Fusion 40 or 30L for complete beginner

[Bodasifa]

I am brand new to marine aquariums and was looking at buying either a Fusion 40 or 30L. Is one better over the other for a complete beginner. I am leaning towards the 40 as it will have a greater front to back depth where i could keep my LR towards the rear and have more open space up front . I have done so much reading on keeping a salt water tank my brain is staring to hurt. any recommendations for a complete beginner is appreciated

[Trigger Man]

I always go as big as I can, I find the larger the more stable I can keep it, and it opens up more stocking options in the future.

[Bodasifa]

well after going out to King Ed Pets and seeing the 30L in person i think that is the way i am going to go now. Looks so much nicer with a longer tank. Now to decide on lighting

[bleevin]

How much were they asking for the 30L?

[Bodasifa]

$399.00 , but i'm sure they will go a little lower. He wants to get rid of them. They currently have 5 in stock as of today

[gobytron]

I have noticed that their display at the front of the store has gradually gone from having sps, to lps, to now where there is just a few softies and some duncans...

So that light is really not cutting it for any corals.

I was interested in the 20 myself but felt that the light needed to be at least decent for the value to be there so i was popping in here and there to gauge the progress.

Ron has been adamant that it is just because he wanted to redo it a couple of times and had nothing to do with the light but I'm fairly sure the light just can't support much.

You can get an RSM130d with lots of goodies for around 400 bucks used....maybe even less (I paid 200 recently for a fully stocked one with live rock and a reek keeper lite, fish and coral).

[bleevin]

I've came across this post that kinda scared me off these tanks. There seems to be cases of bowing in the false wall and the front pane.

Forum Post (http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/350258-innovative-marine-micro-fusion-30l-review-owners-please-read-this/)

[daelie]

I have a 30l and its very solidly built, I've had it up and running for months with no bowing or any issues at all. One bad review is just that. People tend to over exaggerate their bad experiences like some sort of witch hunt.

The tank is very sleek and the only bad thing about them is the media baskets aren't amazing, so most people replace them with ones from intank.

There are plenty of build threads on nano reef in the all in one section for that exact tank.

[gobytron]

He's not the only one...

There definitely seems to be some qc issues with im.

You might have just got lucky or others unlucky.

[daelie]

The only one I could find for that specific tank was that guy. Can u link a couple of the others u found?

[bleevin]

I've read a couple of anecdotal reports of bowing. The OP of the bad review posted it in another forum and there were comments from other owners.

But it does seem that there are more good reviews of Innovative Marine tanks then bad.

[gobytron]

I've read a couple of anecdotal reports of bowing. The OP of the bad review posted it in another forum and there were comments from other owners.

But it does seem that there are more good reviews of Innovative Marine tanks then bad.

Lots of reports of cracked aquariums as well.


I think you have to keep in mind that this is priced as a value product.

[daelie]

Cracked aquariums aren't a problem in the new fusion series. The old series with curved edges were the ones cracking

[Bodasifa]

i have nothing but good to say about this tank. The guys at King Ed we very helpful. The build quality on this tank is fantastic.. Easy solution to the bowing of the rear compartment... just add a small brace between the acrylic wall and back glass

[kyl]

Hi all, fairly new to Canreef. It’s great having a forum for our country from a newbie point of view, as I'm finding the border seems to limit realistic availability of a lot of products. I'm also planning to set up an IM 30L later this fall, but I've been stuck on how to go about lighting this tank without breaking the bank. It appears the OP ended up selling his tank before getting a lighting setup, so hopefully this is the right place to ask.

Given the length involved, the fact I want to go LED and some family member advice, it looks like a single fixture solution isn’t realistic for this setup. I've been reading up on what’s readily available in Canada, and it looks like for my budget (~ $500), aesthetics and availability that a pair of Kessil A160WE’s seems like a reasonable way to go. I know lighting requirements can vary pretty wildly given the coral types you’re after, SPS / LPS and such, but can I correctly assume that I should have no general problems in the future with anything I would want to grow with two of these driving the tank given it’s pretty shallow?

The other question is as someone just starting out, I don’t want to get in over my head. This means the tank will start out pretty basic, so no controller. In the future if I want to drive these lights with something that can run cycles or patterns, would they support such a function as-is, or is buying them locking myself into a ‘dumb’ light so to speak?

Thanks.

[shiftline]

For cheap lighting do a 3' China fixtures. Used to have one on my 30l
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/11/8273a9045865d0a93c93ee7a5b758a9c.jpg