IOWL's IM Nuvo 200 EXT build

[Ioncewaslegend]

First treatment of prazi was administered 7/22. Second treatment was administered 7/29. on Tuesday I performed a 50 gallon water change (~20-25% of total water volume), started running carbon again, kicked on the skimmer - and, success! Very little skimmer overflow, and the tank's back to looking beautiful (with no scratching from the achilles hybrid).

Some notes/thoughts about the tank:

• pH has been pretty low: I'm assuming this is due to a mix of prazipro treatment (skimmer running at diminished capacity, oxygen being stripped from the water) and the windows being closed constantly because of the heat. The pH bottomed out at about 7.7, which is concerning given I haven't even started the calcium reactor yet. It's been cool enough to open the windows the past couple nights and get more airflow, which has raised the pH to ~7.9-8.0, but I'm going to hook up a CO2 scrubber as a failsafe.
• Oops, no phosphates: Still calibrating to the bioload in the tank. Phosphates creeped up a bit high (~0.2 ppm), so I added some GFO according to the calculator, started running the fuge light a little longer, and started changing the socks right as they backed up (instead of waiting 24-48 hours). Phosphates have since bottomed out, so I'm using this as an excuse to feed heavier (especially since the four tangs + foxface demolish an entire 8x8 sheet of nori in 3-4 hours)
• I love Reef Diapers: The disposable Reef Diapers are lasting about as long (maybe a bit longer) than a normal filter sock, admirably performing nutrient control, and the convenience has meant I won't be abandoning filter socks as I have on my previous tanks.
• Hooray pods: The benefit of prazi treatment was I didn't scrape the tank for a week or so, because it already looked ugly so I let it go. After seeding the five jars of pods from Algae Barn a few weeks ago, I'm now seeing noticeable numbers of pods in both the fuge and the display, which means it'll be mandarin time soon! (As soon as I can get a bonded pair from Kenny at High Tide Aquatics)

Some notes and thoughts about the fish:

• Copperband butterflies are awesome: For whatever reason, I'd thought they were shy. Ours is by far the 'friendliest' fish in the tank and will come up, say 'hi', and hang around us to beg for food.
• My desjardini sailfin is a pig: It has been angrily charging and devouring almost everything I put in the tank, will rip and tear huge chunks of nori off the feeding device, and has eaten so much it is visibly, and noticeably, fatter than it was three weeks ago when we got it.
• Acanthurus tangs: Contrary to popular anecdote, the achilles hybrid is one of the shyest fish in the tank (although it's been hiding less when we come by the tank). Confirming popular anecdote, the powder blue is an ****** but at least distributes that aggression across all the other fish, so no real issues so far. Kudos, again, to Kenny for keeping a bunch of our fish together during QT and monitoring for aggression, and assessing the temperament of this particular powder blue tang over the weeks it was in a DT before being sold to us.

 

[takoarm8]

Did you have any issues getting the MP40’s to hold on?

 

[tritonpower]

Did you have any issues getting the MP40’s to hold on?

I did. Big time. Trick I found was spend time rotating the wet side and finding the sweet spot. Then mount the little clip holding the cord a little above the dry side motor. That holds the motor in place otherwise it wants to lean back and fall. Once you get it perfect you can turn the pumps off/on with no issues.

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

I did. Big time. Trick I found was spend time rotating the wet side and finding the sweet spot. Then mount the little clip holding the cord a little above the dry side motor. That holds the motor in place otherwise it wants to lean back and fall. Once you get it perfect you can turn the pumps off/on with no issues.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

I've been losing about ~0.25 dkh of alkalinity a day, so I decided now was as good a time as any to fire up the calcium reactor (an Aquamaxx cTech T3 reactor, using an FX-STP2 peristaltic pump to pull fluid through, and CO2 rate controlled by a CarbonDoser). Given the minimal demand, I'm opting to keep the pH towards the higher end of the spectrum (CO2 on at 6.8, off at 6.6) under the assumption the slightly elevated pH will result in a slower breakdown/leaching of alk/Ca/Mg from the media.

