Innovative Marine Fusion Pro 2 AIO 50 Lagoon

[Texfisher33]

Hello everyone. My wife and I had a couple of used, cobbled together saltwater aquariums when we lived in Las Vegas. Last year we decided to move across the country to South Carolina and start a much more rewarding lifestyle in the South. We both missed having a saltwater tank and debated whether to start a new one. The new house has old wood floors which scared us with saltwater, cord management was always a nightmare, and I hated always chasing ghosts that I couldn't stabilize in my old, used system.

Finally, after some careful consideration we came up with the idea to install a saltwater tank inside of the fireplace. This allowed us to set it up on a brick surface away from the hardwood floors. The cleanout trap would allow us to run all the cables out into the garage for easier cable management, and we decided to start new. Now it was time to find a tank that would fit.

We had a 180 gallon and a 13.5 gallon AIO set up in previously. As nice as a sump is to have, the simplicity of an AIO is hard to beat. We decided to go the route of an AIO. We finally found the dimensions of an AIO tank that "should" fit nicely. The IM Pro Fusion 2 50 gallon Lagoon.

Now, I have always purchased used in nearly every aspect of my life. You definitely get much more bang for your buck. However, my old 180 gallon NEVER wanted to stabilize. I moved an existing reef tank and fought it for the next two years. My smaller 13.5 gallon tank that I began from scratch had very few issues. We decided to bite the bullet and order a new tank from Saltwateraquarium.com. We bought the tank last January and sadly life got busy and it sat since. Tonight.....We finally opened it and brought it in the house!

I've never started a build thread before and don't really know what i'm doing. I'm hoping that by doing so I can help keep myself on track, motivated, and accountable for making progress. I also hope folks feel free to kindly make recommendations if they think there may be a better way to do something. My goal with this tank is to "buy once, cry once". I want to automate it and make it simple to maintain. Finally, I hope that this thread may inspire someone to start a new project. I tend to read, read, read, rather than do. I'm looking forward to the process for once and slowly building a beautiful, stable reef tank we can enjoy for the years to come.

I will be back with an equipment list soon. Thanks for reading this far and I hope everyone has a great evening.

 

[TheWB]

Hello everyone. My wife and I had a couple of used, cobbled together saltwater aquariums when we lived in Las Vegas. Last year we decided to move across the country to South Carolina and start a much more rewarding lifestyle in the South. We both missed having a saltwater tank and debated whether to start a new one. The new house has old wood floors which scared us with saltwater, cord management was always a nightmare, and I hated always chasing ghosts that I couldn't stabilize in my old, used system.

Finally, after some careful consideration we came up with the idea to install a saltwater tank inside of the fireplace. This allowed us to set it up on a brick surface away from the hardwood floors. The cleanout trap would allow us to run all the cables out into the garage for easier cable management, and we decided to start new. Now it was time to find a tank that would fit.

We had a 180 gallon and a 13.5 gallon AIO set up in previously. As nice as a sump is to have, the simplicity of an AIO is hard to beat. We decided to go the route of an AIO. We finally found the dimensions of an AIO tank that "should" fit nicely. The IM Pro Fusion 2 50 gallon Lagoon.

Now, I have always purchased used in nearly every aspect of my life. You definitely get much more bang for your buck. However, my old 180 gallon NEVER wanted to stabilize. I moved an existing reef tank and fought it for the next two years. My smaller 13.5 gallon tank that I began from scratch had very few issues. We decided to bite the bullet and order a new tank from Saltwateraquarium.com. We bought the tank last January and sadly life got busy and it sat since. Tonight.....We finally opened it and brought it in the house!

I've never started a build thread before and don't really know what i'm doing. I'm hoping that by doing so I can help keep myself on track, motivated, and accountable for making progress. I also hope folks feel free to kindly make recommendations if they think there may be a better way to do something. My goal with this tank is to "buy once, cry once". I want to automate it and make it simple to maintain. Finally, I hope that this thread may inspire someone to start a new project. I tend to read, read, read, rather than do. I'm looking forward to the process for once and slowly building a beautiful, stable reef tank we can enjoy for the years to come.

