Innovative Marine Nuvo 50 EXT Build

[Wunderpus]

All,

It's time to upgrade to a bigger and better tank! After doing a fair bit of research, I decided on the IM Nuvo 50 EXT... The folks over at IM have been BEYOND helpful and responsive to all questions, and got the tank to me faster than I thought was possible...

Anyway, the tank itself is IMMACULATE and the stand is of superior quality (I've only ever had wood stands, this aluminum is a HUGE upgrade). The glass is truly perfect, and it looks SO clear I can't believe it. Big props to the folks of at Innovative on this tank. Plus, it just looks so cool with this lagoon shape.

As far as other equipment goes, here's a rundown of what I have so far:

Kessil A360x W/ controller
Eshopps Medium Cube sump/refugium
Current eFlux DC pump (1060 GPH)
Ice Cap K2-50 Skimmer (not in the system yet, running the Fritz Turbostart first)
Ice Cap 1K Gyre Pump

I bought 1 box of the Caribsea life rock "shapes", however I have another box of the "shelf" style on the way (I felt the tank needed a BIT more rock). The sand is Caribsea pink fiji live sand.

I stuck a hammer coral in there, as I had nowhere else to put it, and a flameback angel as well. Both had nowhere else to go, and the tank had been running for 3 days... So far, the parameters seem good (this Fritz Turbostart seems pretty solid!). I'm testing 2x daily to make sure the angel isn't at risk. If the parameters get out of whack, I can find a temporary holding tank for him (however I'd prefer not to, as that may be more stressful).

Here's a few pics, however it's dang-near impossible to photograph with that Kessil going.

 

[Highgrade]

Looking good!

 

[ChrisQ0904]

Looks good so far! What's your plan for the livestock?

 

[Rufus’ goofs]

Looks like a blast, I like the rock work.

I’m a big fan of the Innovative marine tanks as well. I currently have 3!

 

[Wunderpus]

Looks good so far! What's your plan for the livestock?

Pretty simple for now, but I will be upgrading to a 150-200 gallon when we move in 6-8 months... So, I'll probably do a small angel, a small tang, a pair of clowns and a fairy wrasse of some sort. This tank is small enough to still enjoy small inverts such as pom-pom crabs, sexy shrimp, pistol shrimp + goby pairs etc. so I'll definitely focus more on those things + a TON of small frags. I want a wide variety of small frags, mostly LPS and Zoas.... I believe the shape of this tank will serve a frag-style tank well. It'll then serve as a "grow out" tank for the larger tank down the road, and likely house a predator such as a rhinopias or similar with the frags (I love specialized predator reefs).

I plan to do "gardens" with the frags. I have begun collecting small acan, zoas and chalice frags to assemble into gardens in their fitting areas... I believe this is the "best" way to go about having multiple versions of the same coral, as the requirements are identical and they won't fight with each other. So, this tank will have it's respective XYZ "gardens" (the plan is acans, zoas, chalices, euphyllia and scolymia gardens). Then, I will throw some random sand dwellers like fungia and trachs to take advantage of this HUGE sandbed the lagoon offers!

 

[Wunderpus]

Looks like a blast, I like the rock work.

I’m a big fan of the Innovative marine tanks as well. I currently have 3!

Thank you! The second half of the rock arrived today. I'll rescape and post some updated pics

Also, I'm gonna try out this Polyplab Lens for taking pics, apparently it helps to remove the blue "glow" as the photos don't even begin to do this tank justice.

 

[Wunderpus]

Changed the aquascaping around a bit last night, trying to add some "shelves" for some coral down the road and make a few caves for critters... Let me know your thoughts, I'm half tempted to add 1 more "shelf" to the right side, however I worry about over-rocking the tank!

Left side, hard to capture the depth here with this LED...

Right side, should I add 1 more shelf?

 

[Hallowhead]

Looking really good! I almost wish I had a couple extra dollars to go with the EXT line and get the sump. The sump was the additional factor that I just couldn't jump for. Can't wait to see tank grow.

 

[Wunderpus]

Looking really good! I almost wish I had a couple extra dollars to go with the EXT line and get the sump. The sump was the additional factor that I just couldn't jump for. Can't wait to see tank grow.

Man, I'm glad I spent the few bucks and went that route! Huge fan of sumps/refugiums overal. Plus, I can do whatever I want as far as return pump, reactors, skimmer etc. The Nuvo Int. are great, but obviously have their limitations. I learned this the hard way with the BioCube, as it was a nightmare to customize.

 

[Rufus’ goofs]

Loving the EXT as well. My 20 gallon and 14 gallon are awesome, but will probably always be "lax" or "low maintenance" tanks based on equipment restrictions.

I like your new aquascape, if it were me I wouldn't add another shelf, but rather a small lone piece of rock on the sand bed to help add some depth, as well as a place to isolate something I didn't want to spread.

 

[Wunderpus]

Loving the EXT as well. My 20 gallon and 14 gallon are awesome, but will probably always be "lax" or "low maintenance" tanks based on equipment restrictions.

I like your new aquascape, if it were me I wouldn't add another shelf, but rather a small lone piece of rock on the sand bed to help add some depth, as well as a place to isolate something I didn't want to spread.

Good thinking. I think I'll probably "fill" that space with coral such as gonis, fungia, etc... But, I like where your head's at.

 

[Rufus’ goofs]

It's a tactic I've used for Zoanthids. I love them, but they're too prolific for my main rockscapes.
A Goni or Fungia sound very nice. looking forward to pictures.

 

[Wunderpus]

It's a tactic I've used for Zoanthids. I love them, but they're too prolific for my main rockscapes.
A Goni or Fungia sound very nice. looking forward to pictures.

Ah, yes! I've done that for green star polyps, xenia, etc. as well! I love xenia and GSP, but only in small doses

 

[Wunderpus]

A little update here!

All coral and fish are doing great! Been adding a frag here, and a frag there once or twice a week lately. Mostly adding acans, zoas and euphyllia. I grabbed a 24K Chalice from AquaSD last week and it's doing well, so I'll start adding a few more chalices here shortly. Here a few pics of the start of the acan garden and a couple of other pieces, more to come!

 

[Wunderpus]

Okay... Just a few more photos... Haha, I wanted a better one of the blueish acan colony, it doesn't photograph well at all!

 

[Rufus’ goofs]

Okay... Just a few more photos... Haha, I wanted a better one of the blueish acan colony, it doesn't photograph well at all!

Is that through the poly lab lens? I might have to look into one. If I remember correctly they’re fairly inexpensive.

 

[Wunderpus]

Is that through the poly lab lens? I might have to look into one. If I remember correctly they’re fairly inexpensive.

Yes! I like it, but I use it with the snapseed app to remove the blue (increase warmth). Overall works pretty well!

 

[Wunderpus]

Been messing around with different ways to take pics of the tank... So far, the PolypLabs V2 Lens has been the best option. However, I am having fun using the Flipper DeepSee "magnifier" to take shots like this one, and to see the details of corals. If you don't have this little gadget, I'd highly recommend it!

 

[Mr.Z]

How have you been liking the single A360x on the 50 EXT? I’m considering this combo for a future mixed reef I’m planning.