First Timer Innovative Marine Fusion 15

Exodusjpg · Nov 29, 2022

So, I pulled the trigger on the Innovative Marine Fusion 15 back in October. The tank got delivered and naturally, life got crazy. Finally coming back around to it and getting things up and running. This is my first build from the ground up. I inherited a 55 gallon tank from a friend about 4 months ago. I caught the bug bad and decided that a small nano tank could be fun. So, here we go with it!

I've been playing with aqua scaping the last few days. The image is what I think I'm going to roll with. It allows about an inch around the whole tank though it doesn't really look like it in the image.

Tank: Innovative Marine Fusion 15
Lighting: Noopsyche K7 Mini
Flow: Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5
Filtration: Filter Floss, Carbon, GFO in the Custom Caddy
Heater: Hygger 100w Titanium Heater with Controller
Water: 4 Stage RO/DI
Salt: Instant Ocean
Sand: Caribsea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink
Rock: Caribsea LifeRock Nano Kit
ATO: Haven't decided yet. I was thinking about the XP Aqua Duetto, AutoAqua Smart ATO Lite, MagTool Optical ATO. We'll see. I work from home, so adding water isn't crazy inconvenient... yet...

I'm planning on keeping a pair of clownfish, maybe a tailspot blenny, maybe a royal gamma, but I'm planning on tanking adding critters slowly. Sticking with LPS corals mainly and a few zoas. And *maybe* an anemone at some point in the future.

Sláinte!

ShaunMc · Nov 29, 2022

It’s a tough one to scape for sure. This looks great to me! Good luck

Exodusjpg · Nov 29, 2022

spmedi said:
It’s a tough one to scape for sure. This looks great to me! Good luck

I was quite surprised at how hard it was to come up with something that I liked! I spent waaaay to much time on it haha.

william Lutman · Nov 29, 2022

Welcome and keep those tank pictures coming

Exodusjpg · Nov 29, 2022

I got the tank situated with the light, pump, and heater installed and functioning. Rock and sand have been placed. Filled up the tank and fired everything up. Woot!

Now just waiting for the sand to settle out.

Exodusjpg · Nov 30, 2022

Seems like the sand has settled, but there seems to be lots of microbubbles hanging around. Is this typical so early after adding water for the first time? Am I safe in assuming these will go away with time?

Cheers!

EDIT: I think I figured out what was causing the microbubbles. I think I had my water level in the 3rd chamber a little but too low. The cascade was causing small bubbles on the surface and I assume those were getting sucked into the return pump.

Mailman17013 · Dec 7, 2022

Just set mine up this morning.

Exodusjpg · Dec 8, 2022

Mailman17013 said:
Just set mine up this morning.

Sweet! I dig the scape.

Mine is currently in the middle of cycling. I'm using Dr. Tim's fishless. It's taking FOREVER. I'm on day 9 and still have a 2ppm of ammonia from the second addition. It's coming down, and Nitrites are going, up just super slowly. After doing some research, apparently, it's not super uncommon for this to occur with Dr. Tim's. So, at the moment, I'm just sitting here patiently waiting.

I've been tweaking the flow a bit. I'm using the Sicce 1.5 and at full power it was blowing the sand off the front glass and causing a ridge about a quarter of the way though the tank. I've lowered the flow and adjusted the nozzle. Seems to be working ok at the moment. We'll see after I get some corals in there how things are looking.

Exodusjpg · Dec 14, 2022

Finally got fed up with topping off manually hahaha. And still waiting for the cycle to complete. Still have a bunch of ammonia in the water. Plus, I added another rock up front.

Patience is not a virtue that I have an abundance of. I'm wanting to throw fish and corals in this thing already!

Gumbies R Us · Dec 15, 2022

It'll all be worth it once the tank settles in and you get the fish and coral in there!!

Exodusjpg · Jan 4, 2023

Small update: Ammonia finally made it to zero, but nitrites have been sitting at 1ppm for quite some time. Nitrates have been sitting at 40ppm as well.

Debating on doing a water change and adding a little bit more ammonia to see if it will be gone in 24hrs. But, I might let it go for another little while and see if the nitrites come down on their own. I also bumped the temp up to 80F as I've heard this can help speed up the process slightly.

Still trying to be patient but still feeling like I'm missing something lol.

ShaunMc · Jan 4, 2023

If the ammonia processed, then, adding more will process as well. If you’re going to add more just to check, you might want to wait for your water change until after it. But, I’d water change and plan for livestock. At least 1 fish.

Exodusjpg · Jan 6, 2023

ShaunMc said:
If the ammonia processed, then, adding more will process as well. If you’re going to add more just to check, you might want to wait for your water change until after it. But, I’d water change and plan for livestock. At least 1 fish.

Just jump right in, eh? Appreciate the advice! I'm going to give it a few more days to see if the nitrites come down some (I've been reading on the debate between nitrites being toxic in saltwater or not. Leaning on the side of caution at the moment.), then I'll see if I can't get a fish and a small CUC in the tank.

Exodusjpg · May 5, 2023

Well.. its been a few months since this thing was cycled (and I kept it cycled by adding more ammonia occasionally). Unfortunately, things got a little bit crazy in my life and I had to put stocking this thing on hold. I'm now in a place where I think I can start moving forward again.

Alas, the tank now has a few inhabitants, a purple firefish and a clownfish along with a few trochus snails.

I did end up putting a Mini Q skimmer in the second chamber. And I'll start adding corals as finances permit.

Off we go!