IM 25g AIO build
 

Starting a build thread for my new(to me) IM 25g lagoon AIO tank. I'm going to use this tank as a temp home for my inhabitants of my 75 gallon during my move in October. Unless this tank goes well then I might keep it running. So this will be a 2 for 1. Build thread and moving thread.

The plan is to setup the 25g at the new place in kelowna then move fish and corals separately so I have a tank setup and ready to go when I get there.

Since my 75 gallon hasn't been a big success I won't have too much to move over. Hopefully reef tank number 2 will be a better outcome.

What's going in the 25g
About 10 frags and a frogspawn colony
2 clowns
1 royal Gramma
1 yellow tang. Honestly concerned how the tang will do. Hoping it's ok in the small tank for awhile, but I might have to re-home it. :(

Here's what came with the tank:
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I still need to get a power head, ato and a top of some sort to keep fish in and cats out. Anyone have some good recommendations for nano ato and power head?

Tonight I glued together my aquascape using milliput I got from j&l. Works really well and much better than the last epoxy I tried. Once they are done drying I'm going to put the rocks in a Rubbermaid and start building up some bacteria on them so they are ready for the move.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...dca9f50c79.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9d78372a5d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...08002df23c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1fa217b56d.jpg

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Hope things go well for you! Good luck :biggrin:

Tagging along as I also have the same tank! I love it.

Careful with the light you have. You will easily provide to much with the corals being that high so you should make sure you keep the intensity down with the frogspawns. I have the AI 26HD over mine and its running at 30% and still seems to be almost too much for my hammer and torch. Just play around with it and see how things work for you.

I would personally advise against a tang in the tank you have. I would love a tang, just not enough swimming room for them. Perhaps if you went with a baby tang (really small) that might work for a while until it outgrew the tank?

Good to know about the lights. As I was doing the rock scape I was thinking I really hope this isn't too tall... I guess we will find out.


Ya I'm on the fence about the tang. It's not near full grown so I am hoping it will be fine in there until I get the 75 gallon moved and setup again. If it's stressed then I will have to rehome it.


What do you use for ATO and powerhead in your tank. There really isn't much room in the back of the tank. My ATK, which I use on the 75 gallon wouldn't fit in there.

I got a IM 25 lagoon top that i no longer need.
Let me know if you want it. Not the greatest shape but will do the trick. Also have the clip for that too.

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I would be interested. How much are you asking, have any pics of it?

Got the rocks into a container today. Added some salt and a cube of mysis to start the cycle.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2c29a99474.jpg

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Not too much to update on with the build. Picked up some new toys for the tank though. 

And the rocks have ammonia!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4221925796.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8ae4d322fe.jpg

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Cycle is coming along. Ammonia and nitrites now. The plan is to keep feeding the rocks until the move.

We now know where we will be moving to so I can finally start to plan the logistics of getting everything there alive.

I am thinking corals in one bucket and fish, snails and urchin in another. Would it be a good idea to bag the corals separately instead of having them all in one bucket moving around?

Would the coral bucket need an airstone or just a heater?

As for things that I need for the tank, I still need a good ato reservoir and a new ro/di unit. Anyone have any recommendations for a good ro/di unit that would be good with the harder water in kelowna? The current unit I have I got for free and the cartridges are $250 each to replace.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...79aca7b242.jpg

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Corals will be stressed no matter the move. The biggest thing is your corals will be slamming around in to one another. When I did my move I utilized a variety of buckets (5g pails and placed corals in a bunch of them. Once at my new house I transferred everything in to a Rubbermaid / stock tank. Spread everything out with a heater and power head. Didn’t lose a fish or coral, so I considered that a successful move. Your bound to break a few branches on the sps... frags :smile:

Ya I am a little worried about corals hitting each other. My thinking was fill a bucket with some tank water, put a battery powered heater in there and add some water to some ziplock bags and each coral gets their own ziplock bag and then they float in the heated bucket.


I should have this tank setup at the new place all ready to go so all fish and corals will go directly to this tank when they get there.

