Grant's "It's Finally Happening" IM Fusion 14 Peninsula

[Grant Beyleveld]

Hi all,

As the thread title should suggest, this has been a long time coming. My Christmas present to myself this year is my first reef tank. I've been wanting this since I was about six years old, so it's almost thirty years in the making. I have been lurking on R2R, watching YouTube videos and reading Coral magazine for a few years now, anticipating and planning this tank. I would have loved to build a much larger system than this little nano, but cost and living arrangements (specifically, a small apartment in the East Village in New York) made this the choice.

It's actually my second IM Fusion 14 Peninsula this year - the first is a hi-tech freshwater planted tanked, which has gone amazingly well. I've kept freshwater aquariums all my life, so I'm no stranger to the nitrogen cycle or a water change, but the technicality of a reef tank system is really exciting to me. I have a doctorate in microbiology (which I don't use anymore!) so I feel like this reef tank has and will continue to satisfy the science nerd inside me. I've also been an avid scuba diver since I was 12, spending every summer diving the reefs off the coast of Mozambique, so having a slice of that in my living room will be surreal.

Enough about me, let's get to the exciting stuff. So far, the tank is very minimalist:

• Innovative Marine Fusion 14 Peninsula
• IM MightyJet return
• CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade
• Eheim Jäger heater

I set it up last night, started (slowly!) making RODI water and mixed the salt in (Instant Ocean Reef Crystals), and added the sand. I fired up the return pump and added a small amount of dried food as an ammonia source. I wanted to get the tank to this stage before I was away from the apartment for a few days for the holidays. Hopefully before I leave my biological filter media will arrive (Marine Pure Gems) and I'll throw those in a bag in the second chamber of the AIO.

I also ordered 10lbs of aquacultured live rock from KP Aquatics. It'll ship in water (not damp paper) somewhere around January 4th/5th. This will be the moment the tank really starts to cycle in earnest, but I wanted to give it all whatever head start I could before then.

After that, I'll add lights (Kessil A80 Tuna Blue) and an ATO. I plan to run it only with the live rock for quite some time before adding any more livestock. I'm still thinking/planning the stocking of the tank, but it will be a mixed reef with a focus on inverts/corals over flashy fish (not that this little tank has the space for many flashy fish anyway).

For flow, I'll be adding a Tunze 6040 and a RFG from Vivid Aquatics. I like that the Tunze is Neptune Apex compatible, because I'm a tech nerd and I plan on adding that to the system down the line. But it's non-essential right now so I'll keep it simple but plan for the future.

For nutrient export, I'm planning on going skimmer less on this build. One of my driving philosophies around this tank is that nature has a way to do everything. In my dream build (which is significantly larger than this one) there is a huge sump under the tank with a massive refugium. I'm quite taken with the idea of using anaerobic bacteria to eliminate nitrates, so I'm currently researching a dentrifying bioreactor setup (the microbiologist in me is thriving!) but I don't feel it'll be super necessary with the small initial bio load of this tank. I'll keep a keen eye on nitrates and use WCs to stay on top of it for now (WFH has it's advantages).

I couldn't start a build thread without some pictures, although they're very uninteresting for now:

I'll keep this thread updated with my progress. All comments are welcome!

 

[Jib]

I have this same tank. Looking forward to following along to see how your shapes up.

 

[Theescotland]

i usually do not enjoy reading "lengthy" posts, but this was written perfectly. very excited to watch this build take place.

 

[Grant Beyleveld]

i usually do not enjoy reading "lengthy" posts, but this was written perfectly. very excited to watch this build take place.

Ha! This dances awfully close to a criticism but I appreciate the positive review. Hopefully you'll still have good things to say when the tank has something more than water and sand inside it! Fair warning though, this post is also... err, long. Sorry.

I don't have much by way of updates - KP Aquatics isn't shipping my live rock until next week, so the tank remains a bare sandy area just adjacent to a reef. The RFG from Vivid Aquatics arrived and is installed.

I've added a Seachem Ammonia Alert to keep a vague eye on NH3 and I've started dosing Ammonium chloride daily to give my friendly anaerobes something to snack on. The MarinePure Gems arrived before Christmas so I added them to the media rack in a mesh bag.

