GJW 14g Nano Reef Build

gwick16 · Apr 20, 2023

Wanted to share my IM Nuvo 14 Peninsula Build with you all. It is currently 2.5 months old. Would love for any advice on making this as indestructible and well rounded as possible.

Tank - Innovative Marine 14 Gallon Nuvo 2.0 Peninsula
Flow- Stock Mighty Jet DC pump at max settings
Light - AI prime 16HD
Filtration - Chamber 1: FIlter Floss, Chamber 2: Chemi-pure Blue, Chamber 3: Empty
Heating - IM Helio PTC Heater & Controller 100w
ATO - Reefbreeders Prism ATO
Started with Dry Rock, Live Sand

Livestock
- 2 Clowns
- 3 Trochus Snails
- 2 Nassarius Snails
- 2 Snails W/O ID
- 2 Bumble Bee Snails
- Few Blue Legged Hermits
- Hammer Coral
- Duncan
- Zoanthids
- Birdsnest - not doing too well
- Zoanthids
- Mushrooms
- Montipora

Some Issues
1. Snails running over my overflow triggering my ATO. I did fix this by putting my ATO on a timer, however this is not my ideal solution.
2. My duncan also seems to be loosing skin at the base. I am not sure why this is, I have just moved it to a lower flow area to see if it helps. It is otherwise still growing. I am running Saxby's lighting at 25%, it seems to really like the mid day whiter light and not like the evening blue lights. Any thoughts? Any ideas for better lighting or is this good. I unfortunately don't have access to a PAR meter.
3. Flow. I am not sure if flow is sufficient or too much. It seems like if I add any additional powerhead there is too much flow.
4. Filtration, there are always little bubbles and pieces flowing around, not the biggest deal but I wish this would be minimized.
5. I saw a couple Vermatid snails that I removed. Have not seen them since. hoping the bumblebee snails eat all of em.
6. Empty chamber 3, no idea what to put in it

Thanks for helping out. I'll be updating. Planning on making this a bada** reef.

Matt Bravo · Apr 20, 2023

Looking great I would recommend making sure mag, alk and calc are where they should be but obviously they are since everything looks nice!

Sump Crab · Apr 20, 2023

Looks like a good start. Keep it up! Maybe the Duncan is just winding down for the day by the time the blues come on. My corals always start to close when the lights start to dim.

Matt Bravo · Apr 20, 2023

Also make sure your light is not too strong! Remember it’s easier to harm corals with too much light then to starve them from loo little light, it’s just a lot of observing

gwick16 · Apr 21, 2023

Luckydinamite said:
Also make sure your light is not too strong! Remember it’s easier to harm corals with too much light then to starve them from loo little light, it’s just a lot of observing

That’s what I was thinking at first so I moved the Duncan to the corner. Fingers crossed!

gwick16 · Jun 21, 2023

Does anybody have any recommendations on what to put in chamber number 3? I have been leaving it empty, tank is doing well but I feel like the corals could be happier. So far I have filter floss in chamber 1 and chemipure blue in chamber 2. Thanks!

gwick16 · Mar 6, 2024

Posting a 1 year update. Things have overall being going quite well, but recently I have been struggling. My corals really seem to be struggling and not as happy as they should be and I can't come to a conclusion as to why. Everything is growing very slow if not at all while my montipora grows like an absolute weed. Really curious on thoughts of how I can get things turned back around. My pH has been consistently maxing at 7.8 and dropping to 7.4 each evening. This is monitored by an apex probe.I have never had this issue before. This is my best guess as to why my corals always look stressed. This doesn't change depending on whether I have the windows open. I started testing my Alk which was 5.8. I am now adding all for reef 3 ml a day which seems to be slowly raising this so fingers crossed but it has only been 3 days. I also put a small amount of kalkwasser in my ato water. Any other thoughts on what could be my issue? I have sent ICP testing which came back all good, realized I needed to bring nitrates up so they are now at 3. Phosphates are .05. I am running the following light schedule. Stock return flow with an ai nero 3 running at about 5-20% throughout the day. Appreciate any help with this.