My IM Nuvo Fusion 20

[Monsinour]

Hey there everyone. You have probably seen me asking all kinds of questions about this type of tank and what should go in it equipment wise. Well, here is the dedicated tank thread.

So about me first. A long time ago, in a state far from where I am now, I had a reef tank setup. Up top was the 56 gallon tall Marineland tank. I used a CPR overflow to get it down to a custom 25 gallon sump I found on the e of bays (not sure if I can mention it so I didn't, sorta). It was a really nice tank when it was setup and had all the maintenance done.

Really long story short, all the "yeah we will help you with the maintenance" never really happened and I moved away. Once I moved away, things started dying and the tank went to heck. Fairly certain that it got sold or scrapped.

So now I am getting back into the reef thing after 5 years of being out. I am starting with a small tank as I live in an apartment and large tanks are no nos. I figure I can have 4 to 5 fish in the 20 gallon tank and dress it up with a few corals to tide me over until i get my own place. The equipment list I have so far is:

Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion 20 gallon
Replace one side of the overflows with the upgraded caddy
power head will be a hydor koralia 240 gph
the return pump will be a SICCE Syncra Silent 1.5 pump
a single Kessil A80 Tuna Blue to light it up
Some kind of protien skimmer (tunze 9004 or 9001 which one fits?)
them cool spinners for the return
a Cobalt Aquatics 75W Neo-Therm heater (do I need 100w?)
DIY Stand (omg nightmare)

As far as setup goes, it will be dry rock for sure. In the old tank, I used wet live rock from an LFS. That is where all the cool red macro algae came from as well as some gorgs. However, there was a baby mantis shrimp and some kind of evil crab on the rock. It took about 4 to 5 days into the cycling of the tank before I caught the crab. It was another 5 days before I scared the mantis to death chasing it around the bottom of the rocks. I know I killed it as it went from one side of the tank to the other, and then stopped moving completely. I netted it, put it in a container, and never saw it move in the next 3 hours. While I will miss the possibility of cool hitchhikers, I wont miss the headaches they can cause.

In one of the spots in the upgraded caddy, I will be placing some chemi-pure blue nano bags. In another spot will be some marine pure spheres. It will probably be the sponges the original baskets have in the top caddy, the marine pure spheres in the middle caddy, and the chemi-pure in the final caddy.

The one thing about this tank that will make it almost completely different than any other tank out there is that the means to fund this endeavor will come straight from my blood supply. I donate plasma twice a week at a local donation center. I donate plasma for 2 reasons. 1. I can donate more often than donating blood and I help more people this way. 2. I get paid for the donation as well. So, the only time I can buy stuff for the tank, is when there is enough "blood money" on my donation card. It takes a while to save up money considering I also use this card to get myself food every so often too.

The first thing I bought was the wood and screws for the DIY stand that I put together today. It was 8 hours of sweat, sweat, and more sweat with some frustration thrown in.

 

[Monsinour]

The DIY stand

I had my good friend who is in a fab shop and uses CAD all the time draw up the plans. If you are familiar, then you should get the gist of how this stand will go. I made it out of 2x4s and its larger than the 20 gallon tank on purpose. This stand should travel with me once I am out of this apartment and will then support a much larger tank and sump.

That is the design/assembly shot. It took me a second to figure it out, but I got it.

This is the cut list just in case you wanted to be as crazy as I was and make the same stand. Don't though. This thing is heavy and way overkill for the tanks.

 

[Monsinour]

The assembly of the stand

Well, living in an apartment, I don't have access to power outside. I didn't really want to use my circular saw in my kitchen so I looked for an alternative. I have a Ryobi one+ drill and I know they make circular and jigsaws for those batteries. Since I already own a circular saw, I bought the jigsaw with the wood and screws. I took my craftsman workbench outside next to my car and started pulling 2x4s out and marking where the cuts should go. As you can see from the drawing, there are many cuts to be made. The problem with using this jigsaw (yeah its not made for this kind of work) is that the battery over heated and stopped the saw from working. I would get 6 cuts in and have to stop. I got so annoyed I called Ryobi's tech support. They said to return the saw and get a new one as this wasn't normal. Well, the HD I got it at was closed so I decided to take a different approach. I took all the wood inside with my workbench and busted out the circular saw. While that saw made very short work of the cuts, it made a hellacious mess in my kitchen.

I then started putting the thing together. I have 106 screws and felt way confident that I would end up with lots of extras. The frame up top was the first thing to put together. It didn't take much and went together just fine. It was hard to hold the wood with just me, but once I got most of it together, it wasn't that hard.

 

[Monsinour]

Next up came the legs. Now I am no carpenter at all. I have always said that if you give me wood and tell me to build you a box, you will get a rhombus. I took my time measuring twice and cutting once. I made sure to make each cut as accurate as possible. However, when using hand held tools, things don't always work out quite right. All the legs were off by just a smidge.

I got that problem fixed as my circular saw made quick work of that again. Now, the frame and legs are designed so that the frame rests on the smaller leg piece and then screwed to the longer leg piece. I did take one screw and angled it into the frame through the short leg piece just for funzies.

