My ULM Office Tank- Nuvo 30L

[New&no clue]

Hi,weigh in apex to GHL,before pulling trigger.
never used either but lots of talk lately can link you to thread in interested..

Sure, this is way down the line as my focus right now is the 180. But I’m sure once that one is set my attention will turn to this one.

 

[fishguy242]

@Billldg ? apex vs GHL ,thread please,info if you like..

 

[jazzfisher]

Thank you, I am struggling with that age-old dilemma that all reefers face. Should I go bigger or enjoy what I have? I like this tank and its simplicity 95% of the time... but there is still that part of me that wants to upgrade lights, add SPS, buy an apex, and go crazy with dosing.

I wish I could afford a controller but not likely to happen. I really like the 30 L though for how easy it is to take care of, Of course I wish I had more room for corals & fish but this is a great size for me. If you are bored re-aquascape or upgrade the lights-it will make it feel new again. I have rescaped several times and then the fish find new homes-just a bit of variety.

 

[New&no clue]

I wish I could afford a controller but not likely to happen. I really like the 30 L though for how easy it is to take care of, Of course I wish I had more room for corals & fish but this is a great size for me. If you are bored re-aquascape or upgrade the lights-it will make it feel new again. I have rescaped several times and then the fish find new homes-just a bit of variety.

This is the perfect tank for an office. It's small enough to do maintenance easily, but big enough to have several fish and a good range of corals. I really like softies so this is a great little softy tank.

 

[Billldg]

@Billldg ? apex vs GHL ,thread please,info if you like..

Apex conversion to GHL

I will be converting to GHL from Apex. I have had no big issues with the Apex 2016 setup, it is several small issues that is making me switch. I have never had any issues with the Apex 2016 and the modules, its the issues with the sensors and the Trident that made me make the switch. The Apex is...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[New&no clue]

One of my favorite fish

 

[fishguy242]

HIS /HER NAME..?? ..

 

[jazzfisher]

Mine too! have one in my 30L and just got another for my other tank!

 

[New&no clue]

HIS /HER NAME..?? ..

His name is Scott. All the fish are named after co-workers. Some picked their fish; other fish just suited certain people.

Mary-Wrasse (she is prim and proper, always has on makeup, and doesn't put up with any of the boys' bs)
Walter-Blenny (he is stuck in his ways and doesn't like people in his office, parking spot, or chair in the conference room)

Eric and Renee (Eric has a lot of energy, constantly on the move, talks way too fast, and harasses most of the girls here. Renee, his wife, keeps him in line and wears the pants in the family).

Pete-Shrimp (one of the construction guys, hard worker, always keeps his head down and gets the job done)
Pat (aka grumpy pants)-Goby (another construction guy who works with Pete and ... well, he's kind of grumpy)

 

[fishguy242]

That's not what i expected...;Woot;Woot I LOVE IT...

 

[New&no clue]

This tank's filtration continues to change. The skimmer I originally had died after about six months. I got a replacement, and it broke again within a couple of weeks. Instead of trying again, I pulled the skimmer and haven't been using one for some time. I had a bag of carbon, a bag of phosguard, and some polyfilters. Now I have a bag of Chemi-Pure Elite. Two of my back chambers have chaeto, and I am thinking about adding a third.

 

[New&no clue]

Tank update time. Three of the four chambers now have chaeto growing. The last one has a bag of chemi-pure and poly-filters. I occasionally dose some Red Sea Foundation ABC+ when I think about it, but for the most part, this little tank just does its thing without any help from me. I fill up the ATO every couple of weeks and maybe do a water change every month, but more like every few months.

 

[New&no clue]

While I do very little with this tank right now, I can see some issues coming up. My goal with this tank was to be Ultra Low Maintenance (ULM) to the best of my ability. I have all softies, so daily dosing is not necessary. However, the drop in parameters is becoming something that needs to be dealt with. The options to replenish these elements are dosing or water changes. I try to avoid water changes because it's just a pain to do during office hours. However, dosing should be easier, but I just can't remember to do it for whatever reason. I have been thinking for a little bit about possibly adding an Auto Water Change (AWC) system. The tank is only 30 gallons. If I change 3 gallons a week, taking into account rocks, sand, and equipment, that will be over 10% of the water volume. While this route still means I need to bring water to work each week. In theory, it shouldn't be that big of an issue as I already bring in my RODI water.

