My first nano build - IM Nuvo 30L

[hyeteck]

Used to have a 90 gal reef tank about 15 years ago. Finally decided to get back in the hobby with a Nuvo 30L build! Just received my tank and parts today. The tank came in perfect condition but some of the equipment(light, controller, ato, skimmer, etc) from a reputable online retailer was soaked so bad that the boxes were disintegrated when I opened the shipment. Looks like the live sand bags leaked since the sand bags were bone dry. Was surprised they didn't ship the sand separately or at least seal it extremely well. Not sure if I should wait another week for replacement parts or bite the bullet and just hope I don't deal with issues in the future.

Had room on the credenza in the living room so I saved some cash by not getting a stand. Got lucky and it was perfectly level.

Parts List:
- 2 x Kessil a160we lights with gooseneck mounts
- Kessil light controller
- Tunze 9004 Skimmer
- Tunze 3155 ATO
- Tunze refugium light (for chaeto)
- 5 Gallon Trigger ATO reservoir
- Eheim 100w heater
- Vortech MP10qd powerhead
- Chemipure Blue
- Factory 538gph mighty jet return pump
- Factory filter sock
- Factory custom caddy with filters

One of the kessil lights was dry so I set it up. The goosenecks are such a pain to get perfectly into position! Once in the right position, they seem to be sturdy enough to not move.

Here are pics of the two items that got the worst of it. They probably still work, i'm just worried about long term issues.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi @hyeteck

#WelcometoR2R

Nice looking tank and goes great there..

I would contact your vendor if you are worried about the items that got wet. The skimmer and ATO may be ok, but the electrical things may be an issue. You would know better when opening how wet they were. If something like the controller itself was damp I may ask for a replacement. Depending on where you purchased you may be able to swap. Better to wait a week than have issues later when the tank is running

 

[hyeteck]

Hi @hyeteck

#WelcometoR2R

Nice looking tank and goes great there..

I would contact your vendor if you are worried about the items that got wet. The skimmer and ATO may be ok, but the electrical things may be an issue. You would know better when opening how wet they were. If something like the controller itself was damp I may ask for a replacement. Depending on where you purchased you may be able to swap. Better to wait a week than have issues later when the tank is running

Thank you!

I reached out the vendor and they shipped out replacement light, powerhead and controller. The ATO and skimmer was out of stock but i'm going to install it this week and see if they function properly. The skimmer box was beat up pretty bad but the ATO wasn't too bad.

 

[hyeteck]

I filled the tank up with water and heard some creaking from the credenza. Was a bit worried with the weight so I drained most of the water and got some wood from home depot to re-inforce the credenza. I add a 2x3 beam across the inside and supported the beam with 2x2 pieces. The bottom board of the credenza is mostly empty but it has supports on the edges and the very center which was perfect because thats where the new support legs sit on as well.

Here are some pics of the newly added support beams and legs. I stained them black to match the hardware on the credenza.

 

[hyeteck]

Got my rocks last night as well so I stayed up until 6am doing all the aquascaping with my wife. it was addicting.

One of the pieces I ordered was a pedestal but it ended up being way too big for the tank. I tried breaking a small piece off but ended up taking too much off. I realized I could glue it on the pedestal and create some shelves so I broke another piece off as well and use the two chunks as shelves on the pedestal.

Here is the end result.

 

[revhtree]

I already love it! I have a thing for these tank dimensions! Looking forward to following along and heck I may have to set one up now! HA!

 

[hyeteck]

Got my replacement parts and set them up yesterday. Realized the skimmer doesn't fit in the second chamber from left or right side so I tried putting it in the middle chamber. Unfortunately there are tiny bubbles that get sucked in by the return pump and pumped out into the display area.

I ended up putting the skimmer in the first chamber from the right side and now have an IM caddy which I can't use anywhere. Ordered an intank caddy so I can use the second chamber from the left for the chemipure. Going to grow chaeto in the second chamber from the right.

Was a bit disappointed with the Vortech powerhead. The cable from the pump to the controller is hard wired. I wanted to put the controller inside my cabinet but don't have a big enough hole to pass the controller through. Might have to cut open a big hole in the back to make that happen. What are your thoughts on the position of the powerhead? Should I move it towards the back of the tank instead of the front to allow fish to swim comfortably in the front?

Finally got the ATO system hooked up as well with the trigger 5 gallon reservoir. Perfect fit in the cabinet.

 

[Zoajohn]

Lookin good! I've had a SPS 30L running for a year and a half now. The best thing I ever did was add a single t5 to supplement my LEDS. It really helps with shading especially on both ends. The one I have is the "sunblaster" from ebay. Pretty cheap and gets the job done. They even come with hardware to chain together multiple on a single power cord. I've got an ATI blue plus in it

 

[hyeteck]

Got a pair of surface skimmers from intank to raise the water level and an intank caddy for my chemipure to fit in the second chamber.

