jma97's IM 10g Nuvo

[jma97]

Well, first and foremost happy to be getting into this hobby. My family had a 90g reef tank growing up which I loved, and unfortunately was lost when a hurricane hit south FL and knocked out power for a considerable amount of time. With a place of my own, I was able to convince my girlfriend that getting a small tank for the kitchen counter would be a good idea, so here we are!

Tank details:
Innovative Marine 10g Nuvo Pro 2
Fluval M 50 Heater
~7 lbs of Fiji Pink sand
10lbs CaribSea LifeRock

My overall plan is a mixed reef tank with a couple of clownfish, maybe a small goby if the tank can handle it. I'll be looking to stock with a few inverts for CuC, and some coral frags in there too (torch, leathers, etc.). I set the tank up on December 4th, and have had a bit of a crazy start back into the hobby. I set up the tank and let the sand settle and water clear. Started with salt water I purchased from my LFS. After a day or two when the tank had settled, I added in Microbacter Start XLM to the tank at a slightly high dose (for approx. 15-20 gallons of water).

Added a clownfish a few days later on the seventh, as the instructions on the bottle said to add a hardy fish. Throughout the following week, I noticed the clown's lack of eating and rapid breathing, so I dosed PraziPro into the tank in case of parasitic infection. Unfortunately, this did not work and the clown passed away six days after introduction to the tank (Dec. 13th). He did not show any signs of brook / velvet (would have killed him much quicker, as well). That day, I did a 50% water change to attempt to remove as much of the medication from the water as possible. Given the water change and consistent .25 readings of ammonia (and no nitrates), I poured the remaining MicroBacter Start XLM into the tank after the water change.

The following day, I went to the LFS to grab some ammonia to continue the cycle. Instead of liquid ammonia, I came back with another source of ammonia (Blue Chromis). Unlike the clown, the Chromis ate on the second day, but did not survive the second night (15th). I pulled the fish out of the tank but did not perform a water change.

Since then, I grabbed some MicroBacter7 and have been dosing that into the tank daily, while ghost feeding the tank every other day. Additionally, I slightly increased the tank temperature from approx. 77 degrees to 81 degrees F. This morning, I measured no ammonia (finally), very minor nitrite, and 5ppm nitrate. PH has been consistently at 8.0 since I started testing daily (December 11). Interestingly enough, I never really read / recorded nitrites at meaningful levels.

My current plan:
Wait this week to continue to test cycle progress, and slowly lower the tank temperature back to 76-77 degrees. I will continue to ghost feed the tank every other day to provide a source of ammonia. If the cycle completion is confirmed, I will add a clown to the tank likely right after the new year. After 1-2 weeks, I will add a second clown to the tank and CuC as needed.

Long-term plan:
1. Get fish set up in the tank, and then grab a few extras for the tank (Osmolator 3 Nano ATO, AI Nero 3 powerhead, Bubble Magnus MiniQ). Also, to begin to mix own saltwater and have backup heater and powerhead (i) in case of failure with current units and (ii) to create a quarantine bucket setup.
2. Buy a light (AI Prime 16 HD is the leading candidate at this time since I do not want to venture into demanding corals with this tank).
3. Turn on the lights at the end of January or in mid-February. The tank will be 2 months old at this time.
4. Slowly start to add corals and understand dosing / parameters for coral growth and health.


My goal is to have a healthy environment for fish, corals, and any other critters in 2-3 months. Looking forward to keeping everyone posted on progress!

 

[jma97]

Some tank pics:

 

[jma97]

Here are API test results from this morning prior to ghost feeding the tank. I've found taking pictures of the test results helps me with the color reference.

 

[Tahoe61]

Congrats. Looking good, almost there. If you are going to have a pair of clowns, I would add them together. Keep ghost feeding another week or so.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[jma97]

Thank you both! And noted, might be worth dropping another fish in there for a few weeks and trading that one back before introducing the two clowns together.. thoughts?

 

[jma97]

Some updates as we head into the holidays:

As I want to be able to make sure everything that makes it into my display tank is healthy, I purchased a 5 gallon tank to quarantine fish and corals. Luckily, cheap tanks were on sale at the big box stores so I was able to get a tank, HOB filter, hood, light, net, etc. for less than $40, which is a pretty good deal. Especially since I will have a dedicated net, heater, siphon, etc. for the QT tank. Stuck a sponge in an AIO chamber to gather up some of the good bacteria from the main tank as well for the QT tank filter.

