reef-rc IM Fusion 20v2

reef-rc · Jan 13, 2019

Hi reefers,

So I have my first confession for 2019. My name is reef-rc and I am have a reefing addiction ;Facepalm;Nurse.

I started my 4th nano tank late last year and did not confess

to the group. Here are the details. To make it up to you, I'll update my addiction more regularly ;Happy;Smuggrin in hope of going a better path forward in 2019 so something like this will not happen again

.

Tank: IM Fusion 20
Timeline: Started cycling late October 2018

Specs & Equipment:

Bare bottom. No sand.
Rocks - MarcoRocks Reef Saver rock
Protein skimmer - Innovative Marine NuvoSkim DC Protein Skimmer
Other Filtration - Marine Pure Biofilter Media for extra bacteria growth
Heater - Cobalt 75Watt
Circulation - IM SpinStream for 2 return nozzles
Circulation pump
- Icecap 1K gyre flow, Tunze Turbelle Nanostream 6040, eflux wave pump. Temporary pumps until I replace them with 2 EcoTech vortech MP10WQD.
Main pump - IM MigtyJet desktop AIO DC
Lighting
- 1 Kessil A360W-E Tuna Blue initially. Plan is to add 1 Kessil A360X down the road; also potential to replace A360W-E with 360X.
- Aquatic Life 24" hybrid T5HO fixture. Plan is modify to fit tank dimension. Only plan to use 2 of the 4 bulbs due to heat concerns long term.
- Plan - Kessil Spectral controller X
Controller - Neptune APEX EL
RODI - 5G Jug for top off RODI + Kalwasser
Salt - Tropic Marin BIO-ACTIF salt
ATO - Xp Aqua ultimate ATO

Location:

In the study along side IM Fusion 20 Nano (v1) which was started back in May 2017.
Back in May 2017
Now - Jan 2019

High Level Plan:

The original plan when I first started this up was to migrate the EVO over to here. However I like the EVO and like to keep it running if nothing else as a spill over/ staging tank / test tank more or less. As a result the plan here is LPS and a little more SPS this time around. The first IM Fusion 20 Nano was intended to house mostly LPS and SPS. However 1.5+ yrs later, it changed and currently is home to mostly LPS + flower anemones.

Setup and Progress so far:
Tank has been cycling with rocks since later October 2018 with lights off. I had used Dr.Tim's ONE & ONLY bacteria along with periodic feeding to get the cycle going. As of this afternoon the parameters are:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 4ppm (more or less as expected)

Lights are hung along the bookcase wall:

The mess below for the interim:

Glad to get that off my chest. I know I'll be able to sleep better tonight ;Happy.

SDK · Jan 14, 2019

Tank and aquascape both look good!

Would love some ongoing feedback on the Nuvoskim DC as you move forward....

flchamp89 · Jan 14, 2019

Some insane flow you got planned lol

lbacha · Jan 14, 2019

flchamp89 said:
Some insane flow you got planned lol

I think his plan is just right I have 2 mp10’s on my 8g nano and they are just right. Going to add a second icecap 1k gyre to my 25g lagoon as well. The bare bottom really let’s you crank the flow

reef-rc · Jan 14, 2019

SDK said:
Tank and aquascape both look good!

Would love some ongoing feedback on the Nuvoskim DC as you move forward....

Thanks for the compliment. The aquascape needs to be finalize. I just threw everything in back late last year to start the cycle so it sat. I plan to finish the aquascape before EOW as I have bio-loads coming

for the tank to handle.

