IM Nuvo 40 Reef Relocation

Alarmguy66

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I'm finally gonna do it. This will be my build thread. You can all thank R2R for nagging me into it. I guess it was time.

So 20 years ago I had a 180 gallon Glass cages tank with a 55 gallon sump, a 20 long and a 10 that was supposed to be my quarantine tank (but ended up being overflow for extra livestock). Metal Halide lighting with actinic VHO supplement, H&S Skimmer, refugium, pretty much full bore. Life happens, I changed jobs, spent a lot more time away from home and when I was home had other things to do. I could see the tank was suffering from neglect, and eventually I gave away all the livestock except for a few corals I wanted to keep and a clownfish. I shut down everything but the 20 and for YEARS ran nothing but a power filter and T5 lights. Oddly enough, everything thrived, even on water changes that stretched for months in between.

Eventually things changed, kids left home, job got closer to home, and the bug returned. You are now caught up to February of this year.

I startd looking around and MY how things had changed. No one (or very few) people exalting Metal Halide, VHO was non existent, and LED is all the rage. T5 seemed to be an acceptable lighting option for the masses, but LED seems to have taken over. Then I ran accross a BRS (God bless those guys) video on All in One tanks. I researched it (ok, watched Youtube videos) for awhile, then found Reef2Reef. More reading and research, and I decided to go NUVO 40. Big enough to house what I already had with room for growth, small enough to maintain without too much effort. I ordered it from BRS and started building the cabinet.
 
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Alarmguy66

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I had just finished some work on my basement, which had also been unfinished for 20 years. It was partially done, but I put in the drop ceiling, real lighting (instead of bulbs hanging from the ceiling) and new laminate flooring. Since I had some scraps of flooring left, I decided to use those for the veneer of the cabinet. I had also just built a new computer desk from an old piano, so I harvested the MDF from the old computer desk and repurposed that for the frame of the cabinet, along with some leftover lumber from who knows what. It turned out pretty good. Not perfect, but good enough for its purpose.
cabinet.jpg
 
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Alarmguy66

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With that done, I had exactly one day until the tank arrived. I went out to get some gas for the lawn mower and saw my UPS guy at the station. Just had to ask, and it was on his truck! We swapped it into my truck right there at the gas station and home I went. I unpacked it and was VERY relieved to see it fit perfectly inside the cabinet. Obstacle 1 is out of the way.
 
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Alarmguy66

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I was not prepared with mixed water, so I mixed it right in the tank after filling it. Turned on the pump and was pretty surprised at how quiet the tank was. Still am, after the simplest of modifications. I let the tank churn for a day, then added some new sand (sorry, no bare bottom for me). Let that settle for a day, and everything from the 20 went straight in, including the media from the power filter. All corals, probably 50 lbs of rock (yeah, the 20 was smack FULL) and the clownfish.

I got a diatom bloom a few days in, it lasted about a week. Since then, no ill effects of the semi-cycling, other than a bit of algae which is steadily dying down.

So after about a week of adding water every day (not much room for evaporation in these things) I decided to place a second order from BRS. I got the IM ATO (No regrets), a second filter sock (easier to swap, then clean) and some resin for my RO/DI (I have a separate post out there describing my hard headedness on that issue). That suff all came (well, kinda, I had an order error and BRS quickly corrected it) and added the ATO. 5 gallons of limewater lasts me about 10 days now.
 
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Alarmguy66

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About 4 weeks in I decided my lonely clownfish needed a mate. She used to be the male of a pair, but the female had long since passed. I am not kidding, this perc must be 12 years old. I called up the local (90 minutes away) fish store and confirmed they had small, unsexed percs and took a ride. Ended up getting the perc, a Teeny tiny watchman goby, and a Midas blenny. Got home, and to my amazement they percs bonded in about 5 minutes. It was a cute, but very short courtship, and apparently the juve did everything right. They are best buds to this day.

The YWG wound up in the filter sock twice and the other side sump compartment 3 times before he decided that the bottom of the tank was a better choice. He now has his own little private nook and is too big to go into the rear chamber.

