My New Nuvo 20

zaekor · Nov 26, 2016

(Sorry if formating is bad, on my phone)
Hello everyone!
Today I decided to pick up a brand new Nuvo 20 aquarium. I previously had a 20 gallon long tank that I absolutely hated. I disliked the form facter, I disliked the giant rims, it had a little crease in the bottom rim that looked like it was about to snap, and it just overall looked bad.
Since Nemos Reef in Charlotte, NC was having a anniversary sale, and the tank was $20 off, that I would pick it up. (Happy 10th anniversary nemos reef!)

Anyways, on to the tank.
It is a Nuvo 20 aquarium with a homemade stand. Currently I have:
Aragalive Special Grade Sand (I hate Fiji pink)
Chinese black box leds (165w adjustable)
Stock return pump 211 gph(needs replacement, loud)
100 watt eheim that barely fits, will buy a smaller one
Hydor 425 GPH powerhead, need less powerful one

Things I will be getting soon:
ATO
Protein Skimmer
Media reactor
More rock

Things I would like to have:
New light
New powerhead

Current livestock from 20long:
2 snowflake clown fish
Some green star polyp
6 Aestrea snails
2 red hermits (???)
Dead frogspawn :(, was a birthday present too which makes it worse
1 nassarius snail (love these guys)

Possible livestock:
Royal Gramma
Some sort of sea star
Emerald crab
Pygmy angel, need more info first
Anemone
LPS and soft corals, I love euphyilla, mushrooms and really any soft corals. I like birds nest and montipora as well, but need to wait a while until I get sps.
Firefish?
Goby and pistol shrimp pair

Overall I am very exited for this tank. I will update this thread as the tank progresses and changes, hopefully for the better.

Now here are some pictures from my phone. Keep in mind there will be foggy water and a little bit of dirty glass but this is an hour or two after setup.

I do have a limited budget of around $800-1000 so I am trying to keep the equipment cost pretty low, which is the reason why I didn't go for a red Sea and an ecotech radion[emoji14]I have been waiting and saving for a while to get this tank, and since I am only 13 I can't really get a job or anything. I am doing my best, trying to buy used whenever I can but not compromise too much and buy pure crap. I don't have money but I have a dream of a great tank!
Hope you guys are along for the ride!
And of course, any recommendations or criticism is welcome!
-Mitch

zaekor · Nov 27, 2016

Today the water has cleared up a lot gladly. Need to get some carbon in the overflow and it will clear up in no time!

zaekor · Nov 27, 2016

USMC4Life · Nov 27, 2016

Probably a good idea is to get Boyd Enterprises Chemi-Pure Filtration Media "blue" it's safe for corals and for a small tank it will last up to 5 months. Also not expensive.

USMC4Life · Nov 27, 2016

On sale you can get 2 of them for about $25 that can last you almost a year in a 20 gallon tank.

zaekor · Nov 27, 2016

I use chemipure in my freshwater, I will check it out for this nuvo though, thanks! Do you think I should just put it in the filter sock? @USMC4Life

USMC4Life · Nov 27, 2016

You could but I would not just so it is not expended as fast. Because then you will need to clean it out as well. I tend to use it in the sump or the canister filter. I tend to have 2 to 3 filters going at one time. As to stager the cleaning so there is less likelihood of a crash.

zaekor · Nov 27, 2016

I don't have a sump or canister, the nuvo is an all in one. I think putting it in the socks will work fine until I get a reactor.

USMC4Life · Nov 27, 2016

I would say under or in one of the sections. Because if it's in the sock it will be covered in the detritus and that will cut down on the effectiveness and life span. In my opinion. Let us know what you end up doing.

__Jreef__ · Nov 28, 2016

I suggest you get a media basket
I use one in my nuvo 40, I use Poly filter floss on top Chemi-pure elite and purigen.
Looks good so far keep it up!

zaekor · Nov 28, 2016

Thank you @JLV8222, I was thinking about getting a basket. I just ordered 2 5.5 Oz bags of chemipure blue on amazon, so maybe once I get those I'll grab a media basket from my LFS.

USMC4Life · Nov 28, 2016

Look this stuff up too. I use it in my mixed reef tank. http://www.seachem.com/index.php

zaekor · Nov 28, 2016

@USMC4Life I use a ton of seachem products in my freshwater tank, I will take a look at their saltwater additives.

USMC4Life · Nov 28, 2016

Actually it's not chemicals.

zaekor · Dec 2, 2016

Alright, update on the tank. Chemipure blue came in yesterday and already seeing a pretty good improvement. Currently not home and haven't been all day, school, but when I do I will see how it is doing. Put it in last night right under the filtersock, so that the chemipure won't get so dirty.
I'll attach some pics. Sorry if they are sideways, I don't know why. Will be fixed next time.

zaekor · Dec 2, 2016

Funny story with the chemipure. It actually got caught up in shipping because it had to be opened, probably because they thought it was drugs or chemicals or something. One of the containers didn't have the seal on it when I opened it (like the ones you see under orange juice lids when you first open it) and the tape on the box wasn't the original amazon tape, it was just clear, and I saw some cut marks on the box. Chemipure is fine and there is nothing wrong with it, but it's still funny to think that someone somewhere thought it was drugs and opened it.

__Jreef__ · Dec 2, 2016

Mitch Zakocs said:
Funny story with the chemipure. It actually got caught up in shipping because it had to be opened, probably because they thought it was drugs or chemicals or something. One of the containers didn't have the seal on it when I opened it (like the ones you see under orange juice lids when you first open it) and the tape on the box wasn't the original amazon tape, it was just clear, and I saw some cut marks on the box. Chemipure is fine and there is nothing wrong with it, but it's still funny to think that someone somewhere thought it was drugs and opened it.

I experience the same thing with all the stuff I buy from Amazon, Chemipure, Carbon, Purigen & Chemipure blue.
I guess I'm not the only one, I'm going to give a try and buy next time from one of the vendors and maybe I can get a seal bottle.

I hope your water clears soon.

zaekor · Dec 4, 2016

Did some research, Foggy water is probably from a bacterial bloom. No big deal, I'll wait it out. Getting a protein skimmer soon I think, should I do Tunze 9001 or Desktop Ghost??

zaekor · Dec 4, 2016

New corals today! Only got two, but it's something. They look a lot better in real life. Here they are:

$30 Torch, 3 heads. Green bodies with slightly darker green tentacles and pink tips.

Acan that hasn't really opened yet, $20. Red middle with dullish blue outside.

Going to do a big online order soon. Hopefully with the next live sale of one of the r2r sponsor.