Nuvoskim DC:
I have actually been using the Nuvoskim on the other Fusion 20 since after Thanksgiving. With no bio-loads, I knew the new skimmer would be worthless on this tank so I just swapped the two skimmers I had. As far as nano skimmer goes - it's better than nothing "sometimes". I like it better than the Ghost. There is only 1 adjustment you need to play with - moving the collection up or down. It's simple and I like that. I say pessimistically about nano skimmer just because I find just changing out filter pads every other day yield much better results. Or maybe it's not so good imo because I change out the filter pads every other day. I think it's a decent backup for days when I don't do my regular maintenance as planned is mainly the reason I keep it on. That's my 2 cents as of now.

reef-rc · Jan 14, 2019

flchamp89 said:
Some insane flow you got planned lol

lbacha said:
I think his plan is just right I have 2 mp10’s on my 8g nano and they are just right. Going to add a second icecap 1k gyre to my 25g lagoon as well. The bare bottom really let’s you crank the flow

@lbacha - I definitely need to check out your 8G SPS thread. I think the longer than average length and shallowness of your 8G tank is what allow you to handle the volume besides being BB.

I realized it's a lot of pumps for the tank if you consider full throttle. I plan to ramp-up and change the use of these pumps over time. With the 1K gyre you can just use one side. I already have these so I figured why not use them until then. In my mind it will be at least be 2 MP10 + another pump long term for the back/bottom of the tank.

reef-rc · Jan 16, 2019

I have some new fishy "tenants";Wacky moving in this Friday. I am spending some time today to finalize the aquascape. The nice thing about these reef saver rocks is they're relatively easy to break as needed. A simple chisel and mallet does the job.

In addition, I plan to perform a water change and add additional bacteria to help with the cycling process along before Friday. I am sure the tenants will appreciate the royal treatment

.

flchamp89 · Jan 16, 2019

reef-rc said:
I have some new fishy "tenants";Wacky moving in this Friday. I am spending some time today to finalize the aquascape. The nice thing about these reef saver rocks is they're relatively easy to break as needed. A simple chisel and mallet does the job.

In addition, I plan to perform a water change and add additional bacteria to help with the cycling process along before Friday. I am sure the tenants will appreciate the royal treatment .

OK I just need an address where I need to send my rock and picture of what it should look like lol.

Impressive dedication. Going to be epic. My skimmer, light mount, and reactor will be here tomorrow. Rock next Monday.

reef-rc · Jan 17, 2019

I end up spending a little more time than on the tank than initially planned. I did 25% water change and check the basic parameters and everything looks like where it should be.

Amoninia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 2.5 ppm

I also added some probiotic bacteria after the water change.

Copepods:
I had some copepods delivered earlier than I had planned. I had ordered 32 oz and did use 16 oz just for this tank to give it a head start as much as possible. The other was used to reseed my other tanks.

Aquascape:
Here's the result I had come up with. Each piece is free standing and I am able to move them around as needed. The pile up-front is just leftover. What do you think?

Front View:

Top view:

At this point bacteria and copepods are the new tentants. I even feed some phytoplankton right after the lights went out to ensure those little critters have chance.

SDK · Jan 17, 2019

I would offset that front scrap piece to the left a bit. Just to break up the symmetry....

Otherwise looks great!

lbacha · Jan 17, 2019

SDK said:
I would offset that front scrap piece to the left a bit. Just to break up the symmetry....

Otherwise looks great!

I agree, look up the golden ratio for planted tanks (it applies to everything but it is used a lot in planted aquariums) and you will find a lot of info on what is the most pleasing to the eye.

Once corals start growing it is a mute point as they hide the rock work but until then it will help add depth to your tank

reef-rc · Jan 17, 2019

SDK said:
I would offset that front scrap piece to the left a bit. Just to break up the symmetry....

Otherwise looks great!

lbacha said:
I agree, look up the golden ratio for planted tanks (it applies to everything but it is used a lot in planted aquariums) and you will find a lot of info on what is the most pleasing to the eye.

Once corals start growing it is a mute point as they hide the rock work but until then it will help add depth to your tank

Thanks guys. The front piece is basically scraps which to your point should be moved. "golden ratio" - I like the nugget of info.

reef-rc · Jan 19, 2019

It's Fish Friday! + Let there be light!

