Brandon's IM Nuvo 40 SPS Reef

[Brandon McHenry]

Tank looks amazing man. Looks like your doing something right. Lol

Thank you! I hope so! ;Hilarious

 

[Urbs]

Thanks! I use CaribSea Special Grade reef sand. I feel like it’s a good compromise between heavy enough to not blow around and small enough to look aesthetically pleasing.

Thanks for sharing. I have two bags of Pink Fiji but after seeing yours I'm ordering Special Grade. I was going to go bare bottom but chickened out as I'm starting out w dry rock and bacteria in a bottle. I'm not sure I'm up to the task of bare bottom yet

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Thanks for sharing. I have two bags of Pink Fiji but after seeing yours I'm ordering Special Grade. I was going to go bare bottom but chickened out as I'm starting out w dry rock and bacteria in a bottle. I'm not sure I'm up to the task of bare bottom yet

No problem! The Fiji pink is nice but finer and may blow around with too much flow. Bare bottom is not for everyone, it’s certainly not for me! I prefer the natural look of sand as well as the benefits it provides!

 

[KevinC]

amazing tank, can you share a bit of your chaeto compartment?

 

[Perry]

Hi Brandon,
I know I have been bombarding the thread, picking your brain so to speak, lol. Something I noticed in your feeding regime, is addition of spirulina powder. I have used high grade, organic spirulina powder as a supplement in my super food blended shakes each day. I have, for a few years thought of supplementing small doses to the reef, even google searched topic.
Could you share:
1. Why
2. How much
3. How often
4. Anecdotal effects(based on observation)
5. Is this dosing intended for corals, or overall health of aquarium

Thank you for sharing your reef and experiences both as a reefer, as well as marine biologist!
Cheers

 

[Brandon McHenry]

amazing tank, can you share a bit of your chaeto compartment?

Thank you! My chaeto is lit by an IM Chaetomax 18w light that runs for 12 hours opposite my photoperiod. Here is a picture of the compartment.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Hi Brandon,
I know I have been bombarding the thread, picking your brain so to speak, lol. Something I noticed in your feeding regime, is addition of spirulina powder. I have used high grade, organic spirulina powder as a supplement in my super food blended shakes each day. I have, for a few years thought of supplementing small doses to the reef, even google searched topic.
Could you share:
1. Why
2. How much
3. How often
4. Anecdotal effects(based on observation)
5. Is this dosing intended for corals, or overall health of aquarium

Thank you for sharing your reef and experiences both as a reefer, as well as marine biologist!
Cheers

I appreciate the questions! I love talking reef and I don’t usually get to so this is enjoyable for me!

1. Mostly because my tank has very little algae/micro algae and I want to make sure my tail spot blenny (along with my other fish) is getting a varied diet.
2. Two “reef roids” spoonfuls into my frozen mix.
3. My frozen mix lasts me about a week.
4. I can’t say I’ve seen anything in particular as a result of the spirulina powder alone. I think most of the benefits come from my feeding regime overall.
5. My feeding approach is meant for the overall health of the tank (I even started a thread about the topic). I believe that if I feed a varied diet, with many different sizes of foods, then I will most likely cover 90% of the mouths in the tank at some point between the actual feeding and when the food begins to break down. I feel like this holistic approach, paired with heavy nutrient export of course, has been one of the keys to my success.

I’m happy to help anytime! Like I said, I enjoy nerding out over reef tanks!

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I can’t wait for this ORA Hawkins Echinata to grow out!

 

[TheWB]

Thank you! My chaeto is lit by an IM Chaetomax 18w light that runs for 12 hours opposite my photoperiod. Here is a picture of the compartment.

This is interesting. I tried to do Chaeto in the first chamber of my IM 50 Lagoon AIO and it never grew. I had mine in an intank caddy with some floss on top but it never really worked. I’ve since made a really cheap algae scrubber mod to go there instead and that works much better. Do you basically just have the Chaeto floating there in the overflow chamber or did you remove filter floss caddy or something that covers that area before you took the picture?
Your tank is incredible by the way.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

This is interesting. I tried to do Chaeto in the first chamber of my IM 50 Lagoon AIO and it never grew. I had mine in an intank caddy with some floss on top but it never really worked. I’ve since made a really cheap algae scrubber mod to go there instead and that works much better. Do you basically just have the Chaeto floating there in the overflow chamber or did you remove filter floss caddy or something that covers that area before you took the picture?
Your tank is incredible by the way.

