Captain's Return - 10g IM Nuvo Fusion 10

[CaptainScuba]

Hello everyone!

I am a serial stalker on FaceBook Marketplace. I am constantly looking for things to upgrade in my home, things to gift to friends & family, and even things to purchase & flip for a profit. I LIVE for getting a good deal. That's how I ended up re-joining the reef hobby after about 14 years away. When I was young (ages 10-18,) I LOVED aquariums. At any given time I had anywhere from 1-3 tanks setup. Freshwater, saltwater, nano reef, macro algae display, local FL biotope, you name it, I probably tried it. I got a job in high school delivering pizza, and almost every penny of earnings went straight into my aquariums. It was enough to fuel the passion, but truly I was never able to do things the way I wanted to, due to budget constraints. Then, I went off to college and completely lost interest! Back to FB Marketplace, I stumbled upon a deal for a IM NUVO Fusion 10 brand new in box for $100 and was instantly inspired. It came with a LED light on-top of the already included equipment. I was instantly hooked.
So, I picked up the tank and have spent the last three weeks googling, researching, and becoming obsessed. I sourced all the parts I thought I would need and waited a bit for everything to arrive. Water officially went in yesterday!!!!!

So, without further adieu here is my tank & a list of my current equipment/materials.

Equipment:
Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion Nano 10
LuminiAqua Pixie 30 LED Light (came with tank)
Syncra Sicce Silent 0.5
Innovative Marine Helio Mini PTC 50w Smart Heater
Tunze Osmolator 3 Nano (w/ homemade 6.5qt reservoir from HomeDepot)
Kasa Smart Plug Power Strip (to control & time all electronics)

Display
7.8lbs CaribSea LifeRock DRY (plus one small [~0.25lb] piece of liverock from LFS to seed the aquarium)
10lbs Aqua Natural Oolitic Aragonite Sand

Filtration:
Innovative Marine Filter Sock
500mL Seachem Matrix Biofilter

Maintenance/testing:
2x 2.5g SeaChem Water Jugs
Miniature Aquarium Vacuum
AutoOutlet Refractometer
API Ammonia Test Kit
Salifert Nitrate Test Kit
Salifert Phosphate Test Kit

I live in a manufactured home, so my goal is to keep things small, tidy, & organized. I decided the best place for my aquarium is on my desk right near the entrance to my home (the entrance of my home also serves as the place where I spend 90% of my time; it is a living room, dining area, kitchen, and office AIO [kinda like the tank I guess.... heh])

(Ignore the scratches on the chair.... my cat only uses his scratching post about 60% of the time)

My view while sitting at my desk working, researching, or playing

I built a small shelf under the desk in the corner directly below the tank, to store and mount the necessities including but not limited to:
Homemade ATO resevoir
Light controller
Heater controller
Refractometer & various water quality test kits
Most of these loose items will soon be organized into a small Pelican case style box to de-clutter/organize

Cobia (the cat in question) LOVES this dark corner & LOVES his little bean bag. The wiring is an absolute mess and I will eventually organize & secure wires after I spend a little time with the tank; I'd like to leave enough slack in wires/hoses in order to be able to move & organize them during water changes, etc. Only time with the tank will help me figure out the proper length for each cord & hose.



After letting her settle for 24hrs I did a full set of tests to have as a base line moving forward:
Temperature: 79.9F
Salinity: 1.027ppt
Ammonia: 0-0.25ppm Almost undetectable but maybe falls between those values
Nitrate: 0.5ppm Again, almost undetectable but maybe a bit above 0ppm
Phosphates: 0ppm

Once things are cycled, I plan to stock the tank with the primary focus being a clownfish and anemones (BTAs of various colors maybe)?
The clown will potentially have a rag tag group of side kick friends including : snails, a shrimp, a pom pom crab, and a tail-spot blenny.
Nothing is set in stone yet, but that is my vision for the tank.

I'm primarily posting here as a way to track my progress and keep things organized. I'd also love to hear from anyone who has any insight involving any aspect of the tank, its parts, && my vision for it.




I'm very much looking forward to becoming an active member of the reefing community; back when I was reefing, Reefcentral was all of the rage. Seems like Reef2Reef might have the most active community now-a-days? Anyhow, thanks for checking things out!

 

[lapin]

very cool

 

[Tahoe61]

Welcome back to the hobby.
Great looking start. Some sexy shrimp and rock flower anemones would look awesome.