In my effort to spread the expense out a bit, I'm delaying purchasing various bits until they're actually needed (for example, test kits).However, still on my purchase list are the following, roughly in order:

1. Testing
   Going with Hanna checkers for NO3 and Alk tests. I'll use regular/cheaper test for the others in the immediate short term, although my initial focus will likely just be on NO3 as the tank develops and the cycle really kicks in. I won't be adding livestock for a while so I don't imagine Alk consumption will outpace WCs for now.
   
   
2. Flow
   I'll be adding a Tunze 6040 for flow. It's controllable, reliable, appropriately sized, and compatible with an Apex down the line. I really like the look of the AI Nero 3 too, but I'll lose the Apex option there. If anyone has any strong opinions, make yourself heard!
   
   I'll want the flow in place with or shortly after the live rock arrives. I can delay on this a bit since the return offers decent flow already (and the RFG helps keep it varied) and I have a cheap Koralia Nano (for salt mixing) that can be used in a pinch (AC, not controllable, likely will be a lot of flow in this little tank).
   
   
3. Lighting
   Kessil A80 with a mini gooseneck. I have the A80 Tuna Sun on my planted tank and it's great. It's also compatible with the Apex down the line via the VDM module so that's a plus. I love the simplicity, size, cost and that shimmer...
   
   I'm only planning on adding the light after the rocks are in. The tank won't be dark, per se, but it obviously won't be well lit. This is part economy and part because I don't feel the light will do very much more that promote algae growth during the first few weeks, right?
   
   Does anyone have any suggestions here? How long would be a good amount of time? If there's anything desirable and photosynthetic on the rocks I'd love that to survive if possible, but I don't feel the need to grow algae while the tank cycles.
   
   
4. ATO
   This might sneak its way in earlier on the list for convenience's sake, although I can live without it for a bit. I have a Tunze 3152 Nano Osmolator on my planted tank, so I know the value of not topping off all the time. I'm also well aware of the salinity stability advantage in saltwater tanks, so it's considered a requirement (even if not an immediate requirement).
   
   I like the look of the Reef Breeders Exo ATO - it's very small and compact. Most of it is outside the tank - the Osmolator float switch takes up a non-insignificant amount of space in the IM AIO chambers. But it requires clear glass so I'd have to remove a section of the black plastic stuck on the tank.
   
   The bigger Tunze 3155 has an optical sensor and a float backup (versus just one or the other on the Nano or the Exo ATO) but it's also double the cost.
   
   In a nod to @Theescotland above, I'm running a little long here. So to cut to the point - I'm getting the Reef Breeders Exo ATO unless anyone can convince me it's truly bad idea.

I have some thoughts/plans/intentions surrounding dosing and nutrient export, but those feel like they're a bit further down the line so I'll cover them when appropriate. I have a very long list of other things I want/need and I'm doing my best to triage and focus on the important stuff at the onset. As usual, any feedback is appreciated. I'm still learning!

(edits: added some details I forgot)

 

[Theescotland]

i think you are spot on with adding the light later, there is no problem with cycling the tank with no lights. to my knowledge at least. getting closer, i am excited!

 

[Grant Beyleveld]

Much excitement - the live rock from KP Aquatics arrived yesterday! It shipped overnight in water and arrived in the morning. I opened it up, rinsed it in fresh salt water and added it to the tank.

This is not my final aquascape. I just wanted everything in the tank. I'm sure I'll change things around before I settle.

I checked the bottom of the bucket and the water left in the bag and found a number of little hitchhikers which were all added to the tank. Some pics below...

A little red mithrax crab. I later observed him picking bits of algae off the rock and snacking away.

Another little crab - maybe an emerald crab? I was worried briefly that he might be a gorilla crab but he doesn't have the black tipped claws. The pics of him didn't come out as clearly as the one above, sorry!

A snail of sorts. I was worried this dude might not have survived because he stayed closed and on the sand bed all day. But once the lights went out, he roused himself and moved up the glass. However, this morning he was lying on the sanded again and had some grains of sand stuck to his mantle. I'll keep an eye on him.

