Innovative Marine Fusion 15 AIO Cube Journey

[The Deaf Reefer]

Not exactly. Say your attaching two rocks together. Place the 2 rocks together, apply super glue at the connection point, then sprinkle baking soda over the super glue. Once that holds... you can add more glue and baking soda to buff up the connection point to make it more blended. This way... it looks like the rock is solid instead of two rocks glued to each other

Gotcha ... I was like dang that's alot of glue lol

I was thinking of back half of the top rock to create a little couple inches height to increase the overall height of the scape and also easier for corals that need to be closer to the light with higher par

 

[takoarm8]

For the past month... I've slowly been getting the itch to start a reef tank. I've had multiple reef tanks in the past but none in the last 10 years or so. About 2 weeks ago, a close cousin told me that he bought a new fish tank and that motivated me to scratch that itch. I ended up buying a 14-gallon Aqueon rimless cube at Petco during their last sale. I then bought 20 pounds of live sand and 40 pounds of base rock. I have various odds and ends from my past reefing journeys like powerheads, a refractometer, and the like. Still need to pick up an RO-DI unit and some salt so I can start my cycle. But before even that... I had to build my stand. So, this is where my journey starts. I built it out of some leftover 1/2 baltic birch plywood and I built it to the exact dimensions of the Aqueon. I still need to build some kind of door as well as (maybe) a pullout drawer. But, the carcass is built so I decided to start finishing it. I left the inside raw birch and the outside is stained in espresso. I'm going to put about 5 coats of poly once the stain dries.

I still haven't decided on the lighting that I will use or if I will use a protein skimmer or not. I'm leaning towards the noopsyche k7 mini. And, if I do get a skimmer... it will probably be the tunze 9001 or 9004. Also, I intend on keeping a pair of clowns (my favorite fish by far) and some softies like zoas, ricordea, and long polyp toadstools.

Stand looks great. I’m about to do the same thing with some pieces of walnut. It’s crazy they just don’t make good furniture anymore. Everything is made in China particle board!

 

[Retro Heat]

Stand looks great. I’m about to do the same thing with some pieces of walnut. It’s crazy they just don’t make good furniture anymore. Everything is made in China particle board!

Thanks @takoarm8 I fully agree. I started building my own furniture a few years ago when my wife wanted a new bed. After building the bed... I realized that the furniture we buy in stores are overpriced and typically make of subpar materials. Since then... I made it my goal to build any and all wood furniture for my house. My goal is to have every piece of furniture in my house built by me. =)

Walnut would be awesome. Crazy expensive... But awesome. =) I def want to see it when you finish.

 

[takoarm8]

I would live to do zebra wood but that would be big bucks .

 

[Retro Heat]

I would live to do zebra wood but that would be big bucks .

Lol... Zebrawood. The stand would be more expensive then the tank fully stocked. It would be super nice though. =)

 

[Retro Heat]

So, I ended up picking up a frag of one of my favorite corals... A green polyp toadstool leather. This one is metallic green... Almost like metallic GSP. Luckily, it opened right up when I placed it into my tank. I have it sitting on the sand right now. But, I'll probably mount it up somewhere on the right side of the rockwork after I acclimate it to my lights.

 

[Retro Heat]

Zoa game on fleek! Lol, sorry... Don't really speak this way. Just excited that I was able to take a pic without it looking like a blue blob. Hahaha.


Rainbow Incinerator


Rastas, Sunny D, Armor of Gods?

 

[Retro Heat]

So, I decided to try giving the turbulent flow nozzle another try. I printed a loc-line so I can drop the single return a little lower and attached the nozzle and it looks like it's working better. Also, it looks like my diatoms are dying out. At least it is a lot less than it was just a few days ago. Tank update shots.

 

[Retro Heat]

Tank update. My leather coral decided to start shedding so he's been closed up and glossy for about 3 days now. The diatoms are pretty much gone. But, the rocks have started turning bright green. The good news is that I see signs of coraline growing all over the tank now. Not bad considering that it's only been set up for a month now. All of my zoa frags have seen 1-2 polyp growth. And, I've added a strawberry conch to my CUC.

PS: pics are right when my lights have turned on so everything is closed up right now.