So I've started playing around with my radio xr30pro. Man that is a learning curve on how to program that thing. I am thinking of using one of the coral lab presets and adding a blue light period in the morning and at night. Anyone know the difference between brightness and intensity?

Finally figuring out my plan for moving everything. I think I will setup this tank at my grandparents house next weekend. Then the weekend after bring the coral and the fish. Then we move to our new place on the 5th. And finally go pickup the tank and move everything to the new place. Hopefully everything makes it alive through a few moves. My grandparents place is only 30 ish mins away from our new place. So the second move shouldn't be too bad... I hope.

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So, changed my moving plans once again. Getting my dad to help out. So far he's excited about it so that's a good thing.

Sept 28th I will take the tank, water and rocks to my grandparents house
Oct 1st my dad will pick up the tank and set it up at the new place.
Oct 3rd or 4th Dad will take the fish and coral from our place to our new place. 4-5 hour trip.

The good part about this plan is I don't have to move things twice. The bad part is I won't be around until later on the 5th if something goes wrong.

My questions are what's the best way of transporting and keeping the cycled rock until the new tank is setup? Just keep it damp while transporting and then setup a rubbermaid again until the tank is setup?

On the weekend I picked up a batter powered air pump and some heating pads the LFS had. They are called uni heat. Anyone used anything like that before? I'm hoping I can tape one to the side of each 5 gallon bucket and it will keep the water warm enough for the fish and coral.

The cycle of the rocks is coming along. Have nitrites and nitrates now!

Pick up a Seachem Ammo Alert from J&L (currently out of stock) and a bottle of Seachem Stability or a similar bacterial starter. Plus a bottle of ammonia locker such as Seachem AmGuard.
You are going to have a cycle, and just getting the new tank up and running won't be able to deal with supporting your fish.
Get the Stability happening right away when you place the first tank move and use a pump, heater, some kind of filter and preferrably disturb the surface for oxygenation.
This will help deal with the bacterial loss during the first move. The bacterial starter will start to process the ammonia needed to kick-start the cycle.
If you prefer, you can add liquid ammonia, but this can take WEEKS.

Dad makes the 2nd tank move keep up the Stability dosing and pump(s) heater(s) for bacterial generation.

After the final transfer, test daily(or multiple times/day) for ammonia.
If NH3 is present in too high of a concentration(keep below 0.02PPM), perform large(dependant on reading) water changes, or use a binder such as recommended above(AmGuard) and test NO2 and NO3.
If either rises above acceptable limits(trace NO2 and over 10 NO3) perform water changes accordingly. 20-50 or even 100%
Keep dosing bacterial supplement for at least 1 week and watch NH3, NO2 and NO3. If any rises above acceptable limits perform large water changes as required.

Ideally, you want NH3 to be near undetectable, NO2 very low/not detectable, and NO3 below 10. If NO3 rises above 50PPM, perform a HUGH/75-100% waterchange as this can become toxic to fish.
Keep up water changes/low feedings until NH3 stops showing on tests, NO2 stops showing on tests, and NH3 is below 2-5ppm.

This will take upwards of 2 months, but will show you have finished your new cycle.

That's a good idea. I have one of those ammonia badges that I use for my QT tank. Good call on setting that up on the new tank!

I have the new rocks cycling in an attempt to minimize the cycle with the new tank. I also have a sponge from a HOB filter that has been sitting in the sump for a few months. I was going to put that in the bucket with the fish and then add it to the new tank as well.

I will be sure to buy some stability and AMGuard.

One of my concerns is making new water. I have a new RO/di Unit on order, but it might not be setup until after we move all our stuff there.

Picked up some more supplies for the move the other day. Got the stability and amguard. I also have some aquaforest life bio fill that came with the tank. Anyone used that? Does it actually help with the cycle?

Also picked up two bags of sand. I'm trying two different types of sand as something new!

What I do need to figure out is a game plan for my dad when he is taking the fish and coral to Kelowna for me. So far the plan is that the tank will be setup at the new place on the 1st and my dad will take fish and coral up on the 4th.

