First Reef Tank Build IM Fusion 20

[RomoFL]

Very nice!!

 

[Zach W]

Very nice!!

Thanks! I appreciate the kind words

 

[Mebeknob]

I have fish! Im super excited and finally have some fish in my tank! The tank has been running for about three months now with nothing besides the CUC. I have had pretty stable parameters for the last month or so and just haven't gotten a chance to add any livestock with work and traveling and whatnot. But yesterday I finally got some fish! I added a pair of MochaVinci clowns from sea and reef aquaculture. I posted in a separate post before about my concerns with not having a QT setup and after I spoke with my LFS they told me that they could order in a pair from sea and reef and not introduce them into their system but just float the bags for a couple hours until I could get there. This way there is not concern about contamination from the LFS water (I dont think there would have been regardless but I was just nervous). Sea and Reef aquaculture guarantee's that their fish are disease and parasite free so I dont have to worry about that which is great. And a cherry ontop is that since the LFS didnt have to worry about acclimating them or making sure they are eating they sold them to me for wholesale price! If you live in the Boston area you should definitely check out Love the Reef in Wilmington. Here are some pictures









Does anyone have any recommendations on how to take good pictures of the tank? Every time I try to take a full front shot The tank is acting like a mirror and I cant get out of the shot and you can see everything that is in my apartment... hahah



Should be getting some corals on Saturday hopefully!

It’s hard. Make sure no flash, and no background light.

 

[Zach W]

I’ve officially become addicted to zoa’s.. Got some awesome frags from a local collector! Picked up hallucinations, utter chaos, gold mauls, sonic flares, pink zippers, and orange oxides. Here are some pics!

Hallucination

Utter Chaos

Gold Mauls

Sonic Flare

Top Down Shot after feeding

 

[Leiph86]

Hi everyone, I have been posting sporadically on here asking question regarding my tank build but here is my official build thread! A little background, this will be my first attempt at my own reef tank but my parents have had one for years. I just finished graduate school a couple months ago and decided to take the plunge and get into reefing myself! My equipment list is as follows:

• IM Fusion 20 Gallon
• Custom Stand (still being made, counter-top will suffice for the cycle)
• Nanobox Duo plus M (waiting to receive, cycle will run without light on anyway)
• Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5
• 100W heater
• IM Custom Caddy
• IM Spinstreams x2 (arriving today)
• 15lbs Pukani Live Rock
• 20lbs CaribSea Special grade sand

I do not want to run a skimmer on this tank so I am still trying to decide what to do with the two inner chambers. I plan to eventually run chemipure blue and carbon in the custom caddy along with fliter floss. I will probably be purchasing another caddie and place filter floss and marine pure spheres in it for more biological filtration. I am also contemplating plumbing an algae reactor in my stand for nutrient export (pump in one of the two internal chambers) but that is still up in the air. Any thoughts on what I should put in the last chamber? I still have lots of rock work to do but I was trying to get everything setup and running last night and this is where I ended up.



Before Water





Just Filled





After some rock work





Like I said I am sure I will move the scape around a million times before I am settled on something I really like but I appreciate all thoughts and suggestions!!

Hey Zach - I hope you're still active. I'll be getting this same tank shortly and was on the fence for the benefit of the Spinstream accessories. Any thoughts on how those have been treating you and if they are worth getting them? I notice in some of your later photos you have a powerhead added. Thanks.

 

[SliceGolfer]

Hi @Leiph86 - I have the same tank (in my sig below) and the SpinStreams are good for a random flow pattern. Don’t expect results like a wave maker, there’s no comparison.

 

[Leiph86]

Hi @Leiph86 - I have the same tank (in my sig below) and the SpinStreams are good for a random flow pattern. Don’t expect results like a wave maker, there’s no comparison.

@SliceGolfer - Thank you for the quick reply! So it is safe to say I should plan on a nano powerhead or small wavemaker if I'm planning on softies and maybe some LPS? Thanks!

 

[Zach W]

Hey Zach - I hope you're still active. I'll be getting this same tank shortly and was on the fence for the benefit of the Spinstream accessories. Any thoughts on how those have been treating you and if they are worth getting them? I notice in some of your later photos you have a powerhead added. Thanks.

Hey @Leiph86, I guess it depends on whether or not you want another powerhead in your tank. If you have nothing else other than your return pump, the spinstreams create some random flow. If you have a powerhead, that can create the random flow and you dont have as much reason for the spinstreams. One negative about them is they definitely cut the overall flow of your return.

Im really bad at keeping up with my threads and have several going, but my tank is SPS (acro) dominant at this point and the latest update is here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/feeling-good-nuvo-20.633785/#post-6904878