The Midas Bleeny (Doreen, cause, my daughter says she LOOKS like a Doreen) is a pita. She harasses everyone and has a perch in the center of the tank to rule from.
 
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So I have been fighting with what to do about the lighting. I LOVE T5, but I think the depth now is so much greater (light to corals) that they arent getting enough. I tried an old black box LED fixture that I own, but it just doesnt look right to me.

Here is the tank recently.
t5_Lighting.jpg
 
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Am I in awe? Not initially. LOTS of shimmer (the water movement at the top exacerbates the shimmer) and Im not sure the coverage is as good, but I am thinking.....Hybrid T5/Noopsyche? I think it might happen.

As with everything, there is a learning curve to the noopsyche, it has a ton of adjustments and I need to play with them. For what I paid its pretty awesome. I'll be doing a review as soon as I have some time with it.
 
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Alarmguy66

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Oh yeah, custom ATO connectors for the tubing bringing water to the tank, 1/2 pvc elbow and a Tee.

The trick to make this thing silent? two foam blocks in the filter sock that prevent the trickle sound from the overflow from happening. I can hear the soft hum of the powerhead and the return pump, nothing else.

back.jpg
 
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Oh yeah, filtration. Sock on one side, floss on the other, a bag each of Carbon and GFO. No skimmer, just trying to keep it simple. Change the floss and sock on Wednesday and Sunday.
 
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I was hemming and hawing on doing it, but I got a bonus at work and decided to go ahead. Added an MP10 from BRS today. Much like the LED light replacement, I am not thrilled entirely, but I am hoping it will grow on me.

The good thing is the adjust-ability. Just like with the lighting upgrade, the MP10s controllability is leaps beyond what I had with a single powerhead (Rossmont). Lagoon mode quickly became my favorite (softies and LPS).

The Bad is the noise factor, and I am hoping that settles down as it breaks in. dang thing winds up like a turbo. Its super quiet at low speeds, but in Lagoon mode its constantly ramping up and down, and it sounds like a loud fan when it does.

So my last (yeah right) upgrade is looking to be a t5 hybrid kit. Looking at the aquatic life, doesnt seem to be a downside, but I have to sneak these upgrades in when the wife is in a good mood.
 
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Well after a couple weeks, either the MP10 is quieting down as it breaks in or I am getting used to it. Something tells me it might be a bit of both. I do dearly love lagoon mode and I have to believe the corals are enjoying the fact that the current isnt a constant blast anymore. Mobius app seems to be working perfectly as well.

Ive become a bit fan of the Noopsycke light, even if the fan still bugs me when its cutting on and off. All my corals seem to be happy, I wouldn't say there has been a growth explosion but its not any worse than with the t5s either. Zoas REALLY seem to be happy and are spreading like wildfire. My earlier complaint about the battery life on the remote really holds no water, as I haven't touched the remote in weeks.

Still not skimming. I change the filter sock twice a week and replace the carbon every other week. Seems to be sufficient. Started dosing using RHF's old formula for 2 part I still have from years ago.

My YW Goby is growing like a weed. I dont see him getting much at feedng time but he is forever snagging pods off rocks.

The mitrax crab has successfully eaten most of the algae he can get to and is now skimming everything he can reach off the back wall, so thats getting cleaned up.

All in all, I am really happy with the AIO tank instead of the sump.
 
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A note about the plate coral I bought back in March. It needs to be target fed, which isnt easy with the dang clowns stealing everything I put on it. They are like bottomless pits of hunger. Anyways, I was watching it recede, polyps extending less and less, until it was really just a colored skeleton. I figured it was a goner, but as soon as I started feeding it at night, making sure it got plenty of food, a couple times a week, it really started coming back strong. It almost looks as good as the day I got it now.

So at least for my situation, light simply isnt enough.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 74 37.4%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 68 34.3%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 12.6%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 29 14.6%
  • Other.

    Votes: 2 1.0%
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