What's the best process acclimation wise? Test the tank water to make sure there is no ammonia, nitrites, too high nitrates, do water change if nessasary then start acclimating the fish and coral? Or since they will already be in a bucket for 4 hours is it better to just get them into the tank?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4f5b3228be.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a406ab3f89.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2e724cf710.jpg

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I'd still acclimate to match temp and salinity.
Even though you don't have your RO unit yet, I'd still have some emergency water made up even if it has to be with tapwater.

Also, maybe pick up some Seachem Prime. Not only is it good for removing chlorine from tapwater, it also binds NH3.
Once at the new place, introducing air to the bucket can cause any NH3 to become more toxic. So, before starting the acclimation it'd be a good idea to put some prime in the bucket.

My dad has a RO/DI unit so I can get him to make up some water.


I am hoping that putting the little sponge that has been in my sump for months into the bucket with the fish will help keep things to acceptable levels at least for awhile. But good call on the prime. I usually just use cheap generic dechlorinator.

I'm not advocating using Prime during shipping. Just to use it when the buckets arrive, and before/during adding aeration when you start the acclimation process.
Ammonia levels in fish shipment bags build up and my limited memory tells me I heard/read something once that reminds me about this;
Upon exposing the fish shipment to open air/added air can increase the level of ammonia to near/beyond toxic levels very quickly, and is why many fish shipments suffer losses immediately after arrival.

Don't remember fully what I read, but reminds me about adding Prime or AmGuard to an open bag immediately upon opening/during acclimation.

Interesting. I hadn't heard that before, but makes sense. So when I am travelling I was going to have a air stone running in the bucket to keep everything oxygenated. Will that cause issues or is it just when I open the bucket when I get there that it could cause problems?

Run the airstone during the trip

So moving day was Friday all fish and snails survived! Corals on the other hand are still really unhappy. I think I am going to have some losses there.

The weekend and today have been unpacking so I haven't done much with the tank. I gave the fish some food yesterday and have been adding stability and amguard.

Going to test the water tonight.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...dd2d588b04.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...384b83f6f9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a185cca7ee.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5955df7443.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...05c047cf07.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f9af5e6309.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b342f9bf10.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...61da4c815c.jpg

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Water testing done! Forgot to calibrate my refractometer before making water for the new tank before the move. As a result salinity is low!

Temp: 79
Salinity: 1.023
pH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0.074
Alkalinity: 8.4
Calcium: 410
Magnesium: 1350

Currently working on slowly raising salinity over the next few days. What's the best way to raise pH?

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Surface agitation and open a window for the afternoon; feed fresh but filtered outside air directly to your skimmer intake works best.

Are you using an Ammo Alert? It would be best if you did and only use the AmGuard IF required. Let the cycle happen and perform WCs if needed to control NO2. Keep up with the Stability for a week min. Once NH3 is under control you can stop dosing it.
If you keep binding up NH3 with the AG your cycle will be retarded.

Glad to hear moving day was not too stressful. Good luck moving forward!

If only it wasn't so cold here having a window open would be easier! I can increase the surface agitation though.



I haven't been using a ammo alert. I actually have temporarily misplaced it during the move. :( But I haven't added any amguard today.



I have a AQ50 sponge and 2 medium pieces of live rock from the 75 gallon tank in there so I haven't seen any ammonia. I have been testing daily. Still adding stability though.



Thanks. I'm hoping the corals bounce back. I think I have definitely lost the brain coral. The others could still turn around.

Running increased surface agitiation alone will only help if the CO2 level in the room is low enough to help. Getting outside air in is a bigger help.
Try to figure out some way to get outside air to your skimmer intake.
I run a hose from the intake to an outside filter.
And maybe during your cycle you should get that air pump running on the system. Increased agitation will help while NO2 is present, even if the room air isn't as high in O2 as you'd like.



