Gena's IM Fusion 10 Softy Tank

[gena]

5 hours ago, mcashatt01 said:

That explains why all their models are 15% off right now.

I actually wrote them this morning to ask about the Panorama Concept tank.  They said they will have them again.  They are expecting them again at the end of the year or beginning of next year.  And the delays are because of the ongoing pandemic. 

 

So.....that's good news for me .  I'm not ready for a new tank yet anyways.  We'll see how things look at the beginning of next year.  I may just pick one up and hold onto it until I'm ready to switch it over.  I'm still really enjoying my little tank and stand setup and want it to be bursting with coral before I do any upgrade.  Who knows...maybe I'll just stick with this tank indefinitely.  I just really love that drop-off.  

 

Here's some new pics for this week.  You can see the mushroom I moved to the front middle.  It's still not opening very big.  I think it likes it on the sand better.  

 

 

 

Someone thinks it's feeding time!

 

[reefer_evo5]

On 9/12/2021 at 9:03 AM, gena said:

I'm thinking about ordering an inkbird heater controller.  I've never had one before.  Always had the Reefkeeper lite or the Apex (cheapest model) which I could control the heat with.  Apparently they don't make those anymore.  Another regret selling mine.

 

The entry level Apex controller is $500????  Good grief!!!!  I won't be getting one of those.  But this Inkbird is $60.  That is doable.  

 

Not much else going on here.  Just watching stuff grow .  Might take a drive to the LFS today just to look.  Maybe buy a replacement for the lost finger leather coral.  I don't think I'll replace it with another finger leather.  I'm going to look for something different.

 

I took this picture yesterday.  I like this view from the side.

 

i Just started my IM 10 as well i love the tank so far and btw your tank looks great! I use a inkbird from amazon that has wifi control for like 50$ for heating and cooling and i like the app and overall funcitonality helps keep the temperature stable and my heater and fans go on automatically i recommend it its great and has a two year warranty as well. 

[gena]

15 minutes ago, reefer_evo5 said:

i Just started my IM 10 as well i love the tank so far and btw your tank looks great! I use a inkbird from amazon that has wifi control for like 50$ for heating and cooling and i like the app and overall funcitonality helps keep the temperature stable and my heater and fans go on automatically i recommend it its great and has a two year warranty as well. 

Awesome!!!  Thank you!!!  My Inkbird arrives tomorrow.  Looking forward to getting it set up.  I'm planning to connect the heater and my fan to it.  I currently have to run my fan all of the time and at night the temp gets pretty low in there.  It will be nice to program the fan to only turn on at a certain temp! 

 

I'm so glad to hear you like it!!! 

[reefer_evo5]

18 hours ago, gena said:

Awesome!!!  Thank you!!!  My Inkbird arrives tomorrow.  Looking forward to getting it set up.  I'm planning to connect the heater and my fan to it.  I currently have to run my fan all of the time and at night the temp gets pretty low in there.  It will be nice to program the fan to only turn on at a certain temp! 

 

I'm so glad to hear you like it!!! 

yea thats how i had it before i would run the fan on all day in my house while i went to work n after the ink bird it takes care of its self so far i havent had any porblems with it. 

[gena]

7 hours ago, reefer_evo5 said:

yea thats how i had it before i would run the fan on all day in my house while i went to work n after the ink bird it takes care of its self so far i havent had any porblems with it. 

I got my ink bird controller today.  I'm having trouble figuring out how to connect it to the wifi.  Followed directions but it still won't connect.  Whatever .  

 

I did discover my overheating issues are from my heater.  I couldn't figure out why the tank temp would just keep rising.  I'd have to always have the fan on even when the temps in the house were low 70s.  Turns out it's the heater!!!!  Even though I set the thermostat to 79F, it heats beyond that.  I've had the tank temp rise to 84F and probably would keep going.  The fan was the only thing to bring it down.  I figured this out today when I was messing with the ink bird.  No heater was plugged in and the temp is sitting at a consistent 79F.  It's been a few hours now and it hasn't budged.  Soooooo....at least I know now what the cause was.

