SliceGolfer's IM Nuvo 20 - Skimmer went ROGUE!

SliceGolfer

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FTS March, 2020:
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Hey Reefers!

Super excited to be sharing my new build here at Reef2Reef. I’m a long-time follower of this community and have been a saltwater and reef hobbyist for over 30 years. With family, life, and career, I have been waiting for the right time to start a new tank build. My last tank was way back in 2005, with a JBJ NanoCube 12dx, from NanoTuners. Here’s a pic of 12 gallons of Softy Glory, all that it was:

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Fast forward to 2018. I’ve been fighting the reef bug for 3 years, and I just couldn’t shake it. Work relocated me and the fam to the great state of Minnesota, and I visited some of the LFS’s in the area. I was immediately hooked. I knew I had to have a tank. My supporting wife says, “You work so hard, you deserve this!” That’s all I needed to hear. So, what does a recovering reefer 13 years sober do? Scour the forums, learn what’s hot ‘n not, and then shoot on over to BRS and pickup a car full of reefing gear. BRS is 20 minutes from my house, and that’s just too darn convenient.

Enough with the backstory blah blah, here’s my build:

Tank: Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion 20
Stand: Bush Furniture computer armoire matching my office furniture
Lights: (2) Aqua Illumination AI Prime HDs with rigid mounts, running BRS AB+ spectrum Reef Breeders 24” Photon V2+ running modded AB+ spectrum
Return Pump: Innovative Marine MightyJet AIO Pump 538gph
Heater: Cobalt 75w NeoTherm
Control: Ink Bird ITC-308
ATO: AutoAqua AWC Auto Water Changer Plus ATO
ATO Reservoir: Innovative Marine 5 Gallon Hydrofill
Flow: (2) EcoTech Marine Vortech MP10WQD paired in Tidal Swell Mode (TSM)
Filtration: (2) InTank Media Baskets, filter pads, bag of MarinePure Gems and MarinePure spheres
Nutrient Export: AquaMaxx Media Reactor converted into DIY Cheato reactor and Cheato Removed summer 2019
Testing: Hanna, Red Sea, Salifert

Dosing:
(2) Jebao DP4 Dosers
BRS Soda Ash
BRS Calcium Chloride
BRS Magnesium
GLA KN03
GLA K2S04
Quantum Bio-Enhance
Quantum Bio-Kalium
Quantum Bio-Metals
Quantum Bio-Enhance

Fish & Invertebrates:
Two Black Ocellaris Clowns - "Ace & Gary"
Three Gold Ring Cowries
20 Banded Trochus Snails

SPS Corals:
Green Spongodes Montipora
Bubble Gum Digitata Montipora
Tubbs Stellata Montipora
Red Encrusting Montipora
Red Setosa
Green Birdsnest
Teal Blue Stag
Palmer’s Blue Millepora
Yellow Tip Acropora
Tri Color Valida
Nana Acropora
Blue Tenuis
Green Sarmentosa Acropora
Unknown Acropora

LPS Corals:
Duncan
Orange Crush Echinata
Dragon Soul Favia
Ice Blue Leptastrea
Honeycomb Leptastrea
Bizzarro Cyphastrea
Pink Goniopora
Ultron Favia
Wolverine Favia

Zoas:
Nuclear Green Dragon Eyes
Rastas
Halle Berry
Black Hornets
Red Hornets
Eagle Eye
Armor of the Gods
Everlasting Gobstoppers
Sunny D
Blond Blue Eye
Agent Orange
Rainbow Infusion

History:

The tank was assembled over Christmas, 2018. Water was added 01/01/2019, all gear tested and configured. Water was brought to temp (78F), specific gravity set at 35ppt. Live rock was added 01/03/2019, and the tank was fishless cycled with Dr Tim’s One and Only and ammonium chloride. The cycle finished in two weeks, which I attribute to the rock and the bottled bacteria. Once the tank could process 2ppm of ammonia in 24 hours, it was time for a 75% water change. Nitrates were floating around 50ppm at this point, so I was happy to oblige. Knowing I was a day or so from adding my first occupants to the tank fueled the water change excitement.

