Zen's Nuvo Fusion 40 Build

Zen685

Zen685

Member
After 2 years out of the hobby, it's time to start another tank. I had to break down my previous 120 gal reef due to a move and the only tank I've had since is a 1.5g nano. I kept the nano at work until recently when I decided to move it home to take better care of it. That little move sparked the bug again so here I am. The new tank is a considerable downgrade from the 120. I considered a larger tank but I just can't make myself do it unless I have a fish room and a way to do water changes without hauling buckets through the house.

Here's a link to the 120.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7145699@N06/7989603425/

The tank arrived last week. I was a little nervous after seeing the packaging from Marine Depot but the the Innovative Marine box inside was in good shape.



Here's the tank in place on the bar.


The equipment list is somewhat fluid right now. I'm open to suggestions. I'm extremely limited on space since I decided not to go with a stand. I'm not really concerned if my bar area looks like a science project but the real estate behind the tank is filling up quickly.

Tank: Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion 40
Skimmer: Tunze Comline DOC 9004
Light: Aqua Illumination Hydra 52 w/ AI Director
Heater: Recycled Ebo Jager from my 120.
Controller: Reefkeeper Elite

Dosing, top off and reactors are still TBD. I have BRS dosing pumps and reactors from the old tank but It's all pretty large for the small space. I may go with something smaller like the two little fishy's reactors.

I've got an aqualifter and the Digital Aquatics top off switches from the old tank as well but I haven't decided where to put a reservoir. It may have to sit in the sink.
 
My rock is leftovers from the 120. It was never cleaned after coming out of the old talk so it was in pretty bad shape. I power washed it and did a muratic acid bath.




It came out looking great.



Hair and bubble algae was a huge problem in the old tank and I always attributed it to the dry marco rock I used leaching phosphates. I read about all of the success with PhosFree (lanthanum chloride) so I decided to try it. I have to say I'm super impressed with this chemical. Phosphates tested very high after soaking the clean rock in RODI for a week. Several days later after several doses of PhosFree they read zero. I made sure to rinse the rocks off in fresh RODI before going in the tank. A milky precipitate washed off the rocks so I'm pretty sure the lanthanum chloride did its job.
 
I read a build thread where they put acrylic dowels in the bottom of their rock to keep it from sitting directly on the sand bed. I though it was a pretty good idea allowing for easier cleaning under the rocks so I decided to give it a shot.



 
Got the Hydra installed over the tank. No it's not off center by 1". That's just an illusion. :)




I'm loving this director. The control is amazing.

 
Nice setup so far. I recently got Fusion 40 as well. I have all the same equipment as you except the lighting. Out of my budget. lol

Any updates?

Just Subscribed to see the progress on the tank!
 
Thanks Mr2KiEu. I'd pretty much abandoned this thread but I'll keep it up to date if someone's following.

It's been really slow progress so far. I've been taking my time with the cycle and trying to get my water change process dialed in so I can keep things as stable as possible once I start adding coral. So far the only inhabitants are 2 blue chromis one polyp of candy cane from my old tank and tiny sliver of GSP tied to a the rock on the bottom right side of tank.

I'm battling cloudy water right now so I think my bacteria levels are still out of whack. I'm limiting feeding and trying to get things under control.



Here's a shot of the back of the tank. The Tunze 9004 is installed sideways since that's the only way it will fit. I have a float switch tied into the RKE for top off. The tubes on the left are my temporary GAC and GFO filters.



The MP10, RKE and one power strip are mounted next to the tank. I had to get creative to hide the top off and two part containers under the cabinet without drilling through the granite countertop. The solution was to make a tubing harness and route it down through the wine fridge opening and into the cabinet below. I still haven't tied everything up to get it out of sight but it should look ok when I'm done.





I had a moonlight controller for the RKE that wasn't used anymore so I hooked the moonlights up under the cabinet to illuminate the top off and 2 part containers. It's still a work in progress but it came out OK.

 
Looks great! I can't wait to add water to my Fusion. Are you using a ATO? I'm debating on getting the Tunze 3155 ATO. How's the evap on the tank?
 
