Beginner IM Nuvo 20 Build

[JPCommenter]

Intro:
I've been researching the saltwater hobby for many years, and reading through all the R2R forums have been a major help and a great source of information. Growing up, I had 10, 29, 46, and 90 gallon tanks but all freshwater. College and rental situations took me out of the hobby for almost 15 yrs. I decided to take the plunge with a smaller AIO due to space constraints.

Equipment:
-IM Nuvo 20 AIO with APS stand
-Stock filtration that comes with the Nuvo AIO. Filter sock and Filter Caddy, haven't swapped out anything yet
-IM Helio 100w heater
-Hygger Mini Wave Maker
-Caribsea Life Rock (on sale at a local Petsmart)
-Fiji Pink sand (only thing available at my local LFS at the time)
-Noopsyche K7 pro III light
-Tunze 3155 ATO
-4 Stage BRS RODI

Cycle:
- Fritz Turbostart 900
- Dr Tims Ammonia
- API Quick Start for good measure

The tank began cycling on 1/31/23, and I just added livestock today (2/26/23):

Livestock:
1 GSP
1 Duncan
1 Neon Green Toadstool
1 Tailspot Blenny

As a beginner, I'm sure I will need a lot of help from this community. All input is welcome, even if it criticism. The photo is the scape before livestock was introduced. Lights are currently off for acclimation. I will try to update the thread on a regular basis.

 

[Stephen8169301]

Welcome to R2R great people here that help me constantly love the scape
Slow and steady

 

[JPCommenter]

48 hrs after adding livestock

- The Duncan keeps opening and closing every few hours, and seemed fully open at the earliest (dimmer light), so I adjusted the light to see if it made a difference.. but it stayed retracted on day 2. The GSP and Toadstool seem to be doing fine with the lighting and flow. I've kept the Hygger mini off from the beginning, because the coral seemed to be getting enough flow based on observation.

-Tailspot has been very reclusive, came out of its home a bit last night (~30 hours since introduction), especially when I had the flow off. Tried feeding pellets but as soon as I got close to the tank it scurried back to its home. I dont have any algae since it's a new tank, so I put a small strip of Two Little Fishies near his hideout today (day 2). It moved around a bit today and spit the sand all over the place, burying the Nori. Lol I guess I'm glad that it is moving around, but I haven't seen it eat yet.

 

[JPCommenter]

Day 6 since adding livestock to the tank. Tailspot is swimming around in open spaces way more often. It's nibbled on some freeze-dried mysis, and picking at rocks. But I do not have much algae in the tank, and wasn't interested in the Nori.. the big issue at this point is the corals... the Toadstool and GSP have been doing well, but the Duncan has been halfway opened, so after 6 days I moved it down to the sandbed today. It wasn't even near my Toadstool, yet the Toadstool is now closed. Pics below show the toadstool retracted and where I relocated the Duncan on the bottom right sandbed.

Salifert for testing.

PH: 8
Phos: 0
Calc: 415
Alk: 7.7
Nitrate: 25
Mag: 1425
Salinity: 1.026

the biggest change has been magnesium going from 1250 to 1425 in the past week. Could that be driving the coral instability?

 

[Gregpetro]

I'm also running a 20 IM welcome to the club. I have had mine for 3 years now. There solid tanks. I just did a fresh start on mine 6 months agao after a tank crash while I was on vacation . I would replace the filter sock with an intank caddy the socks get to be a bit expensive as the IM socks don't seem to ever wash well and never really get clean. Also if you end up running a refugium pm me it took we a while to get mine to work in the back there's a few mods you need to do.

First question what salt do you use? I use tropic marin pro and have allways had high magnisum I'm not sure why but it's never been a problem. I'm currently at 1550 and my inverts are doing just fine. So are my corals in my qt system and that tank water is comes right from my main tank.

The only issue I see is that your phosphate is at 0 amd your nitrate is at 25. I would and this is a very debated topic drop thoes nitrates a little and bring up the phos a little. One thing I HATE about Dr tims ammonia is if you follow the directions when you finish your cycle your nitrates are sky high. I think mine were 50ppm.

 

[Gregpetro]

Also I have a tailspot. He won't eat nori or algi pellets. He does eat blood worms like crazy tho. I have some GHA in tank on the rocks and he keeps it under control. As age grows he will keep it mowed down. They seem to only like fresh greens.

 

[JPCommenter]

I'm also running a 20 IM welcome to the club. I have had mine for 3 years now. There solid tanks. I just did a fresh start on mine 6 months agao after a tank crash while I was on vacation . I would replace the filter sock with an intank caddy the socks get to be a bit expensive as the IM socks don't seem to ever wash well and never really get clean. Also if you end up running a refugium pm me it took we a while to get mine to work in the back there's a few mods you need to do.

First question what salt do you use? I use tropic marin pro and have allways had high magnisum I'm not sure why but it's never been a problem. I'm currently at 1550 and my inverts are doing just fine. So are my corals in my qt system and that tank water is comes right from my main tank.

The only issue I see is that your phosphate is at 0 amd your nitrate is at 25. I would and this is a very debated topic drop thoes nitrates a little and bring up the phos a little. One thing I HATE about Dr tims ammonia is if you follow the directions when you finish your cycle your nitrates are sky high. I think mine were 50ppm.

Thanks for the input.. I use Fritz RPM salt.

 

[PR_nano]

I’m also running a Nuvo 20. I drained mine and move the tank this weekend still need to put everything back. My Yellow watchman jump from the tote (not fully covered) found him in top of the mesh and threw him in. Hope he makes it as mean and grumpy as he is like him a lot.

 

[JPCommenter]

10 days since corals and the Tailspot was introduced. All my corals are still half closed. However, it does seem that my toadstool is shedding..? Video would be better, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet in this forum. In the pic, it may seem to be a large aptasia, but I'm 90% certain it is not.. It is either algae or shedding. It sways with the flow.

 

[JPCommenter]

16 days after adding the corals, the Tailspot is eating everything that I put into the tank. The Toadstool is starting to extend polyps again, after I used a turkey baster to blow the shed off. I've been feeding the corals very small amounts of Reef Energy AB+ and Reef Roids every few days (alternating) for one reason.. I need the Duncan and Toadstool to grow before I add 2 clowns. I want those corals to be big enough and healthy, before I add the clowns and they smother them. 2 clowns and 1 tailspot is all I plan on having in the tank. I currently have 1 tailspot, 1 trochus, 2 cerith, 1 tiger conch, and 1 anemone crab. Trying to get 1 nassarius snail this week.

 

[JPCommenter]

16 days after adding the corals, the Tailspot is eating everything that I put into the tank. The Toadstool is starting to extend polyps again, after I used a turkey baster to blow the shed off. I've been feeding the corals very small amounts of Reef Energy AB+ and Reef Roids every few days (alternating) for one reason.. I need the Duncan and Toadstool to grow before I add 2 clowns. I want those corals to be big enough and healthy, before I add the clowns and they smother them. 2 clowns and 1 tailspot is all I plan on having in the tank. I currently have 1 tailspot, 1 trochus, 2 cerith, 1 tiger conch, and 1 anemone crab. Trying to get 1 nassarius snail this week.

Following up on this, I did 2 ~20% water changes over 3 days to get Nitrates down to 10-15. Phosphates are still 0, but I think it's a Salifert test issue.