First-timer's Fusion 20

[wannaheli]

This is my first saltwater tank. I had a nice 30 gallon fresh water tank for a number of years but took it down when I moved. Over the summer I set up a 3.5 gallon guppy tank for the kids and end up enjoying it more than them. Loved the guppy tank so much that I decided to build a nano tank. Although it's just a nano, it's still a pretty deep rabbit hole for me.

I went to a few local fish stores to see what would be right for my house. I decided on a Fluval 13.5 and ordered one online. It arrived cracked. The online store was awesome and shipped me a replacement, no questions asked. While the second one was shipped, on a whim, I looked on Craigslist and found a Fusion 20 with matching stand and lights for sale. The seller was only about 5 miles away so I had to check it out. Rest is history. I still have the Fluval 13.5 because the seller was awesome and would feel bad for returning it.

Equipment:
Innovative Marine Fusion 20 (pickup up used from a local hobbyist)
Filter Sock (1)
MarinePure spheres (about a handful in chamber 2)
IM Media Caddy (top rack: floss / middle rack: Chemi-pure Blue / bottom rack: empty)
IM Stand for the Fusion 20
IM Skkye Light (2)
Tunze Osmolator 3155
Tunze Nanostream 6040
Eheim 75 watt heater
Innovative Marine Reservoir
Coralife Power Center

What's in the Tank:
20 lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive
11 lbs live rock from local fish shop

Timeline:
8/26/17
added rock, sand, and water
temperature set at 78.5

9/26/17
pH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

9/30/17
3 gallon water change
clean pump
pH 8.2
added 2 Ocellaris Clownfish; 1 Neon Blue Goby; Green Star Polyp frag

 

[wannaheli]

I should add that the tank had water and sand in it when I picked it up. I drained it but not completely and took out the old sand. I think the old tank and live rock and live sand probably helped with the cycling.

 

[wannaheli]

10/4/17
Added 1 Astraea snail and 1 generic turbo snail

Future Plans:
I would like to add a hermit crab or two. I know they are part of a clean up crew but I also think they are cool pets. I also want to add a shrimp and goby pair. I will wait awhile and see how the tank stabilizes.

Some pictures of the cabinet.

I want to clean up the wiring but haven't decided how to do that. I would like to add a power rack with switches in the front and outlets in the back but most of those of 19" wide and the shelf is only about 10" wide. I found one power switch that was less than 10" but the outlet was on top (i.e. 90 degrees from the switch). I'm looking for switches in the front and outlets in the back and it has to be less than 10" so I can mount it under the shelf above. If anyone has any tips, please post.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Nice choice for a first time reef aquarium! (I'm a bit biased though )

Couple of things that you may want to consider as the tank grows:

• The IM filter socks are pretty bad in my opinion, they clog up in a couple of days and then the water just bypasses them completely and goes through that side of the tank without being mechanically filtered. As it fills up and causes water to back up, it's going to cause your other overflow to take in more water as the water flow resistance will be lower on that side. This will cause the side with the filter sock to sometimes go slack with little to zero flow, meaning if you have a skimmer also on that side that it will no longer be working to remove nasty stuff from all of the tank water. Right now it's not that big of an issue since you don't have a skimmer on the tank. Just keep an eye on that filter sock though and clean it often.
• I use two IM Custom Caddys on my tank. The stock media racks are junk and you should replace them eventually if you're still using one of them. I usually put two cut to size pieces of filter floss in the top two sections with either Chemipure Blue Nano on the bottom or phosphate reducing pads. Side note: GFO and Bio-pellets are usually too strong for nano tanks and will cause more problems than they solve, in my experience at least.
• The Skyye lights are great for soft corals like the GSP you already have and leather corals as well as low-light LPS corals. If you want to upgrade later on down the line there plenty of options for you, just be sure to reach out on here beforehand so you can get plenty of recommendations

Everything else you have in terms of equipment looks great and you're definitely off to a good start! Take it slow like you're doing and this tank will be very rewarding for you, just remember though that if things do go bad, they go bad fast in nano tanks, so always be prepared to deal with potential issues. Most often times if I see any of my corals unhappy about something a water change will solve whatever issue it was. The GSP you have are great indicators for something being not quite right in the tank, so keep an eye on them and test the water if they are all closed up, the API Test kits aren't the most accurate but they can help identify potential water parameter issues. Be sure to get a Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium test kit before you start adding too many corals, you'll need to keep track of those water parameters at that point to see if they are both adequate and stable in your system.

 

[PAXpress]

Looking great! I just bought this same tank this weekend to replace a 40g that Im breaking down and couldn't get rid of my clown (been a pal for months so I had to get him a new home before removing the old). I'm starting out as low tech as possible. Right now I have the return pump and a heater.... and rock and sand and water and a fish haha! I think I'll add a light in the coming months but until then no coral etc. I'm worried about the amount of evaporation but where my tank is theres not much room for an ATO so its going to be manually topped up for a bit and I'll see how that goes.

 

[wannaheli]

Thanks for the tips pensacola-aquarist. I'll be sure to keep an eye on the sock. I would like to upgrade the Skkye lights at some point. I just want to start off with soft corals for awhile because I want to start with something easy and I actually like the movements they provide. I believe the Skkye lights should be fine for soft corals. The only urge to upgrade is really so I could have moon/night light.

Thanks PAXpress. The Fusion 20 is a good size for me. I buy my saltwater and rodi from the lfs so any bigger would be more of a chore to drag the water home. A 5 gallon saltwater container and 5 gallon rodi container allows me to do 2 gallon water changes a week and will only have to make a trip to the lfs every other week. I was holding off on an ATO but a business trip pushed me into getting one. The wife was kind enough to top off while I was away but I was paranoid the whole time that she may not be topping off properly. I ordered one during the trip and had it installed as soon as I got home.