An auto top off is a must with this tank. The center sump in the back is so narrow it will drop 2-3 inches a day due to evaporation. This causes the water to fall down onto the return pump and feed bubbles into the tank. I had planned to use my old setup of the RKE float switch and an aqualifter pump but I didn't realize the aqualifter will only pump 30" high. Right now I'm using two BRS 1.1 mL/min dosing pumps that are supposed to be for 2 part. The one pump will not keep up but 2 pumps can keep up. I'm going to pick up the 50 mL/min pump from BRS as soon as I have a need to dose significant amounts of 2 part.

I may have an extreme case of evaporation since one of my homes AC return vents is right above the tank area. There is quite a bit of air flow in the area which is a good thing in my opinion. Hopefully this tank won't have large nightly pH drops like my last two tanks.
 
I have to say how impressed I am with the Tunze 9004 skimmer. This little thing pulls out a ton of skimmate and it's pretty much bulletproof. Adjustment is really easy by just moving it up or down based on how wet you want the skimmate. I highly recommend.
 
Made a trip to the LFS yesterday to get started stocking the tank. If anyone is in the Fort Worth area you need to check out Fish2morrow in Haltom City. They have a super knowledgable staff and tons of coral at reasonable prices. I'll definitely be going back.

Long tentacled plate coral. I really want an RBTA but I know from experience it's impossible to keep them in one place. Just can't take the chance with a primarily SPS tank. Luckily I found this one. Hopefully I can get the black ocellaris I picked up to host in it.

<a href="http://s619.photobucket.com/user/Zen685/media/IMAG0210.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/Zen685/IMAG0210.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMAG0210.jpg"/></a>


I think this is an ORA Mind Trip Montipora. There were so many different corals in stock I couldn't remember the names. The mother colony in the main display tank was gorgeous.
<a href="http://s619.photobucket.com/user/Zen685/media/IMAG0211.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/Zen685/IMAG0211.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMAG0211.jpg"/></a>


Sunset Monti. One of my all time favorite corals.
<a href="http://s619.photobucket.com/user/Zen685/media/IMAG0212.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/Zen685/IMAG0212.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMAG0212.jpg"/></a>

Red monti. Not sure if it's a plating type or not. I had something similar in my old tank and I loved the growth patterns.

<a href="http://s619.photobucket.com/user/Zen685/media/IMAG0213.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/Zen685/IMAG0213.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMAG0213.jpg"/></a>
 
Thanks for the heads up on the ATO. I purchased a Tunze 3155 ATO. Can't wait to set everything up.

Your tank is looking good. The Sunset Monti is one of my favorites too.
 
Zen685 said:
My rock is leftovers from the 120. It was never cleaned after coming out of the old talk so it was in pretty bad shape. I power washed it and did a muratic acid bath.




It came out looking great.



Hair and bubble algae was a huge problem in the old tank and I always attributed it to the dry marco rock I used leaching phosphates. I read about all of the success with PhosFree (lanthanum chloride) so I decided to try it. I have to say I'm super impressed with this chemical. Phosphates tested very high after soaking the clean rock in RODI for a week. Several days later after several doses of PhosFree they read zero. I made sure to rinse the rocks off in fresh RODI before going in the tank. A milky precipitate washed off the rocks so I'm pretty sure the lanthanum chloride did its job.
Click to expand...

I'm about to set up a fusion 40 and was planning on using mostly old rock I had in a 75. The rock hasn't been used in 10+ years. Can you explain a bit about the muratic acid bath? I was planning on just doing a power wash and then letting my tank cycle a bit longer. Why the acid, how long did you soak it etc.
 
The acid eats away almost everything softer than the rock and even etches the outside surface of the rock.

It's pretty simple. Put your rocks in a container and add enough water to cover the rocks. Pour in the muratic acid and wait for the reaction to finish. It took about 30 minutes to complete and it doesn't matter if you leave the rocks in longer. I think I added 2 gallons of acid to a 30 gallon tote full of rocks and water.

Make sure you wear proper safety gear; plastic gloves, googles, etc. and do it in a well ventilated space. The reaction will make a lot of heat and fumes.
 
Sideways in the back right chamber with magnets on the right side of the tank. It's tight but it skims perfect.
 
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