ahfu25's IM NUVO Fusion 20 build

[ahfu25]

Long time fresh water tank owner. Everything from African Cichlids to freshwater Stingrays. I went about 5 years without any tanks... and one day my girlfriend decides to get a betta fish at a local petco...lol. Without thinking about it I just jumped on a fluval spec 5 that caught my eye and decided to turn it into a saltwater tank. Tank fully cycled and 2 months later I already wanted to upgrade. I was on a very tight budget that went right out the window and now this LOL. So I decided to let my fluval spec 5 be my future QT tank and start a new, bigger tank. After lots of question asking and research I decided on the IM NUVO Fusion 20. I ordered a ton of stuff that I will name but I havent set anything up as Im waiting for the Fusion 20 stand to become available. So here is what I have so far.


IM NUVO Fusion 20
2 custom caddys
tunze nano ato
20lbs of live fuji sand
Cobalt Neotherm 100w heater
Ecotech Mp10 quiet drive
2 Gallon jug for my ato
15lbs of reef saver rock from BRS
BRS 4 STAGE VALUE PLUS RO/DI SYSTEM - 75GPD


Here are 2 pictures. One of all of my equipment still in the shipping boxes LOL. And another of my fluval spec 5. Im not sure about lighting yet. I know I dont need a light during the cycle process so I have some time to decide. So far Im thinking One Kessil 360w or 2 160w's. Or a Ecotech radion XR15W pro. I didnt do a good job with my Fluval Spec 5 build thread but I promise to update this often after getting the stand and getting it started. Any suggestions are welcome. And as far as live stock Im going to put the lone clownfish I have in my 5 gallon and going to get it a mate in the fusion. Im going to do a mixed reef with soft corals lps and sps.

 

[Dmoody]

I went with the maxspect razor nano on mine and it looks very sharp. Was thinking about the xr15 myself though at one point.

 

[rjkrejci]

I went with the 2 Kessil 160's with mine and really like the look. I started out with one, and didn't like the shadowing from a single light source. 2 keeps the shimmering but fills in some of the shadows at the edges.

If you don't like the dense mesh on their screen top, you can replace it with this:
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/clear-netting.html

Much clearer, gives more shimmer and reflects less light. Just remove the rubber spline in the original frame, remove the old dense plastic screen, stretch the netting over the frame and replace the spline in the groove. You can look through the top without the reflected light blinding you. Love the mesh tops overall...much less maintenance than glass.

 

[ahfu25]

I went with the 2 Kessil 160's with mine and really like the look. I started out with one, and didn't like the shadowing from a single light source. 2 keeps the shimmering but fills in some of the shadows at the edges.

If you don't like the dense mesh on their screen top, you can replace it with this:
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/clear-netting.html

Much clearer, gives more shimmer and reflects less light. Just remove the rubber spline in the original frame, remove the old dense plastic screen, stretch the netting over the frame and replace the spline in the groove. You can look through the top without the reflected light blinding you. Love the mesh tops overall...much less maintenance than glass.

Would you mind posting a picture of your top with the netting from brs. That's the one part of tank set up I didn't like. Thanks for the input on the lights!

 

[rjkrejci]

I will when I modify it I did on the 10 and really liked it, I just haven't gotten around to it on the 20 yet since I've only been running a few weeks.

I hesitate since sometimes I like not having such intense shimmer. Looks great from further away, but it distracts when viewing close-up. The denser original screen evens it out a little, as does having 2 light sources. With the BRS screen, the tank looks just about how it looks with no top, with the original, the shimmer is toned down.

Here's a crappy picture of it on the 10. I didn't do a great job at first and didn't get it tight so it was a little droopy, but you can see it's nowhere as bright as the original. The original would have been solid white in the picture.

 

[ahfu25]

Looks good to me!! Next week Im going to place an order for a few things like reef tests kits and such. Im going to order it. Am I good with the 3 x 11' for 11.99?

 

[rjkrejci]

Just put the top mesh together tonight. Not perfect, but less saggy than before

Not that you can actually see through it even when the lights are on. Doesn't cut down the light really at all.

 

[ahfu25]

Just put the top mesh together tonight. Not perfect, but less saggy than before

Not that you can actually see through it even when the lights are on. Doesn't cut down the light really at all.

Looking at your picture makes me more impatient lol. I have everything I need to start my cycle except my stand. ETA on Marine Depot is 2-3 weeks :headwally:

 

[ahfu25]

11 different options Front and top view...What do you think?

 

[ahfu25]

 

[ahfu25]

 

[ahfu25]

 

[ahfu25]

 

[ahfu25]

LAST ONE.....for tonight lol

 

[ahfu25]

This is it!!!!! I was going crazy trying to make it look like 1 rock

 

[ahfu25]

All set up and the cycling has begun. Only snag was with my Tunze auto top off. I didn't inspect the contents in the box right away and the sensor housing is missing. Brs says it does exchanges but it has to be less that 3 days so I will have to call tunze to see if they will send me one.

 

[rjkrejci]

Looking nice!

 

[Bontrager]

Long time fresh water tank owner. Everything from African Cichlids to freshwater Stingrays. I went about 5 years without any tanks... and one day my girlfriend decides to get a betta fish at a local petco...lol. Without thinking about it I just jumped on a fluval spec 5 that caught my eye and decided to turn it into a saltwater tank. Tank fully cycled and 2 months later I already wanted to upgrade. I was on a very tight budget that went right out the window and now this LOL. So I decided to let my fluval spec 5 be my future QT tank and start a new, bigger tank. After lots of question asking and research I decided on the IM NUVO Fusion 20. I ordered a ton of stuff that I will name but I havent set anything up as Im waiting for the Fusion 20 stand to become available. So here is what I have so far.


IM NUVO Fusion 20
2 custom caddys
tunze nano ato
20lbs of live fuji sand
Cobalt Neotherm 100w heater
Ecotech Mp10 quiet drive
2 Gallon jug for my ato
15lbs of reef saver rock from BRS
BRS 4 STAGE VALUE PLUS RO/DI SYSTEM - 75GPD


Here are 2 pictures. One of all of my equipment still in the shipping boxes LOL. And another of my fluval spec 5. Im not sure about lighting yet. I know I dont need a light during the cycle process so I have some time to decide. So far Im thinking One Kessil 360w or 2 160w's. Or a Ecotech radion XR15W pro. I didnt do a good job with my Fluval Spec 5 build thread but I promise to update this often after getting the stand and getting it started. Any suggestions are welcome. And as far as live stock Im going to put the lone clownfish I have in my 5 gallon and going to get it a mate in the fusion. Im going to do a mixed reef with soft corals lps and sps.

Very nice what type of salinity testing device are you using.

Good luck!

 

[ahfu25]

Very nice what type of salinity testing device are you using.

Good luck!

Thank you! I'm using a refractometer

 

[ahfu25]

Small cycle update. I dosed my tank with Dr. Tims Ammonia to get it to 2ppm and then poured bio-spira (Lets see if this stuff really works). My ammonia is going from 2ppm to 0ppm in 24 hours. My Nitrites are going from 5ppm (probably over that) to 0ppm in 48 hours. My nitrates are super high at 80ppm. I dose ammonia but only when Nitrites are at 0ppm. I left my salinity at 1.020 for the meantime. I will raise it when I do my big water change then let it run another couple weeks to make sure parameters are stable before adding any livestock. Its only been a about a week. Also great news for me as the stand is finally in stock and on its way!!