I spotted a bristle star while putting the rock in the tank, and later when it was dark he came to explore! I'm sure there are plenty more of these hidden in the rock crevices.

A variety of worms , such as these two:

There were also some bristle worms but I didn't get any pictures of them. I'm sure there are plenty.

I also found a number of feather duster worms! They're all over the rocks.

Last in this microfauna safari are these tiny little shrimpy things. Either very small shrimp or maybe pods of some kind. These are both pictures of the same individual, by the way. It's maybe 1/4" in size.

As you can likely see, the rock is covered in coralline algae, sponges, macro algae, and all sorts of other things I'm not equipped to identify. There are also now tons of little pods clinging to the glass. The biodiversity of my tank went up infinitely.

I know most of it comes out at night, but I don't have a red light so it's hard to check. This morning, when I flipped a light on near the tank I noticed something dart into hiding. It was too fast to see, I just saw the movement. It could have been one of the crabs, or something as yet unseen. I also thought I heard some clicking/popping last night when I turned the lights out and got into bed. Even my cat noticed - she immediately turned her attention to the tank suspiciously. So perhaps there's a mantis or a pistol shrimp in there somewhere?

All-in-all, I'm thrilled with the rock I received from KP Aquatics. The amount of life on this rock is astounding. The rock itself is incredible porous, and has tunnels and holes and crevices for things to crawl in and out of.

I haven't noticed the Ammonia increase (I'm using the Seachem Ammonia Alert for this). In the weeks before the rock arrived I had been adding Ammonium chloride to feed the cycle, and I would see the badge change color and then return to normal by the next morning. I'll still continue to do water changes for the next little bit, since I don't yet have the means to test Nitrate (my test kit is delayed).

As I said before, the lights will stay out (I don't even have them yet!). I ordered the ATO because it was becoming obvious that it was going to be a chore to stay on top of. I haven't ordered flow yet either - the return and the RFG seem to be doing an adequate job for now.

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Looks great so far. Can’t wait to see on it goes.

 

[Grant Beyleveld]

Looks great so far. Can’t wait to see on it goes.

Thanks! Since you're interested, here's an update...

I received my NO3 test kit (Nyos) and the first test registered ~40ppm. I felt this was a little high for my liking so I did a 30% water change which dropped it to ~25ppm. This held steady for three days, with light feeding for the critters in the live rock.

Since ammonia is staying low (<0.02ppm) and NO3 was holding steady, I felt the tank was stable enough for some hardy fish and the start of my cleanup crew. I visited Manhattan Aquariums on 37th street and got myself two gorgeous little ocellaris clownfish (captive bred), six blue legged hermit crabs, and six Astraea snails.

The clownfish seem really happy. They're boisterous little things. Imagine having that much energy all day long! They're eating well (New Life Spectrum Thera+A small pellets and frozen brine shrimp):

Whenever I feed them the brittle stars immediately spring into action, reaching their arms out from the rocks to grab any uneaten food.

The hermit crabs and snails seem to be happily bouncing around the sand and rocks. That one snail that came with the rock still seems a little unhappy - he tends to be commonly found on the glass near the surface, and it looks as though he's "hanging on" (his mantle seems a little stretched from the shell). However, today is the first day that he's not doing this, and actually I couldn't easily spot him in the tank. Either he's recovered after the journey from the Keys to Manhattan, or one of the hermit crabs has taken care of him.

Continuing the review of the hitchhikers, I've only seen two crabs that I found in the live rock. The red Mithras crab has found a crevice atop one rock which I can easily spot from the front. The other whiter crab is MIA - he likely has a favorite home somewhere not visible from the front.

Finally, I pulled the trigger on the light too. I got an AI Prime HD Reef with the AI mounting arm. I opted for the AI Prime over the Kessil H80 because the AI Prime has controllability built in. Essentially, the price would come out the same if I added the Kessil Spectral Controller X.