The display tank itself is now pretty much cycled. Dumped a fair bit of food in yesterday and didn't read any ammonia today, barely any nitrites, and a good amount of nitrates (5-10 ppm). Also, I purchased a Tunze Osmolator 3 nano, as they were on sale at BRS yesterday for under $130. I am going to continue to ghost feed the tank until I read low ammonia next day and presence of nitrates, which should indicate that the cycle is complete.

In a week or so I will get a pair of clowns, and put them into the QT tank and monitor them for 3-4 weeks. I have copper power and prazipro to treat them as well. From there into the display tank!

 

[jma97]

Good afternoon, everyone! Another quick update prior to the new year. Pictures below

Display Tank Updates:​

1. The tank is completely cycled at this point. No ammonia/nitrites, and 10ppm nitrate the morning after ghost feeding. Leaving the DT fallow until at least 1/27 as that would be the six-week period from the Chromis passing during cycling (in case of fish parasites). Have slowly backed the temp down from 82 degrees to 79 degrees over the last week, with no signs of issues with the bacteria population (e.g., bacteria still present and reducing ammonia from ghost feedings by next morning). Stopped dosing MicroBacter7 into the tank today, after confirming cycle is complete.
2. Osmolator 3 Nano should be coming in any day now, and I am going to grab a small reservoir to put adjacent to the display tank to be able to top off the tank automatically. I am not in a rush to have this completed since the tank will be fallow, as mentioned above.
3. I purchased a used AI Prime 16HD from a local seller getting out of the hobby, and have that running in acclimation mode now (started acclimation at 10%).
4. In a week or so, I will start to add MicroBacter Clean to the tank.

QT Tank Updates:​

1. Have the QT tank up and running. I am adding MB7 daily starting today to the QT tank to increase the filtration capabilities of the HOB filter and have it ready for fish the week of January 5. This will allow us to have the livestock ready to enter the DT at almost exactly the fallow period ending. Only remaining items for the QT tank are the livestock and some PVC.
2. The night before purchasing the clowns, I will add the sponge filter media from the back of my DT to the QT tank. This will provide the QT tank with some additional biological filtration capabilities. I will discard the sponge and other filter media for the QT tank once the fish QT is complete.

 

[jma97]

A few more updates:

Display Tank:​

Display tank is looking pristine, and is continuing to remove ammonia from ghost feeding rapidly. I have continued to ghost feed the tank every few days to be sure that the bacteria population has something to do. Additionally, I purchased a water pitcher from amazon for around $10 as a small "reservoir" for my ATO. For such a small tank, the 3 quart container might last a week or so. Also got a small fitting from Home Depot so that the water from the pump goes directly into the AIO chamber (instead of getting blasted all the way to the display by the pump).

QT Tank:​

QT tank has been dosed copper power and is reading 2.0 ppm. Ready for fish, which will be coming shortly (likely this weekend, and will be next update!).

Thanks all!

 

[jma97]

Quicker than expected update:

Display Tank:​

Received an AI Nero 3 I purchased from a fellow R2R member. After some brushing the internals, started right up and have it on a schedule for the time being. Subject to change once corals start going into the tank.

Corals coming soon. I am thinking of doing a small Euphyllia garden with the tank, especially with the two clowns I think they will enjoy it. Plus, with a display of this size, kind of difficult to put other corals in with Frogspawn/Hammers/Torches due to potential aggression. Open to thoughts, though, especially for a new reefer. I definitely like the look of Euphyllia.

Quarantine Tank:​

We have livestock in the QT tank! While I was planning on doing this later in the week, we had time on Monday after work to go to the LFS and check out fish. After asking some questions, we landed on a couple of gladiator clowns (following @Tahoe61 's advice above). They were not paired up, but quickly showed that they liked each other. One (suspected female) is quite a bit larger than the smaller one. In-store selections were all healthy in that tank and they ate prior to being picked out and bagged.

Fortunately, had the QT tank set up and ready for new arrivals! Acclimated them slowly over the course of the evening and they have been doing great since. They ate both Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening. Yesterday, I did the first 100% water change and they handled that just fine. Going to be feeding them once a day most likely, with some occasional days off to be sure that no ammonia builds up prior to water changes (100% every 3 days).