 

I'm going to run this controller without the wifi.  I don't really need that anyways.  From what I'm reading, it's not possible to use the controller for heating and cooling.  Both outlets are strictly for heating.  Good thing I no longer need my fan  .

 

Ahhhh...me and electronics.  Not a good mix hahahaha.  

 

I have the controller set to 79F.  If it drops to 78F it is supposed to kick on the heater.  I guess we'll see if that works or not.  Just checked the temp and it's 78.6F...dropping.  I should know if it's working or not before too long.

[Critteraholic]

38 minutes ago, gena said:

Ahhhh...me and electronics.  Not a good mix hahahaha. 

OMG  This is me as well. I kill batteries too.

 

I love my inkbird. No more worrying whether the betta heater is going to cook my coral. (I have a 2.5 gal.) I tested the heater when I got it and it took the tank up to 85 degrees and was still on. (no livestock in the tank, thankfully) So I came here and found out about controllers. Woohoo! I will always have one!

[reefer_evo5]

14 hours ago, gena said:

I got my ink bird controller today.  I'm having trouble figuring out how to connect it to the wifi.  Followed directions but it still won't connect.  Whatever .  

 

I did discover my overheating issues are from my heater.  I couldn't figure out why the tank temp would just keep rising.  I'd have to always have the fan on even when the temps in the house were low 70s.  Turns out it's the heater!!!!  Even though I set the thermostat to 79F, it heats beyond that.  I've had the tank temp rise to 84F and probably would keep going.  The fan was the only thing to bring it down.  I figured this out today when I was messing with the ink bird.  No heater was plugged in and the temp is sitting at a consistent 79F.  It's been a few hours now and it hasn't budged.  Soooooo....at least I know now what the cause was.

 

I'm going to run this controller without the wifi.  I don't really need that anyways.  From what I'm reading, it's not possible to use the controller for heating and cooling.  Both outlets are strictly for heating.  Good thing I no longer need my fan  .

 

Ahhhh...me and electronics.  Not a good mix hahahaha.  

 

I have the controller set to 79F.  If it drops to 78F it is supposed to kick on the heater.  I guess we'll see if that works or not.  Just checked the temp and it's 78.6F...dropping.  I should know if it's working or not before too long.

At least its up and running! Hopefully it helps keep the temperature stable in the tank. By any chance did you maybe order a inkbird that is blue? I know that one is only for heating on both outlets. The inkbird model I have is ITC-308s that one is heating and cooling and the front of it is green. The other one i have on my Fluval Evo tank is a "Wi-Fi ITC-308" and that one is green as well and both of those have the outlets labeled for heating and cooling they look the exact same just one is able to connect to Wi-Fi and the other one isn't. I believe the blue ink birds are for heating only.

[gena]

14 hours ago, Critteraholic said:

OMG  This is me as well. I kill batteries too.

 

I love my inkbird. No more worrying whether the betta heater is going to cook my coral. (I have a 2.5 gal.) I tested the heater when I got it and it took the tank up to 85 degrees and was still on. (no livestock in the tank, thankfully) So I came here and found out about controllers. Woohoo! I will always have one!

This controller is awesome!!!!  For some reason it didn't even occur to me that my heater was the issue LOL.  I don't remember ever having an issue with a heater!  At least I figured it out :).

1 hour ago, reefer_evo5 said:

At least its up and running! Hopefully it helps keep the temperature stable in the tank. By any chance did you maybe order a inkbird that is blue? I know that one is only for heating on both outlets. The inkbird model I have is ITC-308s that one is heating and cooling and the front of it is green. The other one i have on my Fluval Evo tank is a "Wi-Fi ITC-308" and that one is green as well and both of those have the outlets labeled for heating and cooling they look the exact same just one is able to connect to Wi-Fi and the other one isn't. I believe the blue ink birds are for heating only.

Yes!!!!  It's up and running and doing a fantastic job!!!!  I love not having to run my fan all the time!  That was just ridiculous and I went through so much ATO water because of the evaporation.