Since I have the freshwater counterpart of the Kessil H80 on my planted tank, I'm familiar with that light. The shimmer is obviously great, and the simplicity of the controls is quite magical - one knob for intensity and one knob for color (blue vs white on the H80). The AI Prime falls down a little here - having individual controls for all of the spectrums is nice but also daunting. As a new reefer, how the hell do I pick?

I went online and downloaded David Saxby's preset, and adjusted it for my tastes. I don't like the very blue look that so many in the hobby go for, so I upped the cool white channel significantly. I still think it's a little blue for my liking, so I may consider increasing the green and red (to add some yellow, essentially).

I scaled the overall intensity of his program down so that the light emits 27 watts at its peak during the day. I also activated a 30 day acclimation mode starting at 15% so as not to shock anything that hasn't really seen any light for at least a week (and then it was sunlight at the bottom of the ocean). I'm in no rush to have full light on the tank, since I don't have much of anything photosynthetic in the tank yet.

Of course, I need to measure things with a PAR meter before any valuable corals go in. I'd like to map out the PAR intensities of the various zones in my tank. But for now, this will do I think. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[reefinnewb]

Just downloaded this for my tank today. Still empty so I don't have a great guage on how it will truly look.

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Love the pair of clowns. The one is super bright from the first pic.

 

[Grant Beyleveld]

Yes, the larger one is very orange and the other is slightly more yellow.

 

[Grant Beyleveld]

Not much to update, but I figured I'd keep something of a journal here.

The tank seems well - I'm getting a tiny bit of what I think are dinos on the sand at the back, and a little bit of brown algae on the glass, but it's very manageable. I think perhaps I was feeding a bit much to the clowns (they're just so cute when they eat, but I should know better!)

I'm pretty sure I've got a mantis in there somewhere, but I've never seen it. There's a hole under a rock with a large mound of sand pushed to the side (it's even getting thrown 1-2" up onto the rock) which I presume is its burrow. I've tried setting up a camera with an IR LED array but scanning the footage is time consuming and all I really see are the snails and hermits bouncing around the rocks.

I've found a few casualties too - there was a dead hermit, I found a few segments of a bristle worm (the rest had been consumed) and the carapace of a crab (nothing else was left). If the carnage gets worse I might have to consider trapping it.

I've kept an eye on the NO3 levels and they're stayed pretty flat between 10 and 20ppm. NO3 is the only test I have so I can't report on any other parameters. Which leads my nicely into my plan for next steps...

---

1.1 Alk/Mg/Ca testing and dosing​

Alk test - Hanna Checker
Mg test - Aqua Forest
Ca test - Red Sea Calcium Pro
Dosing - Tropic Marin All-For-Reef

While I don't have corals in yet, presumably the rock/coralline is consuming some Alk/Ca/Mg. I'm not too concerned about it right now, although I have no idea since I'm not testing yet. For a small tank, the All-For-Reef seems like the simplest option. I'd like to get a Kamoer X1 Pro dosing pump to automate that too.

1.2 Phosphate testing​

I'm trying to pick between the two Hanna checkers: the ULR Phosphorous checker and the Phosphate checker. The BRStv Investigates video does a great job of differentiating them. In a nutshell, the ULR does low-range (0.0-0.6ppm) more accurately but requires math to convert from Phosphorous to Phosphate, versus a direct reading with a broader range at the expense of reduced low-range accuracy.

I'm leaning towards the ULR since the goal seems to be to keep Phosphates below 0.1ppm. If they're above 0.6 and I truly need to know the precise value, I'm very comfortable diluting liquids accurately given my background as a molecular biologist. If anyone with more experience than me has strong feelings the other way please reply!

2. Flow​

The return and the RFG seem to be doing a great job of flow for now. However, I'd like shift some of the flow to an AI Nero 3 so that I can schedule some random flow and turn things down a little at night. This is considered pretty low priority right now, especially since I don't have any corals yet.

3. Nutrient export​

This one might get it's own post (or rather, I'll update this other post I made on on the topic): I don't have space for the refugium I'd like (see my next build thread, coming sometime in the future I guess?) and no one has really said anything good about nano skimmers (not to mention that I think skimmers remove too much other stuff that I'd rather remain in the tank). So with that in mind, and with my background in microbiology, I'm planning a dentrifying reactor.

