Just another nuvo 40

[tomxreef]

Reefing took a back seat for about a year. Lost some fish to brook and just lost the desire due to work/kids. A few months ago I got the bug again. I found a used nuvo 40 for sale and figured it was as good as a time as any to upgrade. It was slow going but I got the passion back.

The corals that survived lost a good deal of color. The only fish that survived the brook outbreak were a flame hawk and a melanurus wrasse. I ran the nuvo 40 for a few months with just the two of them. Last week I decided to take a chance and order somethings I have always wanted to try. I ordered a dwarf fuzzy lion and a tube anemone. When they arrived I was shocked to see the fuzzy was a little bigger than I anticipated. The tube anemone was ghost white as well.

I got some pvc and made a makeshift tube for the anemone and set it in the back right corner under a shroom box. The lion decided to hide in the rock work for a few days. Fast forward a few days and the lion has taken to hit loaded ghost shrimp very well. He even tries to eat some lrs reef frenzy. I think he’s assimilated very well. I even saw the hawk fish perched on top of the lion! I wish I had my phone on me to snap a picture!

I switched up my lighting from t5’s to metal halide. The response from the corals has been amazing. Leathers that were sad perked up instantly. I don’t have all of the gear on the tank yet. And I need to find a cord management solution. I also need to setup the temporary ghost shrimp tank as well. All and all I’m pretty happy so far.


The build:
Innovative Marine Nuvo 40 AIO on APS Stand
Rocks are real reef rock branch mostly
maxi jet 1200 return pump
2x floss holders (really looking for a tunze 9004 eventually)
currently running a bag of marine pure spheres for filtration and a single mangrove.
MP10 for flow soon (I have one (two actually), just need to stick it on the tank)
Reef Brite Metal Halide hybrid (150 watt de Phoenix 14000k bulb). I love this light!!! Only problem is the cords are ugly af.
an ato smart micro to top off (not installed, topping off by hand right now)
All controlled by an apex lite (not installed yet)

inhabitants:
Flame Hawkfish
melanurus wrasse
fuzzy dwarf lion fish
halloween hermit crab
orange tube anemone
a few snails (I need to beef up my cuc soon)

The plan for corals is mostly softies and a few lps. Mostly leathers with some gorgonians and zoas tossed in for color and to take up space.

next steps:
grab some real reef rock rubble and build up around my tube anemone’s pvc tube. Add the rest of my gear and figure out a cord management solution. Get more coral.

 

[tdhnry]

Looking good buddy

 

[tomxreef]

Thank you! It’s a start lol

 

[tomxreef]

Small update:

I setup a small ghost shrimp tank right next to the nuvo 40. It’s making it much easier to gutload them. The lion ate 4 ghost shrimp today. I have him on 3-4 every other day.

Some additions, I received a tunze 9004 in the mail today courtesy of @tdhnry . Great person to deal with . It’s currently breaking in.

I also added some coral as well. I visited a lfs near me and took home a tiny toadstool and a chalice frag. The chalice looks pretty promising. A friend also gave me some magician palys and rainbow infusions.

 

[CasaReefer]

My Vote for "Come Back Of The Year " Great Job...

 

[tomxreef]

My Vote for "Come Back Of The Year " Great Job...

thank you! It’s getting there.

small update:
I went to a lfs for over the weekend and bought some snails. Trochus and nassarius. The trochus were active immediately. While the nassarius weren’t moving around. I’m hoping they make it. I love how they stir the sand bed. I also picked up a small blasto frag.

I also ordered one of those reef brite mini magnum leds. I ordered it in the uva spectrum. Really just messing around to see how it works. I also won the 2nd prize in @The Aquatic Arsenal raffle over the weekend. I have literally never won anything so it really made my weekend.

I am contemplating adding a 4th fish. I’d love a 2nd lionfish or if I can find a large chalk bass. I’m leaning towards the bass.

 

[tomxreef]

Small update:

tank is just humming along. I have some aiptasia going on. I ordered some f aiptasia so we will see how that works out. I added my mp10’s for some much needed flow as well. Nothing really new coral wise. I’ll be making a few purchases after Christmas. I got a few pictures this morning after my water change.

 

[tomxreef]

2 weeks ago I went to an lfs to grab some ghost shrimp. I’ve noticed that this lfs like pretty much all the ones in my area are getting to be extremely expensive and the livestock isn’t really anything to write home about. While I was there I noticed they had frags of elegance corals. It has been years since I tried an elegance. I figured if they were still alive and looked good I’d buy one on my next visit. Yesterday was the day. While other lps were bleaching the elegance were doing great. I figured what the heck and picked one up.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Looking good! With those stony corals, you might have to start dosing 2 part

 

[tomxreef]

Looking good! With those stony corals, you might have to start dosing 2 part

Thank you! I only have 2 lps in the tank. A small blasto frag and the elegance. The rest are softies. I usually try and do a water change once a week or so. I do need to start running carbon though.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Thank you! I only have 2 lps in the tank. A small blasto frag and the elegance. The rest are softies. I usually try and do a water change once a week or so. I do need to start running carbon though.

Just keep an eye on those levels. I only had a hammer and a frogspawn in my tank and they sucked up a bit of calcium and alk between wc’s. When they get big, they are calcium guzzlers LOL

 

[tomxreef]

Quick update:

Every thing is doing pretty well. I did have a pretty significant algae outbreak. I siphoned the sand bed and I am assuming I released a ton of silicates into the water. I cut back the metal halide light period to 4 hours and ran some phosguard and got it back under control within a week.
All the fish and coral are doing great. I also added a moon light in the form of a reefbrite mini mag uv strip. I made my own bracket and I think the results don’t look half bad. I still need to work on cable management.

 

[tomxreef]

Small update:
I think I have cyano. Added a grubes gorgonian and a Vargas cespituliaria

 

[ReefJunkie28]

Small update:
I think I have cyano. Added a grubes gorgonian and a Vargas cespituliaria

hey man, mind if I pm you a question? thinking about upgrading my return

 

[tomxreef]

hey man, mind if I pm you a question? thinking about upgrading my return

Yes of course

 

[tomxreef]

I was unsure whether to post this but this is the state the tank is in. I am going through an ongoing bout of major depression and the anhedonia associated with it. I let the tank go pretty much completely. I currently am in pretty intensive therapy and one of the things that I am working on is self care.

So I decided to bring this tank back from the brink. First order of business was to get the tunze 9004 back up. It pretty much broke in immediately. Next was to get an actual media basket. In it I placed a new bag of chemipure elite. I am going to let it run as is for a few days before I go with a water change maybe this weekend. I will be manually pulling algae in the meantime.

 

[tomxreef]

Quick update. I changed the bag of purigen. I’m seeing a slight reduction of algae. Admittedly I haven’t pulled any manually. There’s just not enough time in the day.

 

[Stosky]

Glad to see an update and hear you battling through and reviving this tank even with an intense bout of depression! I've got an IM40 that I'm going to be setting in a couple of weeks here also and have been anxiously waiting in anticipation for months now. Hope to see more updates and less algae in the future!

 

[wonroc]

go lfs get 10 turbos snails