LPS IM Nuvo 38... EXT?

[Kodski]

Hello Everyone!

I'm finally far enough along in my build process to start sharing my new build!

The Goal
I'd like for this tank to be budget friendly LPS and softy only tank. I'm utilizing several pieces of equipment that I've got laying around, and almost everything else was acquired second hand for a good deal. The tank is also one that I got in a trade some time ago, and has been laying around until I found the right purpose for it.


A little background
This will be my fourth saltwater tank, however, what I'm considering my first "traditional" setup. My first two saltwater tanks were AIO's, with my third being my first aquarium with a sump. The sump of my current tank is in my basement though, and why I'm calling this tank my first "traditional" setup. The plan for this tank is to have the sump directly beneath the display with all the equipment located within the stand. My existing tank will still stay up and running, but will soon be upgraded to something larger. During that move, I'm going to be shifting the focus of that tank towards an SPS dominated system. My wife and I both love LPS corals though, and aren't ready to give them up, so that's the whole reason for adding this tank to our house.

Main Tank Equipment List
Aquarium - Innovative Marine Nuvo 38 with a DIY ghost overflow
Sump - Eshopps AR-100 4th Gen
Protein Skimmer - Tunze DOC 9410 Ultra Reef Borei UKB-120
Lighting - Kessil AP700 with Lumen Bar for added pop
Flow - Dual Innovative Marine Spin Stream Nozzles & Jebao SLW-10
Return - Jebao DCP-3500
Heater - Eheim Jagger 150W
ATO - Tunze 3152 Nano

Stock List
1 - ORA Orchid Dottyback
2 - Talbot Damsels
1 - Algae Blenny

Clean-up Crew
1 - Fighting Conch
A handful of blue leg hermits
A few astrea snails


Full Tank Shot 6/23

Most Current Full Tank Shot 10/22

 

[Kodski]

I'm starting out with an old Innovative Marine Nuvo 38 AIO tank that I traded some Zoa's for quite some time ago. AIO's are great... if you like to not have a lot of room to work and having to listen to the hum of the equipment in the back. I've done two, its not my cup of tea. I will always prefer a tank with a sump.

So my first task was to remove the AIO compartments. It took a while, but I was able to get the main panel broken and removed to then remove the baffles. Once I cleaned up the remaining silicone I was left with a very nice looking tank.

I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of this process.

Next, I decided to try and make my own version of the overflow found on Innovative Marine's EXT series of tanks. I had some 1/4" plate glass and a sheet of 1/4" black acrylic so I set to work.

First was getting a notch cutout on the back of the aquarium. I used two holes to create the bottom inside corners of the notch.

Next I used a tile blade on my 4 1/2" angle grinder to cut the straight lines. I did try to score and snap first, but it wasn't working.

As you can see, it worked, but it was pretty rough. I working for a quartz and granite fabricator means, I usually have diamond sanding and polishing pads laying around. So I took a 200 grit quartz polishing pad on my angle grinder and cleaned everything up to make sure there were no sharp edges.

Next I cut a piece of black acrylic to cover the notch. This will create the overflow teeth for the weir. I used some straight edges and a 1/4" upcut bit on my palm router to make the teeth. It worked great!

Next it was time to work on the external glass box. Using my manual tile cutter (a great way to cut glass btw!) I cut all the pieces up and again, used my 200 grit diamond polishing pad to clean up all the edges. Here it is all taped up.

Before I could silicone it together, I had to drill the holes for the plumbing in the bottom pane. I decided on two 3/4" bulkheads for the overflow. The sump was my main contributing factor for deciding on two versus three. The sump only has one bulkhead for a drain currently. I drilled both holes center of the box, this way if I change my mind, it wont be impossible to add a third bulkhead if needed. Also, tons of room for pvc and my hand for cleaning! I managed to get silicone it together this afternoon.

While I was at it, I also decided to silicone the overflow weir to the back of the tank. I used some boards and clamps to hold it to the back wall.

I'm going to give everything overnight to dry and tomorrow I'm planning to silicone the box to the outside of the tank. From there its onto building the stand!

 

[Kodski]

6/7
Started working on the stand. With a few hours worth of work it’s off to a good start. I’ll sand it down and do another round of wood filler tomorrow. Then final sand and finish. I think I’ll just go with a nice polyurethane clear with no stain. I like the nice light look of the plywood.