Test every day or every other day for NO2 and keep a record of your tests. NO2 will be there even if your NH3 is low because you are cycling with Stability and used rock.
NO2 of even just 0.25 can starve your fish of oxygen. Adding airstones may help, but better to keep NO2 below 0.1 while you are cycling.

Test for NO3 as well to get a feel where your cycle is, and whether or not you need to WC to bring it down.

The main thing is to keep your NH3 below 0.05 (0.02 is better for health) and NO2 below 0.1 while maintaining NO3 below an algae fuel level (near zero is best for now).
Water changes of between 25% and 75% daily may be needed until you get past the NO2 portion of your cycle.
Keep the filter sponge and LR free of debris that will rot and contribute to the cycle. Baste the rock, remove the detritis and rinse the sponge in old tank water during your WCs.
Feed the fish lightly and only enough that they will eat. Once a day is enough over the next week or 2. Don't let anything lay around rotting.
Once you are past the cycle you can increase feedings until you no longer test any NO2.

Watch your fish for elevated levels of breathing and gills which are not red.
Best to not see this and keep testing NO2 levels regularly.

"Nitrites are actively transported across the gills and readily oxidize hemoglobin to form methemoglobin. Methemoglobinemia results in hypoxia severe enough to cause sudden death"

No point in me addressing your corals as they will be affected by the cycle as much as your fish.

Over the last few days I have been bringing my salinity up from 1.023 to 1.026. I also found my ammonia badge and a few other miscellaneous tank things I was having trouble finding!

I added the ammonia badge and it's been saying no ammonia. I tested the water Wednesday and ammonia and nitrites were 0. Yesterday ammonia and nitrites were both at 0.25. weird that it wasn't being picked up by the ammonia badge. I have cleaned out the cover over the mp10 and switched out the filter socks. I went to go do a water change with the 5 gallons of water I had left over from the move and unfortunately my dad had combined water from the bucket with the rocks with the leftover fresh saltwater... So water change had to be pushed back to today while I made new water. That was my fault I should have checked before hand! I did add some amguard and hooked up the airstone and have kept that running. Also had some windows open yesterday to try and add at least a bit of fresh air to the house.

Params yesterday were
Salinity: 1.026
pH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 5

Fish are looking good. I didn't feed them yesterday and will do a light feeding tonight.

Some corals are looking better, some worse and a few haven't changed.

I have been having some issues with my tunze ato. I have to unplug it for feeding(I take some tank water to thaw mysis shrimp in) and then plug it back in when I have fed the fish. It seems like Everytime I unplug and plug the ato back in it fills. And does this if it needs to or not. Is this normal? It has over filled a couple times now doing this.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ec0f73127c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5bcc0a5978.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e413aba7df.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c949536acb.jpg

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A quick water test at lunch today reveals ammonia and nitrite both at 0.

Will still do a water change tonight.

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Yes it's normal for the 3155 to pump water upon power-up.
You can adjust the voltage output to the pump. While unplugged, remove the 4 phillips screws on the back. Inside there is a micro pot. Twist the knob all the way counter-clockwise to drop the output to it's lowest setting. This will reduce the water output per cycle to 'around' a cup give or take.
You'll find it will also reduce pump noise.

Thats kind of annoying it works that way. Good to know I can adjust the voltage.

Starting to see diatoms on the rocks now. My one sps frag has gone totally white. I don't think there will be any saving it :( but my toadstool had polyps out for the first time since the move so that's positive.

Did another big round of water tests

Temp: 78
Salinity: 1.026
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
Phosphate: 0.113
Alkalinity: 9.2
Calcium: Hanna checker 405, salifert 450
Magnesium: 1380


All fish are eating and doing well. Lost a hermit crab though. Once the cycle is fully complete I am going to have to restock my cuc.

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Congrats. I just finished cycling my first reef tank which is a IM lagoon 25 as well.

That's awesome. I hope it goes well. Will have to post some pictures of it.

Ammonia and nitrite are still holding at 0

Unfortunately I lost another hermit crab I think.

Fish are doing well, eating and swimming around.

