Nuvo 30L build

rennjidk

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Just picked up a 30L off of FB with a ton of extra equipment (most of which I am reselling). The only thing I kept was the tank itself, diy screen lid, and an old feeding port cover which works amazingly as a sump cover.

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The stand I found at Petsmart for $200 and has turned out to be actually pretty decent in terms of quality. I started by doing a vinegar soak for 24 hours and scrubbing the tank clean. After a thorough rinsing, I added 15lbs of special grade seeded 5lbs of ocean direct. The scape is ~25lbs of TLF Stax. I par tested the light once set up and I feel very confident in it. I got 290 center top, 200 center bottom, each foot off of the light is 120-150, and the two ends read 70-90. This is an amazing light for a mixed reef on a 3 foot tank. I had originally purchased 2 but with just the blue channels, I was seeing 400 par side to side and around 600 in the middle.

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Equipment:
Smatfarm G5 Led
Intank overflow covers (to raise water level)
Intank floss basket
Intank Chaeto basket
IM Chaetomax Light
Orlushy DC sine wave 1320gph return
Tunze Osmolator ATO
Dual VCA 1/2" RFG's
Dual Neotherm 75w heaters and Inkbird Controller
IM Media basket
Acrylic ATO and dosing Res
Kamoer X1 Pro2 Wifi dosing pump

Livestock:

Current:
Mocha and Black Ice clowns
YWG
Lawnmower Blenny
Cleaner Shrimp
Peppermint Shrimp
Various Snails

On the way:
Tiger Pistol shrimp
Azure Damsel
Royal Gramma
Red Firefish
 

Reef.

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Looking good, just the tank I’m planning on getting (when it’s back in stock)

You not having a skimmer? Or powerheads?
 
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rennjidk

rennjidk

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Looking good, just the tank I’m planning on getting (when it’s back in stock)

You not having a skimmer? Or powerheads?
I like having the sump covered and I’ve never had a need for a skimmer under 60 gallons. Chaeto keeps me dosing nitrates. As far as power heads, I don’t like cords in the tank and with a 1300gph return coupled with rfg’s in a 30 gallon tank, I have massive random flow. Especially in sine mode.
 

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I like having the sump covered and I’ve never had a need for a skimmer under 60 gallons. Chaeto keeps me dosing nitrates. As far as power heads, I don’t like cords in the tank and with a 1300gph return coupled with rfg’s in a 30 gallon tank, I have massive random flow. Especially in sine mode.

what’s the smallest tank you have run with chaeto?

Yeah I agree, hate seeing aio with stuff sticking out the top, takes away from their simplicity.

Would the sine mode not affect the water lvl, triggering your ATO, atos in a small tank are a pain at the best of times.
 
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rennjidk

rennjidk

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what’s the smallest tank you have run with chaeto?

Yeah I agree, hate seeing aio with stuff sticking out the top, takes away from their simplicity.

Would the sine mode not affect the water lvl, triggering your ATO, atos in a small tank are a pain at the best of times.
The smallest tank with chaeto has been 10g. Sine wave doesn’t affect the water level in the display or sump anymore than just turning up the flow rate on the return does. My water level sits at a constant in sine mode and I’ve calibrated my ato to that.

Edit: and also to expand on that, ATO's in the return chamber of smaller tanks are a hassle, because the water level drops significantly as mechanical filtration clogs. Each of the overflow chambers are ~4"x5" and the sump itself holds around 5 gallons. The ATO has no issue with this, because even in sine wave mode, it doesnt cause a drop in the sump water level. My ATO kicks on maybe once an hour for a few seconds on the lowest setting. It's adding around 1/5 of a gallon per day.
 
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Reef.

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The smallest tank with chaeto has been 10g. Sine wave doesn’t affect the water level in the display or sump anymore than just turning up the flow rate on the return does. My water level sits at a constant in sine mode and I’ve calibrated my ato to that.

Edit: and also to expand on that, ATO's in the return chamber of smaller tanks are a hassle, because the water level drops significantly as mechanical filtration clogs. Each of the overflow chambers are ~4"x5" and the sump itself holds around 5 gallons. The ATO has no issue with this, because even in sine wave mode, it doesnt cause a drop in the sump water level. My ATO kicks on maybe once an hour for a few seconds on the lowest setting. It's adding around 1/5 of a gallon per day.
Oh that’s good, so sine mode is similar to a Ecotech powerhead,, I was thinking the return was being powered up and down, which would have affected the water lvl.

Might give chaeto a go in my nano.
 
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rennjidk

rennjidk

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Oh that’s good, so sine mode is similar to a Ecotech powerhead,, I was thinking the return was being powered up and down, which would have affected the water lvl.

