Bringing the reef into the classroom... 16g BioCube (now a Nuvo 40)

[reefiniteasy]

What a weekend. I feel like I spent most of it working on the tank. I fragged my Candy Canes. My intention was to just cut off the dead heads, the ones the Frogspawn killed, but I got carried away and fragged the entire thing. I made a 2-head, 3-head, 6-head and 10-head piece. The 2 and 6 head pieces have already found a new home. I’ll keep the larger one. I then fragged the Hollywood Stunner. I’m giving it away to a few friends. I decided, although beautiful, it’s getting too big and is too dangerous. I moved my wife’s Zoas to the sand. Where they were, they were shaded and being preyed upon by the bubble coral. Hopefully they return to their former glory. I then swapped the frogspawn and Easter Egg Chalice. Lastly I pulled my Kelly Green from the back where it was being shaded by my purple stylo. Hopefully it can recover where I put it. I also glued a chunk of CaribSea LifeRock Frag Zone rubble to my arch to make another flat spot for coral.

 

[Vinman]

What a weekend. I feel like I spent most of it working on the tank. I fragged my Candy Canes. My intention was to just cut off the dead heads, the ones the Frogspawn killed, but I got carried away and fragged the entire thing. I made a 2-head, 3-head, 6-head and 10-piece. The 2 and 6 head pieces have already found a new home. I’ll keep the larger one. I then fragged the Hollywood Stunner. I’m giving it away to a few friends. I decided, although beautiful, it’s getting too big and is too dangerous. I moved my wife’s Zoas to the sand. Where they were, they were shaded and being preyed upon by the bubble coral. Hopefully they return to their former glory. I then swapped the frogspawn and Easter Egg Chalice. Lastly I pulled my Kelly Green from the back where it was being shaded by my purple stylo. Hopefully it can recover where I put it. I also glued a chunk of CaribSea LifeRock Frag Zone rubble to mg arch to make another flat spot for coral.

I'm smiling from ear to ear. Truly amazing! ...that monti cap will be next

 

[reefiniteasy]

Everything is going well. Just fragged my gsp again, it grew off the tile out into the sand. This crap will grow on anything. Also, my Kelly Green is coming back. The part that was shaded is green again. I removed my gobstopper Zoas, put them onto a tile and put them as far away from the frogspawn and bubble as I can. Was curious to see what WWC would give as trade in value for the frog and bubble, they said $325. No way would I trade for that.

Today I installed my Control XS. I now have more sense ports along with the redundancy of running a Collective with multiple Hydros devices. I will have to frag my Monti very soon. It’s firmly attached itself to the glass. Not sure what I’m going to do about that.

 

[Leiph86]

Everything is going well. Just fragged my gsp again, it grew off the tile out into the sand. This crap will grow on anything. Also, my Kelly Green is coming back. The part that was shaded is green again. I removed my gobstopper Zoas, put them onto a tile and put them as far away from the frogspawn and bubble as I can. Was curious to see what WWC would give as trade in value for the frog and bubble, they said $325. No way would I trade for that.

Today I installed my Control XS. I now have more sense ports along with the redundancy of running a Collective with multiple Hydros devices. I will have to frag my Monti very soon. It’s firmly attached itself to the glass. Not sure what I’m going to do about that.

Nice growth and build - I'm curious how the Hydros Controller has been treating you? Any pro's and con's? I currently just have an Apex EL brain on my nano tank and curious if I should spend 280 bucks just on the Apex plugs for my new build or get a Hyrdos 4 which can be expanded to the 8 plugs total for an extra 40 bucks...also curious how the wifi plugs do overall...

 

[reefiniteasy]

Nice growth and build - I'm curious how the Hydros Controller has been treating you? Any pro's and con's? I currently just have an Apex EL brain on my nano tank and curious if I should spend 280 bucks just on the Apex plugs for my new build or get a Hyrdos 4 which can be expanded to the 8 plugs total for an extra 40 bucks...also curious how the wifi plugs do overall...

