IM Fusion Mini 40 Mixed Reef

[teenyreef]

Honestly I'd leave things alone for a while, they may take off on their own after things stay stable. But if you do raise Alk do it super slow

 

My Alk swing came when I cleaned the back chambers and some of the encrusted dosing solution fell into the water. It doesn't take much in a 10g and it swung about a point overnight.

[NYfishies]

Honestly I'd leave things alone for a while, they may take off on their own after things stay stable. But if you do raise Alk do it super slow

 

My Alk swing came when I cleaned the back chambers and some of the encrusted dosing solution fell into the water. It doesn't take much in a 10g and it swung about a point overnight.

 

Oh wow I never thought that would make such a swing. I am so glad you mentioned this! I need to clean the back chamber of this tank which has either Alk or Ca built up.

[teenyreef]

 

Oh wow I never thought that would make such a swing. I am so glad you mentioned this! I need to clean the back chamber of this tank which has either Alk or Ca built up.

Now I know better - I turn off the pumps, drain some water from the back chambers, and stuff a cloth in to catch as much as possible. Then I drain the rest of the water in the back chambers.

[Canadianeh]

Nyfishes,

I have specific questions for you. I have IM Fusion 40 as well so I am following this thread. Here is my build thread: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/377484-newbies-new-fusion-40-build/

• What salt are you using?
  
• In regards to your Exact Idip 570nm Marine, how is it working out for you? I see that you also have Red Sea test kits. I am using Fauna Marin Professional salt, and the readings on Alk, Cal, and Mag are very low. When I contacted Claude from Fauna Marin Germany he said that photometer does not work well to measure fresh saltwater. Here is the thread about it:http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/377555-fauna-marin-professional-salt/
  

Thanks,

[NYfishies]

 

Nyfishes,

I have specific questions for you. I have IM Fusion 40 as well so I am following this thread. Here is my build thread: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/377484-newbies-new-fusion-40-build/

• What salt are you using?
• In regards to your Exact Idip 570nm Marine, how is it working out for you? I see that you also have Red Sea test kits. I am using Fauna Marin Professional salt, and the readings on Alk, Cal, and Mag are very low. When I contacted Claude from Fauna Marin Germany he said that photometer does not work well to measure fresh saltwater. Here is the thread about it:http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/377555-fauna-marin-professional-salt/

Thanks,

 

 

Hi,

 

I use Aqua Forest Reef Salt. I love it and consider it the best. Mixes closest to NSW i have seen. Mixes in 15-30 min and leaves zero residue in the bucket. What drew me to it was the low pH.

 

As for the iDip that is the only kit I use. Have not touched my Red Sea kits for many months. iDip is a work in progress and keeps getting better and bettter (more accurate). The simple fact it takes a fraction of the time to test than anything else leads you to test more often. Absolute numbers are not what I shoot for, but rather steady and consistent numbers. If you want precision use the ICP tests. I will say that iDip is still struggling with Mg, but it appears Alk, Ca, NO3 and PO4 are on point.

[Canadianeh]

 

Hi,

 

I use Aqua Forest Reef Salt. I love it and consider it the best. Mixes closest to NSW i have seen. Mixes in 15-30 min and leaves zero residue in the bucket. What drew me to it was the low pH.

 

As for the iDip that is the only kit I use. Have not touched my Red Sea kits for many months. iDip is a work in progress and keeps getting better and bettter (more accurate). The simple fact it takes a fraction of the time to test than anything else leads you to test more often. Absolute numbers are not what I shoot for, but rather steady and consistent numbers. If you want precision use the ICP tests. I will say that iDip is still struggling with Mg, but it appears Alk, Ca, NO3 and PO4 are on point.

So using Idip, you are getting the ALk and Ca matches to Aqua Forest specs?

 

Fauna Marin on the box says I am supposed to be getting over 8.0 on Alk, but I got only 5.00. That is not even close.

[NYfishies]

So using Idip, you are getting the ALk and Ca matches to Aqua Forest specs?

 

Fauna Marin on the box says I am supposed to be getting over 8.0 on Alk, but I got only 5.00. That is not even close.

 

You know, I have not actually tested the salt mix. It came with an analysis report for the batch it was pulled from which I found impressive and thus never tested myself.

