Gator's new Nuvo 50 tank

[Gator1970]

That's awesome brother

Thanks, my friend!

I'll post some updates as it settles in.

 

[Gator1970]

Skimmate is already staring to thicken up. I had a small leak, but I think I figured out what caused it: the outlet pipe was pressed against the front bulkhead of the back section, causing back pressure to raise the level of the water to the intake pipe, which is not sealed. I hadn't noticed how tight it was when I initially installed it. I simply lifted the skimmer out and twisted the bottom elbow to a 45 degree angle to keep it clear of the bulkhead. A minor design improvement might be to shorten the vertical overflow pipe height so that it is well below the intake pipe level, so if the lower outlet gets blocked there is no way the water in the skimmer chamber can rise above the intake pipe opening and spill.

 

[Reefaddict305]

That looks great, look at that thing go!

 

[Gator1970]

Well my GHA phase is FINALLY behind me (fingers crossed). Now it's time to finalize the rock scape and mount the coral permanently to the rock. A couple of update pics:

 

[Gator1970]

I fear the worst, but can anyone confirm if this is bryopsis?

 

[Gator1970]

Well, I have to say I'm not ecstatic with my radion light. It's quite possible I'm not using them correctly, but I'm tired of trying to dial them in. I'm going to add 2x2 24" t5ho fixtures to help the lighting situation. When I had MH & VHO fluorescents, I always kind of considered the MH as a point source, like the sun, and the fluorescents as the light from the sky itself - I think I will put actinic bulbs in these new fixtures, and change the colour temp of the radion to something similar to a 10k ushio MH.

I also added a medium cpr aquafuge to the side of the tank, with chaeto and a gallon of marine pure ceramic balls.

 

[Gator1970]

Update photo & paly problem

I have a blasto that is slowly being over run by palys- does anyone know how I can eliminate the palys without losing the blasto? Thanks in advance!

 

[Gator1970]

Well, I had a bit of a tragedy happen today - i was dumping a green emerald crab into the tank and he somehow got sucked into my mp40 and shredded - what a maroon!

The blasto/paly problem was ultimately solved by chopping the paly side of the colony off - I lost more than I’d hoped, but I’m pretty sure I got rid of all the palys.

In other news coral seems to be growing pretty well now, more growth in the last 3months or so than the first 9 months - tank seems to be stabilizing. Still dealing with a gha problem, hence the emerald crabs.

 

[Gator1970]

Well, I decided to double down on LEDs - I’ve got 2 radion Gen 4 xr30 pros on my little tank. I’ve decided that LED is probably just as good a fluorescent and MH, the problem I believe is shading, which I think I’ve addressed with the extra fixture.

I also dialed the output down as well since there are two fixtures now.

 

[Gator1970]

Well, I had an outbreak of RTN of some sort, and lost about 3/4 of my sps. It seems to have stabilized through consistent water changes and the addition of a carbon reactor. I’m backing off the sps for now....I’m going to focus on euphyllia and zoas going forward.