I will be back with an equipment list soon. Thanks for reading this far and I hope everyone has a great evening.

Hey, welcome to the forum, you’ll find a ton of info and encouragement here.
I’ve had a Lagoon 50 for 4 years and it’s been a great tank, I know you’ll like it.
I do have a question about your tank placement though. Are you planning to place it inside the fireplace? Will you have enough room to easily get to the back filtration chambers to clean that area and to get equipment in and out? That area looks really tight. You might want to consider making a low platform with several heavy duty casters so you can pull the tank out for servicing. It would have to support several hundred pounds. Good luck, I’ll be following to see how you decide to continue setting this up.

 

[Texfisher33]

Hey, welcome to the forum, you’ll find a ton of info and encouragement here.
I’ve had a Lagoon 50 for 4 years and it’s been a great tank, I know you’ll like it.
I do have a question about your tank placement though. Are you planning to place it inside the fireplace? Will you have enough room to easily get to the back filtration chambers to clean that area and to get equipment in and out? That area looks really tight. You might want to consider making a low platform with several heavy duty casters so you can pull the tank out for servicing. It would have to support several hundred pounds. Good luck, I’ll be following to see how you decide to continue setting this up.

Yes, the plan is to place it inside of the fireplace. It will definitely be tight but I believe (to be verified empty when platform is built) I will still have room to get the media baskets in and out. I considered castors; I should probably think about that again. I was concerned the mortar joints in the brick would make it difficult to roll out; definitely easier than without though.

What do you all run in your filter compartments? Have you upgraded your return pump?

I actually think I read through some of your threads when I was looking at getting this tank last year.

 

[dschuffert]

Welcome! I am personally a big fan of Innovative Marine tanks. Part of the value of the IM AIO design is the simplicity. I have a 90 gal display and then an IM AIO 15 Nano. I think the idea of putting a tank in the fireplace is brilliant. I do wonder though if the size of the tank in relation to the fireplace opening may limit your ability to perform any maintenance or add any options you may want in the future. It is hard to tell from the pictures. If not, you are good to go and I look forward to seeing how this turns out!

 

[TheWB]

Yes, the plan is to place it inside of the fireplace. It will definitely be tight but I believe (to be verified empty when platform is built) I will still have room to get the media baskets in and out. I considered castors; I should probably think about that again. I was concerned the mortar joints in the brick would make it difficult to roll out; definitely easier than without though.

What do you all run in your filter compartments? Have you upgraded your return pump?

I actually think I read through some of your threads when I was looking at getting this tank last year.

Don't put it directly on the brick. Get some starboard or something and cut out something that fits the opening. Then get another piece of starboard you can put down on the floor in front of the tank wwhen you want to roll it out so the castors dont touch the brick or the wood floors. Slap on some heavy duty castors under a low rise platform stand and you'll be good to go.

I have the IM 11w UV on one of the overflows and my skimmer is in the other overflow, I have several bags of marinepure gems and seachem matrix in chamber 2 after the skimmer and under the chambers in those extra areas of the return chamber for biological filtration. heater and some chemipure elite are in the remaining chamber.

I upgraded my return pump to a Reef Octopus VarioS2. That required getting an adaptor 3d printed in order to make the plumbing work but it worked out great. I'll hook you up with the right person to make that part if you want to go that direction. You'll need to send him a piece from the pump plumbing kit that has to be installed during the printing process ot it won't work. All the details are in my thread somewhere.

 

[Texfisher33]

I'm sure there will be a limiting factor to additions by doing it this tight. I'm hoping it will actually help me keep it simple. The goal is to rarely have to touch it once stable other than to replace filter socks, chemipure, and clean glass. I believe i can still get to the pump to replace if needed. If it turns out I can't; I'll be an unhappy camper wishing I'd done it differently.

 

[TheWB]

I'm sure there will be a limiting factor to additions by doing it this tight. I'm hoping it will actually help me keep it simple. The goal is to rarely have to touch it once stable other than to replace filter socks, chemipure, and clean glass. I believe i can still get to the pump to replace if needed. If it turns out I can't; I'll be an unhappy camper wishing I'd done it differently.