 

[Retro Heat]

It's been about a month since my last update so here goes. Tank has been set up for about 2.5 months now. All of my zoa colonies has grown multiple new heads. My leather has probably doubled in size. And, my frogspawn is showing new babies at the base. I went through the diatom stage pretty early but cleared up in about a week. Then had hard green algae grow all over the rock. The past month has seen coraline start to take over the rocks. You can see this in the top down pic. Pretty crazy considering how relatively young the tank is. I had to add red sea 2 part to get my levels up. Currently they sit at 430 cal, 9 dkh and 1350 mag. Other than that... Was able to buy the IM UV sterilizer and I run that 24/7, I still do weekly 1.5 gal water changes and change the filter floss twice a week. I am going on a month long trip at the end of the month but I'm thinking about getting a doser to automate the dosing when I get back. I don't want to do it before since I won't be here to keep an eye on things. And, I'm pretty sure my tank can survive a month on just weekly water and filter changes (my niece is currently in training to take over while I'm gone).

 

[OldRed1]

Wow! This is a spectacular update! This is the kind of growth that I aspire to!

 

[Retro Heat]

Wow! This is a spectacular update! This is the kind of growth that I aspire to!

Thanks @OldRed1 in all honesty... I'm pretty surprised how well this tank is running. I've had many reef tanks before and I've always had some issue but this tank seems to just improve everyday. I did do things differently this time around though.

First, I have an ato and inkbird temp controller with eheim 100w so the salinity and temp always stay fairly stable.

Second, I started with ro-di water from the jump so I know the water is as pure as I can get it.

Third, I'm using instant ocean so I knew the cal/alk/mag levels would be lower than ideal so I started boosting them with red sea 2 part 1x a week to get them up.

Fourth, I have more than enough rock to support beneficial bacteria but I also have a big bag of medium to have even more ben bac and I also run a small bag of carbon 24/7 (change out every 2 weeks) and uv 24/7.

Fifth, I've been religious with a 1.5gal water change every week and change out the filter floss 2x a week.

Finally, the lighting has been on pretty consistent schedule since I set it up so everything is pretty much acclimated to it.

I even feed pretty heavily 2-3x a day with a selection of brine/mysis/tdo/zooplanktos-M/aminomega. So, everything is eating but there isn't too much extra going to waste. I don't even have a huge cuc but they seem to get the job done (strawberry conch, 1 turbo, 3 nararrius, 3 margarita). I want to add 3 trochus snails soon.

 

[nanonem]

I have Jebao 1500 return pump which is 400gph cranked to the max with dual nozzles and 2 RFG attached. I also have the Hygger 1600 running max 24/7 on the bottom of back corner. I still feel I need more flow. Going to stick with this for now but thinking about an MP10 while it's on sale is the best flow possible.

which RFG did you get? I’m trying to see if i can get one off amazon that will fit the Nuvo 15 or the dual return nozzles without modification

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

I got the VCA 1.5" RFG's

 

[nanonem]

I got the VCA 1.5" RFG's

Would this one work? https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/u...MI1vyGpIvd_AIVFx6tBh1eSAdlEAQYASABEgKI_vD_BwE

 

[ShaunMc]

Would this one work? https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/u...MI1vyGpIvd_AIVFx6tBh1eSAdlEAQYASABEgKI_vD_BwE

I have this. It works. You need the IM adapter (E) in the picture.

Update: this one
Innovative Marine Slip-Fit-Drop Adapter - 19mm to 1/2in Loc-Line

 

[reefishee]

Anyone mid sharing their K7 mini schedule for their IM Fusion 15?

 

[G800pc]

Hey I found this thread while researching I’m a beginner fresh out the stomach on this stuff I’m get the same tank I was seeing if y’all have any tips like what chemicals do y’all use where to get the food and everything for coral I want to go with instant ocean sea water form my lfs and live sand, live rock I was thinking about running the A80 tuna blue nano led Kessil and the wave maker is

hygger Mini Wave Maker Magnetic DC Powerhead if y’all have any tips please let me know​

 

[Ober_Reef]

Following!

 

[Retro Heat]

Geez... It's been a while since my last update. Maybe because I really haven't added anything new to the tank in a while. Everything seems to be in a good balance. No major problems except for little patches of hair algae that gets gobbled up by my turbo. My zoa frags have turned into mini colonies. My rock is 60-70% covered in Coraline now. My leather got too big so I had to move him more to the back since he was touching the front glass. My frogspawn frag now has 3 heads and multiple baby heads growing off the main trunk.

I just did a major cleanup since my power head and return nozzle were pretty much covered in Coraline. The only thing I did add was a fan at the top to help keep the temps down (which it seems to be doing a good job with the help of my inkbird controller).