 

Mine is the blue one.  it's the 306A if I'm remembering right.   Thank goodness I'm not going to need my fan anymore!!!!!  

 

Right now the tank is sitting at 78.6 degrees F.  I'm debating bumping it up to not go lower than 79F.  I've always ran my tanks around 80F.  Any opinions on running 78-79F?  That's where I'm at right now.  I'll probably leave it for a couple of weeks to see how things look before I make any change.

[reefer_evo5]

15 minutes ago, gena said:

This controller is awesome!!!!  For some reason it didn't even occur to me that my heater was the issue LOL.  I don't remember ever having an issue with a heater!  At least I figured it out :).

Yes!!!!  It's up and running and doing a fantastic job!!!!  I love not having to run my fan all the time!  That was just ridiculous and I went through so much ATO water because of the evaporation.

 

Mine is the blue one.  it's the 306A if I'm remembering right.   Thank goodness I'm not going to need my fan anymore!!!!!  

 

Right now the tank is sitting at 78.6 degrees F.  I'm debating bumping it up to not go lower than 79F.  I've always ran my tanks around 80F.  Any opinions on running 78-79F?  That's where I'm at right now.  I'll probably leave it for a couple of weeks to see how things look before I make any change.

I had this problem before where i didn't know what to keep my temperature at because I live in New Mexico and its really hot in the summer here. My tanks were constantly at 80F all the time with my fans running all day the highest temperature one of my tanks hit was 83.5 and nothing died and everything was ok this was before the ink birds, Now that I have the ink birds my temperature goes from 78 to 79F and thinks seem to be just fine no major changes so i think 78 to 79 is a good range IMO. The biggest problem i had before was in the Fluval evo I have I used the stock lid that would just heat up my tank because of the stock light. i bought the Innovative marine DIY mesh lid and it mad a significant difference in terms of temperature. the IM fusion 10 comes with the mesh lid that I love because it doesn't hold any heat in.  the only thing i am missing is ATO's on the tanks and i use alot of water to top it off which some times gets annoying but other than that tanks are doing fine at 79 for me considering out side temps reach 100s and my house temp sometimes gets to 82 when I'm at work and don't run my AC. 

[gena]

34 minutes ago, reefer_evo5 said:

I had this problem before where i didn't know what to keep my temperature at because I live in New Mexico and its really hot in the summer here. My tanks were constantly at 80F all the time with my fans running all day the highest temperature one of my tanks hit was 83.5 and nothing died and everything was ok this was before the ink birds, Now that I have the ink birds my temperature goes from 78 to 79F and thinks seem to be just fine no major changes so i think 78 to 79 is a good range IMO. The biggest problem i had before was in the Fluval evo I have I used the stock lid that would just heat up my tank because of the stock light. i bought the Innovative marine DIY mesh lid and it mad a significant difference in terms of temperature. the IM fusion 10 comes with the mesh lid that I love because it doesn't hold any heat in.  the only thing i am missing is ATO's on the tanks and i use alot of water to top it off which some times gets annoying but other than that tanks are doing fine at 79 for me considering out side temps reach 100s and my house temp sometimes gets to 82 when I'm at work and don't run my AC. 

Thanks for your experience!  My tank seems to naturally want to sit at 79F with indoor temps at 77F in the summer.  We get pretty hot here and so dry!  I'm sure it's pretty similar to what you experience in NM although probably not quite as bad.  We didn't get into the 100s too many times this summer.  Lots of high 90s.

 

You should pick up an ATO if you ever get the opportunity!!!!  They are even more cool than the Ink Bird and the Ink Bird is pretty darn cool .

[reefer_evo5]

27 minutes ago, gena said:

Thanks for your experience!  My tank seems to naturally want to sit at 79F with indoor temps at 77F in the summer.  We get pretty hot here and so dry!  I'm sure it's pretty similar to what you experience in NM although probably not quite as bad.  We didn't get into the 100s too many times this summer.  Lots of high 90s.

