First Reef Tank Build IM Fusion 20

[Zach W]

Hi everyone, I have been posting sporadically on here asking question regarding my tank build but here is my official build thread! A little background, this will be my first attempt at my own reef tank but my parents have had one for years. I just finished graduate school a couple months ago and decided to take the plunge and get into reefing myself! My equipment list is as follows:

• IM Fusion 20 Gallon
• Custom Stand (still being made, counter-top will suffice for the cycle)
• Nanobox Duo plus M (waiting to receive, cycle will run without light on anyway)
• Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5
• 100W heater
• IM Custom Caddy
• IM Spinstreams x2 (arriving today)
• 15lbs Pukani Live Rock
• 20lbs CaribSea Special grade sand

I do not want to run a skimmer on this tank so I am still trying to decide what to do with the two inner chambers. I plan to eventually run chemipure blue and carbon in the custom caddy along with fliter floss. I will probably be purchasing another caddie and place filter floss and marine pure spheres in it for more biological filtration. I am also contemplating plumbing an algae reactor in my stand for nutrient export (pump in one of the two internal chambers) but that is still up in the air. Any thoughts on what I should put in the last chamber? I still have lots of rock work to do but I was trying to get everything setup and running last night and this is where I ended up.



Before Water





Just Filled





After some rock work





Like I said I am sure I will move the scape around a million times before I am settled on something I really like but I appreciate all thoughts and suggestions!!

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Great tank choice! One of my chambers holds my skimmer and the other is completely empty aside from the tube for incoming water from my ATO unit. I've seen some folks make a small refugium in those chambers but they often require a lot of work for minimal return. Are you running two custom caddies?

What sort of fish and corals are you thinking about?

 

[Zach W]

Great tank choice! One of my chambers holds my skimmer and the other is completely empty aside from the tube for incoming water from my ATO unit. I've seen some folks make a small refugium in those chambers but they often require a lot of work for minimal return. Are you running two custom caddies?

What sort of fish and corals are you thinking about?

Right now I only have one custom caddy but I think I will be purchasing a second and just replacing the filter socks. As far as stocking I am thinking about 2 ocellaris clowns, a goby/pistol shrimp, and maybe a pink streaked wrasse. I guess I was thinking about the refugium to help export some unwanted nutrients if I have a heavier bio-load and not as much live rock, that is all up in the air though.

A far as corals I am not totally sure, at the beginning I definitely want to start with some easier options like zoas and I personally like the kenya tree and leather corals. But I am drawn to more LPS and SPS, obviously I need to let my tank mature and get the water parameters stable before that though. My favorite corals are surprisingly probably monti caps, not sure why but I love them! haha

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

pink streaked wrasse

 

[Naoxyn]

Following along, looks great!

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Right now I only have one custom caddy but I think I will be purchasing a second and just replacing the filter socks. As far as stocking I am thinking about 2 ocellaris clowns, a goby/pistol shrimp, and maybe a pink streaked wrasse. I guess I was thinking about the refugium to help export some unwanted nutrients if I have a heavier bio-load and not as much live rock, that is all up in the air though.

A far as corals I am not totally sure, at the beginning I definitely want to start with some easier options like zoas and I personally like the kenya tree and leather corals. But I am drawn to more LPS and SPS, obviously I need to let my tank mature and get the water parameters stable before that though. My favorite corals are surprisingly probably monti caps, not sure why but I love them! haha

That sounds like a good plan, the filter socks are really a pain to deal with in my experience. Be careful with the clowns because they get very aggressive in tight spaces, I've actually had to go clownfish-less in my system because of that. An external algae reactor could help with the bio-load and I think it would be more effective than a small refugium in the accessory chamber. You can always put chemipure and other media bags in the chambers, I've actually considered getting something akin to the Brightwell Aquatics Bio Bricks to put in my other chamber.

My advice on corals is make sure you really want them because you will run out of space quickly, then you'll be like me and have to just watch things grow instead of being able to scratch the new coral itch haha

 

[Zach W]

So I think I have come to a aquascape I am happy with.... for now. It is pretty open and spacious but I want to make sure that I leave enough room to allow corals to properly grow out and for fish to swim. The left rock structure on the left goes about 2/3 of the way up the water level while the rock on the right goes up about 1/2 way. I am not sure how high the rock structures should go, I want to grow a variety of corals including some SPS. I will be running the NanoBox Duo so I think I should be able to get high intensity on either but let me know your thoughts on if I should go higher or lower!

I added in the Sicce 1.5 and that pump is great! Extremely quit and much better flow then the stock pump. I also added two spinstreams and they make a huge difference in tank flow. Still waiting on my NanoBox Duo and tank stand but I am in no rush, the tank hasnt even been cycling for a week yet so there is time to wait! All thoughts, concerns, suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Zach W]

That sounds like a good plan, the filter socks are really a pain to deal with in my experience. Be careful with the clowns because they get very aggressive in tight spaces, I've actually had to go clownfish-less in my system because of that. An external algae reactor could help with the bio-load and I think it would be more effective than a small refugium in the accessory chamber. You can always put chemipure and other media bags in the chambers, I've actually considered getting something akin to the Brightwell Aquatics Bio Bricks to put in my other chamber.

My advice on corals is make sure you really want them because you will run out of space quickly, then you'll be like me and have to just watch things grow instead of being able to scratch the new coral itch haha

Yeah i am still not sure exactly what I want to do stocking wise, My girlfriend loves clownfish so I know I will be getting a pair. I personally really like the goby pistol shrimp relationship in tanks so that will also happen. I think I may just stop the fish stocking there or I may add a pink streaked wrasse as well, tbd.