Fish:
Received first fish yesterday:

4 small Greenbanded Goby
1 Tail Spot Blenny

I had chosen a small group of greenbanded goby because they seem to do well within a group in a nano tank. They're relatively tiny so I had to ensure to add fish guard onto the overflow so they don't accidentally get into the sump area. I have 3 of these little thing in the 10G and they have done very well.

The tail spot blenny looks to be bit shy and so has been hiding in a corner since introduction. Hopefully it will come around within the next few days.

Outside of these fish, I plan to add a small wrasse sometime down the road.

Lights:
I also started to ramp up the light within the tank using only Kessil A360WE. Will look to slowly ramp up within the next few weeks. Currently on for 4.5 hrs.

Questions / Thoughts:
Anyone using Dr.Tim's ECO-BALANCE PROBIOTIC BACTERIA? I just noticed it had suggested adding 10ml per 10 gallons of aquarium water once per week. I added the first 20ml earlier this week.

flchamp89 · Jan 19, 2019

reef-rc said:
It's Fish Friday! + Let there be light!

Fish:
Received first fish yesterday:

4 small Greenbanded Goby

1 Tail Spot Blenny

I had chosen a small group of greenbanded goby because they seem to do well within a group in a nano tank. They're relatively tiny so I had to ensure to add fish guard onto the overflow so they don't accidentally get into the sump area. I have 3 of these little thing in the 10G and they have done very well.

The tail spot blenny looks to be bit shy and so has been hiding in a corner since introduction. Hopefully it will come around within the next few days.

Outside of these fish, I plan to add a small wrasse sometime down the road.

Lights:
I also started to ramp up the light within the tank using only Kessil A360WE. Will look to slowly ramp up within the next few weeks. Currently on for 4.5 hrs.

Questions / Thoughts:
Anyone using Dr.Tim's ECO-BALANCE PROBIOTIC BACTERIA? I just noticed it had suggested adding 10ml per 10 gallons of aquarium water once per week. I added the first 20ml earlier this week.

Where's the fish pics

reef-rc · Jan 19, 2019

flchamp89 said:
Where's the fish pics

yeah...I meant to take one or two but it so non-eventful I figured I'll try to get one later. I figured sometime this evening.

REPOWER · Jan 19, 2019

reef-rc said:
I end up spending a little more time than on the tank than initially planned. I did 25% water change and check the basic parameters and everything looks like where it should be.

Amoninia - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 2.5 ppm

I also added some probiotic bacteria after the water change.

Copepods:
I had some copepods delivered earlier than I had planned. I had ordered 32 oz and did use 16 oz just for this tank to give it a head start as much as possible. The other was used to reseed my other tanks.

Aquascape:
Here's the result I had come up with. Each piece is free standing and I am able to move them around as needed. The pile up-front is just leftover. What do you think?

Front View:

Top view:

At this point bacteria and copepods are the new tentants. I even feed some phytoplankton right after the lights went out to ensure those little critters have chance.

I’ve tried a similar 3 island scape and worked well while my corals were frags. I was trying to isolate the lps and sps.....until I decided to go lps and softies only.

Once the corals got bigger, it became too restrictive so I went with a single arched design and now a 2 island look with a narrow bridge in between. I’m sure I’ll change it again in a couple of months but go with what looks pleasing to you and tweak as required. I’ve personally changed my scale at least a dozen times in the last 11 months.

See below for reference. Hope it helps.

reef-rc · Jan 19, 2019

@REPOWER Thanks for sharing the pics. Your tank looks great. Those candy cane looks huge. The bridge adds a interesting perspective.

I would agree aquacape would likely change based on coral growth. Hoping I will be wiser this time around and more selective on what I put in (i.e. consideration for coral growth pattern in mind in terms of placement and order of addition).

reef-rc · Jan 20, 2019

Here's a pic and vid of the little tenants I mentioned. As you can see the Greenbanded Goby is tiny.

in the back is the currently very shy Tail Spot Blenny. it's color and stripe patterns seems to reflect it's mood from what I can tell.

Vid of the feeding interaction between neighbors ;Smilie: