The Goby/Pistol Project - (Another IM Fusion 10 tank build)

[funkskunk]

Dang it! Why am I starting back into this hobby again?! Haven't I learned my lesson? UGH!! Its expensive, its heart breaking, its frustrating, its time consuming, its, its.... so dang awesome!! Man, I can't help myself saltwater is the best. Yeah it makes no common sense to keep a tank, but dang its just so cool! Let's spend hundreds of dollars to do the impossible and keep a tiny section of the gigantic ocean in our moderately stable electrified homes with all the variables of life to throw challenges at us. Aren't we adults? We are supposed to make educated smart decisions with our money and choices. Put our time and money in stable proven safe investments, drive a Honda, eat organic salad, workout everyday, and go to bed by 10pm... right?

 

Meh, screw it lets do this! 

 

So here's the short back story:

Ive kept fish since I was a kid, typical 20gal community freshwater tanks... college age I move to the notorious 55 gallon and Oscars... transitioned shortly form African Cichlids to... aggressive Saltwater FOWLR tank... upgraded to a 90 gallon and had that for about 10 years (loved my Clown Trigger, Harlequin Tang, and 3foot Snowflake Eel).... got married, dog, kids, no tank for about 10 years... my 6yr old really wants a fish (he's talking to the right guy)... pondering it for a while... digging the new AIO's... decide to pull the trigger on a tiny tank because I'm sick of 10-20 gallon water changes and I figure why not try something new!

 

So with this build I'm trying to do it right from the start, I've served my time in the hobby and know it pays to pay up front for quality equipment. So I've spent the coin on a nice tank and light. I'm new to this whole Auto-top-off world so I'm learning there. I'll post a list of current/future equipment later. But for now I just wanted to get my build thread started and say Hi to all you expert nano keepers out there. You don't know it but you've already helped me a ton with your build threads and advice, hopefully I can share some tips along the way. 

 

Oh of course why The Goby/Pistol Project? 

Well my son loves diggers and construction (what 6yr old boy doesn't) and I was pondering what to stock the tank with. Well why not the coolest construction crew in the ocean? I showed him a couple videos of goby/pistol shrimp pairs and he was hooked. I like it too as they will provide entertainment as well as be beautiful to look at. Also I'm gonna attempt this corral thing, thats a whole scary new world for me as I've just done the aggressive fish route. But I think if I can get the equipment dialed in and weekly water changes it should be fine, right?

 

Here goes nothing!! 

 

 

[TatorTaco]

Welcome aboard!  Their is tons of info on this specific tank.  Check out:  Home > Forums > Special Interest > All-In-One Tanks.  Specifically, look into the Innovative Marine Nuvo Index Thread (it'll be near the top of the list of threads) for specific information on your tank and what others have done.  

 

Again, welcome to Nano-Reef.   This is truly one of the friendliest reefing communities online.  Good luck!

[funkskunk]

One question I have is what substrate should I use for my Goby/Pistol combo? I'd like to try something new and go with the CaribSea Hawaiian Black sand, but I've heard that it gets in in-between the glass scrubber and can scratch it. But I've had that happen with the basic aragonite substrate too. What would you guys recommend? Also what ATO should I go with? I've heard good things about the Tunze Nano ATO and the Smart ATO. Anyway I can't wait to get this thing really rolling. 

[TatorTaco]

ATO:  I don't think you could go wrong on either of the two. 

 

Sand:  I'd just be careful when you get close to the bottom of the tank with the glass scrubber.  I've read of folks using magic erasers, tooth brushes, and credit cards to avoid scratching the tank. Thinking like a fish, I reckon it'd be easier for a goby/shrimp to make a burrow with larger grained sand rather than fine sand.  I suppose it depends what your coral selection will be and how much flow you want to have in the tank.  The higher the flow, the bigger sand granules you'll want. 

[funkskunk]

Yeah thats another question, the stock pump is weak. I'm thinking about either the Sicce 0.5 or the 1.0. I saw the stock pump output is only 92 GPH, but the Sicce's are 185 GPH and 251 GPH respectively. Whatever corals I keep will be easy beginner corals so whatever flow they need is what I guess I need to shoot for?

[gone_PHiSHin]

i would highly recommend the Smart ATO over the Tunze 3152.  i've owned both and the Tunze is in the closet.  i wish i would have just gotten the Smart ATO first.   

 

i would also highly recommend the Sicce 0.5 for this tank.  it's a great pump, and it really is damn near silent.  it is plenty of flow, i just have to adjust the return nozzle how i want it to try to balance out where the flow is directed to make all inhabitants happy.  i run it at full power but it is enough for my mixed reef without adding any powerheads to the display.   i think the 1.0 would be too much and would blow sand around.

[dferrari13]

I agree....ive owed both and the tunze will eventually fail....the smart ato has been fine for me for about 2 years. Personally I don't like the look of the black substrate it just looks unnatural but it's personal preference. But if I had to do my tank all over again I would probably use sand that is less fine and more coarse.

[funkskunk]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I was beginning to wonder if I would get a response. Anyway I wasn't sure which Sicce to get, but I went ahead and got a 1.0. I figured I could turn it down if it had too much flow but we will see. It was just a few bucks more and it was the same size as the 0.5 so I'll roll the dice on it and let yo guys know how it goes. It would be nice to not buy a powerhead to put in the tank. But maybe I should try that notorious SpinStream gadget? or maybe not?

 

Also I'm starting to shy away from the Hawaiian Black sand and go to a traditional white. I've heard the Fiji Pink is a crowd favorite but I'm just not sure which one to go with. I was originally gonna go bare bottom but now with the goby/pistol plan I have to have something in there. I'm pretty sure 10lbs should be enough for the fusion 10, right? I need to figure out the rock situation too, is Pukani rock the one to get or should I just hit up my LFS and see what they have? The ironic part is that I traded all 75lbs of my dry rock stash that used to be in my 90gal FOWLR tank to get the IM Fusion 10 from my LFS. I should have kept one of the better pieces! DOH! haha

 

Current needs:

• Substrate
• Dry Rock
• Chemi-Pure

And then its time to cycle. 

 

Wants:

• Smart ATO
• Refractometer
• Apex JR or Kessil Controller

[dferrari13]

You are headed in the right direction.... definitely don't worry about too much flow you want as much as you can get and you will definitely want a powerhead.... you are correct to upgrade the main pump in this tank because it is very weak..... I have the spin stream and I love it it helps to randomize the flow in the tank which is important.... I personally like the Fiji pink more than the black sand but that's just my opinion. Also I think that an ATO should be at the top of your list... it's annoying having to replenish the evaporated water with Rodi water all the time.... buy yourself the smart ATO... you won't regret it. I have the kessil a160 and the controller for it it was about 400 bucks with the gooseneck attachment but it was well worth it it's a great light..... also starting with dry rock is what I did but it prolongs the cycle time if I could do it all over I would just use live rock.... but I was nervous about pests and stuff.

[dferrari13]

Good luck with your tank I will be following

[hinnenkm]

Just reading through this and what a cool project to do with your son! I've had the 10 now for a couple months and upgraded to the Sicce 1.0 as well. Instead of doing the spin stream, I purchased a random flow generator by Vivid Aquatics and have really liked it - they have great customer service as well! I don't run any additional powerheads in my display. Looking forward to seeing how your build progresses!

[Angry-Monkey]

Another alternative is to get a locline y splitter for the return. Although after looking up the random flow generator from vivid I might switch to that... 

 

What about the tunze ATO fails? 

[hinnenkm]

2 minutes ago, Angry-Monkey said:

Another alternative is to get a locline y splitter for the return. Although after looking up the random flow generator from vivid I might switch to that... 

 

What about the tunze ATO fails? 

I've really enjoyed it for my tank - I've got LPS and Softies, you'd probably need more flow for SPS, but maybe not?