 

You should pick up an ATO if you ever get the opportunity!!!!  They are even more cool than the Ink Bird and the Ink Bird is pretty darn cool .

Yes that's what I want next is ATO but I don't want to buy them because they are a little expensive plus my reservoir would have to be out in the open since I don't have them on stands where I would be able to hide it lol but I do plan on getting them because I definitely need them. I also want the AI prime for my tanks i like how yours looks with it on the IM 10. I use a Nero 3 for my flval an I love it. What return pump do you use? mine came with the mighty jet pump and its pretty cool i get good flow and I added a coralia nano 240 to the IM 10 and i get really good flow.  and i also had another question what heater do you use in this tank? i have a cobalt aquatics heater it isnt the nicer one just a regular glass 50w one and its kina long for the back chamber of this tank. the only reason i have this heater is because it came with the tank, as i got the tank used from offer up with everything included. but the heater seems to big. 

[gena]

12 minutes ago, reefer_evo5 said:

Yes that's what I want next is ATO but I don't want to buy them because they are a little expensive plus my reservoir would have to be out in the open since I don't have them on stands where I would be able to hide it lol but I do plan on getting them because I definitely need them. I also want the AI prime for my tanks i like how yours looks with it on the IM 10. I use a Nero 3 for my flval an I love it. What return pump do you use? mine came with the mighty jet pump and its pretty cool i get good flow and I added a coralia nano 240 to the IM 10 and i get really good flow. 

I'm not sure what mine came with.  It wasn't stock, I don't think.  But I just installed a replacement a little over a week ago (when I was trying to figure out my heat issue LOL) thinking maybe the return pump was overheating.  I replaced it with a Sicce Micraplus.  It does a fantastic job.  I have no other circulation besides the return.  I did install an IM Spinstream to the nozzle which does a nice job with random flow.   It's a very calm/gentle flow situation in my tank which I love.  My mushrooms appreciate it too .

 

And now I have a backup pump in case one fails.  Win-win :).

[reefer_evo5]

2 minutes ago, gena said:

I'm not sure what mine came with.  It wasn't stock, I don't think.  But I just installed a replacement a little over a week ago (when I was trying to figure out my heat issue LOL) thinking maybe the return pump was overheating.  I replaced it with a Sicce Micraplus.  It does a fantastic job.  I have no other circulation besides the return.  I did install an IM Spinstream to the nozzle which does a nice job with random flow.   It's a very calm/gentle flow situation in my tank which I love.  My mushrooms appreciate it too .

 

And now I have a backup pump in case one fails.  Win-win :).

awesome thanks cant wait to see the updates on this tank!

[gena]

Tanks sitting at a comfortable 79F.  No fan has been on at all today.  Can't tell you how happy that makes me!

 

Just posted a video on Instagram, I'll link it here 😊.

 

Happy Friday!!!!!

 

 

[Critteraholic]

5 hours ago, gena said:

Any opinions on running 78-79F?  That's where I'm at right now.

Because it was summer and my heater was not going on much I took it out. (I tend to play with things.) My tank is 2.5 gal and it never goes above 77F.  It's what I keep my air conditioner on and everyone is fine with it.  BUT, I don't have any leathers in my tank. Just my .02

[gena]

8 minutes ago, Critteraholic said:

Because it was summer and my heater was not going on much I took it out. (I tend to play with things.) My tank is 2.5 gal and it never goes above 77F.  It's what I keep my air conditioner on and everyone is fine with it.  BUT, I don't have any leathers in my tank. Just my .02

I think the temp I have it set at will be just fine.  We'll see when it gets colder outside if I need to bump it up a degree.  It was 52 degrees outside this morning Brrrrrr...  Snow forecasted north of us...eek!  

 

I keep the indoor temp 77 degrees in the summer too.  I'm not a fan of A/C. In the winter I struggle with 70-72 degrees in the house .  I like it warm.  I wear a hat, indoors in the winter, a lot LOL.

[Critteraholic]

2 hours ago, gena said:

In the winter I struggle with 70-72 degrees in the house .  I like it warm.  I wear a hat, indoors in the winter, a lot LOL.

