Ark's IM Nuvo 25 Lagoon

[Arkaeus]

Hello everyone! I’ve been out of the hobby for almost 12 years. My last tank was a 120 gallon rimless with softies and LPS. This is my first nano, and I’m open to advice from anyone with more nano experience. If you’d steer me toward different equipment than what I have planned below, please say so. Some things have changed since I left and some haven’t. Getting back into learning "the way of the reef" has been fun. Startup may be slow, with the holidays coming up.

Started: (Not running yet)

Tank Direction: Softies and LPS w Anemone Bonded Clowns

Tank: IM Fusion 25 AIO Lagoon

Stand: DIY plywood/pine stand, painted white

Return pumps: Dual IM Stock 130 GPH DC return pumps

Filtration: Dual 200 micron filter sock

Lighting: 1x AquaIllumination Prime 16HD

Light schedule:
Blackout for the first week
2nd week lights low around .5watt per gallon for 4 hrs
4th week .5watt at 8hrs
5th week 1 watt per gallon at 8hrs
7th week 1 watt per gallon at 10hrs moving forward

I have been looking at a few AI 16HD light presets. I have not decided yet which one to use/modify out of:
Salty Pop w added whites
Lower settings Saxby 16hd 18gal
Pirates prime 16HD version 1
Pennywise Deadlights 41% 10hr

Water: RO/DI, with Instant Ocean Reef Crystals

Maintenance: Weekly 5 gallon water change, siphoning one section of the sand bed per water change


NOT YET PURCHASED BELOW

Light Mod: Luxdium Lense

Filtration: Plan to add a canister filter w live rock for extra beneficial bacteria maybe the IM Media Basket.

Sand: 20 lb. Special Grade Arag-Alive Reef Sand with 7lbs of Tampa Bay Ultra Live Sand

Flow: AI Nero 3 or IM Wavelink

Heater: Inkbird ITC-308 and 100w EHEIM Jager heater

ATO: Reef Breeder ATO or Osmolator 3 Nano

Controller:
Maybe one day, we will see. A Hydros? I am used to the Apex, some say they are not what they used to be.

Fish: Bonded pair of clownfish

Inverts / CUC: Cleaner Shrimp

 

[Arkaeus]

Stand Build 37" high

 

[Arkaeus]

My first question: which sand would you recommend? I assume if the grain is too small it will blow around everywhere. I was thinking about one of the two options below. Note, whichever sand i go with I plan to mix with 7lbs of the TBS live sand.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/20-lb-special-grade-arag-alive-reef-sand.html
or
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/original-grade-ocean-direct-live-reef-sand.html

 

[Fish Fan]

That's a great build! I like woodworking, and I love what you did with the stand!

Sand size is both preference, and what corals you hope to keep (and the flow you need to maintain for them). If you're keeping very (very!) low flow corals, you can use very fine Oolite sand. If you're keeping high flow SPS corals, you may want to go bare bottom with no sand to blow around at all.

The Caribbsea 'Special Grade' is a decent sand for moderate flow systems. The 'Ocean Grade' supposedly has more microbiology, but your addition of 7 pounds of real TBS live sand far trumps that, so I wouldn't even consider the Ocean Grade's extra *biology* in your decision.

Chose what sand looks best to you, and and holds up under the flow you hope to have. The Caribbsea website has details on the grain size of all their sands:
https://caribsea.com/marine-substrates/

Good luck!

 

[Tahoe61]

I prefer the Aragonite.
Great job on the stand, and no one makes a stand for the IM 25.
The stock return pumps are meh at best, upgrade those when able.

Welcome back to the hobby.

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome back, in my upgrade at the beginning of the year I went all TBS live sand and am very happy with it.

 

[Nixperience]

Welcome back. That was my favorite tank I had. Great job on the stand! I have special grade now and it doesn’t blow around, but I used have Fiji pink and I liked the look of that better. I’m actually considering getting a small bag of Fiji pink and mixing some in.