The surface simmer clips prevented me from putting the screen back on the tank. I was thinking of cutting out part of the screen frame to allow me to put the cover back on but instead I just put a tiny dot of glue on the top edges of the surface skimmers so they would stay in place without the clip. This allowed me to put the screen cover back on.

The screen cover sits just above the surface skimmers now.

The water level is about 1/8th of the inch below the bottom of the screen cover.

Also, since my cycle has finished, i've added a few items to the tank. Picked up a random poly frag, green BTA, da vinci clown and a hammer coral from the LFS last week.

I also received a small shipment from LiveAquaria today. Got an orange spotted goby and a green mandarin. Added some pods for the mandarin as well.

LiveAquaria will be delivering my cleanup crew tomorrow. Did a small (3 gallon) water change today and dosed Alkalinity, Magnesium and Calcium to bring up some of the levels.

These are the parameters on the tank as it stands today.

PH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2-5
Alkalinity: 8 dKH
Calcium: 420ppm
Magnesium: 1150
Salinity: 1.0245

I'm thinking of bringing the salinity up a little to 1.0255, the magnesium to 1300, the calcium to 460 and the Alkalinity to 11 dKH.

 

[wasafuzz]

Hi, tanks looking great. Are you going to try to grow any sps? If so, do you think your lights will be sufficient? I have same tank and need to upgrade lights. Thanks.

 

[hyeteck]

Hi, tanks looking great. Are you going to try to grow any sps? If so, do you think your lights will be sufficient? I have same tank and need to upgrade lights. Thanks.

I'll be getting a par meter soon to check intensity at various levels. Once I know that, I can then figure out where i'll be putting my corals.

 

[Obsessed Reefer]

Tank looks great so far. Is the mandarin captive breed, or trained on prepared foods? If not, it’s gonna be rough to keep it alive without a well established copepod population, or weekly/biweekly dosing of pods to the tank.

In terms of the Vortech cable, I think if you open up the controller you can remove the cable from inside and route it through your stand.

 

[hyeteck]

Tank looks great so far. Is the mandarin captive breed, or trained on prepared foods? If not, it’s gonna be rough to keep it alive without a well established copepod population, or weekly/biweekly dosing of pods to the tank.

In terms of the Vortech cable, I think if you open up the controller you can remove the cable from inside and route it through your stand.

Its not captive bred unfortunately. I was hoping the copepods would colonize and keep the mandarin fed.

Thanks for the vortech advice. I'll look into that since its the only piece of equipment that is not in my little cabinet.

 

[Obsessed Reefer]

Its not captive bred unfortunately. I was hoping the copepods would colonize and keep the mandarin fed.

Unfortunately the mandarin will devour the population before they have time to reproduce and populate. You could start hatching baby brine shrimp and put the mandarin in a capture box and try to get it to eat live baby brine shrimp, and mix frozen food in with it to see if it’ll start eating frozen, but otherwise I’d recommend seeing if a local reefer or local fish store will house it for you while your tank matures. Most people say a minimum of 6 months with a stable refugium, if not a year, before adding a mandarin. I wish there was something else, as they are a beautiful fish, and my personal favorite, just the unfortunate facts of mandarins.

 

[hyeteck]

Unfortunately the mandarin will devour the population before they have time to reproduce and populate. You could start hatching baby brine shrimp and put the mandarin in a capture box and try to get it to eat live baby brine shrimp, and mix frozen food in with it to see if it’ll start eating frozen, but otherwise I’d recommend seeing if a local reefer or local fish store will house it for you while your tank matures. Most people say a minimum of 6 months with a stable refugium, if not a year, before adding a mandarin. I wish there was something else, as they are a beautiful fish, and my personal favorite, just the unfortunate facts of mandarins.

dang, i was hoping the pods would be enough. I really like the mandarins, they are very unique and beautiful looking fish. I had one in my 90 gallon years ago but that was a much larger tank and more live rock for pods to colonize in. The problem with pods is that it's hard for me to see if they're still around or not. I'll dose more pods in about a week or so if I notice him not eating anything off the rocks.

 

[hyeteck]

Tank is doing well. The pods for multiplied like crazy so the mandarin is staying fed which is super nice.

I designed and printed a cover for my mp10.

Picked up a sand sifting starfish and a GSP today. Put the GSP on its own little island so it doesn't grow out of control.

 

[hyeteck]

Got a cleaner shrimp and a couple mushrooms today. Gave up my da Vinci clown to a local fish store as well. It was just sticking around at the top corner of the tank not doing much.