Katanda's IM 10g

Katanda · Jul 19, 2015

So...after a few years out of the hobby, I decided to start a tank back up again. I loved the look of the IM Fusion series, so I went ahead and got the 10g. The tank has been set up for a few days now and I'm just waiting for the cycle to kick in. I have CaribSea live sand and ~ 8 lbs of live rock. Everything in the tank is stock, and I'm using a Kessil A160 LED and 75w Cobalt Neotherm heater. Debating whether or not to get a skimmer.

I haven't kept corals seriously, but I would love to dive into SPS -- like Acro. I know these are quite difficult, but I'd love to hear suggestions for keeping such a small tank stable for SPS. I'm pretty sure the A160 could grow anything, so I would just have to be hyper diligent on water changes and keeping up with dosing -- right?

For now, I am ghost feeding and dosing API's Quick-Start (which may or may not be the best) -- two days in, I am reading 0.01 free ammonia and 0 nitrites and nitrates (the latter not surprisingly).

Any suggestions? Aquascape?

trio91 · Jul 19, 2015

the wife just set one up herself...just wanted to show as i have a few questions about this myself as i have never ran a tank this small....excuse the poor photos its from a black berry

trio91 · Jul 19, 2015

to me...flow seems to be a big thing (our biggest hurdle) with this tank....more than likely we will be going with some polyps, mushrooms maybe the frogspawn <- (from my bigger tank) for this little guy....basically something she can't kill....i think SPS may be too delicate but i am no expert..i can see it being done i think it just maybe too much work..small tanks have bigger impacts when things go wrong (temp, parameters etc)......just my opinion

Katanda · Jul 19, 2015

Nice looking tank! I agree about flow -- I was going to ride the MP 10 bandwagon because it seems to be what everyone recommends these days...

Swings in parameters with the small water volume is also a concern as you said, but I think it may be able to be dealt with via an ATO unit and weekly water changes...but maybe I'm being overly optimistic for a tank that really only holds 6-8 gallons of water (from what I can tell)...

trio91 · Jul 20, 2015

i agree with you on that...i was telling her (wife) that i think she should invest in an ATO....(i haven't seen good reviews on the IM model but that's neither here nor there) i have a maxi jet pump lying around so we may swap it out if the included pump doesn't meet the need. in any case keep me posted (i will do the same) as i would like to possibly "work together" on this.

Katanda · Jul 21, 2015

Definitely -- will do.

Speaking of pumps, have you thought about switching out the stock return pump for something stronger?

Tank2379 · Jul 21, 2015

I love mine, I actually stayed with the stock pump on mine and just added and Koralia 240 nano.. Gives off great flow and enough for LPS . Here is a link to my IM 10

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank2379s-im-fusion-10-nano.206096/

trio91 · Jul 21, 2015

Katanda said:
Definitely -- will do.

Speaking of pumps, have you thought about switching out the stock return pump for something stronger?

i have a maxi jet pump lying around that i was using for my media reactor on my larger tank (i upgraded)....what i want to do 1st is see how the inhabitants fare with the stock pump...then we can switch it up if necessary

what i am going to do (today) is order the filter sock accessory for this tank as i feel that the filter pad chamber is a piece of garbage.....i have noticed that the majority of the water tends to float around the chamber
http://www.marinedepot.com/Innovati...ia-Innovative_Marine-0I10513-FIFMMEFS-vi.html

trio91 · Jul 21, 2015

Tank2379 said:
I love mine, I actually stayed with the stock pump on mine and just added and Koralia 240 nano.. Gives off great flow and enough for LPS . Here is a link to my IM 10

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank2379s-im-fusion-10-nano.206096/

nice tank...that's where we are trying to go with this...something simple....the wife has already been window shopping in my larger tank for some stock to add

Katanda · Jul 21, 2015

That's a beautiful tank, Tank2379. How long did it take to cycle?

I like the look (and especially the price) of the Koralias, maybe the 425 would be enough flow in a 10g for SPS... I am no expert, though

revhtree · Jul 21, 2015

Looking good!

Tank2379 · Jul 21, 2015

Katanda said:
That's a beautiful tank, Tank2379. How long did it take to cycle?

I like the look (and especially the price) of the Koralias, maybe the 425 would be enough flow in a 10g for SPS... I am no expert, though

It took me a week to get it going and added corals. I used Bio-Spiral to get the cycle started, added fish at about the 2 week mark.

trio91 · Jul 21, 2015

i have fine sand in my tank so i think that power-head will create a sandstorm....

Tank2379 · Jul 21, 2015

I used the Fiji Pink from Carib-Sea- Live Sand.. I love it not as Fine and doesn't create a cloud storm if the power head is too strong.

Katanda · Jul 22, 2015

Tank2379 said:
It took me a week to get it going and added corals. I used Bio-Spiral to get the cycle started, added fish at about the 2 week mark.

Great-- I'm just a few days in and reading 0.5 on total ammonia and 0.05 on nitrites, 0 on nitrate. Looks like my cycles underway

Katanda · Jul 30, 2015

So, almost through the cycle-- ammonia back to zero after huge initial spike, and nitrites almost to zero...

And now, the diatom bloom begins:

trio91 · Jul 30, 2015

Katanda said:
So, almost through the cycle-- ammonia back to zero after huge initial spike, and nitrites almost to zero...

And now, the diatom bloom begins:

looking good friend....just an update, i have been "seeding" my tank with some pellet food to start the cycling....nothing yet....im not rushing though as i am dealing with an issue in my larger tank....will keep you posted

Katanda · Jul 30, 2015

trio91 said:
looking good friend....just an update, i have been "seeding" my tank with some pellet food to start the cycling....nothing yet....im not rushing though as i am dealing with an issue in my larger tank....will keep you posted

Nice! Let me know how that goes. I'm going to do another test tomorrow... then maybe make some plots of water chemistry through the cycle... stay tuned!