Might give chaeto a go in my nano.
It is being powered up and down, I'm saying that there's enough displacement in the sump that it doesn't effect the water level in the half second the pump ramps.
 

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It is being powered up and down, I'm saying that there's enough displacement in the sump that it doesn't effect the water level in the half second the pump ramps.
If you have tried it and it works for you then that’s good but I know my dc pump massively affects the water lvl when adjusted.
 
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rennjidk

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FRAG DAY! Added corals to the tank. 4 hammers, 10 gonis, 2 blasto, 2 acan, 12 zoa colonies, 1 candy cane, 1 duncan, 2 monti caps, and 4 small acros.

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steveschuerger

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Nice tank and set up. I just moved up in late June from a 30l to SR60. Loved the tank, just wanted more space.
 
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rennjidk

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Tank Tour
 
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Bit of an update. Some of the frags (especially the sps) arrived in poor shape and did not last long. Fortunately the seller refunded them. I was met with a diatom bloom at day 9 and added 4 jars of ecopods which cleared it up within 48 hours. After returning home from a 5 day vacation I was met with one of the worst GHA outbreaks I have ever seen in my 12 years of fish keeping. I'm assuming that the light got stuck on. A lot of my frags suffered greatly and I lost a few hammers and gonis. I replaced the light with 2 AI Prime HD's so that seems to have taken care of things on that front. After a LOT of manual removal and increasing my CUC, the GHA is finally on its last leg. I thought that the flow from my massive return pump and RFG nozzles would be enough for the tank, however this turned out to be false, so I have added 2 600ghp powerheads in a M/s gyre config which has dramatically helped. I came to learn that I was accidentally carbon dosing 3 times over using different additives (MBR, Cheato Gro, and AB+) which lead to unstable PO4 and NO3 levels in the tank. That coupled with my fuge kept me at near 0 levels and further stress a lot of my corals. An unfortunate by product of this situation is that AFR needs nutrients in order to convert which lead to massive weekly Alk swings, again further stressing everything. I have since killed the fuge, stopped all dosing except for the AFR, and ordered a DC tunable skimmer (tunze 9004) with hopes of balancing the system. I'll post another update in a month or two with hopefully some positive news and a few new photos.
 
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rennjidk

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Ran into a brick wall. Dinos overtook the tank before I could get the nutrients in order. They outcompeted everything and killed off most of the coral. I added a uv sterilizer but they are unfortunately the large cell type that go into the sand at night. I'm doing a 5 day blackout to hopefully eradicate them, and dosing sodium silicate to encourage a diatom bloom. As you can see, I've added 3 primes as well, but unfortunately one stopped working after a few weeks. It's being rma'd. I'm going to start an sps dominat reef in a few weeks when the dinos are taken care of.

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Ran into a brick wall. Dinos overtook the tank before I could get the nutrients in order. They outcompeted everything and killed off most of the coral. I added a uv sterilizer but they are unfortunately the large cell type that go into the sand at night. I'm doing a 5 day blackout to hopefully eradicate them, and dosing sodium silicate to encourage a diatom bloom. As you can see, I've added 3 primes as well, but unfortunately one stopped working after a few weeks. It's being rma'd. I'm going to start an sps dominat reef in a few weeks when the dinos are taken care of.

20221129_152622.jpg

if no corals, you would be better removing the rock 2-3 times a day and scrubbing it in tank water, vacuum the sand, replace floss etc daily.

Blackouts can work to some extent but dinos are basically tougher than most things in the tank, upping nutrients is the goal, growing algae to replace the dinos, the blackout doesn’t help with that.
 
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rennjidk

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if no corals, you would be better removing the rock 2-3 times a day and scrubbing it in tank water, vacuum the sand, replace floss etc daily.

Blackouts can work to some extent but dinos are basically tougher than most things in the tank, upping nutrients is the goal, growing algae to replace the dinos, the blackout doesn’t help with that.
The 5 day blackout is to knock them back some, which it does seem to be doing. I blew the majority off of the rock and vacuumed out as much as possible before I started. During the blackout, I'm dosing AF Lifesource and Waste Away to out compete them bacterially while they are weakened. When the lights come back on, it will only be for 6hrs a day, and I'll start dosing 1ppm silicate daily to hopefully fuel a diatom bloom, as well as pods and live phyto. I've read through all the Dino guides and I'm trying a kitchen sink approach of things that have worked successfully for others.
 
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rennjidk

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I've also decided to dose 1mL per 10g of 3% h202 each night during the black out as this has proven somewhat effective for others on its own.
 
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