 

[Monsinour]

Once I got the legs on, it was time to put the top on. I probably should have used something else but I made the top out of 2x4s. This stand is going to be super solid. I could probably dance on it without any worries.

I secured each top piece with 2 screws on the ends and 1 in the middle brace. I counter sunk each screw head so there wont be any problems with tanks on top.

 

[Monsinour]

Putting the bottom shelf on was really easy. I was running low on screws so I just used one on each shelf board. The cross braces on the back have 2 screws in each side and the cross braces on the legs have 3 screws on each side as well. My confidence in "extra" screws went out the window. I stripped 6 of the screws and came out 2 short. I will be taking the jigsaw back to HD and will get some extra screws while I am there tomorrow. The finished product.

 

[Monsinour]

All in all, I am happy with the build. I have no idea what color to paint it or if I even want to enclose the sides and front. I know it will hold up the 20 gallon just fine. I made it bigger with the intent of having a bigger setup once I have my own house. As it stands, I will have to wait until the end of the month before I have enough $ on my card to order the tank. However, I do see that most of what I want is on sale at an online retailer. If it is still on sale by the end of the week, I might order that stuff and wait a little bit for the tank. besides, more time staring at the bare wood will motivate me to pick a color and figure out how to paint this beast in my apartment.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Nice job on the stand! Just be careful with the power tools after giving so much blood.

 

[Monsinour]

I don't actually give blood. I give plasma. They take blood out of me, put it in a bowl, spin it around to separate blood cells from plasma, plasma goes into collection container, blood cells are returned to me intravenously. This happens about 4 to 5 cycles and is usually done in an hour. I have to drink lots of water afterward to replace the plasma.

 

[TysTanks]

All in all, I am happy with the build. I have no idea what color to paint it or if I even want to enclose the sides and front. I know it will hold up the 20 gallon just fine. I made it bigger with the intent of having a bigger setup once I have my own house. As it stands, I will have to wait until the end of the month before I have enough $ on my card to order the tank. However, I do see that most of what I want is on sale at an online retailer. If it is still on sale by the end of the week, I might order that stuff and wait a little bit for the tank. besides, more time staring at the bare wood will motivate me to pick a color and figure out how to paint this beast in my apartment.

It’s a nice little stand. Props on building projects in an apartment. I know it’s not easy. I like enclosed stands if you’re going to store things on bottom or have a sump, but you could do a couple of storage baskets as well.

 

[Monsinour]

Thanks. The stand may be little compared to stands for 125s or so, but this thing is and will always be a beast for the 20 gallon tank it's going to hold up in my apartment.

 

[Monsinour]

The tunze 9001 and 9004. Are they just different model numbers for the same thing ( last year's model vs this year's model ) or are they different skimmers completely?

 

[Monsinour]

Still looking for answers on the skimmers.

Well, the mother's day sale ended before Thursday last week so I didn't get any gear. Still waiting til Thursday this week before I have enough blood money to order the tank.

 

[Monsinour]

I ordered the tank today. By this time next week I should have enough blood money to order some accessories.

 

[NY_Caveman]

After seven months I should have my tank next week too

 

[Monsinour]

My tank arrived today. Unpacked it, will do leak test this weekend.

Not happy that it came with 2 filter socks and no media baskets. I'll have to get 2 of the custom ones.

 

[Monsinour]

Ordered the media baskets yesterday. I should have them tomorrow. I have enough blood $ left for 2 5gal buckets and lids. I need to figure out what to order next so I can get started. I'm thinking heater b4 rocks.

 

[Monsinour]

I ordered the heater on Thursday with expected delivery Saturday. Silly post office didn't deliver it and I have to go pick it up from them. No idea y it wasn't delivered.

Heater is the neo therm super flat 100 watt

 

[JBKReef]

You're taking my build out from under me! I've been trying to plan out a nano like this as well.

Couple of questions:

What kind of corals are you wanting to keep? A single A80 will maybe hold you over for some mushrooms and softies in the center of the tank but will have lots of shadowing in the corners. I've got 2 A80's to go over the IM 20 and Have about 60-75 PAR on the sandbed all over the tank.

Will you be using an ATO?

What do you think of the Ryobi jig? I'm looking to do a DIY stand as well for this tank and while you strongly suggest not using your own its the most detailed build I've found soooo I might use yours as guidance.

Did you buy the Innovative Marine or InTank media baskets?

Keep up the work! Looking foward to seeing it come along.

 

[Monsinour]

Since I live on the 3rd floor of my apartment building, this is a temp tank til I get my own place.

I love Zoas and I'll get either duncans or a bubble and that's it. The Duncan's and bubble will be in the middle and Zoas around the edges so lighting shant be a problem.

A real APT will be a luxury item. I'm still donating plasma to pay for it all. The ATO will come after the Reefkeeper and that will be the last item.

The stand was built for a much larger tank. I should be able to hold just about an 80 gallon above and 40 gallon below. If I could do it over again, I never would have got the jigsaw. I returned the same day. I cut more with my circular in my kitchen.

I bought the IM custom baskets. They look and feel nice. I really like how they are enclosed so the overflow will go through all 3 chambers.

Thanks for following. If you need more diagrams for the stand, ask. I didn't post all the drawings.