Nuvo 20

PR_nano · May 26, 2022

There are a few conch species that stay relatively small. I don’t think they would be an issue with sand placed corals. Does your urchin takes care of any algae you have? The green hair algae is driving me crazy. I had one and he clear a lot of hair algae but also the coralline algae on the back wall and rocks that was the only downside. Mine didn’t carry any frags around.

Im tempted by the IM 40l, really like the size and quality of their tanks. It’s currently on pre-order sale for late July delivery. My bday is August so that might be my excuse.

Nick Steele · May 26, 2022

PR_nano said:
There are a few conch species that stay relatively small. I don’t think they would be an issue with sand placed corals. Does your urchin takes care of any algae you have? The green hair algae is driving me crazy. I had one and he clear a lot of hair algae but also the coralline algae on the back wall and rocks that was the only downside. Mine didn’t carry any frags around.

Im tempted by the IM 40l, really like the size and quality of their tanks. It’s currently on pre-order sale for late July delivery. My bday is August so that might be my excuse.

My urchins eat just about all algae except one type in my tank (bryopsis or maybe turf not sure which it is).

What conchs are you looking at? And have you seen them for sale?

PR_nano · May 26, 2022

Nick Steele said:
What conchs are you looking at? And have you seen them for sale?

These only grow to 3 inches.

Assorted Smaller Conchs

This item is for one individual conch, selected from an assortment we receive that are all reef safe cleaners. (Strombus spp.) The conchs in this product description reach an average adult size of...

www.reefcleaners.org

PR_nano · May 29, 2022

Did a full parameter test and found that my Alk is really low. Some initial research leads me to believe it might be due to the new sand. Need to read more on it but saw a few threads where other saw a similar drop after using or swapping new sand in established tanks.

Test results:
Hanna ulr phosphate 3ppb or .009ppm
Nyos Nitrate ~12ppm
Salifert Alk 6.4 - tested twice
Salifert Ca 440
Salifert Mg 1440

Plan to stop by the LFS to get some Alk. I have All for Reef but Ca and Mg are ok so only need to bump Alk. Also plan to mix 2-3 gallons of new water and raise .5 Alk per day.

Nick Steele · May 29, 2022

PR_nano said:
Did a full parameter test and found that my Alk is really low. Some initial research leads me to believe it might be due to the new sand. Need to read more on it but saw a few threads where other saw a similar drop after using or swapping new sand in established tanks.

Test results:
Hanna ulr phosphate 3ppb or .009ppm
Nyos Nitrate ~12ppm
Salifert Alk 6.4 - tested twice
Salifert Ca 440
Salifert Mg 1440

Plan to stop by the LFS to get some Alk. I have All for Reef but Ca and Mg are ok so only need to bump Alk. Also plan to mix 2-3 gallons of new water and raise .5 Alk per day.

Honestly if corals and all look fine I would probably leave alk alone and just slowly raise it over a month or more with normal water changes. I know of some aquaculture facilities that have lower alk although stable and corals do just fine.

Devaji · May 31, 2022

PR_nano said:
Three weeks since the move and the tank is settling nicely. Went on a weekend getaway to Clearwater and there was no issues upon my return. I added a (lazy) turbo snail and a red mushroom to go next to the green one. Plan to run some test and a water change this weekend.

Thinking of adding a few inverts from RC (Pom Pom crab, small conch, and small pin cushion this one would be temporary). The tank is filling out and there is no upgrade in sight. I was considering the Reefer 350 but with all the seam issues and height it’s unlikely I get one. The other one I’m excited about is the upcoming IM 40L Ext (36*20*13). This one will give me an additional 1’ in length, 8” width and a real sump. I’m limited on width and can’t do 24” bummer.
Blue light

Orange filter

point out the MF tonga yellow toad would ya?
guessing it the highest toad center right-ish?

Devaji · May 31, 2022

PR_nano said:
Did a full parameter test and found that my Alk is really low. Some initial research leads me to believe it might be due to the new sand. Need to read more on it but saw a few threads where other saw a similar drop after using or swapping new sand in established tanks.

Test results:
Hanna ulr phosphate 3ppb or .009ppm
Nyos Nitrate ~12ppm
Salifert Alk 6.4 - tested twice
Salifert Ca 440
Salifert Mg 1440

Plan to stop by the LFS to get some Alk. I have All for Reef but Ca and Mg are ok so only need to bump Alk. Also plan to mix 2-3 gallons of new water and raise .5 Alk per day.

PS nice table BTW

PR_nano · May 31, 2022

Devaji said:
point out the MF tonga yellow toad would ya?
guessing it the highest toad center right-ish?

Yeah that’s the one, not as yellow as the Fiji version. Mine was half bleached or missing the yellow zoo/color when I got it. It has mostly recovered but if you look around the edge and bottom right it still not fully yellow. Here is a close up.

Devaji · Jun 1, 2022

PR_nano said:
Yeah that’s the one, not as yellow as the Fiji version. Mine was half bleached or missing the yellow zoo/color when I got it. It has mostly recovered but if you look around the edge and bottom right it still not fully yellow. Here is a close up.

thanks man, that coral has been on my wish list for quite some time. years ago i tried the fiji version but did not make it.