Corals are still struggling. My largest acan is still not opening and I think I am slowly losing it. The other 2 acans are looking better. My frogspawn is opening up a bit, but nothing like it was in the 75 gallon. The toadstool was open for a few hours on Saturday, but hasn't opened up since and is getting very droopy. All 3 sps frags have diatoms on them so I think they are gone...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c1e4852a39.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bc163c71e6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c7b681635c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f2601708bb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...511dc8e9f5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3b9778f165.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7853491d7d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bea43f6329.jpg

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Haven't seen any ammonia or nitrite since last Friday and I haven't added any stability the last couple of days. Looks like the mini cycle is over!

Now I can start trying to get my coral health back up.

My params seem to be fine, but most corals don't seem happy. Do they just take more time to adjust to new lights/flow?

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hey. I have a pair water level adjuster for lagoon 25. If you want I can give to you. I bought it here.https://ez-dose.com/product/ez-water...ster-full-set/

I will take you up on that next time I am in town.


Have you used them, do they work well?

Keep an eye on your NO2 for the next month just 'cause. Testing every couple days doesn't take much time. Remember, higher levels can starve your inhabitants of O2.


Many corals don't ship well, and being in a bucket together is not the best environment. They will 'fight' with each other, and the resulting coral warfare results in many deaths.
Corals are best shipped in separate bags. Losses can be minimized by dipping after shipping and follow the same rules as if you were to receive them new; acclimate over a couple/few hours.

If you have any left that look like they are worth saving, try dipping them in some TLF Coral ReVive.

The ones that are just growing algae should be tossed now.

My tank leak back in 2016 caused me to place 4 years of 75g growth into 2 x 26L tubs. The upset corals proceeded to kill each other overnight with excretions. I lost almost everything that night.
I was devistated to see the loss, and the smell was overwhelming :twised:

You'll recover.
Let the tank stabilize for a couple months, then slowly start adding stuff again.

Don't rush it. You've just moved in and I'm sure you can entertain yourself with other stuff :mrgreen:

Keep the tank clean of algae, clean the sand/siphon with WCs, clean the glass, turkey baste the rocks weekly to help with the cycle/regular maintenance. If you use socks, change them weekly after blowing off your rock.
Couple/3 months and you'll be ready to start over.

Still testing water every couple of days. So far things are holding at 0. I will wait another week and a bit and then slowly do a small feeding in the morning and one at night.


I actually put all the corals in ziplock bags with some water and then floated them in the bucket with some water to avoid all the "fighting" The water in the bucket was heated by a heat pack taped to the side of the bucket. Not sure how well that worked though.


I do still have a few corals. I have my frogspawn, 2 mushrooms and 2 acans. The toadstool might still pull through. The largest acan I think isn't going to make it. I can see more skeleton every day. Not sure why it was hit so much harder than the smaller ones. The frogspawn I am just having a hard time getting it to open up like it was in the 75 gallon. I tried moving it to a lower flow area last night. Will see how it does the next few days.


I do have some revive so I will give that a try.



Been cleaning filter socks twice a week while in that mini cycle and I do a 5 gallon water change once a week.



The worst part is in 6 months I have to do this all over again. But at least it's only a 25 min move and not a 5 hour move!

It's just a 3d printed guard for your outflow and it dose it job to rase the display tank water level.

Yesterday was water testing and water change day. Did another 5 gallon water change and changed filter socks.

Params are
Salinity: 1.026
Temp: 78
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
Phosphate: 0.120
Alkalinity: 9.7
Calcium: 405 or 450 depending on test kit
Magnesium: 1380

Does anyone have a good recommendation for calcium and nitrate test kits? I have Hanna and salifert for calcium and they have a huge diffet in test results. And my nitrate API reagent is low so I will need a new test kit for that.

I also did a dip in coral revive for a few of the struggling corals. Hopefully that will help them a bit.

My large frogspawn is looking worse today. All closed up. With water parameters seemingly ok, could it be the lights or too much/too little flow?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8c0f6947ad.jpg

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