You and I must be related way back on the family tree.  Though I would never survive in Colorado. Bless you, they'd find me lying stiff and frozen in my bed. 😱You wear hats, I wear 2 pair of socks and sweat pants and I just live in PA.🥶 We won't discuss my heating bill. 🤪 

 

3 hours ago, gena said:

Snow forecasted north of us...eek!  

ACK!  Keep those 4 - letter words to yourself! 😋

[gena]

13 hours ago, Critteraholic said:

You and I must be related way back on the family tree.  Though I would never survive in Colorado. Bless you, they'd find me lying stiff and frozen in my bed. 😱You wear hats, I wear 2 pair of socks and sweat pants and I just live in PA.🥶 We won't discuss my heating bill. 🤪 

 

ACK!  Keep those 4 - letter words to yourself! 😋

Hahahaha sounds like it!

 

Honestly, where we are it isn't that bad in the winter.  Well....I've only been here for two winters so far.  Snow melts super fast.  Temps last winter...we had a few below zero days that were bad but otherwise tolerable.  The higher elevation makes a big difference.  And the dry air makes a big difference too.  Humidity in the air (in the winter) makes you feel colder and we definitely don't get much humidity here.

 

I think you'd be surprised like I was.

[jack1978]

Hey G!!

Hows the little JB doing? 

 

Also, you liking the Prime? 

[joshthebox]

Just discovered your thread, nice nano!

[gena]

13 hours ago, jack1978 said:

Hey G!!

Hows the little JB doing? 

 

Also, you liking the Prime? 

It's doing great!  I was looking closely at it the other day and could see little tiny red speckles on it :).  The Prime is awesome of course!

12 hours ago, joshthebox said:

Just discovered your thread, nice nano!

thanks a bunch!!!

 

 

 

Been a bit MIA lately because pretty much nothing is going on with the tank besides crazy growth LOL.  I'll have to take another photo soon.  The other day my limp turquoise leather, that's always flopped over, released itself from the frag plug.  I haven't bothered to put it someplace yet.  I'll do it this week with my water change.  I'm hoping the little bit of flesh left on the frag plug will grow into an all new leather!!!!

 

Part of the reason I haven't been around much is I've been busy selling off a bunch of house plants.  Now that I'm back in the reefing game, I feel like I have too many plants to take care of.  Plus I'm kind of tired of the jungle LOL.  Slowly but surely I'm getting things to a good balance.  

 

I think that's all that's new.  The tank is doing great!

[gena]

@jack1978  I know it's a terrible photo...but look at the red 😍.

 

 

[gena]

I didn't know this about anthelia......

 

But first, I did know it has a mat and it grows and grows and grows this mat.  HOWEVER....

 

I didn't know that it will pop one of it's heads off and float to another side of the tank and attach to the rock .  Mine did that LOL.  But you know what????  I don't even care.  I want this tank to be a crazy forest of softies.

 

But just an FYI to be on the lookout for this.  You can't just isolate it to a rock island and think you'll be ok 😉 .

[banasophia]

6 minutes ago, gena said:

I didn't know this about anthelia......

 

But first, I did know it has a mat and it grows and grows and grows this mat.  HOWEVER....

 

I didn't know that it will pop one of it's heads off and float to another side of the tank and attach to the rock .  Mine did that LOL.  But you know what????  I don't even care.  I want this tank to be a crazy forest of softies.

 

But just an FYI to be on the lookout for this.  You can't just isolate it to a rock island and think you'll be ok 😉 .

That is one of the invasive corals I haven’t tried to grow yet… so pretty though, I’ve often considered adding it… sounds similar to Kenya tree how it spreads? Or like a hybrid of GSP and Kenya tree? 

[gena]

2 minutes ago, banasophia said:

That is one of the invasive corals I haven’t tried to grow yet… so pretty though, I’ve often considered adding it… sounds similar to Kenya tree how it spreads?  

Yes!  It's exactly like kenya tree.  

 

 

Exhibit A. (another bad photo )