Owners Thread: Innovative Marine Fusion 40

[bizacon]

Their customer service is amazing. They sent me out a new pump after mine was faulty.

Turn off pump and went it turns back on, flip the pump upside down in ato get the bubbles out. Shake it a little too

Well, so far I'm not too happy with my Tunze ATO..
Its about 2 weeks old and it already has failed.

I noticed a good amount of micro-bubbles in my tank, which only usually happens when water level in back gets too low, so I go and check it and lo and behold the water level is half way down the back.

Check the outlet and everything to make sure ATO is on and plugged in and still no water. I check the float switch, it moves freely and works. So I try power cycling it, turns off then on and pump runs for about half a second then turns off. If i raise float switch and power cycle it, it wont turn the pump on until I drop float switch again, but again it will only run it for half a second or so.

And of course I cant exchange it for a new one since I purchased it April 1st and it is now May 2nd..

 

[bizacon]

Nice! You are going to have your hands full with the strawberry coral and clam!

Email tunze support. Or use the vendor forum. They'll hook you up. Sounds like a bad pump bearing. I always recommend having a spare around. Main pump, heater and ato pump. We can live without a spare ato pump, but the main or heater..nope...I just hate mto's so I keep one.


Went to visit Mark, last eve, with the mrs. Came home with a Harliquin, a strawberry coral, and I'll go back today to get my new clam.
Wanted to do a water test first..pics later..

 

[Reduck]

Nice! You are going to have your hands full with the strawberry coral and clam!

They are both filter feeders so it shouldn't be that big a deal. Glad I'm dosing though. Clam will be eating it up....gonna go get him now...pics later!

 

[Mrs Fish]

I keep reading differing information on when to start running the skimmer. Some folks say do it from the start ... others wait a while. It's not been turned on yet. My 40 has been up and running for 1 week with 37lb LS and 24lb LR ... Ammonia = 0, Nitrates = 0, Nitrites = 0, PH = 8.2, Salinity normal, temp 79. I have a pair of clown fish and 2 nassarius snails (1 died) ... I had also added 3 astrea (?) snails ... but they didn't make it. (Not sure why)

Just running filter floss in the caddy's.

Sue

 

[mystikal]

I keep reading differing information on when to start running the skimmer. Some folks say do it from the start ... others wait a while. It's not been turned on yet. My 40 has been up and running for 1 week with 37lb LS and 24lb LR ... Ammonia = 0, Nitrates = 0, Nitrites = 0, PH = 8.2, Salinity normal, temp 79. I have a pair of clown fish and 2 nassarius snails (1 died) ... I had also added 3 astrea (?) snails ... but they didn't make it. (Not sure why)

Just running filter floss in the caddy's.

Sue

I had mine running not 24/7, because I was dosing with Macrobac and the instructions said to turn off skimming and lights for 4 hours. So it was running about 12-16 hrs a day. So far it worked out great

 

[Reduck]

I keep reading differing information on when to start running the skimmer. Some folks say do it from the start ... others wait a while. It's not been turned on yet. My 40 has been up and running for 1 week with 37lb LS and 24lb LR ... Ammonia = 0, Nitrates = 0, Nitrites = 0, PH = 8.2, Salinity normal, temp 79. I have a pair of clown fish and 2 nassarius snails (1 died) ... I had also added 3 astrea (?) snails ... but they didn't make it. (Not sure why)

Just running filter floss in the caddy's.

Sue

If you have fish and you are feeding, leave it on. If you were doing a fish less cycle, you wouldn't really need it for the first couple weeks. Test your water every other day now. You should see a nitrate spike and an ammonia spike. Be prepared for at least a 10-15g water change when it happens.

 

[Reduck]

Before the clam came home..Harry the harliquin is hiding but the blennie isn't camera shy today...clam is acclimating now...

 

[bizacon]

Looking good. I have heard that strawberry corals can be hard to keep...looking forward to hearing about it.

Nothing new for me. Just trying to find a nice snowflake clown and a metallic green hammer coral. Let me know if ultimate has any good looking hammers.

Before the clam came home..Harry the harliquin is hiding but the blennie isn't camera shy today...clam is acclimating now...

 

[Reduck]

Looking good. I have heard that strawberry corals can be hard to keep...looking forward to hearing about it.

Nothing new for me. Just trying to find a nice snowflake clown and a metallic green hammer coral. Let me know if ultimate has any good looking hammers.

