Owners Thread: Innovative Marine Fusion 40

[Reduck]

You are set then. You have already seeded the rock and now you just have to wait it out. I used the aquamaxx dry rock and had to weight a good time. You have any thing in the tank? CA and Alk are a little steep. I had the most growth of coralline around 450 CA and 9 Alk.

I am learning patience too. A good quality to have, my students teach me it

This ^! Given enough time and ideal conditions, you will want it to stop growing once it starts. I scrape my back wall weekly to get it off. I let it float around and stick to whatever it hits. I started with the same aquamaxx dry rock and they are 90% covered. Less than six months.
Please wait. You do not need to seed any more or dose to insanely high parameters. Keep up with your normal husbandry, set an aggressive light schedule, and it will grow.

 

[choss]

Aquafuge Refugium Video

Aquafuge Refugium Video

I took a short video of the aquafuge as it hangs on the back of my tank.

<iframe width="854" height="510" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-rJrCVJ7PRI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[reeffer1983]

Your alk is at 20??? That has to be a typo right? Please say yes?
200ppm is still on the high side..Of 11dkh which is ok..
Give the tank lots of light. It'll grow.

Alk was at 20dkh, down to 14 after some water changes. Tested today.

 

[reeffer1983]

You are set then. You have already seeded the rock and now you just have to wait it out. I used the aquamaxx dry rock and had to weight a good time. You have any thing in the tank? CA and Alk are a little steep. I had the most growth of coralline around 450 CA and 9 Alk.

I am learning patience too. A good quality to have, my students teach me it

As of today my calcium is at 515. as mentioned alk is 14. so I think Im about where I need to be parameters wise, it's just the waiting game...

 

[reefwiser]

I took a short video of the aquafuge as it hangs on the back of my tank.



<iframe width="854" height="510" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-rJrCVJ7PRI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Nice that light on the five puts out a lot of light. [emoji2]
So you run it at night when the lights are off?

 

[Reduck]

Alk was at 20dkh, down to 14 after some water changes. Tested today.

ok..whew. 20dkh is way too high..even 14dkh is considered upper limits..i'd try to stabilize it at around 9.5-10 and leave it be. Hopefully no life was affected by the spike. That higher alk could burn the tips off of some corals...

If you are dosing 2 part, cut your dose by half and see how long it takes to drop to 10. Then start testing daily to see what the uptake is, and then dose lightly to keep it stable. Worst thing you can do is have wild swings in chemistry.

If you keep a strong light schedule and steady parameters, your coraline will start to grow. And once it starts growing, you'll wish it didn't.

 

[choss]

Nice that light on the five puts out a lot of light. [emoji2]
So you run it at night when the lights are off?[/QUOTE]

Yes I run it from 11 to about 8 am. Small window of overlap in the morning. And it is really strong that little LED back there.

 

[reeffer1983]

ok..whew. 20dkh is way too high..even 14dkh is considered upper limits..i'd try to stabilize it at around 9.5-10 and leave it be. Hopefully no life was affected by the spike. That higher alk could burn the tips off of some corals...

If you are dosing 2 part, cut your dose by half and see how long it takes to drop to 10. Then start testing daily to see what the uptake is, and then dose lightly to keep it stable. Worst thing you can do is have wild swings in chemistry.

If you keep a strong light schedule and steady parameters, your coraline will start to grow. And once it starts growing, you'll wish it didn't.

Gonna do a 10% water change today to bring some out. stop dosing and testing every other day until I get about 10ish. As far as the coralline, I love it. Ive never wanted to rid it from my tank ever. Only from the three side viewing panels. I think its stunning, clearly you disagree, or you just hate scraping. This is one reason I wont go acrylic, I NEED my razor blades!

 

[reeffer1983]

Nice that light on the five puts out a lot of light. [emoji2]
So you run it at night when the lights are off?

That it nice. I thought about a fuge. My only concern was the amount of light it put out (my reef is right next to the bed) and second idk if I can fit it. Maybe have to go with the IM Magnafuge?? I think thats what that light is. Not certain. Id love to keep a mandarin. I'm only 24 days in, so I have lots of time to make decisions as I go, but I like what you have going there

 

[Reduck]

Gonna do a 10% water change today to bring some out. stop dosing and testing every other day until I get about 10ish. As far as the coralline, I love it. Ive never wanted to rid it from my tank ever. Only from the three side viewing panels. I think its stunning, clearly you disagree, or you just hate scraping. This is one reason I wont go acrylic, I NEED my razor blades!

No, I like it. On the rocks and the invert shells, not on my glass or back wall though.. and yes, I hate scraping...
I like the contrast the solid clean black wall adds. More visual depth when its black and clean..

 

[reeffer1983]

No, I like it. On the rocks and the invert shells, not on my glass or back wall though.. and yes, I hate scraping...
I like the contrast the solid clean black wall adds. More visual depth when its black and clean..

your right about the contrast. I have a decent amount of rock touching the back wall so it would be hard to scrape, but I may give it a go this time around. I'm doing a lot of things different than in the past 10+ years, so I might as well add this to the list of things to try....well off to the LFS's I go. Wish me luck

 

[choss]

Gonna do a 10% water change today to bring some out. stop dosing and testing every other day until I get about 10ish. As far as the coralline, I love it. Ive never wanted to rid it from my tank ever. Only from the three side viewing panels. I think its stunning, clearly you disagree, or you just hate scraping. This is one reason I wont go acrylic, I NEED my razor blades!

