New - IM Lagoon 25

[HairNutz]

New to the hobby. I ordered a bunch of parts after reading and watching hundreds of vids/forums.

IM Lagoon 25 + 2nd Custom Caddy
100 watt heater
Instant Ocean Salt
Refractometer
Saltwater Master Test Kit
Kessil Tuna Blue A80
2x Hydor Koralia Nano 240
RO/DI Buddy 50gph
25lbs Marco Rock
40lbs CaribSea Aragalive in Fiji Pink sand

I debated on 1 Hydor Nano 565 but was worried it would blow the sand around in a small tank.

I also debated on a Kessil 360x but decided if 1 A80 wasnt enough, Id get 2 A80's. I really like the wifi / controller aspect of the 360x so I may still return the A80.

I have most of the parts except the tank and sand. The tank will be here Monday but the sand is at least another week out.

Am I okay to just set everything up, including the rock and the water then just dump in the sand when it gets here?

Am I correct that I dont need to cure or do anything special with the Marco rock? I just unbox it, rinse it a bit then put it in the tank?

Id like to focus on corals but am not opposed to a few fish and/or clean up crew. Ive read so many different ways to startup a tank. If I can just add the rock and water, then the sand later, isnt the sand 'Live' sand so I can add ammonia and measure the levels without having to add nitrifying bacteria (isnt it alredy in the sand)? Im not in a huge rush but I want to make sure the cycle is going and Im not just waiting for nothing. Is there a time period where I will need to add something once it has cycled before the cycle 'dies'? Meaning, do I have a certain amount of time to add coral/fish once its cycled before the live bacterial is all gone?

Ive read varying opinions on protein skimmers. I dont have one. Im not even sure the filters I have are what I need.

Its seems there are a dozen ways to go about it. I guess I have a few questions and maybe need some reassurance I am on the right track.

Thanks!

 

[BeejReef]

Sounds like you've done the research!

If you're not putting anything alive in the tank prior to the sand, you should be able to add it after the fact. Your water probably will be crazy cloudy for a few days though. Still, a week of progress is a week of progress when you're grinding out your first cycle.

I won't bash any "live sand" claims, but the beginner forum is chock full of people doing their first cycle with all different combinations of dry/live sand and rocks. Live sand doesn't seem to be at all a game changer. You'll likely have a solid three to five weeks of fishless cycle to look forward to with dry rock, if that's the way you choose to proceed.

 

[IC3NIN3]

IM 25 is a great tank. I used Marco rocks on my IM 25 and I just rinsed them and threw them in.

 

[HairNutz]

Thanks for the replies.

Tank and rocks are here! Tank is on my stand w/10 gallons of water in it - nothing else.

Ive never used the RO Buddy before so I started filling 5 gallon jugs. I got about 2 - 2.5 gallons per hour out of it from a garden hose in about 55 degree weather.

Figured I may as well go ahead and do a leak test while I wait. Amazon Prime has some odd delivery times (1 week+) on things so, Im waiting on a few other things including coral cement.

I do have the salt and refractometer but I didnt consider I needed calibration fluid for it. That'll be here next week.

Should I just leave the RO/DI water in it or would it be okay to add salt? I have 10-15 gallons left to add so I have plenty of room for error but Im not sure if it matters that RO/DI water is just chillin in there or if I should go ahead and salt it up and kick off the cycle while I wait.

Worst case Ill drain it and make new water.

Side note, I almost bought the Fluval Flex 30 after having purchased the 9 gallon version for my daughter. The Fluval and the IM Lagoon were close in price (well, to be fair the Fluval was a full kit vs bare tank+pump). Its a great looking tank IMO but man, the glass on this IM Lagoon is literally 5 times thicker. Im not sure if the Flex 30 is thicker than the 9 but wow.

 

[HairNutz]

Well. Heres my 'Hold mah beer' moment.

Excuse the mess. Ignore the level of sand up front - I couldnt see to fill in the back area. I dumped 90% of it up front and blindly smoothed it a bit. I did place the Marco rock in it though you cant see it. If I do this again, Ill wait for the sand before the water. Most of it was excitement and impatience mixed with how long I thought it would take to make RO/DI in 50-60 degree weather. I ended up about 5 gallons every 2 - 2.5 hrs with a RO/DI Buddy 50gph. Got a spare 5 gallons ready though not sure if thats a great idea given I wont need to water change for 2 months. Trying to natural cycle with fish food.

I learned the reef putty stuff really isnt meant to be an adhesive and that it smells like butt. For days.

While usefulness seems debatable Im a nerd so I have a Seneye coming tomorrow. If nothing else it will be neat to see the cycle process. I have a Raspberry Pi setup already for a USB server. I also have some parts coming to measure temp myself with the Pi. After I ordered they Seneye, I found Robo-Tank which works w/Reef-Pi. I may look more into that but honestly for now its more interesting to me just for the cool factor / tech part.