Starting off with a feed rate of 30 mL/minute; and so far so good, I think?

My only concern is that, even though I have the bubbles set on the slowest possible rate (1 bubble every 9-10 seconds), the pH drops extremely quickly; going from 6.8 to 6.6 in the span of ~20 minutes. My understanding is that the solenoid should be 'on' as much as possible, and the current setup means that it will undergo ~24 on/off events every day, or is this just not really a factor to worry about with electronic regulators?

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

Update on the fish: the hybrid achilles scratched a bit last week one day. I was hyper paranoid, but apparently he was just ***** that day since it hasn't scratched since. The other tangs were breathing a bit heavily that day, so I was even more concerned, but I was also hovering around the tank constantly keeping an eye on the achilles; so unsure if that was just stress.

Regardless, I swapped the carbon out (and have set reminders to do that every 2 weeks) to be safe. While I'm unsure if it was due to some type of contaminant in the tank, or just the fish stressed for other reasons (picking on each other, me, etc.), the tangs' breathing is more normal now.

I also thought there was something wrong with one of the bimaculatus anthias because of some dark spots on its dorsal fin and tail, and then I realized it's started transitioning to male! I've been expecting this for a little while given it's the largest + how aggressive it's been to the other four, but still really exciting actually seeing it happen for the first time. And, speaking of exciting, the pod population has exploded so I can't wait to add the mandarin pair.

Finally, in spite of how it may appear, we're not planning on a FOWLR tank. As I noted earlier, we're pretty paranoid now re: biosecurity, so I'll be setting up a coral/invert QT system in the garage this week. Picked up the tank itself (IM Nuvo 14 peninsula) last week, and will be running it bare-bottom seeded with live rock from the holding tank's refugium.

The coral (and some inverts) in the 100g holding tank will be ready to add to the DT in mid-late September after a few rounds of Flatworm Exit. I'll have a decent amount of stuff to add to the QT system after an upcoming frag swap (and picking some stuff up from some friends). This will also give me time to source a fourth MP40, since I'd like to have one mounted to the back wall pointing towards the front for some cross/turbulent flow.

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

Update 10-21-23
Still in a bit of a holding pattern right now as I wait for stuff to pass through QT, but making a bit of progress.

I've had persistent algae on the sand bed, so I started skimming more aggressively and done a bit of carbon dosing to start knocking it back. For a more long-term solution, I spoke with Kenny at High Tide, and I'll be getting a bella goby from him to stir up the sand bed (since they're not quite as aggressive in spreading sand as the diamond gobies are). I also touched base with a new Humblefish-certified QT'd invert vendor, Inverted Reef, and picked up 25 nassarius snails. When their next batch of stuff releases I'll be adding some fighting conchs, trochus, as well as a few dozen blue-legged hermit crabs and a lot more dwarf ceriths (in addition to the strawberry conchs and trochuses I have going through my QT system right now).

Hair algae choked out the little bit of chaeto I added a few months ago, also, so I went ahead and got some clean chaeto, scrubbed out all the hair algae from the fuge, and added a larger quantity of chaeto this time.

Everything I picked up from the frag swap - including @ThePhoReefer 's torches and some gorgeous chalices from @Invictus - will be done with QT and ready to add a week from tomorrow. Two weeks from tomorrow, everything from CFM goes in. Then, hopefully in November, we'll have our bella goby, mandarin pair, and porcupine puffer to complete the fish list. For now, though - algae aside - the tank looks happy!

 

[squidarcher]

You sure that’s not dinoflagellates?

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

You sure that’s not dinoflagellates?

I am; checked under the scope multiple times to confirm.