Email Mark. I don't recall any hammers last night or today..I was busy keeping the Mrs from buying everything she saw...... Last time I was there a couple weeks ago, he had a couple diff colors, but if you are looking for something specific, ask him to get it for you. He's good that way and he gets 2-3 shipments a week. He has some insane scolys now and some real nice acropora. I'm starting to think next coral will be acropora...

So far the strawberry is ok. Occasionally it gets ED and slouches...LOL.
It was almost at full attention when I took the pic earlier..

The clam is in the tank. I'll get pics tomorow when he lights are up. Trying to let him settle in...

 

[mystikal]

After speaking with a LFS, "Living Reef" they tested my Calcium level and I was at 430. Which they said was great. However, guess who's getting a Diatom bloom
They said that it is normal for new tanks. I was thinking about adding a Hector Goby to help eat some of that algae on the sand. Since my crabs and snails aren't doing much
Thoughts?

 

[jguinn]

FWIW I also have the HOB 1 and the way I have it setup is the intake draws from chamber 5 and I have the output in the center chamber this way the same water isn't recirculated

Can you give me some advice on how you determined the right height of the collection cup? I seem to be alternating between two different situations: either zero skimmate rising to the top and down into the cup, or so much that it floods the cup within like five seconds. Last night when I went to bed the top of the bubbles were probably 3/4" below the top of the cone. This morning when I woke up and looked at the tank, the collection cup was full of water and draining out the overflow elbow. Obviously the height didn't change. And I have nothing being dosed or added that might increase the microbubbles. Right now I have nothing but rock, sand, water, and salt in the tank. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong or how to get this thing dialed in. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[bklynreefer]

Can you give me some advice on how you determined the right height of the collection cup? I seem to be alternating between two different situations: either zero skimmate rising to the top and down into the cup, or so much that it floods the cup within like five seconds. Last night when I went to bed the top of the bubbles were probably 3/4" below the top of the cone. This morning when I woke up and looked at the tank, the collection cup was full of water and draining out the overflow elbow. Obviously the height didn't change. And I have nothing being dosed or added that might increase the microbubbles. Right now I have nothing but rock, sand, water, and salt in the tank. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong or how to get this thing dialed in. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Hey so since you dont have any livestock there prob isn't much organic matter in the water for the skimmer to skim. I started out with the cup allllll the way up as high as you can get it. just leave it that way and as you add livestock you'll start to skim then you can adjust it little by little until you get the consistency you like

 

[Reduck]

After speaking with a LFS, "Living Reef" they tested my Calcium level and I was at 430. Which they said was great. However, guess who's getting a Diatom bloom
They said that it is normal for new tanks. I was thinking about adding a Hector Goby to help eat some of that algae on the sand. Since my crabs and snails aren't doing much
Thoughts?

Two best for that are diamond watchman for diatoms, and lawnmower blennie for gha..pick one or the other since I believe they can't coexist..good luck!

 

[BWSR]

How does everyone have their powerhead(s) configured? Does anyone have just one? I feel like my RW-8 is too powerful unless it's on 1-2, and that I should get a second pump on the other side of the tank to point at the RW-8's stream to create some chaos.

 

[Reduck]

How does everyone have their powerhead(s) configured? Does anyone have just one? I feel like my RW-8 is too powerful unless it's on 1-2, and that I should get a second pump on the other side of the tank to point at the RW-8's stream to create some chaos.

One worked for me for a while. When I added a second its when it got interesting.

You have to work out where to place the pumps to get the best circ for your rockwork. What works in my tank may not work in your tank.

I found that one on each side offset front to back worked best for me. I have MP's so I can also program them to run in sync or anti sync. So far, anti sync has worked best for me..

 

[jguinn]

Hey so since you dont have any livestock there prob isn't much organic matter in the water for the skimmer to skim. I started out with the cup allllll the way up as high as you can get it. just leave it that way and as you add livestock you'll start to skim then you can adjust it little by little until you get the consistency you like

Makes sense. Thanks for the help. I am getting dangerously close to adding some livestock. The Dr. Tim's I ordered should be here tomorrow, so I'll go through his fishless cycle protocol and see what happens.

I'm pretty sure that my best bet is going to be ordering fish & coral. I have two LFS' within reasonable distance and neither are all that impressive. Another is almost two hours away and is a definite step up but I still wasn't impressed enough to really justify the drive. I'm thinking I'll probably place an order with Vivid Aquariums unless you guys object or feel strongly otherwise.

