Downsized new IM 10 build!

DeepSeaReefer7 · Oct 6, 2015

Today was the day I downsized to a smaller tank, IM fusion 20 to a IM fusion 10, I'm more of a cube guy.
Plus my fiance and I just bought a house so I figured this would be lower cost
It will pretty much be on auto pilot letting everything grow

I'm getting 2 davinci clowns hopefully soon

Stock
1 ec snowy rainbow acan
1 blasto
Green nepthea
6 heads Duncan's
3 heads purple green hammers
3 heads yellow octospawn
Pink and gold zoa colony
Assorted shrooms
Dragons breath macro
Red monti cap

For the time being running a IM sky light
Found a cheap kessil a150 that's being shipped out this week

Running chemipure blue
And puregin

Never had a tank this small any advice would be great

Happy reefing

brandon429 · Oct 6, 2015

Really like it!

opinions vary so much on technique I'll stick to my standard fare: the reefing world has massive algae problems that have been present for 30 years and the control advice remains the same, nutrients are the cause. The outcome isn't better for the masses for every 50 threads than it was in 1999 using that approach, although spotty success drives it.

but as an alternate:
There are a select few people today who kill algae when its a tiny 1st spot vs follow any of the common advice that keeps today's algae problem tanks going. they are algae free in every tank they'll ever own regardless of nutrients from day 1 through day 5000 consistently by making new rules, so my offer is this

the first time you see green hair algae, either act on it and be sure, or leave it in doing the 30 yr dance and pay the odds 30% it won't become a problem.

disallowance was missing for 30 yrs and the threads that employ it as counter proof to old ways now number in the hundreds of pages easily searched.

aka

the old ways of algae dealing stink but only in my opinion lol

Flameback Pair · Oct 7, 2015

brandon must be sticking to the new hobbyiest forums because I see no algae disaster threads on the half dozen or so reefing websites I'm on. I believe the more money or time you put into this hobby the more you get out of it especially when you factor it with increasing experience.

DeepSeaReefer7 · Oct 8, 2015

Ive been in the hobby for a while I've just never had a tank this small lol I transfered all my water and rock from my fusion 20 so I'm not expecting much to happen if everything
I use RO water but my towns water is already pretty clean which helps a lot

nanoman28g · Oct 8, 2015

Nice tank. I also have a Fusion 10G and love it. I have a Kessil over my other tank and love that light.

kth132 · Oct 12, 2015

Just downgraded my 93g cube to a IM fusion 25 lagoon. Love it so far. Stocked in the second day I had it. Haha. Running a Maxspect nano over the top. Since it's a shallow reef I chose to grow 5 mangroves form the back center behind the Rockwall gives it a unique look. Very happy with it so far. They are great tanks.

kth132 · Oct 12, 2015

Just downgraded my 93g cube to a IM fusion 25 lagoon. Love it so far. Stocked in the second day I had it. Haha. Running a Maxspect nano over the top. Since it's a shallow reef I chose to grow 5 mangroves form the back center behind the Rockwall gives it a unique look. Very happy with it so far. They are great tanks.

DeepSeaReefer7 · Oct 12, 2015

kth132 said:
Just downgraded my 93g cube to a IM fusion 25 lagoon. Love it so far. Stocked in the second day I had it. Haha. Running a Maxspect nano over the top. Since it's a shallow reef I chose to grow 5 mangroves form the back center behind the Rockwall gives it a unique look. Very happy with it so far. They are great tanks.

Send me pictures my buddy is on the fence on getting that tank if I didn't get this IM 10 for free I would have bought the lagoon!

I just ordered a Maxspect nano because I had the 160w over my 20
One of the best lights in my opinion

DeepSeaReefer7 · Oct 12, 2015

Please ignore the micro bubbles ;p

kth132 · Oct 12, 2015

Sounds good give me a little bit and I will get some pictures up. It's just sitting on my kitchen counter right now I plan to build a stadium for it in the next week. I'll try to get some decent pictures it's kind of hard to do with the maxspect light. Everything looks purple.

soeminpaing · Oct 14, 2015

Downgrading to 10 gallons from 20 gallons doesn't save much cost IMO. I also own a fusion 20 and the cost of running these two tanks are almost the same. I use one AI prime so energy consumption is very low and almost similar to most fusion 10 tanks. Only thing you will save is salt and medias like carbon and gfo which will save you less than 5 bucks a month. I check the cost of running both tanks before deciding on IM fusion 20 over 10.

ksr1026 · Oct 15, 2015

I also did the 20 to 10 downgrade. The reasons for me was time, space, cost savings, and having a "full" reef.

The time is not a big thing, but it was nice spending ~3 minutes last night doing a WC. The 20 didn't take much longer, but I also get more time back not having to make salt/RO water as often. Again, not a big driver though.

The space aspect had it's pluses and minuses. I broke down the 20 w/stand in the living room and have the 10 in the corner of my kitchen countertop. It's out of the way and looks cool there. I'm not big on the thin column stands either so that was ruled out. Though I like where it's at I would still prefer to have it in the living room where I could enjoy looking at it more...

The equipment piece was a big part of the decision. I made up my mind that I wanted to go back to LEDs from T5s. With the 20 I would had to buy 2 AI Primes w/mounts. This is the cost savings. The double baskets w/carbon and etc. is another thing, but really didn't weigh in on my decision.

With all that in mind what really swayed me was never having a "full" reef tank. I've always had frags that were not glued-down bc I fragged things. I tend to like the smaller corals (like zoas) over the larger flowing corals (hammers, torches, etc) so the 20 seemed more empty. I've always loved the idea of have a nice zoa rock. If I can just keep my fragging hands off of it I should have a fuller reef tank!

soeminpaing · Oct 15, 2015

ksr1026 said:
I also did the 20 to 10 downgrade. The reasons for me was time, space, cost savings, and having a "full" reef.

The time is not a big thing, but it was nice spending ~3 minutes last night doing a WC. The 20 didn't take much longer, but I also get more time back not having to make salt/RO water as often. Again, not a big driver though.

The space aspect had it's pluses and minuses. I broke down the 20 w/stand in the living room and have the 10 in the corner of my kitchen countertop. It's out of the way and looks cool there. I'm not big on the thin column stands either so that was ruled out. Though I like where it's at I would still prefer to have it in the living room where I could enjoy looking at it more...

The equipment piece was a big part of the decision. I made up my mind that I wanted to go back to LEDs from T5s. With the 20 I would had to buy 2 AI Primes w/mounts. This is the cost savings. The double baskets w/carbon and etc. is another thing, but really didn't weigh in on my decision.

With all that in mind what really swayed me was never having a "full" reef tank. I've always had frags that were not glued-down bc I fragged things. I tend to like the smaller corals (like zoas) over the larger flowing corals (hammers, torches, etc) so the 20 seemed more empty. I've always loved the idea of have a nice zoa rock. If I can just keep my fragging hands off of it I should have a fuller reef tank!

You definitely has same idea as me. But the reason for going with 20 is it has more space for zoas and i like to put my frags plugs on sandbed. I only have one AI prime ant it is quite enough for mixed reef with a few sps.