Innovative Marine Fusion 40

[pompeyjohn]

Hi all,

Welcome to my build thread/journal. I am going to try and document this as much as possible to help others. I am not much of a photographer, but I'll try.

The tank was bought from Marine Depot. The first arrived cracked and they sent me a second straight away. Now a MD customer for life.

This tank has been slightly modified. I removed the baffle on the right side first compartment. I did this with a razor blade, time, and just a little swearing. The reason for removing the baffle was so that I could fit a larger skimmer into that section. The skimmer I chose was the JNS WS1. It is the in-sump version of the popular HOB1. However, my wife decided that she didnt like seeing the skimmer sticking out from the back of the sump. So, switched to a Tunze 9004.

The tank is not currently in a good state. My pet sitter pretty much killed it over Christmas. There is a couple of corals, and some clean up crew. No swimmers at the moment.

In the sump (from left to right)

• Intank media basket. Pad on top, and middle section containing chaeto and two submersible leds.
• Four line dosing holder for apex probes, a small bag of phosguard and a small bad of chemipure blue.
• (This is the main return compartment). Finnex 300w heater. Smart ATO sensor. Sicce 2.0 return pump which splits to two spinstreams.
• Four line dosing holder for ATO return, cal, alk and vibrant.
• Tunze 9004 skimmer

In the tank

• 2x spinsteams on the main returns
• 2 x mp10 quiet drives
• tlf nanomag (and the other mini cleaner with the scraper blade)

Above the tank

• a single AI Hydra 26. I had two. One died and is being investigated by AI.

Below the tank

• a mess of cables
• apex gold
• 5 gallon water jug
• apex wxm to control the vortechs
• apex awm to control the hydras
• four brs 1.1ml dosing pumps
• three compartment dosing container
• a motion activated light that helps me see what I am doing, but rarely works

in the garage

• five stage 150gph rodi
• water saver add on
• booster pump to get the water pressure up
• milwaukee refactometer
• mixing container for salt (with heater and mj1200)
• container for fresh (with heater and mj1200)
• the usual chemicals and test kits

equipment not currently being used

• one of the four brs pumps 1.1ml is not plugged in. I bought it in a bundle and it is there in case of emergencies.
• JNS WS1 skimmer.

I am currently trying to decide on a new light. The Hydra 26s were great lights, but they spilled quite a bit of light into the room when eight inches above the water line. And I needed two of them to get a decent amount of light to the edges of the tank. Now I am just running the one. So it is either, raise the light up so the whole tank (and room) is lit. Or keep it low and only light the center of the tank.

So I am shopping for a new light. Options currently being considered:

Led:

• Radion G4. It bugs me that you dont see coverage maps online for the non Pro version. I'd probably need the diffuser to make this work as the lights jut out below the fixture.
• 24" Maxspect Recurve. I used to have a razor, and it was a good light. Looked very sleak. It was an expensive light for just blue and white though. I have not seen many reviews on the Recurve yet. The wing could be ideal for me in stopping light flooding into the room.
• Orphek Atantik Compact v4. Stunning light. The spread looks great. I'd be concerned about the light spill though. The antenna looks ridiculous, and it bugs me that I'd need to get a controller as well.
• Kessil AP700. Looks good, the pucks are wider apart than the radion, but it seems to have a love/hate following.
• Dual AI prime HDs, or a single Hydra 52 HD. Both look good. They just seem like a Radion lite now though.
• Reefbreeder photon 16 or 24. Both look to be good units and a big step up from the chinese black boxes.

Led and t5 hybrid:

• I have looked a lot at the aquatic life 24" fixture. In theory I could keep using the hydra 26, to get that led pop. However, the aquatic life fixture is pretty wide, and I'd be illuminating the sump with one or even two of the bulbs. And I'd still have a bright spot in the tank from the height of the hydra. So for me I dont think this solution is going to work in this case.

T5:

• I am tempted by both of the ATI 6x24 fixtures. They are a little more compact than the aquatic life hybrid so I could fit either over the 16 depth of the tank. Some folks onlive seem to love the dimmable, others have had issues. Both would have poor resale value though. Also I'd need to buy bulbs to get them running, and every year.
• 24" Giesemann Matrix. That sure is a pretty fixture. It is tempting.

As you can see I am not really that close to making a decision!

Thanks for taking the time to read. Pictures to follow...

 

[zachxlutz]

Sorry to hear about your messy tank due to your sitter. I've been relying on my apex, an autofeeder and a larger ATO for when I travel and I've had good success so far. I really wouldn't trust anyone to watch my tank for me. Sounds like you're doing it right though!

 

[pompeyjohn]

Thanks Zach. I am definitely going to invest in an autofeeder and make sure the apex is bullet proof before heading out again. Which one do you use?

 

[zachxlutz]

Thanks Zach. I am definitely going to invest in an autofeeder and make sure the apex is bullet proof before heading out again. Which one do you use?