 

[wannaheli]

Tank update.
10/9/17
Sad news today. I lost a fish - literally. I woke up and found the larger of the two clownfish missing. I have looked everywhere and can't find him. I searched all over the floor and even looked 10+ feet away in case he flopped his way around. I didn't want to but moved all the rocks around looking for him. Couldn't find him in the back chambers either. I don't have a shrimp or anything that could have eaten him. The lid was on as well. He was looking real happy last night. I even notice he has nice color and was looking real healthy swimming all over the tank with the other clown.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Tank update.
10/9/17
Sad news today. I lost a fish - literally. I woke up and found the larger of the two clownfish missing. I have looked everywhere and can't find him. I searched all over the floor and even looked 10+ feet away in case he flopped his way around. I didn't want to but moved all the rocks around looking for him. Couldn't find him in the back chambers either. I don't have a shrimp or anything that could have eaten him. The lid was on as well. He was looking real happy last night. I even notice he has nice color and was looking real healthy swimming all over the tank with the other clown.

Look in the back chamber with a flashlight.

 

[PAXpress]

Look in the back chamber with a flashlight.

I had a clown travel down an overflow into my sump before. Hes still alive and kicking in my 20 nuvo haha. Check the back like pensacola recommended maybe you got lucky?

 

[PAXpress]

Wannaheli how do you like the skyye lights? Do you think they would support LPS?

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I had a clown travel down an overflow into my sump before. Hes still alive and kicking in my 20 nuvo haha. Check the back like pensacola recommended maybe you got lucky?

Happens more times than I would care to admit haha, they squeeze in between the lid on the back wall and end up in the back because I move my lid all the way forward so they don't end up on the floor.

 

[tdileo]

Tank is looking good so far. Did you find the clown?

 

[wannaheli]

So I double checked the back chambers and he is not there. I did find some sort of bracket with suction cup in chamber 3 but underneath chambers 1 and 2 that the previous owner left behind. I'm not sure what that bracket was for. I will get it out (if I can) the next time I clean the pump. That area is hard to get to and I'm not sure why IM designed it that way. I posted a thread about it but no one answered. Link to the thread https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/understanding-the-im-fusion-sump.326713/#post-4050237

 

[wannaheli]

While looking in the back chambers, it reminded me that I forgot to post that I have about a handful of MarinePure spheres in chamber 2 that follows the filter sock in chamber 1. Original post has been edited to reflect this.

Thank you for all the likes.

 

[wannaheli]

I tested the water today in case the lost clown died in the tank and I couldn't find him.

10/10/17
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Everything looks ok otherwise.

Sorry PAXpress. I forgot to answer your question about the Skkye light. As far as looks, I think they look pretty slick and the whole tank setup looks pretty nice with them. As far as functionality, I think it's pretty limited. There are no switches or adjustments of any kind. Just plug them in and all the lights light up. You can't have just blue lights either. It's all or nothing. Right now I have them plugged in a timer and are on from 3 pm to 10 pm. I have it timed later in the day so I can at least enjoy the tank when I'm home. I think they are overpriced given all the other options out there. The tank alone is only $200. Tank and 2 light combo goes for $400. The light alone is about $129 each. I got the tank, light, and stand used otherwise I would not go with them. I think the previous owner did grow LPS with them. I don't have any experience yet.

 

[lotekfish]

I like your rock layout a lot. The structure is simple but has a nice balance to it. The rock is interesting in itself- it has nice shape and texture. Really well done I think, congrats on the new tank and good luck. Sorry about the clownfish loss, that always stinks, especially went you don't know what happened.

 

[Michael Cronmiller]

Nice looking set up...very cool, looks like you're well on your way[emoji106][emoji106]

 

[anomeda]

Following this one.

 

[wannaheli]

Thank you lotekfish, Michael, and anomeda for the nice words and encouragement.

10/11/17
Mystery of the Missing Clown Solved
-I was helping my son put on his shoes this morning for school. I put on his right shoe first and while putting on the left shoe, he started picking at what I thought was orange gum off his right shoe. To my horror I realized it was my missing clown. I immediately told him to drop it and go wash his hands. I was a little traumatized seeing the little guy all dried up. I think my son handled it much better than I did. My guess is that he jumped between the glass and lid, landed near the shoe, and flopped his way under the shoe. The shoes are sneakers so the toes do not lay totally flat on the floor so he must have flopped and wedged between the shoe and floor. A one in a million chance. The ironic thing was that I looked inside every shoe that was near the aquarium and moved them around as I tidied things up while looking for the fish on Monday. I never thought to flip the shoes over and look at the sole.

 

[Wankell]

Thank you lotekfish, Michael, and anomeda for the nice words and encouragement.

10/11/17
Mystery of the Missing Clown Solved
-I was helping my son put on his shoes this morning for school. I put on his right shoe first and while putting on the left shoe, he started picking at what I thought was orange gum off his right shoe. To my horror I realized it was my missing clown. I immediately told him to drop it and go wash his hands. I was a little traumatized seeing the little guy all dried up. I think my son handled it much better than I did. My guess is that he jumped between the glass and lid, landed near the shoe, and flopped his way under the shoe. The shoes are sneakers so the toes do not lay totally flat on the floor so he must have flopped and wedged between the shoe and floor. A one in a million chance. The ironic thing was that I looked inside every shoe that was near the aquarium and moved them around as I tidied things up while looking for the fish on Monday. I never thought to flip the shoes over and look at the sole.

Sorry for your loss... If it makes you feel any better I accidentally murdered my clown a few days ago because the purigen bag I had from my last setup wasn't completely rinsed of the bleach used to regen it... I feel like such a dick.