I designed the stand to be easy to work around. So rather than hinges for doors, I used $15 worth of magnets and inset them into the stand and door panels. The front and the right of the stand come off. The left is brad nailed in place as that will likely be up against a wall and not accessible anyways.

6/11
I finished the stand up over the last few days. I went ahead and did 4 coats of clear polyurethane over the outside. For the inside I used Zinzzer 1,2,3 primer and gave everything one good coat. I like the white for for making the inside of the stand a bit brighter to work in. I also went ahead and used some foam floor tiles as a base. This way it’s water resistant but also helps reduce noise transfer through the sump.

I test fit the sump to figure out the best orientation. I think as shown is the best for plumbing and extra space. I also made sure it was easy enough to access the skimmer, refugium, and filter sock.

While everything was curing I had to figure out my return nozzles and drain lines into the sump.

The E-shopps AR-100 only comes with a single drain bulkhead, and I wanted to use at least two. I decided to cut out the piece of acrylic with the bulkhead and make a new removeable piece out of 1/2 PVC scrap. Having it removeable also makes it a lot easier to clean that chamber for the future, so it was a win-win.

For the returns, I was originally going to drill two holes on either side of the overflow. When I mocked everything up, it seemed like the spin stream nozzles would be too far apart to really be effective. With one of my goals being as few wavemakers as possible, I decided to mount them to the acrylic overflow wall. It ended up turning out better than I thought it would and only took a few minutes to setup. I’ll have to run the return over the back or side of the overflow but I figure that shouldn’t be a big deal. I do plan on making a hood to contain any light spill, so that will hide the return line anyways.

 

[Kodski]

Saved

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Any updates on your tank?

 

[Kodski]

Any updates on your tank?

Well your comment provoked me to actually work on the tank a bit. Unfortunately no major updates. I had a few urgent projects come up so I’ve been working on those first. Mostly building a few reptile terrariums for our animals. I also picked up a new main tank, a 7ft 210 gallon tank. So this little tank kinda took a back seat for the time being. I did decide to silicone the overflow to the back of the tank yesterday. But otherwise that’s where the tank sits.

 

[Kodski]

Small update

Started working on the stand. With a few hours worth of work it’s off to a good start. I’ll sand it down and do another round of wood filler tomorrow. Then final sand and finish. I think I’ll just go with a nice polyurethane clear with no stain. I like the nice light look of the plywood.

I designed the stand to be easy to work around. So rather than hinges for doors, I used $15 worth of magnets and inset them into the stand and door panels. The front and the right of the stand come off. The left is brad nailed in place as that will likely be up against a wall and not accessible anyways.

 

[Kodski]

I updated post #3

Tank is now in its resting place and it’s time to start plumbing.

 

[AZReef13]

Nice build so far.....

 

[Kodski]

I finished plumbing the tank last night. I’m hoping I’ll be able to level the tank and clean up the lettering on the pipes before I fill it with water tonight. I also raided my wife’s craft room and managed to find some black vinyl I put on the back of the tank before I started on the plumbing.

 

[Kodski]

The tank is wet!

I put together the aquascape out is some caribsea purple reef rock I picked up used a while back. I’ll take some better pictures once I get the light’s situated. But in the end I went for lots of hiding places and tried to create as much space for the corals I want to keep as possible. Trying to plan placement and the growth of corals as I went. In the end I like the outcome a lot and I think once it’s grown in it will be stunning.

Tonight I filled it with RO/DI water to check for leaks, which, So far none. I tuned the return pump and overflow for 70% power which seems like a pretty decent flow rate. I typically like running equipment at 80% or lower power ranges as that tends to be long term reliable as opposed to constantly pegged at 100%. I’ll let it run overnight and if all is good, I’ll be adding salt and sand tomorrow.

On a side note, the spin streams move quite fast at the flow rate I have the return pump at. I may play with the flow rate over the next few days to try and dial it in. I like where the flow is at so far in the tank as it seems well suited for LPS. But there is quite a bit of noise coming from the filter sock which wont be acceptable to the wife.

 

[steveschuerger]

Looking good. I don‘t have room for discrete sump myself but I’ve come to love the AIO form factor. My larger tank is an IM SR60. Definitely like the quality of IM tanks . I also like the scape that you made.

 

[Kodski]

Looking good. I don‘t have room for discrete sump myself but I’ve come to love the AIO form factor. My larger tank is an IM SR60. Definitely like the quality of IM tanks . I also like the scape that you made.

