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Full Tank Shot

08/28/22

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Full Tank Shot - History

 

 

 

08/06/22

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01/28/18

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03/06/17

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01/26/16

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10/20/15

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09/02/15

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08/17/15

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Coral Growth

 

 

 

08/28/22

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Current Water Parameters (08/28/22)
Temperature: 78.9 - 77.7
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: 0
pH: 8.15 - 8.28
Alkalinity: 7.0 dKH
Salinity: 1.025
Calcium: 422
Magnesium: 1520
Phosphates: 0.02


Aquarium Specs
Tank: Innovative Marine Fusion 40
Stand: Innovative Marine Stand 
Sand: 20lbs of Carib-Sea Special Grade Reef Sand
Lighting: Radion XR30w G4 Pro
Powerhead: Vortech MP10mQD
Heater: Jager 75 Watt
Filtration: Purigen, Chemipure Elite, inTank filter floss
Salt Mix: Tropic Marine Pro-Reef Salt
Two Part: Tropic Marine Original Balling
ATO: Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155
Controller: Apex with PM2, and AWM
RO/DI Unit: Spectrapure CSPDI 90GPD RO/DI system
Skimmer: Aquamaxx HOB-1
Misc Equipment: H20cean Refractometer by D-D, APC UPS, Apex DOS



Livestock
Fish:
Sixline Wrasse


Cleanup Crew:
Blue Leg Hermit crabs

Florida Cerith snails

Nassarius Vibex snails

Tongan Nassarius snail

Nerite Snails

Astrea Snails

Pom Pom Crabs (2)

Scarlet Skunk shrimp

Coral:

Blastomussa

Zoanthids

Monti cap

Montipora digitata

Favia

Lobo brain

Green slimer

Montipora setosa

Yellowtip acropora

Tri-Color Valida acropora 

Calacali acropora

Frogspawn (with purple tips)

Kryptonite candy canes

Unknown SPS


Maintenance
*Tunze Auto-top off
*Water change 20% every 2 weeks
*Change Purigen and Chemi-pure every 3 months


Notes

*Tank was rebooted on 08/06/22 (see page 5 of this thread)

*Tank was upgraded to a Fusion 40 on 02/26/17

*Tank was rebooted on 08/31/15

*Tank was upgraded from Nuvo 16 to Fusion 30L on 05/27/14
*Tank was restarted on 05/02/14 after a crash killing all corals
*Tank was originally started as Nuvo 16 on 01/24/12

 

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[Original Post]

 

New tank! omgomgomg

 

Well, kind of a new tank. For a number of reasons I’ve decided to restart my Fusion 30L completely. I’m going to start from scratch like it’s a brand new tank build- hence a new thread. The original tank thread can be found here if anyone is interested.

 

So. Down to it.

 

The plan is to purchase dry rock, cure it, and then cycle it. I haven’t decided if I want to cycle the rock in the tank or cycle it in a separate container in an attempt to limit the amount of ‘new tank algae’ that actually accumulates in the tank. Either way, I’m doing dry rock this time. Although I’ll definitely miss the cool surprise hitchhikers, I will not miss the mean surprise hitchhikers that make me want to curl up in the fetal position and weep like a child….so yea, dry rock.

 

I’ve tried BRS Reef Saver and had a horrible experience with it. So with all the positive reviews on Reef Cleaners dry rock I decided to go with his rock. Purchase has been made and should be here within a week! My idea for this build is to go minimal on the rock work. I want it to have a lot of open water for fish to swim and corals to grow out. I can’t wait to get my rock and start creating ‘scapes!

 

That being said, I still need to decide on which sand to use. I’ve used Fiji Pink in the past but I’m not sure if I want to go with it again or try something slightly larger. I’ve been looking at Caribsea’s Special Grade Reef sand, which is the next step up from Fiji Pink’s grain size. Still undecided.

 

I’m also debating on keeping my Gyre 130 or switching to an MP10 (or maybe two?). While I think the Gyre definitely puts out water, I think it is too much in the Fusion 30L. The pump is almost exactly the same width as the display section of the tank and the tank is only 10 inches tall from the bottom to the top of the water line (without sand, even shorter with sand). Because it’s such a shallow tank the tank’s returns work directly against the Gyre, effectively creating a wall of water perpendicular to the output of the Gyre. This forced me to attach elbows to the returns and point the returns away from the Gyre, subsequently pushing water in the same direction as the Gyre. This allowed the Gyre to actually work, but limits the flow pattern allowed in the tank. But maybe I’m just over thinking it and the Gyre is fine, idk, someone throw something at me if I get too ridiculous.

 

Also, I’m not entirely sure what I want to do coral wise. As hooked on SPS as I am after being successful with my first few, I just can’t let my love for LPS go. So for now I’m thinking a mixed reef again. Either way I have plenty of corals to match whatever way I go, with the remainder easily given to local reefers.

 

Any who, that’s all for today! Woohoo for a fresh start! :haha:

  • Like 2
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We have rocks!!!!!

