NUVO 20 Black

Sold4jc7 · Apr 24, 2018

After a five year hiatus from the hobby, I was able to jump back in full force. I’ve missed the community, tech, and creativity of the hobby, so it's time for 20-gallon office tank.

Tank is a Nuvo 20 Black
I drilled the tank with a 1.5” overflow drain and two 3/4" returns. Each hole drilled was a good stress test, but everything turned out great. I made a simple overflow out of black acrylic.

Sump
20 gallon long
The sump was designed to meet the recommendations for the Triton method. I used black 1/4” acrylic for dividers with black aquarium silicone. I know acrylic and glass don't bond well, but I think it will work fine for my set up. The return baffle is adjustable in 1/2” increments from 6 1/2” to 9 1/2. I want to have some versatility with the water level. Some white paint on the back, bottom, and sides help make it easier to see in the sump.

Fuge light: UFO Led Grow Light, Growstar 150W Full Spectrum Plant Light
Heater: 200-watt Titanium Finnex
Skimmer: Skimz sn123 with DC pump
JBJ ATO
8x8x1 Marine Pure Block
Return: Tunze AC pump

Controller: Apex Classic with PM 2
Flow: EcoTech MP10

I had some leftover rock that I used for the display. I tried to keep it minimalistic. I pinned, epoxied and glued the rock structure together. There's nothing worse than your rock tumbling down when you bump it. I did bleach the rock for rock two weeks in hopes of helping prevent a mess later on.

Display light: Radion XR15W PRO GEN 4.

I just filled the tank and started the cycle. I plan on taking things slow. The primary display will be covered and blacked out for the next month as it cycles. If all goes well, I’ll be reaching out to the community for frags in 2-3 months. I’m hoping to run a mixed reef. My old tank was mainly LPS and softies, but I would like to have some SPS this go around.

Sold4jc7 · Apr 24, 2018

I made an overflow cover for the tank today. It helped clean look up a little.

I spent a little time hard plumbing the ATO line. I wasn't a fan of the flexible line, so I used some cpvc and ran the ATO to the return section of the sump next to the return line.

I installed the Breakout box to the Neptune and wired a float switch to the overflow. If the float switch trips it shuts off the return pump and sends me an email notification. I was impressed by how well it worked.

Does anyone know if these float switches fail open or closed? Its from the DIY Aqua Hub ATO.

I've been impressed by the Skimz skimmer production but I've battled with microbubbles coming out of the skimmer outlet. I made a removable chamber to help contain the bubbles. It has helped clean up the display.

Added some more equipment PM2, Jebao Doser, and BRS mini-reactor. I like the mini-reactor. It fits well in the stand and the outlet can be used to blow out the sump. I'm currently using the Jebao doser for automatic water changes. I change 200ml of tank water every other hour

To save space, I made an ATO reservoir from some spare acrylic. It's nothing to look at but its helped free up some space, and the 5 gallons it holds lasts for well over a week.

Cody3819 · Apr 24, 2018

Nice!!

lbacha · Apr 24, 2018

Nice build I may steal you float switch idea. I'm using a optical sensor right now but the float switch in the overflow looks good and less likely to get knocked out of place.

mahindra.dev · Apr 24, 2018

Nice build so far. Very nice details

Sold4jc7 · Apr 24, 2018

I haven't had an issue with the overflow float switch moving. I could put a small drop of glue to make sure it didn't move if it was an issue.

Sold4jc7 · Jun 12, 2018

Got my hands on a par meter and started taking some readings. I have been running my light at 25%, but decided to slowly increase the intensity to get the PAR numbers up. I don't have much in the tank at this moment but plan on adding some more coral in the next few weeks.

What is a good PAR to aim for in the tank?

Sold4jc7 · Jun 19, 2018

I'm slowly increasing the light intensity to get the par up in the 250-300 range at the top of the tank. I would like to keep SPS.

Sold4jc7 · Jun 20, 2018

I did some more PAR readings at 35% and 40%

Sold4jc7 · Jun 21, 2018

Sold4jc7 · Aug 16, 2018

Update
The tank has been stable the last few months. I haven't had any major issues with the parameters, and coral growth has been excellent. My macroalgae isn't growing much, but the pod population is enormous. I'm currently using an Apex DoS to do 1000ml daily water changes to keep trace elements in check. I'm impressed by the DoS capabilities. I was able to tie into a drain 50' away without any issue. Kalk is dosed 15 times a day at 20ml to help with PH while keeping calcium and Alk up. 2ml of Red Sea Alk is added daily to meet the alkalinity demands.
I manually dose 1ml of Acropower 5 days a week and feed the tank several times a day. Currently, I dose 1ml of Nyos Chromys three times daily. My Anthias hasn't taken to the Nyos food, but everything else has. I may try Nyos Goldpods in the future. I need to come up with a feeding solution for vacation; the tank can handle heavy feeding. I've been surprised at how much food you can throw into a 20-gallon tank.

Current livestock
McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
Lyretail Anthias
Purple Firefish
2 Blue Chromis
Court Jester Goby
Fire shrimp
2 snails
1 hermit crab

Parameters
ALk 8
Cal 450
Mag 1350
Phosphates .01
Nitrates 0

Current FTS (Not the best picture)

One month growth on Garf Bonsai

I may start eliminating days on the fuge light because of the poor chaeto growth. I think the lack of nutrients and the light intensity is too much. The PAR is 500+ on the refugium grow light. I tilted the light to help defuse some of the light.

I need more SPS.