But we want to see you build a big complicated rolling platform to create access. Do it for us, lol.

 

[Texfisher33]

But we want to see you build a big complicated rolling platform to create access. Do it for us, lol.

Wouldn't you much rather I build something simple, that you all warned me would complicate things down the road? Then, when i'm cursing myself for taking the easy way out, you can say "I told you so"!

 

[Texfisher33]

Equipment List:

Tank: IM Fusion 2 50 Lagoon
Lights: 2x AI Hydra 26 w/ AI hanging system
Wavemakers: 2x Icecap Gyre 2k w/ Hydros Wave Engine controlling
Return pump: Factory pump to start
Heater: 200W BRS Titanium
ATO: I think i still have an old unit in the garage from my last tank; fingers crossed.


Automation:
Neptune Apex EL
Neptune DOS for Automatic Water Changes
Apex VDM
Seneye Reef Monitor (want to try out the Par meter more than anything)
V2 FMM optical level sensor Neptune

50 lbs of Stax rock for the scape

There is definitely some redundancy here and probably not all money well spent. I really want this to be all controlled from my phone or tablet with little manual control. The plan is to have the DOS do an automatic 1 GPD water change or 14% weekly. At this rate, I hope to avoid dosing for quite some time until the reef becomes established. I had an Apex on my old system and loved it; the Hydros is 100% new to me!

Sadly the wifi signal is weak in this room (especially inside the fireplace). I've ordered a new mesh router system for the house that should be here next week. We had been needing one anyway; this pushed us over the edge.

 

[TheWB]

Wouldn't you much rather I build something simple, that you all warned me would complicate things down the road? Then, when i'm cursing myself for taking the easy way out, you can say "I told you so"!

Nope, I’m not one to kick anyone when they are down. Karma is real, lol.
I’m sure you will make the right decision. If it seems like it’s not going to work well with your original plan just make your adjustments before you put the water in. Make sure you have enough room to mount the lights and still get your arm in there to extract the pump, skimmer and media caddy. There’s not a lot of wiggle room in those back chambers.

 

[TheWB]

Equipment List:

Tank: IM Fusion 2 50 Lagoon
Lights: 2x AI Hydra 26 w/ AI hanging system
Wavemakers: 2x Icecap Gyre 2k w/ Hydros Wave Engine controlling
Return pump: Factory pump to start
Heater: 200W BRS Titanium
ATO: I think i still have an old unit in the garage from my last tank; fingers crossed.


Automation:
Neptune Apex EL
Neptune DOS for Automatic Water Changes
Apex VDM
Seneye Reef Monitor (want to try out the Par meter more than anything)
V2 FMM optical level sensor Neptune

50 lbs of Stax rock for the scape

There is definitely some redundancy here and probably not all money well spent. I really want this to be all controlled from my phone or tablet with little manual control. The plan is to have the DOS do an automatic 1 GPD water change or 14% weekly. At this rate, I hope to avoid dosing for quite some time until the reef becomes established. I had an Apex on my old system and loved it; the Hydros is 100% new to me!

Sadly the wifi signal is weak in this room (especially inside the fireplace). I've ordered a new mesh router system for the house that should be here next week. We had been needing one anyway; this pushed us over the edge.

Post lots of pictures of the scape design. I love the Stax Rocks, lots of fun to build with, I used it in my Lagoon 50. I just received 40# last week to go along with 3 bags of TLF Little Feet (smaller Stax Rocks) and some rubble to start the scape for my new build.

 

[Texfisher33]

Post lots of pictures of the scape design. I love the Stax Rocks, lots of fun to build with, I used it in my Lagoon 50. I just received 40# last week to go along with 3 bags of TLF Little Feet (smaller Stax Rocks) and some rubble to start the scape for my new build.

That will be the wife's project. She is much more artistic than I am. I went back and looked at your build thread; I definitely went through that at some point prior and pulled some inspiration from it. Very nice.

Everything took longer than it should have but I did get the platform built and lights hung last night. The wall in the garage hasn't been cleared yet to pull cables through. It looks like i'm going to have to buy some extension cables for most the equipment.