 

[CaptainScuba]

Welcome back to the hobby.
Great looking start. Some sexy shrimp and rock flower anemones would look awesome.

I was definitely thinking about sexy shrimp; or some other sorts of anemone shrimp for that matter. And Rock flower anemones would probably work great with the goal of a BTA tank with anemone shrimp!!! I had one or two back in they day; but they were waaay out of my price range back then lol. Great ideas, will add them to the inspiration pool :)

 

[N8]

Sweet build, following along!

 

[CaptainScuba]

Daily update; I added two very small (dollar coin sized) pieces of live rock rubble to help with the cycle/seeding.
Only tested for ammonia today, considering there theoretically shouldn't be any other nutrients in the water.
Temp: 80.1F
Salinity: 1.027ppt
Ammonia: 0ppm

 

[CaptainScuba]

I guess not daily... but another update, nonetheless! Testing looks promising? I'm surprised to have any readings at all at this point.



Temp: 80.2F
Salinity: 1.026ppt
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrates: 1-2ppm
Phosphates: 0.03-0.1ppm



A question for anyone that might know... I installed a Sicce Sycnra 0.5 return pump. The smart plug I have it connected to allows me to "schedule" 31 events a day. I'm curious if it would be silly/stupid to have it periodically shut off for about a minute at a time, throughout the day. Just for a more "varied" flow pattern?

 

[CaptainScuba]

Looks like we are sticking with every other day! It also looks as if the cycle is certainly happening, Very exciting stuff!

Temp: 79.9F
Salinity: 1.027ppt
Ammonia: 0.25-0.50ppm
Nitrates: 2-2.5ppm
Phosphates: 0.1ppm

I ordered a 3D printed filter floss adapter (OhMyPuff store) off of Etsy to replace the filter sock. I looked into buying extra filter socks and rotating through them while cleaning them, but they're expensive and it seems like more work than its worth. I got a huge sheet of filter floss (Seapora 4040) off of Amazon for $10 that should last quite awhile for such a small tank.

The tank has been running for about 6 full days now and my ATO resevoir is just a smidge below 50% capacity. So it looks like I can plan on it lasting me approximately 10 days, which is wonderful!

I also found an Eheim autofeeder on FB Marketplace for $15 that I grabbed for when I inevitably go out of town.

 

[CaptainScuba]

Today is my day off and I'm super excited about the tank... So more tests & tinkering today!

Temp: 80.2F
Salinity: 1.026ppt
Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrates: 2.5ppm
Phosphates: 0.1 - 0.25ppm

I'm also trying to figure out how to wire a TC420 controller into my LuminiAqua Pixie 30 LED light. I've posted another thread over in Equipment>Lighting. I downloaded the TC420App from tc420app.ubrothers.eu and created a lighting schedule that slowly ramps up in the morning, maxing out around 12:30pm, staying strong until about 2:00pm, then slowly ramping back down until lights off. I've successfully uploaded the program onto the controller, now I just need to figure out how to properly wire the controller into the fixture without frying anything!

 

[CaptainScuba]

It's been 2 days and here are the parameters again.

Temp: 78.6F (I decided to bump the temp down from 80F to 79F)
Salinity: 1.026ppt
Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrates 2.5-5ppm
Phosphates: 0.1-0.25ppm

Anyone more experienced with cycling tanks have any insight on whether or not this looks like the tank is properly cycling?

I haven't made any progress on wiring the TC420 into the fixture yet; I think I've found my solution I just need some time to sit down and put it all together.

 

[Segalplayer]

I lived my NUVO 10, have to be a super tester like I see you’re doing since it’s small and everything changes so fast since it’s realistically like 7 gal of water. I ran a radion/ tunze / and in tank media basket with some floss/ chemistry/ and sea chem matrix/ then a since 0.5 for main return and a 1.0 on the chiller. I did end up putting an mp10 but ran it on like 10%. I was an avid tester and doser as it was fun seeing what the tank consumed daily.

 

[TheNative192]

It's been 2 days and here are the parameters again.

Temp: 78.6F (I decided to bump the temp down from 80F to 79F)
Salinity: 1.026ppt
Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrates 2.5-5ppm
Phosphates: 0.1-0.25ppm

Anyone more experienced with cycling tanks have any insight on whether or not this looks like the tank is properly cycling?

I haven't made any progress on wiring the TC420 into the fixture yet; I think I've found my solution I just need some time to sit down and put it all together.

