IM Fusion Pro 40L (lagoon) build

[Sdbuehler1]

Hey folks! I’m upgrading my 3rd reef tank from a waterbox cube 20 to an IM Fusion Pro 40L. This is an AIO tank that is 35” L x 15” W and 13” H. My other two tanks are an IM 100 EXT (mixed reef) and a Waterbox 230.6 (sps dominate). My waterbox cube 20 became overrun with aptasia and had to be broken down. I moved the inhabitants (2 clownfish) to a QT tank while their new home is being built.

This is a beautiful little tank. The stand with the leveling base is 41 inches tall so even though the tank is shallow (13 inches) it sits right at eye level when you are sitting down to view it but still gives a nice view point when you are standing in front of it

 

[Sdbuehler1]

Equipment:

Controller - Apex Jr

Lighting - 2 Kessil A360x with the 35 degrees reflector (repurposed from my other setups)

Heater - BRS titanium 100 wear with InkBird controller

Return Pump - Might Mini (comes with tank)

Powerhead - AI Nero 5

ATO - JBJ Nano ( repurposed from the WB 20)


Live Rock - 30 lbs base nano rock from TBS

Sand - 20 lbs Carib sea special grade plus 20 lbs TBS live sand (to be added soon)

 

[Sdbuehler1]

My plan is for this to be an LPS tank and I am toying with the idea of an anemone or maybe some frog spawn for the clowns to nest in. I’ll be moving the 2 clownfish over later this week and then will be adding a couple more fish. I will probably add a yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp and then maybe a blenny.

 

[Slaya39XD]

Can you post a picture of the info sticker on the back right side ?

 

[JumboShrimp]

Sorry about the aptasia problem. But it's clear you know what you are doing.

 

[Sdbuehler1]

Can you post a picture of the info sticker on the back right side ?

 

[jadedog]

Im debating getting this tank as a upgrade for my fusion 15g. The thing holding me back is I already have a tank with this exact foot print just taller so it might be silly. Your tank looks very nice! I really like the lagoon style.

 

[Sdbuehler1]

Im debating getting this tank as an upgrade for my fusion 15g. The thing holding me back is I already have a tank with this exact foot print just taller so it might be silly. Your tank looks very nice! I really like the lagoon style.

I thought the same thing as I have 2 other larger tanks but I’m really liking the shallow look. It really does feel like a slice of the ocean.

 

[jadedog]

I thought the same thing as I have 2 other larger tanks but I’m really liking the shallow look. It really does feel like a slice of the ocean.

I might bite the bullet

 

[RaymondL]

Thanks for sharing - I like the longer type tanks more such as yours.

How do you find the IM stand? Do you feel it's well built and sturdy?

 

[Sdbuehler1]

The stand is much sturdier than my EXT100. The base has solid adjustable rubber feet so it levels nicely. It’s a little bit of an odd design in that the upper part of the stand just rests loosely on the base but once you fill the tank with water it’s very solid and doesn’t rock like my EXT100 does. It’s been a great tank so far. I’m so glad I upgraded from the waterbox cube 20.

 

[RaymondL]

The stand is much sturdier than my EXT100. The base has solid adjustable rubber feet so it levels nicely. It’s a little bit of an odd design in that the upper part of the stand just rests loosely on the base but once you fill the tank with water it’s very solid and doesn’t rock like my EXT100 does. It’s been a great tank so far. I’m so glad I upgraded from the waterbox cube 20.

Given that you have experienced mixed types of tanks, how do you find the All in One type of system in comparison to having a sump system like the 230.6? Easier, better to manage, etc.

 

[Sdbuehler1]

Given that you have experienced mixed types of tanks, how do you find the All in One type of system in comparison to having a sump system like the 230.6? Easier, better to manage, etc.

I think the main appeal to an AIO tank is that there is no complicated plumbing and you can run a much smaller return pump so it is super quiet. There's no messing with durso, bean animal, or herbie setups that can require constant tweaking until they are dialed in.

My other two tanks with sumps are much more complicated setups with refugium/turf scrubbers, fleece rollers, skimmers, phosphate reactors, dosing pumps for alk, calc, magnesium, carbon (vodka), and trident testing so it would be much harder to do all that in an AIO unless it was a bigger tank.

I built this lagoon tank with the idea that it would be mostly LPS, can run without a skimmer, and the only dosing would be AllForReef to mostly maintain alkalinity. The rear chamber is big enough to fit a skimmer if I do want to add one in the future but I'm going to see if I can do without one. I think what makes this specific tank super easy to maintain is that it is really shallow. I dont have to get on a stool like I do for my other tanks and I only get wet half way up my forearm lol.

 

[Sdbuehler1]

This is not rhe greatest pic but the the tank has been running for 2.5 months now and is doing well. I had a horrible algea outbreak about 1 month in but I scrubbed the rocks and added a decent cleanup crew and there isn’t a spot of hair algae to be found now. It was surprising to experience this since I used all live rock from TBS and mostly live sand. The inhabitants are 2 clownfish, firefish, chalk bass, tuxedo urchin, cleaner shrimp, mithrax crab, turbo and trochus snails, rainbow BTA, and various encrusting LPS and SPS.