 

Just got my dry rock from Reef Cleaners and I am super excited about playing around with all the different pieces. I definitely over did it on the amount because I wanted to have a lot of different options. The extra will simply be stored away for a future build :)

 

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I haven't had an opertunity to start playing with the pieces as I just got home from work and if I woke my wife up at 0400 hours she'd kill me. But I hope to have some mock ups this weekend. First impressions of the rock however are positive. Its similar to BRS Reef Saver but seems more porous and lighter. Anywho, short update for now with more to come later!

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Having a difficult time figuring out a rock scape for the tank given all those different pieces but I think I'm closing in on a modest structure. I want the height to be no more than half the height of the tank to leave room above for coral growth and swimming room. I'll try and post up some pictures of my ideas tomorrow. I've also decided to pick up an MP10 and use that instead of the Gyre 130 because I'd eventually like to have one on each end, which just isn't possible with the Gyre given tank's returns.

 

Also, the plan was to try and pickup a 20 gallon tank and minor accessories from petsmart tomorrow so I'll have my 'temporary tank' ready to go once my dry rock is done curing, but my car battery died -.- So while I'm thankful its under warranty, I still have to bring it into my dealership to get it changed out, which means I"ll get my car back sometime around christmas lol. So hopefully I can get that stuff monday or so. Aside from that I'm really just trying to figure out what I want from this tank coral wise. I absolutely love SPS but I just can't let go of my LPS. Mixed reef here I come again :happy:

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Mixed reefs are the best!!!! :);)

 

Yeah, I'm starting to realize that :)It really comes down to the fact that I get easily distracted from all the pretty corals and I turn into Fry from the Futurama meme lol

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So it took a while but I think I've finally come up with a layout I like. Due to the shallow nature of this tank and my desire to leave a lot of open water above my corals, I was somewhat limited in the shapes I could create. But all in all I'm pretty happy with it. The rocks pictured below are on a cardboard cut out of my tank's dimentions, with two pieces of cardboard at each end to represent the height of the water line in the tank. This gives plenty of room for growth and swiming room. Constructive suggestions and comments always welcomed!

 

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  • Like 1
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So I did a mock up using leftover Halloween candy (don't judge me lol) and decided there was plenty of room to host the corals I wanted throughout this rockscape :) So I've decided to go with the above layout. I subsequently rinsed the rocks in RODI water and then placed them in a bucket of RODI water with some powerheads. Like a dope I forgot to test the RODI water for phosphates before adding rock (so I can see when the rocks are cured). So for now my first reading with rocks added is 0.009 via Hannah ULR Phophorous checker.

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Gotta love the Petsmart $1 a gallon sale leftovers lol. So I picked up a 20 gal long tank for cheap and leak tested it. Just gotta pick up a frag rack or two which I'll transfer my corals to and place in the temporary tank while the main cycles. Other then that I just need sand. I think I'm going to stick with Fiji pink, the other caribsea sands were too big or too small for my liking.

 

Shouldn't be too long now!

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Welcome :) The divider does bow a very very tiny bit but it's nothing to be concerned about in my opinion. You have to bring your face down to the side of the tank and look down the length of it to even notice it. I wouldn't worry about it, and I've had it running for over a year.

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So in an effort to organize my thoughts (and figure out what equipment I need) I wrote out my reboot plan:

 

First:

-Cycle dry rock in bucket using Dr.Tims (or similar product) and Ace Hardware ammonia

 

Once dry rocks are cycled:

-Transfer live rocks, fish, snails, and corals from the DT to the temporary tank

-Toss out DT's sand bed

-Clean DT completely

-Clean DT equipment

-Rearrange Apex setup/mounting inside DT's stand to new layout

-Add new chemipure elite & purigen to DT

-Add new sand to DT

-Add new water to DT

-Add cycled dry rocks to DT

-(wait 24hrs?)

-Transfer fish, corals, and snails back into DT

-Test water parameters to make sure the dry rocks can handle bio load (water changes as required)

  • Like 1
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Looking to get this tank soon. Good luck and I will be following! Are you looking more for a mixed reef...? Also what light do you have?

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Thanks :) Let me know when you do, I love following similar tanks.

 

My intention was to do all SPS but I love LPS too much to let go lol. So the plan is to do a mixed reef :) And I have a Hydra 52 for my light. I guess I should update the first post with the setup details lol

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Lol how is the Hydra? I was thinking nano box duo but I'm really not sure yet...so many decisions and $$$. Mixed reef is what I want to do so following yours will hopefully help me out! Pics would be awesome!

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I love the Hydra, and coupled with my Apex it's great. Nanobox also has a huge following on here too. The only negative thing I've heard about the Nanobox is some of them have multiple plugs required to run the unit. Definitely do your research no matter what you get, lights are expensive lol.