I would honestly bring the temp down to 78 or 77. I keep most of my tanks between 77 to 77.5 bouncing range with an Inkbird heater controller. It cuts down on evaporation & corals/anemones & inverts will be totally fine at that temp.

 

[CaptainScuba]

I would honestly bring the temp down to 78 or 77. I keep most of my tanks between 77 to 77.5 bouncing range with an Inkbird heater controller. It cuts down on evaporation & corals/anemones & inverts will be totally fine at that temp.

The main reason I’ve been running the temp high is because I live in Florida and when I’m away from home I turn the thermostat up to 78 I figure with pumps, lights, etc inside the tank, and an ambient temperature of 78 around the tank, that it might hit 79 or higher? I’m looking to keep the temp stable long term, maybe I need to test it out and see how it reacts to being left at higher room temperature. Maybe I can get away with setting it to 78 if it only warms a half a degree or less when left without cool AC for extended periods.

I lived my NUVO 10, have to be a super tester like I see you’re doing since it’s small and everything changes so fast since it’s realistically like 7 gal of water. I ran a radion/ tunze / and in tank media basket with some floss/ chemistry/ and sea chem matrix/ then a since 0.5 for main return and a 1.0 on the chiller. I did end up putting an mp10 but ran it on like 10%. I was an avid tester and doser as it was fun seeing what the tank consumed daily.

I don’t see any fish in the photos; did you run it corals only? It looks great!

 

[BoaConservationist]

I guess not daily... but another update, nonetheless! Testing looks promising? I'm surprised to have any readings at all at this point.



Temp: 80.2F
Salinity: 1.026ppt
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrates: 1-2ppm
Phosphates: 0.03-0.1ppm



A question for anyone that might know... I installed a Sicce Sycnra 0.5 return pump. The smart plug I have it connected to allows me to "schedule" 31 events a day. I'm curious if it would be silly/stupid to have it periodically shut off for about a minute at a time, throughout the day. Just for a more "varied" flow pattern?

in smaller tanks you generally need the filtration going 24-7 as the nitrates have less room to crowd basically , you could totally do that with a wavemaker though. awesome tank , if it were me id do some softies and maybe a goby pair , my favorite softies for display are the kenya tree and sinularia - cabbages are awesome too but will take a bit of the tank up and require trimmings once it gets going, really alot of softies do but yep

 

[Segalplayer]

I would honestly bring the temp down to 78 or 77. I keep most of my tanks between 77 to 77.5 bouncing range with an Inkbird heater controller. It cuts down on evaporation & corals/anemones & inverts will be totally fine at that temp.

The main reason I’ve been running the temp high is because I live in Florida and when I’m away from home I turn the thermostat up to 78 I figure with pumps, lights, etc inside the tank, and an ambient temperature of 78 around the tank, that it might hit 79 or higher? I’m looking to keep the temp stable long term, maybe I need to test it out and see how it reacts to being left at higher room temperature. Maybe I can get away with setting it to 78 if it only warms a half a degree or less when left without cool AC for extended periods.

I lived my NUVO 10, have to be a super tester like I see you’re doing since it’s small and everything changes so fast since it’s realistically like 7 gal of water. I ran a radion/ tunze / and in tank media basket with some floss/ chemistry/ and sea chem matrix/ then a since 0.5 for main return and a 1.0 on the chiller. I did end up putting an mp10 but ran it on like 10%. I was an avid tester and doser as it was fun seeing what the tank consumed daily.

I don’t see any fish in the photos; did you run it corals only? It looks great!

Heyo there, I did have a coral only tank for a while but I actually had some Duncan’s and a purple long tentacle on the back right side that the two clowns were hosting (this pic was early on before it switched sides )

 

[TheNative192]

The main reason I’ve been running the temp high is because I live in Florida and when I’m away from home I turn the thermostat up to 78 I figure with pumps, lights, etc inside the tank, and an ambient temperature of 78 around the tank, that it might hit 79 or higher? I’m looking to keep the temp stable long term, maybe I need to test it out and see how it reacts to being left at higher room temperature. Maybe I can get away with setting it to 78 if it only warms a half a degree or less when left without cool AC for extended periods.

I don’t see any fish in the photos; did you run it corals only? It looks great!