 

Last night the iDip showed 8.62 dKH for the tank which is right where I want it. The salt batch I got shows 7.7 dKH. I dose 16 ml per day (during lights out) of BRS 2-Part Alk to keep it up above 8 dKH.

 

[Canadianeh]

 

You know, I have not actually tested the salt mix. It came with an analysis report for the batch it was pulled from which I found impressive and thus never tested myself.

 

Last night the iDip showed 8.62 dKH for the tank which is right where I want it. The salt batch I got shows 7.7 dKH. I dose 16 ml per day (during lights out) of BRS 2-Part Alk to keep it up above 8 dKH.

 

 

Are you using Reef Salt or Salt?

 

Also that 7.7 dkh is freshly made with no dosing?

[Mariaface]

I just want to note: That's 7.7dKH at 33ppt

[NYfishies]

I just want to note: That's 7.7dKH at 33ppt

 

Ya and I mixed closer to 35 (1.026 ppm) so I imagine that I mix closer to 8.16 dKH.

 

 

Are you using Reef Salt or Salt?

 

Also that 7.7 dkh is freshly made with no dosing?

 

http://aquaforest.eu/en/product/reef-salt/

 

7.7 dKH is what they found when they tested it (not me). As a result yes that would be freshly made with no dosing.

[Canadianeh]

 

Ya and I mixed closer to 35 (1.026 ppm) so I imagine that I mix closer to 8.16 dKH.

 

 

http://aquaforest.eu/en/product/reef-salt/

 

7.7 dKH is what they found when they tested it (not me). As a result yes that would be freshly made with no dosing.

so you never actually tested the freshly made seawater yourself using Idip.

 

Are you able to test some with Idip before you mix it in the tank and before you dose it? I want to see if you are able to get close to the specs using Idip.

[NYfishies]

so you never actually tested the freshly made seawater yourself using Idip.

 

Are you able to test some with Idip before you mix it in the tank and before you dose it? I want to see if you are able to get close to the specs using Idip.

 

Correct - never tested the freshly made seawater myself using iDip.

 

I could try although I am pretty confident to find the same as AF. I will test the Alk tonight during a water change and let you know!

[Canadianeh]

 

Correct - never tested the freshly made seawater myself using iDip.

 

I could try although I am pretty confident to find the same as AF. I will test the Alk tonight during a water change and let you know!

 

Thanks man! I look forward from your update.

[Admonition]

 

Oh oops sorry silly me!

 

I will take some pics when I get home today. In my cabinet I have the Apex guts and wires pretty well organized in the top right where I keep dry fish and coral food as well. Underneath that I keep tools and fragging supplies. In the top left I keep all my testing kits and reagents. Underneath that is the DOS + DDR as well as liquid coral foods. I then have 2 other areas where I store stuff. I will take pics of those as well.

 

In the meantime I use:

• IM probe holder w/ Apex Salinity, ORP, Temp & pH probes as well as my ATO line, Alk line and Calcium line.
• 2 IM Media Baskets, but I should have the inTank ones and will eventually get them. The IM ones do not fit perfect so I have to use a piece of felt floss to tilt it more towards the overflows for more efficient draining.
• Desktop Ghost Skimmer
• Jager 100w Heater

The heater is in the center chamber. The probe chamber only has the probes in it. I use filter floss in both baskets. The basket on the left adjacent to the skimmer only has floss in it. The basket on the right adjacent to the probe chamber has Chemi-Pure Blue as well as the floss. I will be switching this week from that to ROWAphos + ROX Carbon.

 

I am in search for a stronger pump. I bought a EHEIM Compact+ Pump 2000 which I really thought would fit, but it does not. The next one down is the Compact 1000 and it is only 267 GPH vs the stock pump @ 476 GPH. Maybe I just need to replace the stock one since it is 2+ years old?

 

Awesome, thank you! It sounds like you are running a similar setup in the back chambers to what I was planning on running and hoping my measurements were correct lol. I look forward to your pictures so I can see your organization, but thank you for the detailed post description- I'm feeling much better about my original mock up lol.