I like the Hydros Control. It does everything I need. No cons I can think of right now. The WiFi plugs are fine. No issues so far. I’m happy with my choice.

 

[reefiniteasy]

Let’s see. A couple things since my last post.

My Hydros collective is amazing. Have to make a minor change to my home network to make my connection more reliable. I have a Ubiquiti AMPLIFI mesh system in the house. My Hydros devices and WiFi power bars connect just fine. However, when the mesh system hands off the Hydros Control units from one mesh point to another, the WiFi power bar will disconnect and reconnect. It’s only happened a few times. To solve this I am adding a NetGear WiFi range extender that I will hardwire to my router. I will then create a new 2.4GHz aquarium WiFi network solely for the Hydros. This will prevent the mesh system from passing the Hydros devices off to each node.

I fragged the frogspawn again. I used a Diamond coated Dremel cutoff wheel. It cut like a hot knife through butter. Just perfect. I chopped off 5 heads. I made two 2-headed frags and one single head frag. The bubble and frog have been at war and the bubble always wins. It pulls off a frog tentacle and then it lands on another coral doing major damage. I lost my Jack-O-Lantern Lepto because of this. I have a teeny tiny nib that I was able to save to start over with.

I traded the frags in to Living Reef Orlando. They gave $45 for each one. I thought that was very fair. I did post them to sell here on R2R but I really needed them out of the tank. They take up too much real estate in such a small tank. I used my store credit and got a Hulk Lepto, Goldschlager Lepto and a Pink Zipper zoa. The corals are beautiful. The Pink Zipper was overpriced at $30pp but it is perfect and my wife loves it. I also, unfortunately had a difficult time removing the Goldschlager Lepto from its plug and caused a small abrasion on top of it. Hopefully it heals.

 

[Vinman]

That Goldschlager is popping

 

[reefiniteasy]

That Goldschlager is popping

The picture doesn’t do it justice. It literally looks like a gold nugget with the Lepto pattern. Really cool. I think Leptos are my favorite.

 

[reefiniteasy]

Well Spring Beak ended and I have 11 new corals in the tank.

“Hello, my name is Alex and I have a coral addiction. It’s been four days since I got any new coral and I’m feeling the itch.”

We added:
Goldschlager Lepto
Hulk Lepto
Pink Zipper Zoa
Blue Eyed Favia
Ice Blue Leptastrea
Blasto Merletti
Strawberry Shortcake Acro
Green Slimer Acro
Bill Murray Acro
Captain America Acro
PC Rainbow Acro

 

[reefiniteasy]

Been awhile...

Fragged a bunch and stuff is growing. Hit a snag with a few corals. My Ice Blue Favia began to lose color. Realized I had it up too high. Dropped it to the sand bed and it’s coloring up again. Too much PAR I guess. Also almost lost my PC Rainbow. It was getting attacked and quite a bit of its Mesenterial Filaments are exposed. It also lost color due to poor placement. Even through all that it encrusted the plug. It’s slowly coloring back up. The Strawberry Shortcake is coloring back up as well. It took a little bit to find the best spot. I finally fragged my monti. It was huge. My Pink Zipper Zoas have gone from 1 polyp to 4. The Goldschlager Lepto is growing and its GORGEOUS! Best of all, my TSA Bill Murray is finally growing vertically. I love it!

I am getting ready to transfer the BioCube into an Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion 40. I’ve decided to add an additional Kessil A160. I purchased two InTank Media Baskets. I do not like the IM Custom Cady and filter sock. I also picked up a Hydros Wave Engine. I’m going to use it with an IceCap Gyre 1K and a few other pumps.

 

[reefiniteasy]

Well the time is here… tomorrow we are moving the BioCube into the IM Nuvo 40. It’s going to be a long day.

Have 10 gallons of “old” water that new rocks have been cooking in for the last couple of months. Making 5 gallons of fresh saltwater to hold all the coral while I move the rock over. Lastly, I have a Brute with 25 gallons of new saltwater. I also plan to use the 10 gallons from the BioCube. Hopefully all goes smoothly. I’ll update the thread tomorrow.