Current QT parameters: Ammonia <.25 (likely some false positives in API test kit due to Copper Power), Copper 1.71PPM, salinity 33PPT, temp 78F. Plan is to have them in QT through Feb. 2, when they will go into the DT. Some pics of the new arrivals below!

 

[jma97]

Display Tank:​

The display tank has seen quite a bit of change since the last update! Last weekend, we visited LFS to grab some corals and CuC members for the tank, since parameters were good and the tank was ready for corals. As previously mentioned, I love the look of Euphyllia as the main attraction in the tank, so we landed on three frags: a couple of hammer corals (spotted is my fav one of the two) and a frogspawn. These guys are currently sitting in the sand bed to continue acclimating, but are doing well and nice and open. I think maybe the frog might be getting too much flow, but I can't turn down the settings any more and it's the return pump that seems to be the issue here. Has been opening up more in recent days, but also spreads out much more when the return pump is in feed mode / off. Are a couple of pictures of the corals and my initial thoughts on placement are included in the post!

I am thinking that I will get a torch frag(s) next, and place it in the right rocks by themselves, away from the hammers and frog. That way, the tank will essentially be split into the hammers and frogs on the left, and torch on the right. The flow set up should make sure that the torch sweepers do not sting the hammers/frog frags. Then, smaller soft corals around the sand and lower rocks, once the Euphyllia are established (e.g., zoas, GSP, Xenia, etc.). That way, they won't grow out of control since the Euphyllia will be in place. Maybe I'll put a few hard corals at the top of the arch by the powerhead down the line as well, once I get more comfortable.

I also purchased an Alk Hanna checker and Salifert Calcium/Magnesium. Still trying to decide how I am going to monitor Phosphate. Current DT parameters mixing Red Sea blue bucket (no dosing):

• Salinity: 35 PPT
• Alk: 7.7 DKH
• Ph: 8.1
• Magnesium: 1200
• Calcium: 445

I ordered some all-for-reef powder to begin to raise alkalinity and because of recommendations at LFS and good reviews of the product almost everywhere. Seems to be a relatively easy solution, especially with a small tank. Added CuC members: 2x blue legs, 2x Nassarius, 2x Astrea. Clowns scheduled to go into DT on 2/2/26. From there, I will sanitize QT and prep for next and final fish arrival (hopefully a Yasha goby!).

QT Tank:​

Well, this will be a bit of a thorough update! About a week ago, one of the clowns started to act a bit odd, showing some signs of stress potentially from water quality issues but also was showing some signs of brook. Long story short, I got both clowns back nice and healthy from a combination of (i) Ruby Reef Rally Pro treatment as dips and in-tank treatment and (ii) formalin / MB baths. They went back into copper on the 16th and are doing great! Acting like a normal pair of clowns.

Although it was a bit nervy to have the larger clown a bit sickly for a day or so, it made me feel a lot better that I was able to quickly ID the issue and act on it with a combination of FW dips and medication. I'll never know for sure if I saved the clown, but I'd like to think I certainly didn't hurt it

 

[jma97]

Display Tank Update:

The fish successfully made it through quarantine and are now in the display tank. Dealing with a slight bacterial infection they have on their fins, which has been nagging for a little bit now, but haven't worsened.

They love the new tank and are eating great and looking like they are having a great time! Up next: Yasha or some other goby, and a torch for the upper right hand side. Noticing quite a few pods throughout the water column, so the tank looks to be doing well otherwise.

Started dosing all-for-reef a couple of days back as well to try to boost alkalinity -- was reading 7.6-7.7 DkH.

 

[jma97]

Mid February update:

Tank is doing extremely well! We have a lot of growth with the corals in the tank, they are filling out nicely! Added a torch on the right hand side of the tank trying to keep it on its own, have the AI Nero 3 pointing that way to keep any sweeper tentacles away from the other corals.

Clowns are both happy and healthy! Added a small tiger pistol and have a Yasha goby about to come out of quarantine to pair with it, and that will be it for inverts/fish. A few more corals going in, but the 50% weekly changes are keeping parameters in check. I am dosing in all-for-reef every day as well.

Parameters: 1.026SG, 8.1 Ph, 9.3 DKH alk, 1260 mag, 425 cal