 

I actually debated about that IM probe rack but I couldn't get over the price and I was worried about it fitting in the tank (as well as it holding my three dosing tubes). You mention that it holds all of your Apex probes and your three dosing tubes, do you feel confident in the 'fit' of your ato, alk, and calc tubes in that rack? I have the exact same need.

[NYfishies]

 

Awesome, thank you! It sounds like you are running a similar setup in the back chambers to what I was planning on running and hoping my measurements were correct lol. I look forward to your pictures so I can see your organization, but thank you for the detailed post description- I'm feeling much better about my original mock up lol.

 

I actually debated about that IM probe rack but I couldn't get over the price and I was worried about it fitting in the tank (as well as it holding my three dosing tubes). You mention that it holds all of your Apex probes and your three dosing tubes, do you feel confident in the 'fit' of your ato, alk, and calc tubes in that rack? I have the exact same need.

 

I am hesitant to recommend the probe holder. I got the larger one so that it would fit my 2 dosing tubes and the blue ATO line. Soon that line will change as tomorrow my Smart ATO Micro will arrive to replace the Tunze junk. After testing the Smart ATO on my planted tank for a month I am sold. As for the probe holder the magnet which keeps the piece of plastic in place to hold the probes is not strong enough, but still works totally fine. Just could be a bit stronger. My lines and pobes all fit fine.

 

Here are some quick shots. I guess I could have at least leveled them out before posting. Oops.

[Canadianeh]

I am also returning my Tunze 3152 nano ATO. It is not consistent. Sometime it misses to top off and I have to turn the power off and on to activate it.

[Canadianeh]

Did you test the freshly made seawater last night?

[Admonition]

Thank you for the photos! I wasn't sure if that IM probe rack was going to work but I'm glad to see it does. Thanks for the info on the rack, I think I'm going to try drilling into my current one for the tubes before thinking about getting that one, but at least its an option. I was worried about the amount of space in the stand but it looks like you fit everything in there well lol. Now I just gotta wait for Marine Depot to send me my replacement stand so I can get this puppy up and running.

 

And awesome tank shots, beautiful! Everything is looking happy

[NYfishies]

I am also returning my Tunze 3152 nano ATO. It is not consistent. Sometime it misses to top off and I have to turn the power off and on to activate it.

 

I have witnessed 4-5 times where the pump continues run even though the tank is full. It also does not auto shutoff as advertised.

 

The first time this happend was with this tank. If it hadn't been for me randomly waking up to use the bathroom to notice the tank nearly overflowing water would have hit the floor and the leak detectors would have chimed in. The IM40 can hold maybe 3-4 gallons more water than it should during normal operation. That ATO failure dropped my salinity 10% in the matter of minutes. I lost a few SPS, but that was it.

 

Then, it happened in my Zoa Garden and I found out becuase my Apex alarm went off once the salt dropped 5% or so. That tank has a sump which I have added a breakout box + float switch to shut off the ATO when the sump has a certain amount of water.

 

As for my IM40 my Apex now is set to cut the ATO's power if the salt drops even a % or 2. Tonight I trash both remaining Tunze ATO's and replace with the Smart ATO which takes up a fraction of the space and has a cool blue light on it.

Did you test the freshly made seawater last night?

 

I forgot! I did a deep clean on my Zoa Garden so did not have any down time last night. I am doing a casual cleaning of the IM40 tonight so will test and report later I promise!

Thank you for the photos! I wasn't sure if that IM probe rack was going to work but I'm glad to see it does. Thanks for the info on the rack, I think I'm going to try drilling into my current one for the tubes before thinking about getting that one, but at least its an option. I was worried about the amount of space in the stand but it looks like you fit everything in there well lol. Now I just gotta wait for Marine Depot to send me my replacement stand so I can get this puppy up and running.

 

And awesome tank shots, beautiful! Everything is looking happy

 

The rack fits nicely. Just feels a little cheap. I would go with drilling and see how that works for the one you have!

 

The waiting game is the worst! This hobby has tested my patience time and time again...

 

Thanks for your kind words. One day I will learn to take good pics like Teeny and Dave!

[Canadianeh]

Thanks please do man.

[NYfishies]

Thanks please do man.

 

Well, 2 iDip tests resulted in 6.78 dKH and 6.72 dKH. So the consistency that I am used to is still there.