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

Update 10-28-23

Next batch of coral in the tank: all the stuff I got from the frag swap, as well as the torches I got from @ThePhoReefer , the nice chalices from @Invictus , and a purple tip frogspawn from @thesassyindian . So far everything's adjusting well, and the tank's filling in nicely! I put an acro in from the swap as an SPS tester piece, so that'll be a bellwether before we start building up the 'shelves' above the euphyllia/goniopora gardens.

Next steps will be adding:

• A pair of mandarin dragonets from High Tide Aquatics after they're done with QT*
• A bunch of QT'd CUC from Inverted Reef
• Another few torches, goniopora, acans, octospawn, and hammers from CFM, as well as a magic carpet mushroom and OG bounce from @srt4eric

*: Unrelated tangent, but shout out to AlgaeBarn for upgrading our order of 4 jars of EcoPods to 4 jars of GalaxyPods!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Update 10-28-23

Next batch of coral in the tank: all the stuff I got from the frag swap, as well as the torches I got from @ThePhoReefer , the nice chalices from @Invictus , and a purple tip frogspawn from @thesassyindian . So far everything's adjusting well, and the tank's filling in nicely! I put an acro in from the swap as an SPS tester piece, so that'll be a bellwether before we start building up the 'shelves' above the euphyllia/goniopora gardens.

Next steps will be adding:

• A pair of mandarin dragonets from High Tide Aquatics after they're done with QT*
• A bunch of QT'd CUC from Inverted Reef
• Another few torches, goniopora, acans, octospawn, and hammers from CFM, as well as a magic carpet mushroom and OG bounce from @srt4eric

*: Unrelated tangent, but shout out to AlgaeBarn for upgrading our order of 4 jars of EcoPods to 4 jars of GalaxyPods!

Love the new coral!

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

Love the new coral!

Much obliged! So far, my favorite pieces have been the reverse tiger (picked up from Kay's Coral Cove at Silicon Valley CFM) and the dark holy grail I got from @ThePhoReefer. It's been slow going because I've been QTing everything, but gives us time to appreciate each piece, adjust the flow, and plan out more.

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

Update 11-7-23
More stuff in the tank: specifically, a QT'd mandarin dragonet pair from High Tide Aquatics and QT'd hermits/turbo snails/conchs from Inverted Reef. Hopefully they'll start attacking the turf algae, but I have to say I've never seen fighting conchs this big before. I made a joke to my wife that they're not conchs, they're chonchs.

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

Update, 11-8-23
Well, that could have ended poorly. Our full tilt favia fell off the rock. My wife said, "I didn't like it there; can we move it here?" so I did. Two days later, I realized I hadn't seen the firefish. Then a lightbulb went on and I realized I'd glued the favia over the hole it liked to hide in on that rock.

I moved the favia again, and the firefish is okay. Lesson learned.

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

Update, 11-16-23
Upgraded my XR30 G5 blue to a G6 and put it over the tank. Let there be light!

Went through my first 'test' with the tank when my wife and I were out of town for almost a week. We came back and everything looks good (possibly even better, honestly). Clean-up crew is starting to make a dent in the turf algae, and getting everything dialed in paid off in spades. Hiccup aside on Nov 10 (and a weird event on the 11th), I'll take that alk stability any day of the week:

My stepmom fed the tank for us; to maximize failsafe and redundancy, I'm going to start interspersing frozen feedings with pellets/dry food so the tank will still be okay even if I'm forced to be away and she can't watch it.

 

[kribbz]

Any updates to the thread? I was enjoying watching your build!

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

Any updates to the thread? I was enjoying watching your build!

There are, indeed; I've just been lazy about doing it here. Compiling my updates:

Update, 11-24-23

Updated the stock list to reflect what is currently in the tank and their names. The mandarin pair have been doing great in the tank, so: so far, so good!

Conchs and nassarius continue to, very slowly, make a dent in the turf algae. I've been working with Inverted Reef on Humblefish, and they've been kind enough to help out with an upcoming custom order of QT'd conchs, dwarf ceriths, and bumblebee snails; so I'll be able to add those in ~3 weeks.

