Reef 2 Reef!!

My first thought is...
Do you run an Auto Water top off system that maintains an constant water height?

 

[NateDnw]

Thanks!

I do run an ATO on the system.

One of the issues that I first noticed was that it seemed like the water flow out of the return chamber was faster than the water flow into the return area. So when I turned off all the pumps, etc, the water level would even out and be right where I wanted it. When I turned the pumps back on, most of the water would rush out of my return chamber and into the display tank, causing it to nearly overflow. So I started experimenting by taking out one of the media baskets, and as soon as i did that, the water leveled out and everything was running much better. After some more experimentation, i only have taken most of the filter floss out of the media basket that had only filter floss in it to begin with. This has helped the situation out, but I'm still not super satisfied with it and have been wondering if the mechanical filtration is even completely necessary.

I've seen some bigger tanks run with little to no mechanical filtration and had other filtration taken care of through a fuge and reactors so i am wondering if that is a viable solution for a tank as small as a 25g. I also know that some people (Drewslagoon on IG, for example) are only running one media basket and have the empty media basket chamber with a reactor in it or a fuge in it. So i'm just trying to feel out some pros and cons of taking out the media baskets and if i need mechanical filtration at all, or if a fuge/carbon GFO reactor will serve that purpose as well.

 

[GoVols]

Have you ever seen this site?

https://intankaquatics.com/shop-by-tank/innovative-marine/fusion-lagoon-25/

 

[NateDnw]

I have seen that! I have the two media baskets, but am thinking of changing one out for the fuge or just moving a second reactor into one of the media basket chambers. Its not that the current system isnt working, im just wondering if there are better options out there that will provide filtration as well as more water flow (since the current filtration options that i have seem to restrict water flow to some extent).

 

[Nickcdll]

I'm having the same exact problem with my im nuvo 40. The water in the return chamber is about maybe 2 inches above the pump. I'm not prepared to change my setup but i am wondering is maybe the pump itself to powerful. it seems the way the baffles are setup in the back, with idk about yours but on the sides of the return area there is a 1 1/2 space at the bottom, then the glass starts.

 

[NateDnw]

Yeah I upgraded the pump on mine so I was wondering about that too. The thing is though if I remove one of the media baskets, everything levels out and I can have the pump on its highest setting without any change in the water level. This is why I'm thinking about removing one or both of them. I think for now what im going to do is remove one of them and move my biopellet reactor into that chamber and see if everything is just as happy as it is now.

 

[bigroost]

Mine is still in the box so I can't comment from experience but if removing one fixes the issue, why not either leave it out or loosen the filtration on one side so that it flows through easier. The tank should turn over enough that having mechanical filtration on only one side shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Twolabs443]

I have two IM tanks. Maybe i'm not understanding something here, but why don't you just add enough NSW to your tank with the return running to bring your water level to whatever height you want. then set your ATO at that point? The level drops when you turn on the return pump because it is pumping water essentially "up" into your display and it is coming back "down" via gravity through your filter chambers. The amount of media and filters you have will slow this return down causing more water to be held "up", and thus reduce the amount in the return chamber. The one thing you will notice with what I suggest is when you turn the return off water will drain back into the back chambers and likely settle at a level above the tops of the filter chambers. The issue this sometimes creates for me is it will cause my skimmer to go nuts. Hope that all makes sense.

 

[NateDnw]

Mine is still in the box so I can't comment from experience but if removing one fixes the issue, why not either leave it out or loosen the filtration on one side so that it flows through easier. The tank should turn over enough that having mechanical filtration on only one side shouldn't be an issue.

Yeah, thats exactly what i've done right now. I just took most of the filter floss out of one of the media baskets until the water was flowing at a rate that seemed reasonable. I think after work tonight, i will probably remove it entirely, as there is barely any filter floss in there at this point which seems like a waste of space, and move my biopellet reactor into that chamber.

 

[NateDnw]

I have two IM tanks. Maybe i'm not understanding something here, but why don't you just add enough NSW to your tank with the return running to bring your water level to whatever height you want. then set your ATO at that point? The level drops when you turn on the return pump because it is pumping water essentially "up" into your display and it is coming back "down" via gravity through your filter chambers. The amount of media and filters you have will slow this return down causing more water to be held "up", and thus reduce the amount in the return chamber. The one thing you will notice with what I suggest is when you turn the return off water will drain back into the back chambers and likely settle at a level above the tops of the filter chambers. The issue this sometimes creates for me is it will cause my skimmer to go nuts. Hope that all makes sense.

So my SW level is actually exactly where i want it. After doing some experimentation and research and talking with some other people in the tank, it seems as though the problem is that I had too much filter media in the baskets. It was at a point where the water being held up (so to speak) had such reduced flow that it was causing the water in my return chamber to flow into the tank faster than it was being returned to the chamber. Because it was a bit sporadic, it confused my ATO, which then dumped RO water into the tank until the tank started to overflow. With my particular setup, having super low water levels in the return section also caused several other problems, like the heater only had the tip in the water, so it was having problems heating the tank.