 

Problem is the salt mix should be 7.7 dKH so one of them is wrong. Since this is the first batch of AF salt I have used I cannot compare.

 

I run my tanks between 8-10 dKH (or so I think) so that could mean I actually run them between 9-11 dKH. That would technically still be fine and frankly could be the reason my mixed reef is doing well. My Zoa Garden I thought I was keeping around 8-9 dKH and this IM40 around 9-10 dKH. In fact, I could actually be running the IM40 around 10-11 dKH which together with high light and high nutrients is leading to happy corals?

[Canadianeh]

 

Well, 2 iDip tests resulted in 6.78 dKH and 6.72 dKH. So the consistency that I am used to is still there.

 

Problem is the salt mix should be 7.7 dKH so one of them is wrong. Since this is the first batch of AF salt I have used I cannot compare.

 

I run my tanks between 8-10 dKH (or so I think) so that could mean I actually run them between 9-11 dKH. That would technically still be fine and frankly could be the reason my mixed reef is doing well. My Zoa Garden I thought I was keeping around 8-9 dKH and this IM40 around 9-10 dKH. In fact, I could actually be running the IM40 around 10-11 dKH which together with high light and high nutrients is leading to happy corals?

I'm confused. If your two tests from Idip you get under 7 dkh, then why you think your tank is higher? Are you talking about after dosing? Shouldn't it be lower the fact that your Idip tests show lower dkh?

[NYfishies]

I'm confused. If your two tests from Idip you get under 7 dkh, then why you think your tank is higher? Are you talking about after dosing? Shouldn't it be lower the fact that your Idip tests show lower dkh?

 

If AF is correct and the Alk is actually 7.7 dKH, but the iDip reads 6.7 dKH then one could presume that the iDip reads 1 dKH lower than reality. In that case if my iDip tell my my IM40 is 9.5 dKH it could in reality be 10.5 dKH.

[Scorched]

I actually debated about that IM probe rack but I couldn't get over the price and I was worried about it fitting in the tank (as well as it holding my three dosing tubes). You mention that it holds all of your Apex probes and your three dosing tubes, do you feel confident in the 'fit' of your ato, alk, and calc tubes in that rack? I have the exact same need.

 

 

I am hesitant to recommend the probe holder. I got the larger one so that it would fit my 2 dosing tubes and the blue ATO line. Soon that line will change as tomorrow my Smart ATO Micro will arrive to replace the Tunze junk. After testing the Smart ATO on my planted tank for a month I am sold. As for the probe holder the magnet which keeps the piece of plastic in place to hold the probes is not strong enough, but still works totally fine. Just could be a bit stronger. My lines and pobes all fit fine.

 

I have had the same experience but with the smaller IM probe holder. Everything fit but the main magnet for the bracket and the magnet to hold the probes was very weak. When I had all of the probes in place it seemed like it was fighting gravity to stay up.

 

In the end I went with a more permanent acrylic holder and the IM one sits in a box.

 

I find it kinda funny that you run a Wav in your tank. I won a set in a contest and put them in my tank as a joke. I didn't dare turn them on.

 

[Canadianeh]

 

 

I have had the same experience but with the smaller IM probe holder. Everything fit but the main magnet for the bracket and the magnet to hold the probes was very weak. When I had all of the probes in place it seemed like it was fighting gravity to stay up.

 

In the end I went with a more permanent acrylic holder and the IM one sits in a box.

 

I find it kinda funny that you run a Wav in your tank. I won a set in a contest and put them in my tank as a joke. I didn't dare turn them on.

 

 

what kind of anemone are those ones in the middle and left side?

 

If AF is correct and the Alk is actually 7.7 dKH, but the iDip reads 6.7 dKH then one could presume that the iDip reads 1 dKH lower than reality. In that case if my iDip tell my my IM40 is 9.5 dKH it could in reality be 10.5 dKH.

 

I read that "Photometers are pretty good for things like nitrate, phosphate, and other stuff that rely on being able to tell the color at the end. But for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium you really want a titration. That's where you're not looking for a specific color but a change in color as you add drops. That's not so easy to do with a photometer and if you have a photometric method it should at least be checked against a titration kit"