 

[Reduck]

Makes sense. Thanks for the help. I am getting dangerously close to adding some livestock. The Dr. Tim's I ordered should be here tomorrow, so I'll go through his fishless cycle protocol and see what happens.

I'm pretty sure that my best bet is going to be ordering fish & coral. I have two LFS' within reasonable distance and neither are all that impressive. Another is almost two hours away and is a definite step up but I still wasn't impressed enough to really justify the drive. I'm thinking I'll probably place an order with Vivid Aquariums unless you guys object or feel strongly otherwise.

Personally, I'd wait until you are a good couple weeks into their protocol...then test, test, wc, then test again just to make sure 0 ammonia and 0 nitrates are present. Also get your salinity dead on, then test the salinity of the water the fish is shipped in. If it's overnight shipping that water will have ammonia galore, so aclimate and get em in...no more than a 30 minute drip.
Good luck!

 

[jguinn]

Personally, I'd wait until you are a good couple weeks into their protocol...then test, test, wc, then test again just to make sure 0 ammonia and 0 nitrates are present. Also get your salinity dead on, then test the salinity of the water the fish is shipped in. If it's overnight shipping that water will have ammonia galore, so aclimate and get em in...no more than a 30 minute drip.
Good luck!

Ahh... good point about the ammonia. Thanks for mentioning that. Do you do anything really sophisticated for drip acclimation (like the AccliMate) or just a good old-fashioned bit of tubing for a siphon flowing at a reasonable rate?

I'm going to have to re-think my water change strategy a bit. I added that DI stage to our existing under-sink RO filter but it's taking FOREVER to make water. I checked our pressure-reducing valve and it's open all the way. I think we're about as far from the closest municipal booster pump as it gets. I added one of those brine-powered permeate pumps and it helped a little but I think I need a DC-powered booster pump to really see a significant difference. My only electrical under the sink is switched (for the garbage disposal) and the 32-gallon Brute in the kitchen for the past three days has not gained a very high Wife Acceptance Factor. So I'm thinking about just adding a dedicated RODI system with a powered booster pump in the garage and carting in the Brute when it's time for a water change.

 

[bizacon]

I use the innovative marine one...found it cheap on amazon. You could just get a bit of tubing as well, tie a knot and loosen it depending on how much drip you want going on.

Ahh... good point about the ammonia. Thanks for mentioning that. Do you do anything really sophisticated for drip acclimation (like the AccliMate) or just a good old-fashioned bit of tubing for a siphon flowing at a reasonable rate?

I'm going to have to re-think my water change strategy a bit. I added that DI stage to our existing under-sink RO filter but it's taking FOREVER to make water. I checked our pressure-reducing valve and it's open all the way. I think we're about as far from the closest municipal booster pump as it gets. I added one of those brine-powered permeate pumps and it helped a little but I think I need a DC-powered booster pump to really see a significant difference. My only electrical under the sink is switched (for the garbage disposal) and the 32-gallon Brute in the kitchen for the past three days has not gained a very high Wife Acceptance Factor. So I'm thinking about just adding a dedicated RODI system with a powered booster pump in the garage and carting in the Brute when it's time for a water change.

 

[Reduck]

Ahh... good point about the ammonia. Thanks for mentioning that. Do you do anything really sophisticated for drip acclimation (like the AccliMate) or just a good old-fashioned bit of tubing for a siphon flowing at a reasonable rate?

I'm going to have to re-think my water change strategy a bit. I added that DI stage to our existing under-sink RO filter but it's taking FOREVER to make water. I checked our pressure-reducing valve and it's open all the way. I think we're about as far from the closest municipal booster pump as it gets. I added one of those brine-powered permeate pumps and it helped a little but I think I need a DC-powered booster pump to really see a significant difference. My only electrical under the sink is switched (for the garbage disposal) and the 32-gallon Brute in the kitchen for the past three days has not gained a very high Wife Acceptance Factor. So I'm thinking about just adding a dedicated RODI system with a powered booster pump in the garage and carting in the Brute when it's time for a water change.

I do old school, tubing with a knot..sometimes I use a glass of tank water and pour a shot into the bag every couple of minutes.

As for your rodi dilemma, I feel your pain. We have a well and our water pressure is pretty good. Depends a lot on your rodi system and the water pressure to make a good volume. If its real slow you may have clogged filters. A good unit makes a world of difference. I went from a 75GPD to a 120 and the 120 really puts out. I used to have to set aside an entire day with the 75gpd unit just to make 20G! Now I make 40G every three weeks in a few hours.