By removing most of the filter media from one of the media baskets, i have been able to get the water level to be much more consistent in the return chamber, which makes my whole system run much happier, including my skimmer. At this point, there is so little media in the media basket, that I think I will remove it entirely tonight and move some things around.

 

[Nickcdll]

I have the tunze 9004 on the far left side where one of the returns are, it was the only good skimmer i could find with decent ratings all over that would fit in the sump. i have a media basket on the right side return. i was thinking maybe just using the filter sock and getting rid of the media basket. i've got to change something, obviously the flow is being restricted to much, and just like the other guy said when you turn off the power all the water goes rushing back in the return and levels off. my only thinking is getting a pump with a lower return rate, is that better than getting rid of the filter floss and the water polishing floss/

 

[Nickcdll]

Just a question for everyone, did you pump produce a ton of microbubbles in the beginning. mine does, but i read this might be common in a tank thats cycling, and or a pump first starts operation ( heard both things)

 

[Twolabs443]

I have the tunze 9004 on the far left side where one of the returns are, it was the only good skimmer i could find with decent ratings all over that would fit in the sump. i have a media basket on the right side return. i was thinking maybe just using the filter sock and getting rid of the media basket. i've got to change something, obviously the flow is being restricted to much, and just like the other guy said when you turn off the power all the water goes rushing back in the return and levels off. my only thinking is getting a pump with a lower return rate, is that better than getting rid of the filter floss and the water polishing floss/

What are you using for a return pump? I have a Sicce Syncra Silent 3.0 rated for 714 gpm with two IM spin stream nozzles on my IM Lagoon 50. I run a skimmer in the back right, and media caddy fuge in the back left with filter floss on top, plus marine pure spheres and media bags in both secondary chambers. Water level rises maybe 2" when I shut the return off. How high is the water level in your display when the pump is on?

 

[Twolabs443]

Just a question for everyone, did you pump produce a ton of microbubbles in the beginning. mine does, but i read this might be common in a tank thats cycling, and or a pump first starts operation ( heard both things)

I have a 9004 on one of my tanks. I didn't have much of a problem with micro bubbles even right out of the box. It is a fairly common problem with skimmers though during the break in period. The IM Ghost skimmer I have was absolutely terrible with it.

 

[Nickcdll]

I'm using (for now) the stock pump that came with the tank. It's definitely the pump causing the problem with the microbubbles, beacuse that was all i had on at first and it's done it since the beginning. Today i'm going to try to experiment and take some things out just to see. From the look of it ( super nice tank, the lagoon 50 btw) your baffles are set up a little different. I never went with the ghost skimmer, instead i got the tunze 8004 and set it up on the far right side where one of the, for lack of a better term, where one of the holes are that the water pours into the sump. On the left side i have a media basket, but i tried removing that and still no diffrence. The water in my tank is about a inch and half from the top with the pump on.

 

[Twolabs443]

I am surprised the stock pump would have too high of GPM to be causing you these kind of issues. If anything folks usually replace the stock return pump early on in favor of something with a higher flow. Display water level sounds right where it should be so I don't think the pump is the issue or flow out of your display. Have you checked to be sure there isn't anything blocking off the lower section under the baffles where water flows down from the primary chambers into the secondary and then up and over into the return? If this was the case though you would likely see water going over the top of the first chamber. Last question is how do you set you water levels? If you fill the tank and rear sump to the levels you wanted and then started the pump you would indeed see a very low level in the return area. As I mentioned this is normal and caused by the pump essentially "holding" water up in the display and it flow back into the rear, through your media/filters using gravity. Although the tank is AIO for all intents and purposes the rear section is just a really small sump.

It's the skimmer pump causing the bubbles right? If that continues to be an issue you might contact Tunze to have them try and help troubleshoot the problem. You may have a defective unit perhaps. When I installed my 9004 it honestly barely produced any micro bubbles at all and started producing skimmate immediately.

Thanks, the The IM 50 is a great tank. I lucked into it second hand for $600. Tank, Stand, Hydra LED, In Tank Media baskets, skimmer, power heads, upgraded return. I already had another tank, but couldn't resist!

 

[drewslagoon]

Mine is still in the box so I can't comment from experience but if removing one fixes the issue, why not either leave it out or loosen the filtration on one side so that it flows through easier. The tank should turn over enough that having mechanical filtration on only one side shouldn't be an issue.

I second that, I found that using less filter material worked best, use very porous filter floss just enough to catch larger particulates before they reach your skimmer/pumps etc. not sure if you've seen how I use my filter floss. I use two surface skimmers on both inlet sides, I put a very small piece of filter floss in both surface skimmers, I have found that even this small portion of filter material does the trick for our IM tanks. here is a link to them, http://www.aquacave.com/modular-pre-skimmer-for-12-gal-nano-cube-by-jbj.html