20 gallon Nuvo Black SPS/LPS Nano

[Reeffairy]

This is the thread for my new 20 gallon SPS/LPS reef. It is an upgrade of my 7.5 gallon SPS/LPS borderline pico/nano found here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/7-5-gallon-bow-front-sps-lps.309229/
As you can see it is fairly crowded...



The first thing I will do in this thread is document the upgrade/transfer process. I have been considering upgrading for some time due to increasingly scarce real estate in the tank. The first problem I ran into was finding a tank as beautifully designed as my Mr. Aqua 7.5 gallon bow front. Seriously, there are a lot of ugly tanks out there. The next thing to consider was choosing a light that would provide for the needs of my corals, several of which include acropora and montipora species. After much deliberation and months of research, finally settled on the IM Nuvo Black 20 gallon, and the AI Prime HD. I ordered them last week, and they are scheduled for delivery tomorrow. I have also ordered 10 lbs of dry reefsaver rock which will arrive on Tuesday. I have a larger spare HOB power filter that I will use. The HOB refugium, Jebao powerhead, and Smart ATO micro will remain the same.

In preparing for the upgrade, I have redone some placement. I consolidated some frags on rubble rocks, and glued down any loose frags to either rock or rubble. My plan is to do a quick swap in one evening. I will drain the majority of the water into a spare aquarium I have on hand. I will then place all of my rock and corals into the holding aquarium while I vacuum/rinse the sand bed well. I will place the fish/shrimp into a separate container. I will remove all of the sand and use it all in the new tank along with a bag of dry sand I have. I am going to try both the Prime HD and Maxspect Celestial together on this tank at least at first. The Prime should be more than powerful enough for the tank alone, but as with all LED pendants, there will be shadowing, which is not great for SPS. I hope that the lights will blend well and play together nicely.

Finally, with a larger tank, I will need some new livestock to provide proper nutrients to the corals. This has been a struggle in my 7.5 gallon, even with 2 pink skunk clowns, 2 shrimp, and a yellow watchman goby due to the filtration methods I have been using. Please vote in the poll below and I will purchase the winning contestant as the first addition!

 

[Tahoe61]

Congrats on your upgrade. I really, really like my IM 20, it's so easy to work in. The tank has really nice lines too, very sleek. Upgrading the return pump is a definitely an advantage if you're going to go sps.

 

[Reeffairy]

Congrats on your upgrade. I really, really like my IM 20, it's so easy to work in. The tank has really nice lines too, very sleek. Upgrading the return pump is a definitely an advantage if you're going to go sps.

Thanks for visiting! Regarding the tank, I am going with a Nuvo Black, not the AIO. I think the drawbacks associate with an AIO (less space and more difficult to clean just don't match with my goals. I will, however, be upgrading my power filter to the Large Aqueon for more capacity and more flow.

 

[Reeffairy]

Prep Work

I am gearing up for the upgrade tentatively planned for tomorrow night. It may be a blessing in disguise that UPS is backed up due to the holidays. This gave me a chance to get organized. I have been mixing sea water (with Red Sea Coral Pro, my new favorite), cleaning equipment, and getting all my supplies laid out. I downloaded the ebook on upgrading/moving a tank by Mr. Saltwater Tank. I highly recommend the book. While it gave numerous tips, the major one I am integrating into this upgrade is using new sand. Mr. Saltwater Tank discusses the drawbacks associated with reusing sand in the book (detritus, mini-cycle, etc.). I do not want to take any risks with my precious corals and fish! This go 'round, I am using CaribSea Fiji Pink. For the previous incarnation, I used the CaribSea Caribbean type. I look forward to seeing the difference, and I think my goby/pistol pair will be very happy with their new litter.

The 15 gallon column pictured previously held a freshwater planted display, but it has just been empty for a couple of months. I will be using it as my livestock holding tank during the swap. I am currently in the process of brainstorming/planning a deepwater display utilizing this tank, though the idea is only in its infancy.

If you enjoy this thread, please drop a like or a comment. I very much enjoy feedback from the community. And remember to vote in the poll for what critter I should add first! It's a tie between chalk bass and cleaner shrimp so far.

 

[Reeffairy]

Everything arrived on Tuesday including my 20 gallon Nuvo Black, AI Prime HD, and tank mount from Marine Depot, and 10 lbs of dry reef saver rock from BRS.

I got to work. It took several hours to drain the old tank, fill the new tank, and set up equipment, longer than I had expected, though Mr. Saltwater Tank discusses this in his ebook mentioned above. I set up my AI Prime HD, and scheduled the Maxspect Celestial to a similar schedule. The water was cloudy, but cleared quickly overnight.



Two days later, you can hardly tell the tank went through such an upset. The corals are mostly extending their polyps. I am still working on tuning in the Jebao SW-4. Currently I have it on random flow pattern at 80%. The tank is stunning!



The poll is still open to choose what critter I put in the tank first. Please vote and follow this thread!

 

[Devaji]

nice how do you like your nuvo 20 black? thinking about picking one up....

 

[Reeffairy]

nice how do you like your nuvo 20 black? thinking about picking one up....

It is absolutely beautiful.

 

[Reeffairy]

Some recent frag purchases:

Gatorades

Blueberries

Hulk Leptoseris

Pink Chalice

Birdsnest

Maze Favia

 

[Reeffairy]

And a FTS:

 

[Reeffairy]

Minor disaster: I went on vacation to the mountains between Christmas and New Year's Day. I thought I had everything ready. Prior to the vacation, I bought a Jebao dosing pump to keep up with the ravenous consumption of Alk, Cal, and Mag by all my stony corals. I dialed it in for more than a week prior to leaving, ensuring that the doses keep everything stable. I currently dose Brightwell Alk 8.3, Calcion, and Magnesion. I had a fellow reefer friend check in on my tanks halfway through the vacation and feed my fish.

When she dropped in, everything was fine, with the exception of her noticing that my 20 gallon seemed "a little cool," even though the thermometer read 76 degrees. She was right. When I got home 3 days later, the temperature of my tanks had dropped roughly 10 degrees to 66 Fahrenheit. Some of my corals were angry to say the least. Two acros had bleached, the montis were dull, my bubble and torch were totally sucked in. Surprisingly, most of my corals were fine. I had turned off the heat in my house prior to the vacation because the weather was nice and forgotten to turn it back on. The tank heaters failed to keep up with the drop (it was 58 degrees in my place).

I've lost the torch and at least one acro. Some others are very dull in color, but surprisingly everything made it. I calculate that the temperature drop occurred over the course of 2 days. It seems like the temp drop and slowing of coral growth threw my parameters off. My alk was at 10 (I usually keep it between 8 and 9, my cal was more than 500! I have since been tweaking the dosing pump to slowly lower both. I also slowly raised the temperature, and just today it hit 76 degrees.

So, I bought a wifi reef cam for my precious stony coral tank so that I can check in on it when I am away. It is a foscam, and it does a pretty good job:



I went to a local coral dealer who sells corals out of his home and bought two acros to replace my corals if they don't come back. I got a milli, and what looks like some sort of tort. The pictures don't do them justice.

Needless to say, I learned a lesson as usual when I go on vacation!!!

 

[samnaz]

Where did you purchase the wifi reef cam? That's a fantastic idea for future vacations....

 

[Reeffairy]

Where did you purchase the wifi reef cam? That's a fantastic idea for future vacations....

It is a Foscam. I got it for around $50 on Amazon.