 

[reefiniteasy]

Well it only took 7 long hours last Saturday but the BioCube is gone and the Nuvo 40 lives!

Here is what I’m running:
IM Nuvo 40
31 gallons of water
2 InTank Media Baskets (one with ClearFX Pro and I0 Maxspect Nano-Tech balls and the other with Seachem Purigen with 10 Maxspect Nano-Tech balls
1-inch sand bed
75 watt Eheim ThermoControl-e heater
Maxspect Razor X 100 watt LED
MightyJet 538 Return
Hydros Control/XS/WE Collective
IceCap Gyre 2K
AquaMaxx HOB 1.5 (on order)

The full 2k gyre was too strong as it is almost the length of the display, so I’m only using half of it to blow over the rock work where my sps sit. The sand bed gets hit by the returns coming down the front of the tank and an Aqamai KPS in the back corner keeps the flow nice in the back. I’m waiting for CoralVue to get the OctoPulse 2 pump only versions back in stock. I know I’m definitely getting two but maybe more if I end up not sticking with the gyre.
I love my Aqamai pumps but they don’t integrate with Hydros so I will swap them for the OctoPulse.

I’m running the MightyJet return on 17 watts, which is about 400gph. The highest setting was way too much flow down the front. I have a delicate balance of keeping the sps happy while limiting flow on the frog and bubble.

I originally purchased a second Kessil a160 and A-arm mount. I was going to use two over the tank. However, I’m going to use a HOB skimmer and I want a Santa Monica drop algae scrubber. With these two things I don’t believe I’d be able to mount two lights on the back of the aquarium. So I returned the light and mount. I decided I wanted a side mounted light so I jumped at the chance to pick up the Maxspect Razor X. The light is esthetically pleasing to say the least. The aluminum housing is gorgeous. It’s very sleek. The Razor has built in controls and an lcd display for programming. I did pick up the ICV6 controller so I can program it using my phone. It was easy to set up and I was controlling it in minutes. I immediately set the light using BRS’ LPS recommended settings. This I felt would give me a good baseline to take PAR measurements.
A68/B85/C85/D51

These PAR numbers are fantastic. In the BioCube I only got 60 on the sand bed and 170 at the very top where my sps coral were. I never ran the Kessil a160 over 40% as I thought it was way too intense in the BioCube. The light put out by the Razor X is a gorgeous bluish-violet. I absolutely love it. There is a very subtle shimmer, not like the Kessil but this is much easier on the eyes. At this point I toned down the numbers. I took this from @AdamNC I adjusted channel “D” a little bit. These PAR numbers matched the BioCube a little better.

A56/B72/C72/D40

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll raise the intensity every three days or so as @Vinman suggested.

Still have to fine tune a few things and finish some programming in the Hydros. Overall, we are very happy.


Here are some pictures.

 

[reefiniteasy]

Received my @reefcleaners order today. My neighbor and I combined our order to make things easy for us. I got

2 conchs
2 Trochus
5 Astraea
5 Blue Leg Hermits
40 Dwarf Cerith
5 Florida Cerith
3 Nassarius
5 Nerite
2 Tongan Nassarius

As always I’m very satisfied with ReefCleaners. Ordered an AquaMaxx HOB skimmer 1.5 for the tank. It came in. It’s gorgeous. However is was missing 1 piece that is preventing me from assembling the skimmer. The output tube on the pump is missing. I called Marine Depot. They had me email them photos so they can reach out to AquaMaxx. It’s weird because they are AquaMaxx. Customer service told me they are waiting to hear back from AquaMaxx because they don’t keep the parts at their corporate office. Oh and they told me everyone is busy because of the merger. Very unhappy.

 

[revhtree]

Well done and looks great!

 

[reefiniteasy]

Well done and looks great!