What is holding me back is the fear of some sort of failure. Specifically either overfilling the DT or draining the DT into the wastewater bucket. I think the draining of the DT can be mitigated by having the drain hose high in the back chambers, so even if there was a failure to stop siphoning, the amount it could pull was minimal. More research is needed, but I am starting to get that new gear excitement.

 

[New&no clue]

I am not sure why I pretend like I'm not going to do something when clearly I am. I've been researching AWC systems for several weeks and debating between getting an existing system or DIY with dosing pumps. I liked what I saw in the Kamoer X2S AWC. However, I wasn't able to find a retailer here that sold it. From reading some other blogs and posts, it looks like it hasn't been released here yet. However, the Kamoer X2SR has been released and seems to be getting good reviews. But the system is really made for larger tanks with larger water changes. It seemed a little overkill for my 30-gallon tank. Reviewing some other systems, I was concerned with the ATO features or compatibility with my current one. In the end, I decided to go with a DIY using two dosing pumps. I currently have Kamoer X1 pumps at home and have liked them, so I decided to use them again. I debated upgrading to the WiFi ones here, but as this is a business and I don't have access to the router, I was worried about connectivity and decided to stick with the Bluetooth.

Right now, I am testing them to see how they do with synchronized filling and emptying. I do not want this to impact my ATO, so I need to make sure that they are filling and draining at the same speed at the same time. I currently have it set to move 200ml on the hour. I am watching to see if the water level changes while doing this.

My concern with doing an AWC is an increased chance for failures to occur. A couple of things I am doing to mitigate that are;

1. Having water come and go at the same time so no impact the ATO
2. Having the drain tube in the tank slightly below the water line so it cannot over drain the tank
3. Setting up the times the system runs during office hours Monday-Thursday, so I am here when it happens.
4. Having an overfill sensor on my ATO, the alarm will go off if the water level increases.

 

[New&no clue]

Good thing I set up an experiment first

 

[New&no clue]

After testing, retesting, calibrating, and recalibrating, I set up my DIY AWC. For peace of mind, I set it to run between 8 am and 5 pm Monday-Thursday when I am at work. From reading others who have used this for AWC, it's important to recalibrate each month, which I plan on doing. I also thought each Monday I would check salinity. If they are not pulling evenly, I should notice a difference there.

 

[Maxcmo]

Have you thought about just dosing something like Tropic Marins all for reef instead of the water changes? One Doser and I would start at half of what they recommend if you do....

 

[New&no clue]

Have you thought about just dosing something like Tropic Marins all for reef instead of the water changes? One Doser and I would start at half of what they recommend if you do....

Yes, I did think about just dosing. I started to dose, but some other things came into play besides just dropping parameters. I have been battling GHA forever. I have done multiple things to combat it, some have helped, and some haven't. It is not terrible; it is just always there, a tuft here and there. So in conjunction with the goal of keeping steady parameters and the goal of eliminating GHA, I thought, why not go back to basic reef keeping. Good water in and consistent water changes.

 

[New&no clue]

Happy Birthday Tank!!!

I've given up on this tank, but not in a bad way, similar to having given up on concealing my gray hairs. Instead, I like to call them my glitter hairs; they are shiny and sparkle when they catch the sunlight. It takes more effort to hide them than just accept them. And so this tank is the same. I have battled the hair algae, the bubble algae, the vermetid snails, but finally, I've decided, "You just are what you are, little tank." I fill up my ATO reservoir, saltwater reservoir and empty my wastewater reservoir every other week. Once or twice a month, I pull out some clumps of GHA and chaeto. I have left this tank for ten days with no issues. I really think I've achieved ULM status... it might not be the prettiest tank with the most advanced corals, but It's a little piece of the ocean.

 

[New&no clue]

Here I am, fully accepting my tank's flaws, and I come in today, and the GHA that has been all over the middle arch for the last year... is magically gone. I've done nothing new, didn't add anything or change anything... It just disappeared.