I use an Eheim Everyday Fish Feeder along with a feeding ring to make sure the food doesn't go down the overflows. It's been a reliable way to keep the finicky anthias fed several times a day. Hasn't ever had any issues and the programming is easy and has plenty of options for when/how much to feed.

 

[pompeyjohn]

Thanks - added to Amazon wishlist.

 

[pompeyjohn]

A local reefer has one of those feeders for sale - five bucks. Result!

Still waiting to hear back from AI. Still looking at alternative lights....

 

[pompeyjohn]

Hi Mods. Can this be moved to the nano sub forum please?

 

[pompeyjohn]

Actually the AIO sub forum looks to be the best fit. Thanks.

 

[pompeyjohn]

Staying in the AI world, I am now pondering...

1 Hydra 52 HD
$600
four pucks

3 AI primes
$600
three pucks - but they can be spaced wider

Both should be plenty of light for the 24" wide tank. I really want as little shadowing as possible. Time to search for fts pictures of the hydra 52hd.

 

[pompeyjohn]

So AI offered me a good discount on two new Hydra 26s. They should be arriving Monday. My thinking was that if there is still shadowing I can always put those lights inside the aquatic life 24" fixture.

I promise I'll get some pictures up this weekend. Tank doesn't look great right now, but hopefully is moving in the right direction.

 

[pompeyjohn]

just done a water change with Instant Ocean

calcium at 390 (api)
alk at 9 (api)
Mag at 1395 (salifert)

So need to bump that calcium up a bit. I am going to leave it for now and do another test this time tomorrow.

 

[pompeyjohn]

calcium at 400 - yesterday must have been a misreading
alk at 10 - oh ***
mag at 1395


Either I was half asleep when I did the tests yesterday or I have a magic ******* reef here.

 

[pompeyjohn]

Some pictures!

(all taken with an s7. I have a canon t5 but no idea how to use it)

New lights have arrived, and they look great. Loaded up the saxby preset, and happy so far.



Here you go can see how I have them mounted. I am using the EXT rail, but not the default screw holes. This allows the lights to be a little closer together.


the tank sits on an "inset" in the wall of my living room. Here is a FTS that shows it a little better than I can explain it


a closer FTS


under the tank mess


mp10s on the door


Green torch. There is a darker morph to the right that is slowly coming back after the crash.


Am RBTA that I rescued from a reefer leaving the hobby. Never bubbles up, and always looks hungry


orange octospawn - doing well. I wish you could see the color on this. It is almost peach-like.


hammer - perhaps gold. Not sure.


Devil's hand I think.


hey an orange rock flower anemone survived the tank crash


kinda hard to get a picture of the elegance coral at the back

 

[pompeyjohn]

calcium at 390
alk at 9.5
mag - did not test

I dont mind if the alk drops a little lower. I'd like to calcium to be around 440. That might not be too practical though with IO, as it mixes to:

400 ppm cal
11 dkh alk
1350 ppm mag

My 1.1ml BRS dosing pumps run actually at 1.9ml per minute. I am going to dose 50ml of calcium a day. I used this page here to calculate the apex code https://www.reeftronics.net/adpg/dosingcalc.php here is the code it came up with:

Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/001:06/058:54 Then ON

We'll give that a go for a couple of days and see how things look.

*fingers crossed*

 

[zachxlutz]

I used this page here to calculate the apex code https://www.reeftronics.net/adpg/dosingcalc.php here is the code it came up with:

I use that page as well. It's always worked out perfectly for me. Best of luck.

 

[pompeyjohn]

Thanks Zach - it is always reassuring to read things like that.

 

[NY_Caveman]

calcium at 390
alk at 9.5
mag - did not test

I dont mind if the alk drops a little lower. I'd like to calcium to be around 440. That might not be too practical though with IO, as it mixes to:

400 ppm cal
11 dkh alk
1350 ppm mag

My 1.1ml BRS dosing pumps run actually at 1.9ml per minute. I am going to dose 50ml of calcium a day. I used this page here to calculate the apex code https://www.reeftronics.net/adpg/dosingcalc.php here is the code it came up with:

Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/001:06/058:54 Then ON

We'll give that a go for a couple of days and see how things look.

*fingers crossed*

Nice! I really like that aquascape!

 

[polyppal]

bought my nuvo 20 from Marine Depot and it was the most 'extra' packaging job iv ever seen lol. No way that tank was getting broken - shocked yours was!

 

[pompeyjohn]

Maybe the extra height of the 40 was the issue? The front left top corner had a big impact dent. I was surprised the glass hadn't cracked from it. IM certainly seem to ship better than JBJ tanks. I have had two of their tanks arrive cracked. Perhaps there are just some heavy handed UPS drivers around.

 

[pompeyjohn]

Nice! I really like that aquascape!

Thanks! It is carribea life rock. Really easy to scape. I have used some of their belize branch as well. Highly recommended.