Speaking of additions: we've wanted a sand sifting goby in the tank for a while, but didn't want the more commonly available ones (orange diamond and yellow head sleepers) because of how much of a sandstorm they can kick up. So, after some debate, we went ahead and ordered a Buan's goby from Biota because we think it's pretty cute, and seems to be less...obsessive than the other options. Additionally, since we're doing another round of QT ourselves - and my wife has wanted one almost since we started the hobby - we picked up a fat, healthy-looking bluestreak cleaner wrasse locally.

Given how sensitive wrasses can be during QT, I'll be raising the copper *very* slowly over the next 4 or 5 days until the goby arrives, then following the normal regime of copper power + formalin + prazi + medicated food for the next couple weeks. Fingers crossed!

Update 1, 12-15-23
Unfortunately, "pain in my wrasse" proved accurate. I was raising the copper extremely slowly (reaching therapeutic in 6 days), but still proved to be too much for the poor guy and he didn't make it.

Update 2, 12-15-23

For the past couple years, I've had an intermittent issue where single heads of a torch would slowly start having flesh recede from the bottom up (usually biased to one side) and die. It's not BJD, since the flesh just slowly peels off and dies rather than 'gelatinizing'. I've tried CoralRx dips, iodine baths, antibiotic dips, antibiotic tank treatments, and KFC dip. Nothing worked, and this issue has persisted across several tanks (though there is some coral (torches) that has been through all of them). I've also done ICP tests and Aquabiomics multiple times while having these issues, and everything came back normal, which (IMO) rules out issues with contaminants getting in from exhausted DI resin, chloramines, etc.

Recently, the same thing happened to an absolutely stunning reverse tiger we got from @Arvin R and I'm getting fed up. Looking closely, I saw some white bugs that moved extremely quickly on the tiger's flesh while it was dying. I've heard bits and pieces about white bugs on euphyllia, and that they can be irritants/harmful to coral, but nothing concrete. A thread can be found here with examples: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/white-bugs-on-torch-coral.719783/

After thinking about it, I'm opting to dose Interceptor to deal with these. I don't typically opt for the chemical/drug approach, but nothing else has worked. Based on instructions found here I'll be dosing 2.5 pills of the 51-100 lb dosage (23 mg; or a total of 57.5 mg for 250g total water volume) once per week for three weeks. I'll have the skimmer running (cup off), UV off, and carbon off for 24 hours, then will turn them back on.

I will note that, given the way Interceptor works, this is likely going to knock down/kill the copepods in my tank and may affect the hermit crabs as well (I've heard mixed feedback on that), so I'm going to transfer the hermits that I can to another tank. Fingers crossed, since this issue has already cost me five heads of Lucky Corals holy grail and the most beautiful reverse tiger I've seen in person.

Update 1-3-24

Dosed the Interceptor for white bugs on euphyllia using the protocol I listed in my prior post. It did indeed kill off the hermit crabs I couldn't get out (except for one that is apparently a GD tank), as well as severely reduce my copepod population. Fortunately, my mandarin pair will eat frozen and (if anything) they've gained weight over the course of the treatment.

It's too early to say but, qualitatively at least, the torches seem happier. They seem to be more consistently extended and haven't had any of the random days I've had where one or two torches will seem ticked off for no reason. Hoping this has solved the issue, but I'm waiting another four or five months before buying any more nice torches to confirm.

On happier news: got a big batch of CUC from Inverted Reef to finish building out my crew. I also picked up a QT'd bella goby, pearly wrasse, and bluestreak cleaner wrasse from another seller. Have to give them a special thanks because, nearly four years ago now, my wife saw a bluestreak at an LFS and wanted one. Our tank at the time was too small for it, so she had to wait. It's been 'That Fish' for her for a long time now.

