Jerad's IM nuvo fusion 20g

Jerad81 · Sep 30, 2020

Hello all, my name is Jerad and I'm starting my first ever reef tank! I have a 20g IM nuvo fusion all-in-one that I actually started setting up back in January. I have added a Eheim Jager 100w TrueTemp heater, a Hydor Koralia circulation and wave pump with a flow rate of 425 gph, and a AI Prime HD light. I also removed the sock and replaced it with a rack on both sides of the tank for prefilter and felt pads as well as Chemi-Pure blue filter media to filter my water through.

When I finished cycling my tank and had it ready for life I decided to start with 2 clown fish, 2 hermit crabs, and 1 snail. Unfortunately, about a month after adding them I had a big outbreak of some nasty looking brown stuff (unfortunately I lost all the pictures of it) and both of my clowns and one crab died on me. I put my tank on a black out and did a couple water changes which got rid of the stuff in about a week. Just when I thought I was good to go the stuff came back A LOT worse about a week later. This time I put my tank on another black out and kept doing water changes but it took several months to finally get rid of it.

Now my tank is back in operation and I have my snail and a crab that managed to survive the war! I also added my first coral about 4 days ago. I have a ricordia, which so far seems to be happy, and a candy cane/ trumpet which seems to be a little upset with me about something.

I checked my water parameters and got the following results: pH = 8.2, nitrite = 0, nitrate = 20, ammonia = 0, and alkalinity = 2.5. Obviously my alkalinity is showing way too low so I either have a bad test or I need to keep doing weekly water changes to get up to a healthy level. I'm going to investigate that this weekend by testing the water I get from my lfs before I do a water change with it. If that also tests low I'm going to find a new test kit and try again to see if the results change. If not then I will probably try making my own water and see what happens.

Here are some pics of my tank and coral so far. Hopefully I'll figure out this alkalinity issue so I can keep working on getting it stocked.

Jerad81 · Oct 1, 2020

After doing some research I have discovered that my alkalinity problem isn't as bad as I originally thought. Because my KH indicator is a different brand than my test kit, the chart I have from my test kit shows different results than my indicator is trying to give me. As it turns out, my real alkalinity is somewhere between 7 and 7.5 approximately. I still think it's a little low but hopefully I can bring it up a bit after a couple water changes. I'm also considering getting a new test or test kit to eliminate any future confusion.

Jerad81 · Oct 4, 2020

My scheduled water change isn't going to happen this week. Apparently the owners of my lfs decided to take a vacation so I'm stuck waiting another week.

I was also forced to get a Topfin water conditioner to make my tap water safer to top off my tank. I don't have an ro/di system yet but it is starting to become a higher priority.

On a more positive note though, my ricordia is looking very happy after its first week in my tank. My candy cane though hasn't shown any change. It still has these brown spots on one of its polyps. I'm debating if I should try moving it again or just leave it alone for another week. Maybe it's still settling in to its new home?

Jerad81 · Oct 11, 2020

I went to the fish store today intending to buy a couple snails and walked out with three new corals as well lol. I got two more trochus snails to help out the one I already had plus a tiger sand conch to give my sand bed some much needed attention. So far the two trochus are taking to their new home quite well. The tiger sand conch however hasn't really moved since I placed him in my tank. I kinda wonder if my sand bed is just that dirty that he hasn't needed to move much to find food.

My three new corals are a zoanthid, a green star polyp and an acan. So far they all seem to be happy with their new home. Here's a few pics to show them off.

I also added some copods to the tank hoping I can get them to start a colony or two. I would really love to get a mandarin or gold mandarin goby so I'm hoping these copods will take off to give them a good (and hopefully sustainable) food source. I have some more research to do though before I add any fish but that is next on my list now.

robdareefer · Oct 11, 2020

You can go to the store and buy purified water that has zero TDS for your top off if need to and it’s really up to where you want to keep your alk at around 7 dkh is where the ocean stays I keep mine at 9 for a little buffer but it’s looking good

Jerad81 · Oct 11, 2020

robdareefer said:
You can go to the store and buy purified water that has zero TDS for your top off if need to and it’s really up to where you want to keep your alk at around 7 dkh is where the ocean stays I keep mine at 9 for a little buffer but it’s looking good

Right now I'm at about 7.5 dkh but I would like get it up to about 8 or 9 to have a little buffer as well. So far though I can't complain.

Jerad81 · Oct 18, 2020

My ugly algae bloom is starting to recede. I'm not real sure why but I'm not going to complain

! I did a water change on Wednesday, removed the chemi-pure blue and changed my filter pads. Also, my tiger sand conch has been doing a great job cleaning up the top of my sand bed. I was hoping he would dig around deeper into the sand but he's probably had plenty to eat at the surface so far.

I also added a frag of cloves and a small amount of chaeto macroalgae to my tank. My lfs gave me the chaeto out of their refugium and I'm hoping it will help promote copepod growth in my tank.

My current water parameters are:
pH=8.2
Ammonia =0
Nitrite=0
Nitrate=20-30 ppm
Phosphate=0.1
Alkalinity=5.6

I don't know why my alkalinity is still running so low. Everything in my tank appears to be happy but I'm going to try using Seachem marine buffer to bring it up. It's supposed to maintain pH at 8.3 and also raises alkalinity by 1 meq/L. Hopefully this will bring it up where I want it at a safe rate so I don't freak out my coral.

Here's a few pics of my tank.

Jerad81 · Nov 23, 2020

Sorry it's been a while since I posted anything, things have been a little crazy lately. It looks like I've gotten rid of my algae problem finally. Hopefully it stays that way this time lol. I've also added a couple new coral. I now have a duncan and a second ricordia. I also found a baby snail which got me pretty excited. Overall, my tank is doing well and starting to look like a reef tank. Now I just need to find a couple fish to add to it.

Jerad81 · Nov 23, 2020

OMG!! I just found this little guy in my tank and have no idea what it is, where it came from, or how long it's been there! Whatever it is, I think it's pretty awesome! Plus it's my first ever hitchhiker so I'm a little over excited about it lol.

Snorlax · Nov 24, 2020

How many lb of rocks do you have in the tank?

Jerad81 · Nov 24, 2020

Snorlax said:
How many lb of rocks do you have in the tank?

I don't remember the exact amount now but it's somewhere between 20-25 lbs.

Jerad81 · Nov 25, 2020

So, after doing some research I've decided to add a refugium to my tank. I started raising copods in my tank a few weeks ago with the hope of creating a sustainable food source for a mandarin or gold mandarin goby that I would like to add. So far the copods are doing great but I'm worried they won't be able to reproduce fast enough to keep the fish fed and happy. I'm hoping a refugium will help fix this potential issue before it happens. Plus I've also learned refugiums are great for raising small shrimp and other tiny critters that can act as a food source for other fish and coral as well.
I scored this little tank for free from a friend who was cleaning out their basement. I'm not sure exactly how big it is but I believe it's between 3-5 gallons. The sides are plastic so I'm going to drill a hole in the side towards the top for an overflow tube to return water back to my tank. All I need now is the tube/pipe, a small pump and some tubing to pump water out of my tank and into the refugium, and a small rack or stand to prop the refugium up so the return pipe is above my main tank.
The refugium tank also came with a lid and light. My only question now is can I use a regular light bulb or do I need something special for it?
My goal is to have it set up and running by this weekend. My fingers are crossed that everything works like I planned.

Jerad81 · Nov 26, 2020

I started prepping my new tank to become a refugium and turned it into a disaster . I believe I accidentally started pushing too hard when drilling the hole for the overflow return. I guess now I'll have to add a replacement to my shopping list for the weekend.