I started the hobby with AIO tanks and I did like them. Once I went bigger though, I plumbed my sump into my basement where everything is easy to access and quite. Even going to a sump under the stand, its difficult to work in and I find myself wanting more room. Lol
In the end, I think its all down to perspective and preference. Maybe a larger AIO like the SR60 would have enough room for me to not feel so space restricted. I wouldn't mind trying a larger IM AIO tank, because like you said they have some nice quality tanks.

 

[steveschuerger]

I started the hobby with AIO tanks and I did like them. Once I went bigger though, I plumbed my sump into my basement where everything is easy to access and quite. Even going to a sump under the stand, its difficult to work in and I find myself wanting more room. Lol
In the end, I think its all down to perspective and preference. Maybe a larger AIO like the SR60 would have enough room for me to not feel so space restricted. I wouldn't mind trying a larger IM AIO tank, because like you said they have some nice quality tanks.

Yeah if I had room, the sr80 or 120 (if I didn’t rent) would be dream tanks. Here’s a shot of the 60 I just took. It’s pretty filled. I’m adding one or two more torches and then leaving alone as far as add ins I think.

 

[Kodski]

Yeah if I had room, the sr80 or 120 (if I didn’t rent) would be dream tanks. Here’s a shot of the 60 I just took. It’s pretty filled. I’m adding one or two more torches and then leaving alone as far as add ins I think.

Wow that looks great! LPS heavy it looks like. Exactly what I’m hoping to head toward with my tank. What lights are you using?

I currently have an 80gal tank in my office. I’ll be switching it out for a 7ft 220 gallon tank soon. I plan on making that tank SPS dominant. While big tanks are awesome, I think small tanks have a certain charm about them and half the reason I’m setting this tank up is because I miss my smaller tanks I had prior.

 

[steveschuerger]

Wow that looks great! LPS heavy it looks like. Exactly what I’m hoping to head toward with my tank. What lights are you using?

I currently have an 80gal tank in my office. I’ll be switching it out for a 7ft 220 gallon tank soon. I plan on making that tank SPS dominant. While big tanks are awesome, I think small tanks have a certain charm about them and half the reason I’m setting this tank up is because I miss my smaller tanks I had prior.

ReebBreeders 32” Photon 2. Mostly LPS. A few SPS like montis and the poras. A couple Acro but those I’m trying to get going in the 22 galllon cube I started a few weeks ago.

 

[Kodski]

ReebBreeders 32” Photon 2. Mostly LPS. A few SPS like montis and the poras. A couple Acro but those I’m trying to get going in the 22 galllon cube I started a few weeks ago.

My wife would love your goni-world sign. She loves goni's. In fact a large portion of this tank will likely be goni's.

 

[Kodski]

Well I kept working away at the todo list for the tank today. I added a heater, salt and sand today. I also figured out how I wanted to hang the lights. I decided to build a hood for the tank, as it would be the easiest way to mount lights. Plus the added benefit of the lights not shinning in our eyes when we sit at the dinning table. I just finished putting the last coat of clear on the hood. So in the morning all that's needed to do is to mount the lights to the hood.

To cycle the tank, I'll be adding a few chunks of live rock rubble from my 80 gallon tank which is well established. I'm not sure what the first fish will be but I promised my wife that this tank could be her choice of stocking plus a few things I must have. She loves purple fish and blenny's which will definitely be reflected in the stocking.

 

[Kodski]

Here are a few pictures of the hood. I also snapped a few pictures on the aqua scape under the lights.

 

[Kodski]

Well I'm disappointed to say that the Tunze DOC 4910 will not be working in this sump. Its simply too large and making a racket due to how I have to have it orientated. So I went ahead an ordered a new skimmer. After a lot of going back and forth I decided to bite the bullet on the Ultra Reef Borei UKB-120. My only reason for hesitation was my main reason for wanting that specific skimmer. That is, the size of it, it leaves the most room of any skimmer in my skimmer chamber. I may actually be able to fit a reactor in there now if I should need to. But its slightly under rated in size for this size of tank. I eventually decided by looking at reviews but also comparing flow rates and air draw rates of the other skimmers that I was looking at, that the rating is conservative. The reviews of this skimmer and other Ultra Reef skimmers also say that they are quite conservative on their tank sizing. I love my Reef Octopus skimmers, and I had a hard time swaying from them, but the fact that it was nearly half the price of a Regal 150sss help make that an easy decision. The new skimmer should be Thursday, I can't wait to get it into action.