@TheWB What kind of build are you working on next?

 

[Texfisher33]

Here is the first go at the scape with Stax rocks. Trying to shrink it slightly and remove some of the filler rock. I don't want to take too much away as we are going bare bottom so surface area will already be an issue.

 

[V A R I A N T]

I see there has been thought about how the tank would impact the floors and fireplace. Additionally, how to manage the tank in a confined space. Have you considered the impact of the fireplace, potential sediment or rust, or other airborne items falling into the tank? How will you adequately clean the chambers of the AIO as they collect detritus? How would you remove any livestock that makes its way back there and perishes?

Not trying to poo poo on your venture but this one sounds very risky given the investments made in owning a reef.

 

[Texfisher33]

I see there has been thought about how the tank would impact the floors and fireplace. Additionally, how to manage the tank in a confined space. Have you considered the impact of the fireplace, potential sediment or rust, or other airborne items falling into the tank? How will you adequately clean the chambers of the AIO as they collect detritus? How would you remove any livestock that makes its way back there and perishes?

Not trying to poo poo on your venture but this one sounds very risky given the investments made in owning a reef.

I don't disagree. I believe we have left enough space between the top of the fireplace and the tank lip that i can get my torso in. While it isn't convenient, i've convinced myself it is worth trying. Good call on the rust dropping in. I will have to consider mounting some sort of "catch pan" just below the flue. I had not thought of that.

 

[TheWB]

That will be the wife's project. She is much more artistic than I am. I went back and looked at your build thread; I definitely went through that at some point prior and pulled some inspiration from it. Very nice.

Everything took longer than it should have but I did get the platform built and lights hung last night. The wall in the garage hasn't been cleared yet to pull cables through. It looks like i'm going to have to buy some extension cables for most the equipment.


@TheWB What kind of build are you working on next?

Thanks for the compliment, my thread, which was just supposed to be a place for me to keep track of things, has grown into a monster. I never thought I would post that much. It always surprises me if anyone looks at it. I'm glad if you found any little bit of inspiration there.

The scape looks great, I like what she's doing there. I literally spent months on mine. Completely overthought the whole process. Went from simple to overly elaborate and then slowly back to simple-ish again.
I'm not sure how wide that whole thing is but remember to leave enough room to be able to clean around the sides with a magnet scraper and think about where the wavemakers will be placed. Sometimes big walls like that on the sides can block flow.

I'm not quite ready to reveal the new project details becasue it's not here yet and there are still design elements being worked out but basically it's a custom, larger aio tank. I have some ideas about the way I want things and if it works out the way I'm hoping it will then I'll have a new build thread with all the details.

 

[Texfisher33]

Well, I missed two key pieces when planning this. One, I need enough space behind the tank to pass a cord and plug and second, the back of the fireplace arches forward. Both of these things multiply against me and my plans to install it flush. I did verify my ability to remove the filter baskets and reach in to service the pump. While not comfortable, both could be done relatively simply.

Back to square one. I’m starting to wonder if creating a build thread was a good idea.

latest scape.

 

[TheWB]

Well, I missed two key pieces when planning this. One, I need enough space behind the tank to pass a cord and plug and second, the back of the fireplace arches forward. Both of these things multiply against me and my plans to install it flush. I did verify my ability to remove the filter baskets and reach in to service the pump. While not comfortable, both could be done relatively simply.

Back to square one. I’m starting to wonder if creating a build thread was a good idea.

latest scape.

Of course starting the build thread was a good idea. It's always good to have a place to document the successes and the failures and to bat ideas around. It's how we all learn from each other.

 

[Texfisher33]

No physical work on the tank done today. Ordered some extension cables for the Gyre and return pumps. Also ordered some Brightwell dry rock cycle kit and some marinepure gems. Spent a couple hours watching the new BRStv series on cycling tanks 12 different ways. It was pretty interesting and I would recommend.

I spent the evening working on my second hobby. @hotrocketpeppers

 

[swampcruiser]

Nice those look hot! It was a good year for peppers up here - hot and dry