Im still waiting on my API saltwater test kit to get here and my salinity calibration fluid. Pure RO/DI water tested as 1.0 so if my refractometer is anywhere accurate out of the box, Im at 1.024 at the moment. The only other test I have is KH which is 200 and if my math is right, is 11.2 dKH.

I do have both powerheads and the filtration pump running max. Doesnt seem like much flow and I have dead spots where just the flaked off marco debris is sitting. Still messing with moving pumps around.

I have only placed filter floss in both of the media holders in the rear - at top. Its small - maybe 3x3 rough guess?

I havent added any food yet. My test kit wont be here until Wed so Im waiting until then. My Seneye should have been soaked and ready to start at the same time Im able to use a test kit. I do have strips for my freshwater but I cant read those to save my life. Tetra 6 in 1. Ive used their app too and they are way off what I guesstimate the values to be. Dunno. Im kind of wondering if something has been brewing in there since Ive had unheated salt water only for about a week. Curious what tests will show. Kinda of mad I didnt just wait until I had everything here at one time but. Thats never been me. lol. Oh well, my best assumption is that there may have been something going on in the water since I filled it but since Ive only added sand and coral today, nothing much worth being concerned about. Given what Ive read about live sand too, probably still nothing in there but potentially bad things.

Sorry for the blog vs post style but - was literally a hold mah beer moment. I need another.

 

[HairNutz]

Opps. All that and forgot the pic.

 

[ISFNick]

New to the hobby. I ordered a bunch of parts after reading and watching hundreds of vids/forums.

IM Lagoon 25 + 2nd Custom Caddy
100 watt heater
Instant Ocean Salt
Refractometer
Saltwater Master Test Kit
Kessil Tuna Blue A80
2x Hydor Koralia Nano 240
RO/DI Buddy 50gph
25lbs Marco Rock
40lbs CaribSea Aragalive in Fiji Pink sand

I debated on 1 Hydor Nano 565 but was worried it would blow the sand around in a small tank.

I also debated on a Kessil 360x but decided if 1 A80 wasnt enough, Id get 2 A80's. I really like the wifi / controller aspect of the 360x so I may still return the A80.

I have most of the parts except the tank and sand. The tank will be here Monday but the sand is at least another week out.

Am I okay to just set everything up, including the rock and the water then just dump in the sand when it gets here?

Am I correct that I dont need to cure or do anything special with the Marco rock? I just unbox it, rinse it a bit then put it in the tank?

Id like to focus on corals but am not opposed to a few fish and/or clean up crew. Ive read so many different ways to startup a tank. If I can just add the rock and water, then the sand later, isnt the sand 'Live' sand so I can add ammonia and measure the levels without having to add nitrifying bacteria (isnt it alredy in the sand)? Im not in a huge rush but I want to make sure the cycle is going and Im not just waiting for nothing. Is there a time period where I will need to add something once it has cycled before the cycle 'dies'? Meaning, do I have a certain amount of time to add coral/fish once its cycled before the live bacterial is all gone?

Ive read varying opinions on protein skimmers. I dont have one. Im not even sure the filters I have are what I need.

Its seems there are a dozen ways to go about it. I guess I have a few questions and maybe need some reassurance I am on the right track.

Thanks!

Looks like you're off to a great start! I would love this tank for myself as a frag tank one day!

Most importantly, WELCOME TO R2R!!
Great to have you here bro!
Looking forward to how this tank turns out!
Post more pics when the sand clears up!

To start you off on the forum, I recommend you follow this link:

So you want a MY TANK THREAD badge???

Well, here's the way to get one! STEP 1: Start a tank thread in one of our member tank forums (CLICK HERE). *Btw, it doesn't have to be a new tank. It doesn't matter if your tank has been up for 40+ years, we would still love for you to start a tank thread where we can follow all the updates...

www.reef2reef.com

It'll show you how to get the Build Thread Contributor Badge under your name

Happy reefing!!!

 

[HairNutz]

Ty! I will check that out.

I also wanted to mention. This annoyed me - I should have known better but at the time, I didnt even consider it. I wanted to center my light. I lightly tightened the plastic set screws after eyeballing it. Measured it, centered it, moved it, had to do that 2 maybe 3 times for small changes. It wasnt until I removed the mount from the tank in order to secure the in-tank brace that I noticed even just lightly tightening the lights plastic screws against the back of the tank had ripped small holes in the black covering in the back.

I managed to be close enough eyeballing it that I wont see it if I keep 1 light. If I go to 2 lights, Ill need to deal with it. Most likely black tape would be just fine. Not really a big deal but I did want to mention it. If anyone is mounting a light or something else with screws that tighten up again the back, probably want to lay down some kind of layer of protection if you dont want to put pinholes in the back cover.