My 'That Fish' was the desjardini tang. And now she has hers, and the tank is truly ours.
Update 1-12-24

For posterity, a quick bit of info on the Interceptor treatments.

Inverts it killed:

• My hermit crabs
• My copepods
• My white bugs

Inverts it didn't kill:

• My snails (trochus, nassarius, cerith, fighting conch, strawberry conch)
• My corals

Inverts it didn't kill, but I thought it did, so I bought a replacement and now have two of them instead of one:

• Tiger pistol shrimp

Whoops. Welp, given they're on opposite ends of the tank now, I may consider a yasha or randall's goby to have two goby-shrimp pairs in the tank.

I'm also kind of at a loss, because the pearly wrasse I added to the tank has just...disappeared. I have a tight-fitting lid (that I put on the second after I added it to the tank), all the other fish ignored and left it alone when I added it, but I haven't seen it in over a week. So, poop.

Those hiccups aside, everything's been going great! Bella goby has been a FANTASTIC addition to the tank and has made an almost immediate impact in cleaning up the sand. Still not perfect, but WAY better than it was and getting better every day. Minus a hiccup where my CarbonDoser solenoid died and I had to replace it, the calcium reactor has gone off without a hitch and I've been within a constant ~0.2 dkh over a 24 hour period. Everything seems happy (or, in the case of the elegance coral, recovering more every day).

And, Update 1-17-24
In lieu of some picture updates, I thought I'd just record a couple short videos of the tank from either end, instead of the usual 'head-on' view.

 

[kribbz]

Looking good my man!!! Love all the fish! I wish I had sand in my 170. I love the sand look but I hate having it blow all over from all my flow.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

There are, indeed; I've just been lazy about doing it here. Compiling my updates:

Update, 11-24-23

Updated the stock list to reflect what is currently in the tank and their names. The mandarin pair have been doing great in the tank, so: so far, so good!

Conchs and nassarius continue to, very slowly, make a dent in the turf algae. I've been working with Inverted Reef on Humblefish, and they've been kind enough to help out with an upcoming custom order of QT'd conchs, dwarf ceriths, and bumblebee snails; so I'll be able to add those in ~3 weeks.

Speaking of additions: we've wanted a sand sifting goby in the tank for a while, but didn't want the more commonly available ones (orange diamond and yellow head sleepers) because of how much of a sandstorm they can kick up. So, after some debate, we went ahead and ordered a Buan's goby from Biota because we think it's pretty cute, and seems to be less...obsessive than the other options. Additionally, since we're doing another round of QT ourselves - and my wife has wanted one almost since we started the hobby - we picked up a fat, healthy-looking bluestreak cleaner wrasse locally.

Given how sensitive wrasses can be during QT, I'll be raising the copper *very* slowly over the next 4 or 5 days until the goby arrives, then following the normal regime of copper power + formalin + prazi + medicated food for the next couple weeks. Fingers crossed!

Update 1, 12-15-23
Unfortunately, "pain in my wrasse" proved accurate. I was raising the copper extremely slowly (reaching therapeutic in 6 days), but still proved to be too much for the poor guy and he didn't make it.

Update 2, 12-15-23

For the past couple years, I've had an intermittent issue where single heads of a torch would slowly start having flesh recede from the bottom up (usually biased to one side) and die. It's not BJD, since the flesh just slowly peels off and dies rather than 'gelatinizing'. I've tried CoralRx dips, iodine baths, antibiotic dips, antibiotic tank treatments, and KFC dip. Nothing worked, and this issue has persisted across several tanks (though there is some coral (torches) that has been through all of them). I've also done ICP tests and Aquabiomics multiple times while having these issues, and everything came back normal, which (IMO) rules out issues with contaminants getting in from exhausted DI resin, chloramines, etc.