Right now I have leftover pukani in one of my sump chambers after doing some chiseling to the display rocks to get the look I was after. My LFS has cultured Marine pure spheres that I can add as well. Should I keep the extra live rock in the sump or replace with the spheres (the live pukani is expensive so it pains me to throw extra away haha)? I guess I could feasibly go with both as well, If i place the spheres in one of my custom caddies, and then chemical filtration in the second custom caddy, and leave the pukani rubble in the second chamber.

 

[Zach W]

Well it turns out my Tunze Nano ATO 3152 doesn't work... I set everything up and plugged it into the outlet and nothing. I checked and rechecked the connections and still no luck. After a little online troubleshooting I found a 9V battery and disconnected the pumps wires from the controller and touched them directly onto the battery and the pump turned right on. The controller unit must be bad I am thinking. Has anyone else had any issues with this ATO?

 

[Zach W]

Just a quick update, I contacted Tunze and they sent me out a new controller asap and rushed the shipping and my ATO is now working, great customer service!

Also, my tank has been cycling for 2 weeks today, started with ~14lbs of live pukani and live sand. Checked my parameters today and I am at:

Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0.05
Nitrate- 40
KH- 6
pH- 8.2
Salinity- 30ppt
Temp- 78

It seems like my KH and Salinity are low, I am thinking when I do a big water change that will help bring both up though, any thoughts on this? Also, based on these numbers I think my tank is cycled but Im not totally sure, I have been dosing ammonia and have seen my levels of Ammonia and Nitirite drop over these two weeks. For reference I dosed ammonia to 2 on Monday and then I have been away until today and when I checked it was at 0. I know I should do a big water change after the cycle is done to bring down my nitrates but want to make sure my cycle is done before I do that.

If my cycle is done, should I add a CUC now? I don't have any algae in the tank so I am not sure what they would eat. I also don't have my light yet but it will hopefully be in anytime. Does the CUC need a light? Or should I start with fish, I am planning on a goby and pistol shrimp pair, and 2 clowns. Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[Zach W]

Haven't posted in awhile and have some exciting updates! Finally got my NanoBox Duo in and it is awesome, looks great and the build quality seems outstanding.

Now that I have my light on is it time for me to add a full CUC? I still havent had any real algae outbreaks or cyano to speak of but now with the light if that is going to come it will happen sooner rather then later I would assume, I do have two astrea snails in the tank currently. Also how long should I have my lights on during this time? I currently have it set to start ramping up at 10AM and to switch to moonlight at 7PM? Thanks!

 

[Zach W]

Another quick update, I finally got my stand so I have my tank off of the kitchen counter finally. This is the tank and stand as it is now, don't mind the crappy iphone picture.





One question I do have is that it seems I am starting to have a cyano bloom (at least what I think is cyano). I currently have two astrea snails but that is it in terms of a CUC. I still dont have any fish but that will be changing on Thursday (pair of mochavinci clowns). Does anything CUC wise take care of cyano or is that just let it bloom, keep frequent water changes going, and it will go away in time? This is what it looks like, although this picture was taken several days ago so there is more now (brown spots on rocks and sand).

 

[Zach W]

I have fish! Im super excited and finally have some fish in my tank! The tank has been running for about three months now with nothing besides the CUC. I have had pretty stable parameters for the last month or so and just haven't gotten a chance to add any livestock with work and traveling and whatnot. But yesterday I finally got some fish! I added a pair of MochaVinci clowns from sea and reef aquaculture. I posted in a separate post before about my concerns with not having a QT setup and after I spoke with my LFS they told me that they could order in a pair from sea and reef and not introduce them into their system but just float the bags for a couple hours until I could get there. This way there is not concern about contamination from the LFS water (I dont think there would have been regardless but I was just nervous). Sea and Reef aquaculture guarantee's that their fish are disease and parasite free so I dont have to worry about that which is great. And a cherry ontop is that since the LFS didnt have to worry about acclimating them or making sure they are eating they sold them to me for wholesale price! If you live in the Boston area you should definitely check out Love the Reef in Wilmington. Here are some pictures









Does anyone have any recommendations on how to take good pictures of the tank? Every time I try to take a full front shot The tank is acting like a mirror and I cant get out of the shot and you can see everything that is in my apartment... hahah



Should be getting some corals on Saturday hopefully!

 

[Zach W]

Got some more corals yesterday, ended up coming home with a frogspawn, hammer, blasto, and Favia! Really liking this tank so far and I think it is coming together well!


Making a small euphyllia garden


Blasto


Purple and green Favia


Current tank shot

 

[RomoFL]

following

 

[Zach W]

Haven’t updated in quite some time so I figure I’ll throw some pictures out there from cleaning tonight. I am battling some dino’s right now, wish me luck haha. Here are some shots...

 

[Zach W]

These might be better, I maybe just figured out how to use aquarium cam haha. I upset my plate coral just a second ago so he retracted unfortunately..

 

[RomoFL]

Love the colors! Looking great!

 

[Zach W]

Love the colors! Looking great!

Thank you! It is coming along nicely so far, trying to decide what I want to do to inject some color on the left rockwork but I’m undecided to this point. Going to try out some acros soon too!

 

[Zach W]

Exciting update! I had been search for awhile for a Golden Torch be it Aussie or Indo and I had a local Reefer reach out to me about getting a Holy Grail Torch and was able to get a couple heads! This thing is incredible! Pictures don’t do it justice at all..

Here are a couple other new additions: