Doh_nutz’ IM Fusion Pro AIO 50 Lagoon Build

doh_nutz · Jan 27, 2021

Greetings everyone! After getting out of the hobby exactly 9 years ago due to being deployed a couple times and multiple in and out times to sea. I wasn’t equipped to maintain my tank and the significant other wasn’t the least bit into the idea of maintaining it for me. In short, I parted my 120 gallon out. Now that I’m no longer deploying and nearing the end of my active duty military career. The itch has come back full swing. This time around, I wanted something smaller. Of course, larger systems has its perks with more livestock options. However, the idea of have a manageable sized system that is a little more equipped with tech to be a little more convenient sounds more appealing.

Which leads to this new chapter for me. I’ve lurked quite a bit and like many others. I’d like to attempt to document the process as much as I can. I started to order pieces here and there. The main piece being the Innovative Marine Fusion AIO 50 Lagoon. Which isn’t expected to ship until mid-March. The plus side to that is, I have quite a bit of time to research lighting, flow, controllers/monitors, etc. The one thing that I’m not thrilled about after messing around with it a bit for the last hour and a half is AQUASCAPING! I’m so indecisive when it comes to aquascaping. There’s so many wonderful setups for inspiration but limited to space. Knowing this, I ordered two boxes of rock. One being 20 lbs of branch rocks and 20 lbs. of ‘shape’ rocks. All being manmade rocks of course. I’ve been messing with the branch rocks only since the other shape rocks haven’t arrived yet. I know for a fact I will only be using half of it at most. My goal is a LPS/soft tank. I like to see the flow and movement of the corals. Lastly, I will be going with a sand bed. Between Fuji Pink or Reef special grade. A sand bed just completes the look and feel to me. I’ve done bare bottom and rubble bottoms in the past already.

Equipment: (updated as of 11/8/21; items new since original post are in bold)

Innovative Marine Fusion 50 gal Lagoon w/ APS stand. ***est. mid-March delivery***
Return Pump: MightyJet 538gph DC pump w/ Controller (included) added two VCA RFGs
Heater: Cobalt Aquatics 200w Neo-Therm ~~w/ Inkbird WiFi thermo controller~~
Lighting: ~~(2) AI Prime 16HD~~ Neptune Sky with Ecotech RMS mounts
Flow: (1)Nero 5 and (2) Nero 3
ATO: XP Aqua Duetto
Controller: Apex EL w/ LDK, 2 optical sensors, AFS
BRS mini carbon reactor w/ Sicce 1.5 pump
Innovative Marine Aquashield 10 watt UV
Kamoer X1 Pro WiFi doser for All-for Reef
Icecap K1-50 skimmer. However, currently running a Tunze DC 9004 skimmer
Eshopps Bio-lux ceramic media for extra bio filtration

Prospective Equipment: (next up for order)

~~Controller: eKoral Lite controller has caught my interest. I know Neptune is the preferred choice but we'll see.~~
~~Skimmer – still researching~~

As I continue on with my equipment and eventually livestock. I’ll update the main post for ease of tracking, not only for you all, but for my own insanity purposes. I’ll upload some pictures of my aquascape renderings for you all to laugh and critique. That is one thing I would greatly appreciate and respect most of all, which are your critiques (good and bad) and suggestions. Thank you all in advanced!

jtlmnop · Jan 27, 2021

Off to a good start! I used Marco rock for my IM 50. I ordered a total of 50 lbs, including some foundation pieces. After hammer, chisel, and some super glue, I think I ended up with about 40lbs in the tank and a hand full of rubble in the back chamber. I struggled with the scape as well. But in the end, I’m happy with what came out of it. I focused on a few caves and swim throughs. Added some independent islands in the front for coral. Just keep playing with it. I’m sure you will have more fun once the shapes arrive. Should be good for arches and such. Good luck!

TheWB · Jan 27, 2021

Personally I like what you did with the scape there. For an ato I use the Tunze 3155 on my Lagoon 50 and it’s been great. So have my VCA random flow generators. Skimmers with this tank are another story. I’ve been through two and have a 3rd one on order hopefully arriving in the next week or so.
I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with your Lagoon 50. If you ever have any questions I’m happy to help if I can.

doh_nutz · Jan 28, 2021

TheWB said:
Personally I like what you did with the scape there. For an ato I use the Tunze 3155 on my Lagoon 50 and it’s been great. So have my VCA random flow generators. Skimmers with this tank are another story. I’ve been through two and have a 3rd one on order hopefully arriving in the next week or so.
I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with your Lagoon 50. If you ever have any questions I’m happy to help if I can.

I'll definitely look into the Tunze 3155 ATO. That's one piece of equipment that has a proven track record. For the skimmer, I've read through your thread and experiences of skimmers and feel like that's going to be an on going battle finding one that suites our tank and bioload. I know I won't have much or any fish for a long while as I don't want to make a mistake and just add fish by impulse like I've done in the past. I read that the CADlights PLS-50 was a decent skimmer but I'm not crazy about how much of an eye sore it looks, especially with the ****-cup building up. Which takes away from the beautiful design and clean look of the tank.

TheWB · Jan 28, 2021

You cannot go wrong with the Tunze 3155. It just works.
The Cadlights PLS50 is what I just ordered. I would have loved it if the IM Ghost skimmer had worked out better because of the low profile, it looks great. It just didn’t skim very well and trying to do maintenance on the pump seems impossible. What I love about the Cadlights is that it’s adjustable, it fits in the chamber better and the pump is exposed so it’s easy to access. The reviews I’ve seen are generally very good and I know someone with firsthand experience with one who gave it an endorsement. I think it might be the one for this tank but time will tell.

doh_nutz · Feb 2, 2021

TheWB said:
You cannot go wrong with the Tunze 3155. It just works.
The Cadlights PLS50 is what I just ordered. I would have loved it if the IM Ghost skimmer had worked out better because of the low profile, it looks great. It just didn’t skim very well and trying to do maintenance on the pump seems impossible. What I love about the Cadlights is that it’s adjustable, it fits in the chamber better and the pump is exposed so it’s easy to access. The reviews I’ve seen are generally very good and I know someone with firsthand experience with one who gave it an endorsement. I think it might be the one for this tank but time will tell.

Did you ever get the CADlights PLS-50 yet? If so, what are your first impressions?

TheWB · Feb 3, 2021

doh_nutz said:
Did you ever get the CADlights PLS-50 yet? If so, what are your first impressions?

It arrived today and the one they sent me looks like it was unpacked and very sloppily repacked. There is a lot of small pieces of styrofoam inside the skimmer body and there’s a broken piece of hard tubing in the box that I can’t tell where it came from. It doesn’t seem like it came off of the skimmer. The skimmer itself doesn’t seem to have been used but I emailed them and asked to swap it out for another one. This one just doesn’t feel right. A new piece of equipment should be properly packaged and this one looked terrible. I just don’t trust it. Maybe I’m overreacting but I paid for new and I want new, ya know?

doh_nutz · Feb 3, 2021

TheWB said:
It arrived today and the one they sent me looks like it was unpacked and very sloppily repacked. There is a lot of small pieces of styrofoam inside the skimmer body and there’s a broken piece of hard tubing in the box that I can’t tell where it came from. It doesn’t seem like it came off of the skimmer. The skimmer itself doesn’t seem to have been used but I emailed them and asked to swap it out for another one. This one just doesn’t feel right. A new piece of equipment should be properly packaged and this one looked terrible. I just don’t trust it. Maybe I’m overreacting but I paid for new and I want new, ya know?

That’sa dang shake and I completely feel ya and wanting what you bought. Especially, if it’s something new. When you contacted them, did they argue to send you a new one to swap it with?

TheWB · Feb 3, 2021

doh_nutz said:
That’sa dang shake and I completely feel ya and wanting what you bought. Especially, if it’s something new. When you contacted them, did they argue to send you a new one to swap it with?

They have not responded yet. I sent the email with pictures after business hours. I would hope they would get back to me quickly. We’ll see.

Phil D. · Feb 3, 2021

Hey Shipmate!!!!!! (Retired Navy myself), Welcome to R2R! I have a Red Sea E-260 and tried to set it up to remind me of my scuba dives in Guam, Saipan, Truk Lagoon and the P.I. Good luck on the build. I Retired out of 32nd St. and was living in Imperial Beach.

doh_nutz · Feb 3, 2021

Phil D. said:
Hey Shipmate!!!!!! (Retired Navy myself), Welcome to R2R! I have a Red Sea E-260 and tried to set it up to remind me of my scuba dives in Guam, Saipan, Truk Lagoon and the P.I. Good luck on the build. I Retired out of 32nd St. and was living in Imperial Beach.

Greetings!!! Haha. I’m currently at 32nd now for my last tour but I hang up the uniform as well.

doh_nutz · Feb 4, 2021

haha. This arrived yesterday in the mail. You think its still good?

Besides this little hiccup. I have just about everything I "need" and most of the "wants" ordered. Its just now a waiting game for the tank to arrive. However, boredom is starting to get the best of me and I'm passing time by looking into controllers systems. I'm quickly remembering what a rabbit hole this hobby is.

doh_nutz · Feb 10, 2021

A little update...

Of course, rockscape design revision 100th since the pictures posted in post #1. Decided to get a head start on cycling. Picked up two 40 gal storage bins from Home Depot. I started with one and saw how much it started to bulge. I doubled up on the bins for a piece of mind.

I'm going with Dr. Tim's One and Only method since I've never done it. I did listen through his MACNA 2019 lecture on YouTube. Seemed like he knows a thing or two, haha. I'm following his tips with SG of 1.015 and 85 degree temp for the initial start of the cycling. Once it hits 84-85 degrees, I'll pour the bacteria in.

For those wondering, I don't plan on using all the rock in the bin. Mainly the larger piece in there. The two small pieces are extras. In case I want to set up a desktop tank in my office too. There's also a bag of Siporax bio media too and 40lbs of CaribSea Special Grade reef sand. Figured I'd get that seeded in the cycling too.

Tradevg · Mar 29, 2021

I've been looking at the IM 50 as well but not sure about the lagoon. Did you build your own stand?

doh_nutz · Apr 9, 2021

Tradevg said:
I've been looking at the IM 50 as well but not sure about the lagoon. Did you build your own stand?

I did not build my own stand. I went with their APS stand in white. Assembly was super easy and quick. Didn't have any issues whatsoever and most importantly, the Wifey was pleased with it as it's set up right between the kitchen and living room. haha

doh_nutz · Apr 9, 2021

UPDATE... finally.

I received it on April 1st. After a dreadful 3.5 month wait. The tank was packaged very well and delivered onto my porch. I assembled the stand, leveled out without any shims and went straight into a leak test. I didn't really mess with my aqua scape other than picking up my rocks, which were only three pieces and transferred all 40 gals approx. of existing water from my cycled temporary setup during the wait for the tank. Which I referred to as "Section8", aka Home Depot yellow/black storage bin. I was a bit worried of transferring Section8 to the new 50gal lagoon and unintentionally causing a re-cycle cause I had to add approx. 7 gallons of fresh saltwater. Luckily, after a few days of monitoring and testing it twice a day... No re-cycle issues.

Everything has been stable and I haven't added any other additional livestock other than my clownfish pair and some snails and hermits. So far, no algae issues other than some diatoms on the sandbed that is to be expected. I've purposely tuned my Icecap K1 skimmer to skim fairly wet just to pull the majority of the free floating diatoms that I blow/brush away. Especially since I decided to install the skimmer in one of the overflows.

Enough of the boring and poorly written update. Here are some pictures.

TheWB · Apr 9, 2021

doh_nutz said:
UPDATE... finally.

I received it on April 1st. After a dreadful 3.5 month wait. The tank was packaged very well and delivered onto my porch. I assembled the stand, leveled out without any shims and went straight into a leak test. I didn't really mess with my aqua scape other than picking up my rocks, which were only three pieces and transferred all 40 gals approx. of existing water from my cycled temporary setup during the wait for the tank. Which I referred to as "Section8", aka Home Depot yellow/black storage bin. I was a bit worried of transferring Section8 to the new 50gal lagoon and unintentionally causing a re-cycle cause I had to add approx. 7 gallons of fresh saltwater. Luckily, after a few days of monitoring and testing it twice a day... No re-cycle issues.

Everything has been stable and I haven't added any other additional livestock other than my clownfish pair and some snails and hermits. So far, no algae issues other than some diatoms on the sandbed that is to be expected. I've purposely tuned my Icecap K1 skimmer to skim fairly wet just to pull the majority of the free floating diatoms that I blow/brush away. Especially since I decided to install the skimmer in one of the overflows.

Enough of the boring and poorly written update. Here are some pictures.

Everything looks great. Cycling the scape ahead of time was very smart, I wish I would have done that. That K-1 really stands up pretty tall in the overflow. I have a somewhat similar issue with my skimmer in chamber 2.

doh_nutz · Apr 9, 2021

TheWB said:
Everything looks great. Cycling the scape ahead of time was very smart, I wish I would have done that. That K-1 really stands up pretty tall in the overflow. I have a somewhat similar issue with my skimmer in chamber 2.

Thanks!
It does stand up pretty tall but that’s cause I’m using the hang on bracket. I’m playing around some ideas to make a base to let it sit on and not have to run the skimmer with the output so closed up. Either way I’m really happy with the skimmer.