Nuvo 40 Aquaforest reef

goober · Feb 9, 2018

Well the battle with cyano is over. Took around 6 days for it to clear up after changing my media. I blame the ALK swing due to a phosphate spike while I was away. My GFO was depleted the week before I left which caused the spike.

I figure the spike in phosphate also caused my ALK to drop to the 6.1 reading I got when I returned. I replaced my GFO and reduced my phosphates back down. ALK shot from 7.3 to 7.9 in a couple days. My sps looked really stressed from the swing and I had to cut half my bird of paradise off due to some STN. The other half is making a recovery. Obviously Swinging from 7.3 to 6.1 then up to 7.9 over the course of 10 days is not what I wanted however I have stabilized the system again.

Lots of lessons to be learned while dealing with 40g of total water volume. The swing's and changes inside the tank happen real fast with not much time to react.

goober · Feb 11, 2018

I got some cheap frags after cycling to see how SPS would react in my tank. Shortly after getting this one I decided to chop it up because I didn't like how skimpy and stretched out it was. Here is a 5 month journey of this frag. Pictures were taken in day lights however this guy really glows in the blues.

September 20th:

I had a hard time finding a good place for this frag

December 11th:

Chopped up and growing strong

February 11th:

Love the results!

goober · Feb 20, 2018

Getting some nice growth out of this frag I got about one month ago on January 17th! Encrusted onto the rock and looks like a bunch of growth tips have formed. Looks like some branches are about to start popping out.

Daniel@R2R · Apr 27, 2018

Hey @goober, how's the reef? Could you post up a new FTS? I'm following along.

goober · May 21, 2018

3 months has past since my last update and a lot has changed in the tank for better or worse. At the end of march I was experiencing a nutrient drop at the same time as my ALK went from mid 7's to mid 8's. I had some acro's with minor burnt tips, a couple lost frags, and some major bleaching on my montipora. My green and red plates were near pale white at one point. 3 weeks ago the recovery began and my tank is really doing well which inspired me to take some pictures today and post an update!

I updated my first post with changes to the dosing schedule. The system is currently consuming 32ml of AF component 1+2+3 daily, maintaining 7.3-7.5 DKH and 420 Ca. I have stopped dosing AF amino and vitality. The biweekly water changes using 50% probiotic salt (contains amino/vitality) is more than enough for my system currently.

Hardware additions: I moved my non wireless MP10 down to the bottom rear corner and have it running at around 30% providing flow behind my rock work. I added two wireless echosmart mp10's running directly across from each other. They are slaved in reef crest anti sync mode running at 100%. This change was 1 week ago and some corals are still adjusting to the new flow. The new flow setup really keeps detritus off the rocks!

This guy has done a decent job with my bubble algae

Pink lemonade, Forest fire digi, and an unamed red acro

Can anyone identify this acro for me?

Always love for red planet in my tanks

I layed this frag of forest fire digi down when I mounted it. Starting to take off!

Started with 2, now there are three.....

Left Coast DJ · May 21, 2018

How do you like the IM Fusion 40? Are the back chambers big enough?

I'm considering either an IM 40 or a 50 Lagoon.

datBme150 · May 21, 2018

I learned an interesting lesson with my IM 40. I had been struggling with phospates for a few months and was throwing ever trick in the book at it. Then in a last stich effort syphoned out the back middle chamber.

Note to those with this tank. Make sure you clean this chamber out or drastically up flow from factory settings

goober · May 21, 2018

Left Coast DJ said:
How do you like the IM Fusion 40? Are the back chambers big enough?

I'm considering either an IM 40 or a 50 Lagoon.

I like the nuvo 40. These tanks are really designed to look great. I would have liked a system with a sump but I live in a condo and have two little kids so storage is an issue. I needed the stand to store things other than a sump!

I use the back chambers for extra media that I keep in mesh bags. both fast left chambers run AF life bio fil, middle right has marine pure bio balls in it. I manage to stuff everything else inside the middle chamber where the return pump is.

Daniel@R2R · May 28, 2018

Looking great!! Keep us updated!

goober · Jun 3, 2018

Today I logged in to find out my tank was featured in the Reef Tank 365 spotlight! You guys can check out the thread here https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-tank-365-featured-tank-by-goober.399668/#post-4784811

Dosing Update: The system has increased from 32ml of 123 daily to 42ml. I am still testing ALK every 3 days and for the past week it has remained stable. SPS are thriving and i've really seen a huge turn around since the last mini nutrient crash.

With the addition of two MP10's the SPS have responded very well to the new flow. However my frogspawn that was front and center in the tank took a beating being directly under the flow where the two mp10's collided. One head has receded a bit and the coral in general is in rough shape. I unmounted it from the rocks and placed it on a frag plug. It will hang out on the frag rack while I hope it makes a full recovery.

goober · Jun 10, 2018

ALK seems to be stable now at 46ml of 123 daily. CA is sitting at 440 and MG has risen to 1400. I assume the rise in MG is due to the lack of large colonies in the tank. I refilled my dosing reservoir today and when mixing component 3 I left out MG and only added the mineral salts and trace elements to let my MG come back down with consummation.

I added a couple frags recently. Green dragon acro and an aussie acan.

Nano_PB · Jun 10, 2018

Great looking tank! Curious where you got that slick stand?

goober · Jun 10, 2018

Nano_PB said:
Great looking tank! Curious where you got that slick stand?

I built the stand from MDF, baltic birch for the drawer, maple for the door. Sprayed the MDF with white lacquer and the maple was stained then clear coated. I am a hobby carpenter.

goober · Jul 1, 2018

Dosing and parameter update

Parameters:

SG: 1.026
ALK: 7.3 - Hanna
Ca: 480 - Salifert
MG: 1430 - Aquaforest
Nitrate: 2.5 - Salifert
Phosphates: .021 (7pbb) - Hanna ulr
Potassium: 410 - Salifert

Dosing:

Consumption of component 123 continues to rise and I am needing to check my ALK every 2 days and I end up adding 15ml of ALK 2 part to bring it back up then increase my dosing. I am now dosing 60ml daily and will continue to monitor and slowly increase as needed.

Now that my nitrates and phosphates have really dropped I have started to dose AF amino's and vitality. I have also added KS sponge power to my regime.

Complete list of my dosing has been updated on the original post.

Progression:

I got this frag in an online order back in November of 2017 and it was extremely stressed from the flight. It instantly turned brown and didn't show much signs of life for months. After encrusting onto the rock it has began to show some signs of growth tips and color!

goober · Jul 1, 2018

goober · Feb 4, 2019

Been a long time since I updated this tank journal! I've had a lot of equipment changes/upgrades over the last six months and have removed a lot of LPS to make room for more SPS. Current plans include removing the green polyps off the left side rock and ongoing removal of the sand bed.

Here are a few update pictures:

The Miyagi Tort in the middle has really taken off

NY_Caveman · Feb 5, 2019

goober said:

Well, that was certainly worth the wait. Looks fantastic.

cthedaytrader · Feb 5, 2019

yes looks great still running AF?

goober · Feb 5, 2019

cthedaytrader said:
yes looks great still running AF?

Yes, I still dose my own mix of component 1+2+3 using their component strong product. I have also added a kalkwasser reactor to the system and the corals have really responded well to the increase in PH!

I updated the first post to reflect current system specs and dosing.