Thanks! What kind of light did you use? I just let the chaeto sit in the back chamber, no caddy or floss. It seems to grow pretty well for me.

 

[TheWB]

Thanks! What kind of light did you use? I just let the chaeto sit in the back chamber, no caddy or floss. It seems to grow pretty well for me.

I have the 9w Chaetomax light. Now I just have .69 cents worth of roughed up knitting screen zip tied to the bottom of an In-Tank filter floss holder lit by that light. Grows hair algae pretty well.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I have the 9w Chaetomax light. Now I just have .69 cents worth of roughed up knitting screen zip tied to the bottom of an In-Tank filter floss holder lit by that light. Grows hair algae pretty well.

Glad it’s working out for you now! Yeah only difference is I’m running the 18w so maybe it wasn’t enough light for you.

 

[chousecat]

Hey Brandon,

Your tank is gorgeous, from another person who has an AIO, I really want mine to look this good. Mind showing us a picture of your filtration/equipment in the back and the insides of the cabinet?

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Hey Brandon,

Your tank is gorgeous, from another person who has an AIO, I really want mine to look this good. Mind showing us a picture of your filtration/equipment in the back and the insides of the cabinet?

Hi! Thank you very much! I don’t have any pics at the moment but I’ll try to grab some tomorrow or during my WC this weekend. It’s honestly pretty basic and boring. The back is just the skimmer, chaeto, dosing tubes and return pump and underneath in the stand is the doser, chemicals, ATO and CO2 scrubbers.

 

[chousecat]

Hi! Thank you very much! I don’t have any pics at the moment but I’ll try to grab some tomorrow or during my WC this weekend. It’s honestly pretty basic and boring. The back is just the skimmer, chaeto, dosing tubes and return pump and underneath in the stand is the doser, chemicals, ATO and CO2 scrubbers.

I have the same exact skimmer as yours and I am having somewhat of a hard time picturing how to connect a CO2 scrubber onto it. I would love to see a pic on how you did it/ Thanks again

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I have the same exact skimmer as yours and I am having somewhat of a hard time on connecting a CO2 scrubber onto it. I would love to see a pic on how you did it/ Thanks again

No problem I’ll try to get a good picture for you. In the meantime it’s just the 1/4” tube that comes with the skimmer connected to an adapter that goes to the 3/8” tubing that comes with the scrubber.

 

[Perry]

I appreciate the questions! I love talking reef and I don’t usually get to so this is enjoyable for me!

1. Mostly because my tank has very little algae/micro algae and I want to make sure my tail spot blenny (along with my other fish) is getting a varied diet.
2. Two “reef roids” spoonfuls into my frozen mix.
3. My frozen mix lasts me about a week.
4. I can’t say I’ve seen anything in particular as a result of the spirulina powder alone. I think most of the benefits come from my feeding regime overall.
5. My feeding approach is meant for the overall health of the tank (I even started a thread about the topic). I believe that if I feed a varied diet, with many different sizes of foods, then I will most likely cover 90% of the mouths in the tank at some point between the actual feeding and when the food begins to break down. I feel like this holistic approach, paired with heavy nutrient export of course, has been one of the keys to my success.

I’m happy to help anytime! Like I said, I enjoy nerding out over reef tanks!

Hey Brandon,
Thanks for the reply, got me thinking to make my own food, especially since I work in a restaurant I have been thinking to save the guts/poop from lobster tails to feed the fish and tank, it's pretty disgusting stuff, but likely nutritious I have always wanted to make my own foods, thanks again for your recipe

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Hey Brandon,
Thanks for the reply, got me thinking to make my own food, especially since I work in a restaurant I have been thinking to save the guts/poop from lobster tails to feed the fish and tank, it's pretty disgusting stuff, but likely nutritious I have always wanted to make my own foods, thanks again for your recipe

No problem! I’ve never gotten into using human seafood in my mix (it’s all commercial reef foods) but I hear that it’s great and in some cases cheaper! Keep you fish fed and you export heavy! That’s my motto!

 

[fishybizzness]

Hi Brandon! I am wondering what your method for keeping your sand clean. Do you vacuum it regularly or do the tank inhabitants and creatures keep it clean for you? Thank

 

[fishybizzness]

Thanks