Sam's Nuvo 10g Build

[Sam Ross]

Its been quite the progression to get to this point, though money and space has been a large constraint i couldn't be happier with the progress that the corals and i have made.

Current Tank Shot:

Setup:
Innovative Marine Nuvo 10g
Ai Prime LED
Eheim Surface Skimmer (Rigged for flow)
Phosgard in the filter sock
Refugium in sump chamber with CFL fixture
Reef Crystals Salt (30% weekly water changes)
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Beginning :

The beginning of my foray into reefing was thanks to my buddy, he worked in a coral and saltwater fish store for a few years and constantly tempted me into joining the hobby. I have tried keeping a reef before but i was very young and and couldn't put the resources i realized i needed into it, not to mention it was a 2.5 gallon tank. So i traded the LFS and started doing freshwater.

Last year my buddy called me and told me he has a really awesome rock that he thought i really should have. I convinced myself he was right pretty quickly, dug out the old 2.5 gal and stuck it on the window sill, just sunlight and my handy surface skimmer.

I love the rock and it already had Xenia, Blue Sponge, Zoas and some mushrooms growing along with chaeto and all sorts of algae but i started to obsess over what i could potentially achieve and almost immediately started looking for upgrades. Thankfully i found an AI prime for 100$ pretty quickly and moved the contents of the 2.5 into the above Fluval V. The above picture is right after that point.

So that's the history, here's the picture progression.

Got this guy as a trade for some FW plants and LFS.

My first Acro. Sadly RCN destroyed it pretty quickly. Luckily a single tiny frag survived.

My LFS gave this to me, they didn't want to deal with the demands of a dying sun coral. So i have been trying my best with it. What they didn't tell me was the the coral is growing on top or a live clam... So been keeping a close eye on this piece.

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There it is! And now here i am, wishing i had more reasons to put my hands in the tank. I have plans to upgrade very soon, i want to go big and get some fish. I just recently got a much better job and plan on going heavy into the hobby.

Thanks for checking out my little reef, if there's any interest in FW planted tanks here i can post a few pictures of those. I look forward to giving you all the update!

 

[Brandonlotz]

Wow, nice little build there

 

[Ljaus]

Very nice nano, some awesome photography to

 

[Sam Ross]

Very nice nano, some awesome photography to

Thank you, cant wait to invest in a better camera.

 

[Skrilla]

sweet nano.

 

[Sam Ross]

Just past a year later, here's how it looks today.
Had some successes and a good amount of loss but i am very happy with where it's at.
Just caught the Mithrax crab that has been knocking over and stepping on all my corals, he's in the sump now. So happy to see everything staying put.

 

[Sam Ross]

Another year has gone by with my little nano and I must confess that I have been a bad reef keeper.

I've been neglectful for a while and the corals are starting to suffer for it. Last week I was motivated and gave it a good cleaning and was happy that everything looks alright, but looking back on this thread I can see that is not the case.

Coral are decieving and will seem like they are in heaven (looking at you Duncan and Acan), but others can't deal with it any longer. My beauiful zoanthids are now sad pale shadows of their former selves. My monti cap has lost it's color beyond a poor pale red yet still grows on expeditiously. My gsp and xenia even lost their will to conquer.

My tank routine was basically nonexistent past daily water topping, and even that I was forgetful of. My tank has suffered a year of inconsistent chemistry, and I can't stand seeing the results of my inaction.
So I decided is time to make a major change.

Over this last week I've placed an Amazon order for my first ATO after hand filling for 3 years, a ChaetoMax fuge light to replace the desk light, Hanna Alk checker, PH probe, and Aquavitro Fuel and vibrance with refills on my Ions and calcium. I also started testing my Cal, Alk, Mag, PH daily while keeping a record of the values. I'm in the process of finding a daily balanced dosing routine but I still am getting a grasp on my daily uptake. I also added a new power head, going from 80gph to 300gph.

After beginning to dose for deficiencies things have really started to look better, and my daily testing has reignited my passion for the hobby. I don't want to look at my tank and feel like im not doing absolutely everything to add to its health any more. I am really excited to slowly see some positive results and maybe get to the point where I feel comfortable buying more coral (would love an acro).

Please let me know if you think I could benefit from any changes or additions, I will update as I see things start to improve.
Thank you for reading, here's some pictures. FTS from last week, macros are from yesterday, and my slapdash data chart.

 

[Sam Ross]

Bit larger FTS

 

[Mr.Z]

I like how your tank looks! I don't have a tank yet, but am trying to figure out the best way to dip into the hobby. I would ultimately like to get something bigger with fish, but will likely be moving multiple times over the next year, so something like a 10g might be the most sensible to start with.

Yours provides inspiration that a small all coral tank can be pretty sweet!

 

[Sam Ross]

I like how your tank looks! I don't have a tank yet, but am trying to figure out the best way to dip into the hobby. I would ultimately like to get something bigger with fish, but will likely be moving multiple times over the next year, so something like a 10g might be the most sensible to start with.

Yours provides inspiration that a small all coral tank can be pretty sweet!

Thank you that's really kind of you.

 

[Reidallaboutit]

Is this under the non-hd AI light?

 

[Sam Ross]

Is this under the non-hd AI light?

Yes it is.