Albert's Fusion 10 Nano

albert_dao · #1 12-20-2014, 10:02 PM

So I remembered reading about Innovative Marine's Fusion series on RB earlier this year and had been eagerly anticipating their arrival since. I had previous, favorable experience with their Nuvo 16, having set up a small tank for my friend's (now ex) girlfriend and felt that this would be a substantial upgrade to the AIO tank market. Anyway, I'm a builder, not a writer, so without further ado, here is the story (thus far) in pictures and links:

First off, here's the original article that got me going - http://reefbuilders.com/2014/07/28/i...10-20-gallons/

Then they sweetened the deal by throwing in the light:

http://reefbuilders.com/2014/10/07/f...vative-marine/

Here's the actual product detail on IM's website:

http://innovative-marine.com/nuvo-aq...fusion10.html#

Just this past month, they became available at the wholesaler, so I picked one up. No unpacking pics, but it's a tank... So it wasn't very eventful.

Some of my observations:

• The media tray came with three foam blocks. A regular one, a carbon impregnated one and a green one which I didn't bother to read up on. Into the junk tub they went (we all have one, don't we? Full of old powerheads, busted heaters and chunks of tubing too short to be of any practical value, but I digress). I replaced this with some cycled Hydroton media from one of the display tanks.

• The light (http://reefbuilders.com/2014/10/06/i...kye-led-light/) seemed of reasonable build quality and output for the price of the unit but lacked an on-off switch. Clearly, they expected it to be connected to a timer.

• The screen top was a nice touch. The screen itself was a bit opaque, so I replaced it with some finer, more translucent netting to improve clarity.

• Glass quality was very nice for the price point. Polished edges, trimmed and even black silicone. 10/10 all things considered.

• Footprint was a little awkward, being biased towards the front/back dimensions to accommodate for the subtank section. This is fine with me. It's still very 'cubey'.

• The acrylic bracket for mounting the light was a little hokey. I busted it by overtightening the plastic thumb bolts. Nothing a little Weldon couldn't fix, but it was an annoyance nonetheless. Still, properly installed, I have little more to complain about.

• The return pump and overall operation of the system was surprisingly quiet.

IMHO, the entire package packed a ton of value into an alarmingly affordable price. This system blows the Oceanic Biocube and JBJ Nano-Cube, etc out of the water in terms of quality-of-life touches. The fact that it isn't sporting any of that cheesy crap plastic molding is a big plus when considering it alongside home decor.

With the aquarium unpackaged, my next step was to deal with the aquascaping. A few of you may be familiar with my work and know that I am a bit particular when it comes to rock structures. I don't like stacking rocks and I don't like using liverock. Here's what I came up with:

Front

Back

Side

Side 2

Top View

Overall, I was happy with the shape and structure of the rockwork. I went on to glue a few hardy corals to the structure while the concrete was curing (Zoas, Palys, some soft corals and a photosynthetic Gorgonian).

With this step completed, my next step was to fill the tank with some freshly mixed saltwater and seeded filter substrate (Hydroton). I also added a small Koralia powerhead.

Here's the tank with the first structure in place:

It felt a little flat, so I deliberated over that for a bit. 24 hours later, after I felt that the water seemed stable enough, I resolved this agenda by unloading the contents of my 3.5 gallon home display into the tank:

I also threw in a couple of fish, a Swalesi Basslet and a Royal Gramma. Debating on what my next livestock choices are going to be.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll update this post with more pictures soon