 

Here's a link to my original tank thread for this tank so you can get an idea of what I had/have before I do the reboot: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/346783-slice-of-paradise/

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So my rocks aren't leeching any phosphates so I feel confident in starting their cycling. That being said I'm still on the fence about bucket cycling or cycling in the tank. My reason for wanting to bucket cycle is because I'm worried that my corals might not survive a 6-8 week stint in the temporary tank under my backup lights (twin 8 Watt Nuvo Clamp lights). I had originally planned to use my Hydra 52 but I forgot I don't have the AI controller as I control my light via my Apex, which would be a huge pain to transfer to the temporary tank.

 

Also, the more I look at people's tank build threads the more I see custom aquarium stands. And now I'm seriously considering building my own stand since I'll be emptying the DT to clean anyway. I've never been a fan of the IM stand and it's construction has made me nervous since day one. So yeah...my YouTube history is nothing but 'how to build aquarium stands' lol

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So its official, I've decided I'm going to build my own stand :) My build will look similar to the below picture, except I plan to place another 2x4 vertical brace in the back center and front center. From my research my plan should be overkill but that's what I want, I don't want any chance of the stand failing.

 

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The goal is to have it built by this weekend, and have the tank filled by sometime next week. Speaking of which, I've decided to just cycle the dry rocks in the tank like normal instead of making things complicated. That being said, I'm slightly concerned that my attempt at minimal rock work might result inadequate filtration. I weighed my dry rock scape and they total a little over 8lbs, and I've estimated the tank will fill at around 20-25 gallons. Does anyone think 8 pounds of rock won't be enough? I've been toying with the idea of placing some extra rock in the rear chamber of the tank but I'm concerned that'll be a detritus trap.

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Sooooooo, I'm not gonna build the stand <_<

 

The friend I thought had a miter saw, doesn't. I subsequently tried to have Home Depot and Lowes cut my 2x4s, only to find that the guy that does the cutting at both places pretty much hates his life. This resulted in some pretty crappy cuts that were either blown out at the ends or just plain off measure- which really doesn't help me given the structure I want to build :rant: I even went so far as to look at buying my own miter saw (because I'll definitely use it in future projects) but the 'cheap one' came in at about $100, and I don't really want to spend $100 plus lumber to build a stand I technically already have. Strangely enough </sarcasm> the wife agreed. So I'll have to leave the stand building as a future project when I have the money to purchase a legit saw.

 

So, now that the stand build has been scratched that just means I can start cycling my tank that much sooner! I'm currently making all my water now, which will be done by tomorrow. So the plan is to have the DT moved to the temporary tank, clean the DT, and start the cycle by tomorrow! Woot!

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Not much of an update but my Dr.Tim's One and Only and his ammonia arrived yesterday. Bad part is the ammonia bottle shipped from Amazon without the 'dropper' part of the cap -.- So I have to file the issue with Amazon, ship it back, and wait for it to be replaced. I could just use the ammonia and figure out the dosage myself, but that defeats the whole point of the item.

 

Plus, I just can't help myself....imma try and build the stand again lmao. My father in law has a circular saw so for about $25 in lumber I'm going to give it a shot. Hopefully it works out and I'll have it built before Amazon ships me back the ammonia :) I'll post my plans for the build as soon as I can get iFlicker to work.

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image_3.jpg

 

So here's the basic plan for the stand's frame. I'll be using 2x4s exclusively. The green boards show lower than level with the stand in the plans, but I plan to make them completely level with the orange and yellow boards beside it. I also plan to make the horizontal braces for the top and bottom look like the bottom drawing (I didn't want to draw the pieces on the top frame because it would look too cluttered on paper since I'm using a pre-drawn plan). I also decided to add in a center brace in the rear for added support, although I don't think it'll be necessary given the load it'll need to hold.

 

I then plan to use 3/4 inch plywood for the top and bottom. And most likely some type of plywood to skin it. I would like to use a nice bit of molding to go along the stand edges- make it look nice :) But for now I'm looking to get the frame done.

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So I didn't get a chance to build the stand this past weekend. Unfortunately my mother in law was taken to the hospital for that they think may have been a small heart attack. Needless to say I didn't borrow my father in law's saw. And luckily she's doing just fine now :) I subsequently hope to have the stand built the following weekend. I did however sit down with Sketch Up and finally figure out how to get it to work! So I sketched up my plans for the stand's frame and I'll post it below:

 

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Based off the designs I've seen I believe this should hold my tank just fine, but I plan to post it in its appropriate DIY section on here to get the opinion of others. Other than that I'm pretty much waiting on the stand build to setup the tank. As hard as it is to look at my beautiful dry rock ready for the tank reboot, I just have to keep reminding myself to take my time and do it right. So alas, my reboot waits for the stand build.

 

In unrelated news, anyone who games on PS4 (or PC for that matter) should download Rocket League. Its free for the week and it is extremely addicting. Its basically soccer but with upgradable cars instead of people. Simple game but a ton of fun.

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  • Admonition changed the title to Ad's Tackle Box

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