So if the temperature adjusts slowly, most fish can adjust to temperature swings no problem. Like for example if the tank is naturally 78 and it gradually goes to 80 because AC is 78 it will be fine as it will take time to change to 80. I know some people mention their tanks bounce between 77-80 during the day but the key thing is it would need to be gradual and it adjusting to ambient temperature would definitely be gradual too. Now if you turn your AC off (which is usually actually bad on most new AC units, I’m from SW Florida too) then I would worry about it hitting 85+ in the summer so make sure not to cook your residents either.

 

[CaptainScuba]

in smaller tanks you generally need the filtration going 24-7 as the nitrates have less room to crowd basically , you could totally do that with a wavemaker though. awesome tank , if it were me id do some softies and maybe a goby pair , my favorite softies for display are the kenya tree and sinularia - cabbages are awesome too but will take a bit of the tank up and require trimmings once it gets going, really alot of softies do but yep

Yes, this makes sense. My intention is only to have the pump off for very brief periods of maybe 60-90 seconds at a time. Not sure if that small down time would have much impact on the filtration quality? My goal is to avoid adding a wavemaker, mostly to keep the display clean & free of any clutter. Some softies would be cool as well, I would love to have a mixed tank if/when the anemones stop walking!

So if the temperature adjusts slowly, most fish can adjust to temperature swings no problem. Like for example if the tank is naturally 78 and it gradually goes to 80 because AC is 78 it will be fine as it will take time to change to 80. I know some people mention their tanks bounce between 77-80 during the day but the key thing is it would need to be gradual and it adjusting to ambient temperature would definitely be gradual too. Now if you turn your AC off (which is usually actually bad on most new AC units, I’m from SW Florida too) then I would worry about it hitting 85+ in the summer so make sure not to cook your residents either.

This actually makes a lot of sense. I don't ever turn the units off (well I used to, but I quickly discovered this was a bad idea when mold started growing in my primary closet due to low circulation allowing the high humidity/high temp air to get trapped inside).
I've bumped it down to 78 and maybe I'll even push it down to 77 once I have a chance to test out the temperature fluctuations, it's been beautiful the past couple of days and my house didn't crawl above 77 even with the thermostat set to 79 all day.

 

[TheNative192]

Yes, this makes sense. My intention is only to have the pump off for very brief periods of maybe 60-90 seconds at a time. Not sure if that small down time would have much impact on the filtration quality? My goal is to avoid adding a wavemaker, mostly to keep the display clean & free of any clutter. Some softies would be cool as well, I would love to have a mixed tank if/when the anemones stop walking!

This actually makes a lot of sense. I don't ever turn the units off (well I used to, but I quickly discovered this was a bad idea when mold started growing in my primary closet due to low circulation allowing the high humidity/high temp air to get trapped inside).
I've bumped it down to 78 and maybe I'll even push it down to 77 once I have a chance to test out the temperature fluctuations, it's been beautiful the past couple of days and my house didn't crawl above 77 even with the thermostat set to 79 all day.

Also funny enough my AC in Florida is cheaper to not change the temperature on my energy bill when I do not change the temperature when I leave for work. I usually keep mine at 70 and I used to turn it to 75 when I was at work. Now if I am going on a trip for a week it would save me a bit. My AC guy told me on newer units its actually better to have it sit at 70 (2023 unit) as the temperature fluctuations actual cost more? I am not 100% sure but I did notice it on my FPL bill. Saves me $20 per month lol

 

[CaptainScuba]

I also finished modifying the LuminiAqua lamp with the TC420 controller. With TC420App it is super simple to quickly add/change/modify the lighting schedule. I'm happy with the result! I'm going to do one less water quality test on Monday morning before I head out of town for a few days for the holidays. We've only been going for 10 days so far. Maybe about a third of the way there!

 

[CaptainScuba]

Final update before I go out of town for the holidays! My next update will likely be next saturday.

Water quality

Temp: 76.6F (I bumped the heater down to 77 but when I came home from work yesterday the house was 78F and the tank was at 78.3F; so I bumped it back to 78F)
Salinity: 1.026ppt
Ammonia: 0.50ppm (this number hasn't changed... at all?)
NO3: 2.5-5ppm (definitely closer to 5ppm)
PO4: 0.01-0.1ppm (this number went down? algae uses this to grow, yes?)

I am noticing little tiny (and I mean tiny... millimeter long at MOST,) bits of algae growing on the glass. Signs of life!!!!! Curious to see what it will all look like when I return in 5 days.

When I get back, I'll sit down and make a little write-up/post about setting up the TC420 and the Pixie 30 light. It was a great success! Happy holidays everyone :)