Kmore1219 Nuvo 20 Build

[Kmore1219]

Hi everyone, this will be my first saltwater tank and I am super super stoked about it. Ive decided to go with a Nuvo 20 since I've looked at a lot of other threads about it and I'm loving the look and versatility of it. Since I'm a college student I will be attempting to run off a college budget for this (luckily I just landed a solid job) which brings up my first question for everyone, where to stand my tank. I have a huge desk from Ikea http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60245721/ and I only use about half of it so I figured one side of it will be perfect for the tank, my only thought is just how good it will be at holding the weight. I hope to not spend the extra $100 for a stand since I can definitely use that money in other areas.

As for what my equipment is going to be so far I have decided on:
-Reef Saver Rock
- 20lb Arag-Alive sand
-Red Sea Coral Salt Mix
-Cobalt Aquatics 75 Watt heater
-Kessil A160WE Light
- Definitely going to be using the filter socks that came to use some carbon, heard about using Chemi-Pure Nano and may go that route.

Obviously with having the Kessil I definitely plan on adding some corals although since this is my first tank I plan on sticking to the easier ones to care for, any good suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I am hoping for some suggestions on a good powerhead and other useful equipment. Since my new job is work from home I plan on maintaining the tank with water changes and will easily be able to top off the tank on my own until I splurge on the ATO.

Sorry for such the long post with so much information, Im super excited for this tank and want to be sure to start it off as best as I can.

 

[Joeganja]

Do you plan on adding a skimmer?

 

[Kmore1219]

I wasn't planning on going for a skimmer right away, everything I've read about them for a 20 gallon has been that I can get away without having one if I maintain a good water changing schedule.

 

[Joeganja]

I wasn't planning on going for a skimmer right away, everything I've read about them for a 20 gallon has been that I can get away without having one if I maintain a good water changing schedule.

Makes sense. With a smaller tank parameters change quicker than larger ones so you wanna make sure you can keep the most stable water parameter possible. Try and see if you can maintain the same water parameters like nitrates and if that works for you then you don't need a skimmer. I know its an extra cost but it'll help in the long run even if you do water changes. If water changes are your main way to keep down nutrients and nitrates then you'll end up having algae.

 

[Kmore1219]

Makes sense. With a smaller tank parameters change quicker than larger ones so you wanna make sure you can keep the most stable water parameter possible. Try and see if you can maintain the same water parameters like nitrates and if that works for you then you don't need a skimmer. I know its an extra cost but it'll help in the long run even if you do water changes. If water changes are your main way to keep down nutrients and nitrates then you'll end up having algae.

Knowing myself I will probably end up getting one in the future probably before I start adding corals to the tank and spending all my money on them.

 

[Joeganja]

Hi everyone, this will be my first saltwater tank and I am super super stoked about it. Ive decided to go with a Nuvo 20 since I've looked at a lot of other threads about it and I'm loving the look and versatility of it. Since I'm a college student I will be attempting to run off a college budget for this (luckily I just landed a solid job) which brings up my first question for everyone, where to stand my tank. I have a huge desk from Ikea http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60245721/ and I only use about half of it so I figured one side of it will be perfect for the tank, my only thought is just how good it will be at holding the weight. I hope to not spend the extra $100 for a stand since I can definitely use that money in other areas.

As for what my equipment is going to be so far I have decided on:
-Reef Saver Rock
- 20lb Arag-Alive sand
-Red Sea Coral Salt Mix
-Cobalt Aquatics 75 Watt heater
-Kessil A160WE Light
- Definitely going to be using the filter socks that came to use some carbon, heard about using Chemi-Pure Nano and may go that route.

Obviously with having the Kessil I definitely plan on adding some corals although since this is my first tank I plan on sticking to the easier ones to care for, any good suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I am hoping for some suggestions on a good powerhead and other useful equipment. Since my new job is work from home I plan on maintaining the tank with water changes and will easily be able to top off the tank on my own until I splurge on the ATO.

Sorry for such the long post with so much information, Im super excited for this tank and want to be sure to start it off as best as I can.

Skimmers are the main filtration when it comes to reef tanks. And if your looking for power heads it all depends on if you want controllability, what types of corals you want to keep, and how much you want to spend. For example the koralia pumps are cost effective and work great and have great warranty services. They make take up more space than an mp10 where it has the smallest footprint of any pump and the wire sits on the outside of the tank but it's around $240. If you plan to keep soft corals then the koralia nano has a smaller footprint than the other koralias and is around $25-30 but only puts out I believe 200-250gph. Where the mp10 puts out 1,000gph and is controllable and flow can be turned down. There are other pumps just depends on what you want to spend. You will find with a smaller tank that parameters change quickly so an ato is highly recommended because it will keep those parameters as stable as possible

 

[Kmore1219]

Skimmers are the main filtration when it comes to reef tanks. And if your looking for power heads it all depends on if you want controllability, what types of corals you want to keep, and how much you want to spend. For example the koralia pumps are cost effective and work great and have great warranty services. They make take up more space than an mp10 where it has the smallest footprint of any pump and the wire sits on the outside of the tank but it's around $240. If you plan to keep soft corals then the koralia nano has a smaller footprint than the other koralias and is around $25-30 but only puts out I believe 200-250gph. Where the mp10 puts out 1,000gph and is controllable and flow can be turned down. There are other pumps just depends on what you want to spend. You will find with a smaller tank that parameters change quickly so an ato is highly recommended because it will keep those parameters as stable as possible

Thanks for so much info! I was looking into the koralia earlier today and was not sure on how much gph would be necessary. Im planning on keeping mainly soft corals and possibly a few lps, definitely saving the sps for when I have more knowledge on corals.

 

[Joeganja]

Thanks for so much info! I was looking into the koralia earlier today and was not sure on how much gph would be necessary. Im planning on keeping mainly soft corals and possibly a few lps, definitely saving the sps for when I have more knowledge on corals.

You can probably get away with two koralia nanos. Your return pump or pumps idk how many the Nuvo 20 has but if you have one what you can do is get a better and bigger and stronger return pump that's what I did with my innovative marine lagoon 25. Upgraded the pump and made it stronger. So you eliminate the need for so many power heads. Get a 300-500gph maybe even a controllable one and you'll be good.

 

[Kmore1219]

You can probably get away with two koralia nanos. Your return pump or pumps idk how many the Nuvo 20 has but if you have one what you can do is get a better and bigger and stronger return pump that's what I did with my innovative marine lagoon 25. Upgraded the pump and made it stronger. So you eliminate the need for so many power heads. Get a 300-500gph maybe even a controllable one and you'll be good.

It says it comes with one 211GPH pump so I was looking into upgrading that eventually. I found a Koralia Nano on amazon that does 565 GPH so I will probably go with that first and then see how it works out before upgrading the return pump. Would you say do two powerheads and upgrade the pump or just one powerhead with upgraded pump?

 

[Kmore1219]

Today my tank, salt, and rock came in. Tomorrow the powerhead and heater get here. I can not contain my excitement for this build, Ive been waiting on it for almost 3 years now!

 

[Kmore1219]

 

[Kmore1219]

Quick shot of the tank waiting on my desk.

 

[revhtree]

Nice!

 

[Darth George]

After setting up mine the very first thing I did was get an ato! Evap is a pain on this tank. I went with the tunze nano. No trouble.

 

[larry reed]

this is my 15 gal tall tank , with a refugium witch i made out of a ten gal tank had to so i can get a decent Skimmer running , my wet dry is pumping with a eheim 1262. and a canister filter to take water to the refugium i just cant keep my PH at 8.2 . falls real low at night i got to add Kalk+2 from brightwell Aquatics .