Thank you! Most of the credit goes to the people who contribute to this forum and those that have gone above and beyond to help me on my journey.

 

[reefiniteasy]

Heard back from Marine Depot. The missing pump output pipe should have been glued to the pump output so it is not a part that there are extra of. They are sending a whole replacement Shark 1.0 pump. Hopefully it’ll be here early next week and I can install the skimmer. Tomorrow and Sunday is a big TSA live sale so I hope to pick up some new coral.

 

[reefiniteasy]

So it’s been just about a week since the transfer. I’ve lost two corals total. My ORA Hawkins, which was a tiny frag because I lost the main part of it in the BioCube 2 weeks ago. The frag didn’t make it, it bleached. Pretty sure it didn’t adjust to the light. I also lost an unnamed Acro. Also bleached. Oh well. Everything else is happy as a clam. Even my ASD Hot Tamale is coming back around. The polyps disappeared over a month ago in the BioCube and now they’re back.

Here is all my testing for the week. I dose ESV 2-part in equal amounts based off my alkalinity consumption. Here is my data.

6/26/21 - post transfer
Alk - 7.9dKH
Mg - 1380ppm
Ca - 450ppm
PO4 - 0ppm
NO3 - 2ppm
pH - 7.9

6/27/21
Alk - 7.7dKH dose 3ml 8.0dKH

6/28/21
Alk - 7.7dKH dose 2.9ml 7.9dKH

6/29/21
Alk - 7.6dKH dose 4.4ml 7.9dKH

6/30/21
Alk - 7.6dKH dose 4.4ml

7/1/21
Alk - 7.6dKH dose 4.4ml

7/2/21
Alk - 7.6dKH dose 4.4ml

7/3/21
Alk - 7.6dKH dose 4.4ml
Mg - 1500
Ca - 450ppm
PO4 - .01ppm
NO3 - 2.5ppm

How the hell did Mg get to 1500ppm I don’t dose magnesium. I know it is included in the ESV calcium but how did it jump like that? Now when I tested post transfer I finished a Mg Salifert kit and today’s test was a brand new kit. I tested twice and got 1485 and 1500. Is it just not being used up like it was in the BioCube so the dosing of 2-part equally has caused the Mg to rise?

@Randy Holmes-Farley do you have any idea or can you help me understand what might be happening here?

 

[reefiniteasy]

So I won a $50 TSA gift card during their 4th of July sale here on the forum. So awesome! I used it right away to pick up this gorgeous pink Frogspawn. I tried for a few other corals and missed out. I’ll hopefully grab a few others tomorrow.

 

[reefiniteasy]

So I added a few new pieces from the TSA July 4th sale. I added a pink Frogspawn, JF Spitfire Leptastrea, neon green hydnophora, TSA Smurfette Zoas and Mohawk Zoas. So far they are all doing well.
I fragged my purple stylo. It was not doing well in the transition from the BioCube to the Nuvo 40. The base was bleaching, I think as a result of the new light. I fragged it up and so far it is doing well. I’ll keep the biggest frag and sell the others.
I finally got the replacement pump from AquaMaxx and hooked up the skimmer. The skimmer instantly started doing its thing. The only bad part is the gurgling from the airline. The silencer does nothing. Very, very annoying.

 

[Vinman]

So I added a few new pieces from the TSA July 4th sale. I added a pink Frogspawn, JF Spitfire Leptastrea, neon green hydnophora, TSA Smurfette Zoas and Mohawk Zoas. So far they are all doing well.
I fragged my purple stylo. It was not doing well in the transition from the BioCube to the Nuvo 40. The base was bleaching, I think as a result of the new light. I fragged it up and so far it is doing well. I’ll keep the biggest frag and sell the others.
I finally got the replacement pump from AquaMaxx and hooked up the skimmer. The skimmer instantly started doing its thing. The only bad part is the gurgling from the airline. The silencer does nothing. Very, very annoying.

Does the skimmer have a chamber or does it hang in the display...and pics pease