[Angry-Monkey]

14 minutes ago, hinnenkm said:

I've really enjoyed it for my tank - I've got LPS and Softies, you'd probably need more flow for SPS, but maybe not?

Did you need any kind of adaptor to make it fit on the return outlet?

[hinnenkm]

Just now, Angry-Monkey said:

Did you need any kind of adaptor to make it fit on the return outlet?

Yeah, if you look on their website you need to order the random flow generator and I believe it is the 16mm adaptor, but can't quite remember. There should be sizing guides not here that are readily available.

[dferrari13]

The tunze pump gets "stuck" and malfunctions/doesn't pump

[funkskunk]

That Vivid Aquatics nozzle looks sweet, I like that it has no moving parts but still randomized the flow.  Here's a link https://vividcreativeaquatics.com/shop/12in-random-flow-generator-rfg050/

[funkskunk]

- quick update -

The Sicce Syncra Silent 1.0 pump and 50 watt Neo-Therm heater came in. I'd love to get this thing put together and running but life has been pretty busy lately so I'll do what I can and collect the gear. I'm thinking about getting an Apex jr after the Smart ATO. I'd like to run it basically with just the heater, ATO, A80 and maybe an additional skimmer? Any thoughts on this, I know I'd have to do some coding with the light but would the Apex Jr. be the best route or should I look at something else? or just get a basic timer for the light?  I'm trying to make this as painless as possible which is why I'm spending the coin on quality gear. 

Thanks for all the help guys, sorry I haven't gotten this thing running yet, believe me its driving me nuts too!

[LX20000]

Geez... a Syncra 1.0 on a 10 gallon??  Hope you are going to turn flow down...

[hinnenkm]

1 hour ago, LX20000 said:

Geez... a Syncra 1.0 on a 10 gallon??  Hope you are going to turn flow down...

I've got the same pump with the random flow generator and don't feel like it's a crazy amount of flow at all... for what I keep in the tank (lps), it works well!

[funkskunk]

Finally got around to installing the 1.0 Syncra and seeing how high the flow is. To be honest it's not that bad. I was worried it was gonna jet the water over the edge of my tank but all it did was create a slightly higher standing ripple at the front edge of the tank. I haven't invested in a 'RFG' nozzle yet so that would probably help. What I was shocked by was how small the stock pump is and how dinky the rubber feet are, those little things wouldn't last very long. Very happy with the upgrade and looking forward to hopefully getting this beast up and running. Sorry this is taking so long for anyone waiting... I wish it would happen faster too. But you know life...  

 

I've attached some pics for those wondering how a Syncra 1.0 fits in the Fusion 10 gallon pump area. And also some of the size comparison of the Syncra and the stock Innovative pump that comes with the tank.

 

 

[Lula_Mae]

4 minutes ago, funkskunk said:

Finally got around to installing the 1.0 Syncra and seeing how high the flow is. To be honest it's not that bad. I was worried it was gonna jet the water over the edge of my tank but all it did was create a slightly higher standing ripple at the front edge of the tank. I haven't invested in a 'RFG' nozzle yet so that would probably help. What I was shocked by was how small the stock pump is and how dinky the rubber feet are, those little things wouldn't last very long. Very happy with the upgrade and looking forward to hopefully getting this beast up and running. Sorry this is taking so long for anyone waiting... I wish it would happen faster too. But you know life...  

 

I've attached some pics for those wondering how a Syncra 1.0 fits in the Fusion 10 gallon pump area. And also some of the size comparison of the Syncra and the stock Innovative pump that comes with the tank.

 

 

I've been trying to get my 15g up and it's taking forever lol.  I know the feeling!

[FishDooD65]

Nice Build! I'm following along to check it out.

[funkskunk]

Its happening folks, stay tuned I'll be adding pics. But here's the quick version. Tank is running, cycled, and soon I'll be ordering the pistol/goby pair. I mean yeah it only took almost 3 years...

[Wonderboy]

Nice! I'm right on time and totally ready for this! lol