Recently, the same thing happened to an absolutely stunning reverse tiger we got from @Arvin R and I'm getting fed up. Looking closely, I saw some white bugs that moved extremely quickly on the tiger's flesh while it was dying. I've heard bits and pieces about white bugs on euphyllia, and that they can be irritants/harmful to coral, but nothing concrete. A thread can be found here with examples: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/white-bugs-on-torch-coral.719783/

After thinking about it, I'm opting to dose Interceptor to deal with these. I don't typically opt for the chemical/drug approach, but nothing else has worked. Based on instructions found here I'll be dosing 2.5 pills of the 51-100 lb dosage (23 mg; or a total of 57.5 mg for 250g total water volume) once per week for three weeks. I'll have the skimmer running (cup off), UV off, and carbon off for 24 hours, then will turn them back on.

I will note that, given the way Interceptor works, this is likely going to knock down/kill the copepods in my tank and may affect the hermit crabs as well (I've heard mixed feedback on that), so I'm going to transfer the hermits that I can to another tank. Fingers crossed, since this issue has already cost me five heads of Lucky Corals holy grail and the most beautiful reverse tiger I've seen in person.

Update 1-3-24

Dosed the Interceptor for white bugs on euphyllia using the protocol I listed in my prior post. It did indeed kill off the hermit crabs I couldn't get out (except for one that is apparently a GD tank), as well as severely reduce my copepod population. Fortunately, my mandarin pair will eat frozen and (if anything) they've gained weight over the course of the treatment.

It's too early to say but, qualitatively at least, the torches seem happier. They seem to be more consistently extended and haven't had any of the random days I've had where one or two torches will seem ticked off for no reason. Hoping this has solved the issue, but I'm waiting another four or five months before buying any more nice torches to confirm.

On happier news: got a big batch of CUC from Inverted Reef to finish building out my crew. I also picked up a QT'd bella goby, pearly wrasse, and bluestreak cleaner wrasse from another seller. Have to give them a special thanks because, nearly four years ago now, my wife saw a bluestreak at an LFS and wanted one. Our tank at the time was too small for it, so she had to wait. It's been 'That Fish' for her for a long time now.

My 'That Fish' was the desjardini tang. And now she has hers, and the tank is truly ours.
Update 1-12-24

For posterity, a quick bit of info on the Interceptor treatments.

Inverts it killed:

• My hermit crabs
• My copepods
• My white bugs

Inverts it didn't kill:

• My snails (trochus, nassarius, cerith, fighting conch, strawberry conch)
• My corals

Inverts it didn't kill, but I thought it did, so I bought a replacement and now have two of them instead of one:

• Tiger pistol shrimp

Whoops. Welp, given they're on opposite ends of the tank now, I may consider a yasha or randall's goby to have two goby-shrimp pairs in the tank.

I'm also kind of at a loss, because the pearly wrasse I added to the tank has just...disappeared. I have a tight-fitting lid (that I put on the second after I added it to the tank), all the other fish ignored and left it alone when I added it, but I haven't seen it in over a week. So, poop.

Those hiccups aside, everything's been going great! Bella goby has been a FANTASTIC addition to the tank and has made an almost immediate impact in cleaning up the sand. Still not perfect, but WAY better than it was and getting better every day. Minus a hiccup where my CarbonDoser solenoid died and I had to replace it, the calcium reactor has gone off without a hitch and I've been within a constant ~0.2 dkh over a 24 hour period. Everything seems happy (or, in the case of the elegance coral, recovering more every day).

And, Update 1-17-24
In lieu of some picture updates, I thought I'd just record a couple short videos of the tank from either end, instead of the usual 'head-on' view.

Tank is looking great!

 

[Ioncewaslegend]

Tank is looking great!

Much obliged!

Still super ticked off about the white bugs killing off some of my torches, but better to figure out + fix the problem going forward. We're likely going to wait until April-ish before deciding when to add more torches/SPS, but it'll be a whole bunch of them in fairly short order when we do.