PR_nano · Jun 1, 2022

Devaji said:
thanks man, that coral has been on my wish list for quite some time. years ago i tried the fiji version but did not make it.

Tidal Garden have a Fiji variant but is pricey. During their r2r live sales you can get it way cheaper I seen it anywhere from 80 to 120. I been thinking about grabbing one but don’t have much real state for one at the moment. Also the pictures below don’t look as yellow as the ones posted during the live sale.

Fiji Yellow Leather

#html-body [data-pb-style=KBR3TV0],#html-body [data-pb-style=LROTPFJ],#html-body [data-pb-style=OKRFRMG]{margin:5px}{{widget type="Magento\Cms\Block\Widget\Block" template="widget/static_block/default.phtml" block_id="252" type_name="CMS Static Block"}}<br><br>{{widget...

www.tidalgardens.com

PR_nano · Jun 4, 2022

A few new inverts:

Also order an emerald crab (to meet the minimum $ purchase) vs the urchin. But I will look into getting a tuxedo when I finally upgrade and glue all the frags.

To do;
Need to move some corals as there is stinging going on.
Bump the alk dosing. I been dosing 2.5ml of Bionic part 1 (alk) daily. I will bump to 5ml as it’s not moving but I was dosing half of the recommended as precaution to see how the system reacts and while setting up the ph probe.

Aside from the hair algae and slight coral warfare everything is doing good.

PR_nano · Jun 25, 2022

Friend invited me to the TSA anniversary sale, pretty good event. He picked a Nuvo 50 w stand. I picked two mystery softies corals and a small pincushion. Gf grab a polyp frag she been wanting but missed the red ruby scooter as it was sold out.

Tank is on cruise and doing pretty good besides the GHA. I’m hoping the urchin takes care of it. I do need to cut a bit on feeding as I feed twice a bit too much. I been dosing 5ml of Bionic part 1 and 2 a week to maintain ALK at 7. Softies tank so I don’t expect the consumption to increase too much but I did noticed more coralline on the back wall since I scraped the tank clean after the move. Also notice more sponges showing up.

Tiny pincushion urchin

Mystery zoa looks like (candy apple) dup

Polyps going to place these on a srock

Sponges

Branch rock a possible placement for the polyps frags

PR_nano · Jul 24, 2022

Tank is doing pretty good. Order a couple of “easy” SPS from the TSA live sale Friday. They’re 4 Montiporas (2 plating, 1 encrusting, and 1 digitada) and 2 Stylos (blue and green) that I need to pick up.

I been manually removing the hair algae and have it trim in hopes the cuc finish it off as it seems like no one would touch it, including the urchin and emerald crab. It’s not briopsis at least that I can tell since I don’t see any ferns. It might be that it was too long for them to tackle so hope the trimming helps. Also lower white light from 35% peak to 25%.

Alk at 7
Nitrates around 20; Nyos checker jumps from 12 to 25 lol. Might pick Hanna High range.
Phosphates .03

PR_nano · Jul 31, 2022

Finally stopped by the LFS to picked the SPS. Also grab a Hanna nitrate HR checker and some Chaeto.

Green plating Monti
Mystic Sunset Monti
TSA Death Spiral Monti
Bubblegum Digita Monti
ORA Blueberry Stylo
Green Stylo

The LFS just set a Nuvo SR80 on their display room. Really like that tank but also would like a sump for the upgrade.

Scottrshoe · Aug 10, 2022

Looking great! Inspiring to what what my NUVO 20 could look like some day...and though I know it must have been frustrating for you, I am glad to see you come out the other side of adversities with your tank! Will continue to follow.

PR_nano · Oct 1, 2022

It’s been two months since my last update. I’m definitely giving up on keeping sps in this tank. Most have died likely due to alk swings (inconsistent manual dosing). I finally got around to getting a doser but have yet to hook it up. All, but the Purple Stylo have either bleached or stn. The Stylo is constantly getting rub by a leather, I would have think it was going to be the first to go…

The softies are all either growing or splitting and looking happy. Here is a side and front shot.

I’m still searching for a 3 or 4 footer upgrade tank. I’m limited on the width. So far looking at IM SR60, IM 40L Ext, WB AIO 65.4, WB4820 peninsula or going custom seems to be my options so far.

Scottrshoe said:
Looking great! Inspiring to what what my NUVO 20 could look like some day...and though I know it must have been frustrating for you, I am glad to see you come out the other side of adversities with your tank! Will continue to follow.

Thanks, IM20 is definitely a nice tank. Looking forward to seeing yours overtime.

I feel it’s true what they say about stability and things rapidly changing in a nano due to water volume. I have learned a lot with this tank and plan to apply some of the lesson in the next tank but for now keep enjoying and up my maintenance on this one.

PR_nano · Dec 2, 2022

The tank has been chugging along.

I did lose my Purple Firefish which has been with me almost 3 years. Bought a Red Firefish as a replacement. My pincushion urchin has been busy scraping the back panel coralline (wish he would stay on the rocks and got rid of the hair algae). The Hydra 26 HD bit the dust so back to running the Prime HD.

Nutrients thru the roof... Need to clean skimmer, return pump, wave pump, up the refugium time and do a good water change. Also reduce the dry food (pellets), guilty of overfeeding

.

Nitrates 22.8
Phosphate .22
Alk 8

Side shot