In essence, it'll be a 10" RO canister with a BRS biopellet reactor cartridge, filled with Brightwell Aquatics Xport-NO3 cubes (and potentially XPORT-PO4 if necessary, downstream from the Xport-NO3). I'll feed the reactor using a dosing pump (currently thinking the Eco-Tech Versa since it's rated for continuous use) at a really slow GPH (aiming for ~30ml/min, which is ~0.5 GPH, so roughly 1X tank volume/day).

The slow flow rate is designed to allow for anaerobic conditions inside the reactor (and more so within the Xport media itself), enabling the conversion of NO3 to N2 gas by denitrifying bacteria. The Brightwell Aquatics Xport-NO3 is impregnated with elemental Sulfur, which means autotrophic denitrification is possible using the Sulfur as the electron donor instead of organic carbon. This eliminates or reduces the need to dose carbon, and has the distinct benefit of less bacterial sludge being produced (which may clog the reactor). For a decent study, see this article from Aquaculture Engineering.

A potential downside is the production of H2S under anaerobic conditions, however H2S is readily oxidized in aerobic environments (i.e. when the reactor effluent returns to the tank; both by biological and abiotic processes). Furthermore, the levels at which it is toxic far exceed the threshold of odor detection (by at least 1-2 orders of magnitude) so I would notice the aquarium smells of rotten eggs before I poisoned the inhabitants. Additionally, the big concern with H2S in reef tanks, from my understanding, is build up in cryptic anaerobic spaces (such as DSBs, areas under rocks, etc.) where a sudden disturbance could release large amounts H2S rapidly. My reactor design, if it produced H2S at all, would release it in the effluent at a steady rate, which I believe would be oxidized long before it was a problem. Randy has written an excellent review on the topic from the reef tank perspective in Reefkeeping Magazine.

---

The sections above were roughly in order of priority, with 1.1 and 1.2 probably occurring simultaneously and probably in the coming weeks. I'd like to have a handle on Alk/Ca/Mg and ensure they're stable before I start adding corals. Flow is next, although in this small tank I don't think it's critical right away (the return and the RFG seem to be doing a great job). The denitrifying reactor is last because, frankly, it isn't necessary right now given the biological load. It's also something of an experiment, so I'll prioritize the others first and use WCs in the short term to manage nutrients if they start to creep up.

Well, so much for "not much to update". You can blame academia for my thoroughness.

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Think we’re both on about the same page. Lol the kamoer dosing pumps seem pretty good and they’re small so it’ll fit inside a stand pretty good. Plus being WiFi I’m sure would be pretty sweet.
i just installed a aqamai kps pump yesterday and I’ll have to say the option on that are crazy. Basically you have 5 different setting you can custom thru and choice what percentage you want the pump to run. You can set up a different option and speed every 30mins. Slow it down over night and then do a wave in the morning followed by a Constant speed throughout the day them high speed at night or etc.
the nutrient Part is the hardest. I’ve got about 4 different options I can choice. The tank I bought has a small uv light I can use or the media basket with endless options. Lol I’ve got a intank cheato basket with under light I can grow cheato. Or media reactor with bio pellets. Lol so many choices.

 

[Theescotland]

i have been out of the hobby for roughly 7 years now. i have been wanting to get back into it for some time, but didn't want to go with as large of a tank as i am used to. needless to say after your thread, i bought the same tank last night. so keep these updates coming for me LOL. great write up my man.

 

[Grant Beyleveld]

i have been out of the hobby for roughly 7 years now. i have been wanting to get back into it for some time, but didn't want to go with as large of a tank as i am used to. needless to say after your thread, i bought the same tank last night. so keep these updates coming for me LOL. great write up my man.

Woohoo! Congrats!

I also hesitated for a really long time because I wanted a much larger tank, but I'm really glad I went with this. It's been really awesome.