I just went through several weeks of off the charts dkh. It definitely affected my tank negatively and it took me a long time to figure out that my salt was the culprit (test the water you are adding or you may be causing the problem). I just finally got it back to 9 and the tank is definitely happy.

 

[vokuro]

So, my girlfriend is obsessed with getting a dragonet. I know they require a healthy copepod supply. Do I have a chance in hell to produce enough pods with one media basket converted into a fuge? What about both sides converted? Or will I require a hang on option similar to what Choss posted above?

 

[bizacon]

Get a cut out of one, laminate it, stick it to the glass. She won't even notice the difference. Tanks should be over a year old imo. This helps build the pods naturally and when you add more, they will be able to multiply quickly. If you do it now, you will be spending $20 a week on pods.

I have cheato in the back and building up a supply of pods, but probably a couple months out. Learned the hard way

So, my girlfriend is obsessed with getting a dragonet. I know they require a healthy copepod supply. Do I have a chance in hell to produce enough pods with one media basket converted into a fuge? What about both sides converted? Or will I require a hang on option similar to what Choss posted above?

 

[reefwiser]

So, my girlfriend is obsessed with getting a dragonet. I know they require a healthy copepod supply. Do I have a chance in hell to produce enough pods with one media basket converted into a fuge? What about both sides converted? Or will I require a hang on option similar to what Choss posted above?

Look at Paul B's feeder

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2166449

 

[Reduck]

So, my girlfriend is obsessed with getting a dragonet. I know they require a healthy copepod supply. Do I have a chance in hell to produce enough pods with one media basket converted into a fuge? What about both sides converted? Or will I require a hang on option similar to what Choss posted above?

Like biz said, it'll be an expensive lesson. Wait it out. Add pods every month for six or so months. At the end of a year you may have enough to sustain one fish. Remember it's not going to be the only fish eating them. Most others eat them more aggressively than dragonets. If your fuge can't repopulate them quick enough...the population dies off and so does the dragonet.
You can try to get it on enriched brine shrimp or bloodworms, but I'd bet 9 of 10 tries end up in starved dead dragonets.

 

[vokuro]

Get a cut out of one, laminate it, stick it to the glass. She won't even notice the difference. Tanks should be over a year old imo. This helps build the pods naturally and when you add more, they will be able to multiply quickly. If you do it now, you will be spending $20 a week on pods.

I have cheato in the back and building up a supply of pods, but probably a couple months out. Learned the hard way

Lol. I'll take to eBay and find a plastic figurine. That should hold her over.

Look at Paul B's feeder

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2166449

Great idea, thanks for the link.

Like biz said, it'll be an expensive lesson. Wait it out. Add pods every month for six or so months. At the end of a year you may have enough to sustain one fish. Remember it's not going to be the only fish eating them. Most others eat them more aggressively than dragonets. If your fuge can't repopulate them quick enough...the population dies off and so does the dragonet.
You can try to get it on enriched brine shrimp or bloodworms, but I'd bet 9 of 10 tries end up in starved dead dragonets.

As always, great advice Redluck. I'll sit it out for a year and let things get established. Thanks guys.

 

[Reduck]

Well today will be my last post in this thread. It's been a lot of fun working with you all on your tanks. I've learned a lot in the past year with my 40 and it's time to move on. The 40 will be drained and occupants moved into their new home. I have a few interested parties on the tank and accessories.
I'll be posting in my build thread over in the blog section for a bit, but due to some other circumstances, I'm moving to another site.
Reefing is a part of my life. So are you all! One big happy family.
Thank you for participating here and best of luck with your tanks (both present and future)

Ron

 

[choss]

That it nice. I thought about a fuge. My only concern was the amount of light it put out (my reef is right next to the bed) and second idk if I can fit it. Maybe have to go with the IM Magnafuge?? I think thats what that light is. Not certain. Id love to keep a mandarin. I'm only 24 days in, so I have lots of time to make decisions as I go, but I like what you have going there

I will tape off the fuge with some black tape and get a black lid at some point. The light doesn't bother me since it is in my study but if it were in a room that we use like a bedroom then that would be necessary. I love mandarins - they are my favorite fish. I had a lot of luck keeping one many years ago but I had a mature tank with a ton of rock (75 gallon tank with 150 lbs). It was literally crawling with life. I'll udate how the fuge is doing for pod growth in a few weeks.

 

[choss]

Like biz said, it'll be an expensive lesson. Wait it out. Add pods every month for six or so months. At the end of a year you may have enough to sustain one fish. Remember it's not going to be the only fish eating them. Most others eat them more aggressively than dragonets. If your fuge can't repopulate them quick enough...the population dies off and so does the dragonet.
You can try to get it on enriched brine shrimp or bloodworms, but I'd bet 9 of 10 tries end up in starved dead dragonets.

Some will eat frozen food - before you buy one see if it eats at the LFS. But I agree with Biz and Reduck - wait at least a year. In my old tank it was crawling with pods at night. I had a mandarin with a yellow tang and one clown fish in a larger tank with lots of rock. Even then, the mandarin eventually disapperaed but I had him for at leat a year. Its a tough fish to keep.