Truly though, the rocks from KP Aquatics have been incredible. I tested PO4 yesterday and it came out to 0.03 ppm. Nitrate has leveled off at 12-25 ppm. I never had an appreciable NH3 spike at all. The tank is swarming with life - worms, crabs, pods, feather dusters, sponges, tunicates. The biodiversity is insane. The cycle was incredibly fast (almost instantaneous) and I never had any uglies.

I've been rethinking the need for the AI Nero 3 - there seems to be plenty of flow with the stock return pump from Innovative Marine and the RFG nozzle. The only reason I still want it is the ability to schedule more complex flow patters, and to keep the tank moving during feeding (albeit without sucking food into the filter chambers).

The AI Prime HD light is great, but in hindsight I might have preferred the Kessil A80. The AI Prime requires you to select every single LED spectrum and it's intensity manually. The process of downloading schedules is confusing and unintuitive. It's not clear what your corals actually need, so using the light requires you to do a lot of extra reading and research and even then, I don't know that what I'm doing is correct. Lastly, there's no easy way to turn the light on or off on a whim. You have to change your entire schedule, which is annoying. Imagine you want to take a photo and you want to turn the whites up temporarily? Nope.

Contrastingly, the A80 and Kessil Logic makes things really simple. Choose the intensity and the color (blue vs white) and rest assured that your corals are getting what they need no matter what. I won't say I regret the AI Prime HD - it's a great light! - but I think the Kessil A80 is simpler and more intuitive.

 

[Theescotland]

Woohoo! Congrats!

I also hesitated for a really long time because I wanted a much larger tank, but I'm really glad I went with this. It's been really awesome.

Truly though, the rocks from KP Aquatics have been incredible. I tested PO4 yesterday and it came out to 0.03 ppm. Nitrate has leveled off at 12-25 ppm. I never had an appreciable NH3 spike at all. The tank is swarming with life - worms, crabs, pods, feather dusters, sponges, tunicates. The biodiversity is insane. The cycle was incredibly fast (almost instantaneous) and I never had any uglies.

I've been rethinking the need for the AI Nero 3 - there seems to be plenty of flow with the stock return pump from Innovative Marine and the RFG nozzle. The only reason I still want it is the ability to schedule more complex flow patters, and to keep the tank moving during feeding (albeit without sucking food into the filter chambers).

The AI Prime HD light is great, but in hindsight I might have preferred the Kessil A80. The AI Prime requires you to select every single LED spectrum and it's intensity manually. The process of downloading schedules is confusing and unintuitive. It's not clear what your corals actually need, so using the light requires you to do a lot of extra reading and research and even then, I don't know that what I'm doing is correct. Lastly, there's no easy way to turn the light on or off on a whim. You have to change your entire schedule, which is annoying. Imagine you want to take a photo and you want to turn the whites up temporarily? Nope.

Contrastingly, the A80 and Kessil Logic makes things really simple. Choose the intensity and the color (blue vs white) and rest assured that your corals are getting what they need no matter what. I won't say I regret the AI Prime HD - it's a great light! - but I think the Kessil A80 is simpler and more intuitive.

you have no idea how glad i am that you touched on lights and the nero. i was just reading reviews on the hd prime and they weren't to good. looks like i will be looking at the kessil as well. and... i lied, i got the Fluval 13.5 not the IM lol

 

[Denisk]

Really awesome build!!! I’m also building my nano and was going to purchase rock from kp. Not sure if you mentioned it or not but did you buy your 10 pounds shipped in water?

 

[Grant Beyleveld]

you have no idea how glad i am that you touched on lights and the nero. i was just reading reviews on the hd prime and they weren't to good. looks like i will be looking at the kessil as well. and... i lied, i got the Fluval 13.5 not the IM lol

The Fluval 13.5 has a built in light, doesn't it? In that case, if I were you I'd just stick with that until you start adding corals that really need more light. While you're letting the tank stabilize and adding the LR you won't need much more I don't think.

Really awesome build!!! I’m also building my nano and was going to purchase rock from kp. Not sure if you mentioned it or not but did you buy your 10 pounds shipped in water?

Yes, I got my 10 pounds shipped in water. As you can see from the shots above, 10 pounds is a great amount of rock for a tank of this size.