Future:

My plan moving forward is patience. There are lessons I learned on my own, and from those who post here. My hope is to avoid failures, mistakes, or overlooking something obvious. I’m targeting mostly SPS in this build, but I’m sure Acans and Zoas will work their way into the tank along this journey.

Current water parameters: 03-09-2020

Temp: 77.8F
Specific Gravity: 35ppt
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphate: .06ppm
Alkalinity: 8.0 DKH
Calcium: 425ppm
Magnesium: 1325ppm

FTS February, 2019:
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FTS January, 2019:
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Setup:
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Live rock added and start of cycle:
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AquaMaxx Chaeto Reactor:
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Water Station & RODI:
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There’s a lot I’ve learned from this community. I want to start by saying thank you, seriously. Without your commitment to this hobby, and sharing information or lessons learned, there would not be this database of knowledge one can so easily tap into to build their vision of a perfect reef.

Until next time!
 
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SliceGolfer

SliceGolfer

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Thanks all for the welcome!
you got alot of space under your tank, you plan on hiding the reactor?

It’s possible. Initially my concern was a powerhead that could push the head pressure. After installing the reactor, I realized access was important for cleaning and maintenance. A happy accident is how well it lights the hallway during the night. I also wanted to leave the cabinet space reserved for a dosing pump and reservoirs once that time comes.
Following along! I just started a Nuvo 30L after a 3 year break. Your pictures are not loading though, shows a big red X.

Thanks for letting me know. I’ve double checked the links and all sharing permissions look correct. I will check on another device to be sure.
 
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SliceGolfer

SliceGolfer

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Looks like a great setup! How do you like the cabinet so far, is it pretty sturdy? I am looking for an easy solution myself to save time.
The cabinet is a perfect fit. Easily holds the top off reservoir and other equipment. The manufacturer states it can support 200lbs, but I added some extra supports like L brackets and deck stair supports. Amazing the type of brackets you can find in the decking aisle!
 

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Nice! Im going to follow your build. I love AIO tanks. Check out my nuvo 40 for some ideas on pimping them out!
 

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The cabinet is a perfect fit. Easily holds the top off reservoir and other equipment. The manufacturer states it can support 200lbs, but I added some extra supports like L brackets and deck stair supports. Amazing the type of brackets you can find in the decking aisle!
Thanks for the info! Good luck on the build!
 
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SliceGolfer

SliceGolfer

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FTS February, 2019:
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It's been a while, time for a quick update...

Tank has been doing well, nice and stable. AutoAqua ATO AWC is amazing, makes water changes easy. Cheato reactor is the bomb. Nitrates consistently test zero, pulling any free nitrate out of the water. I dosed nitrate a couple times during the month, just to see how the cheato responded. 24 hours after dosing, nitrates back at zero. Nitrate dosing was more of a test to satisfy my curiosity more than anything else. Phosphates have trickled down to .07, which is nice!

The tank looks like it's going through its ugly stage, however I wouldn't call this ugly. The AI Primes have been running 100%, and in this time, I've seen a light dusting of brown algae on the live rock for about 2 days. Following this was a few tufts of hair algae, which didn't last long as the CuC mowed it down. This was followed by an Ulva Lactuca outbreak. I think the Ulva came from the cheato reactor, and has been the primary algae I have been fighting. I added two Gold Ring Cowries (aka Money Cowries) and these guys made short order of the Ulva. There are very few patches left and I predict all the Ulva will be gone in the next week.

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The newest algae spotted in the tank is this Acetabularia Parvula. It's just a small patch, and looks like a daisy when viewed up close. This is the best shot I could get of it:

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I also added a Tail Spot Blenny, and a Royal Gramma. I wanted to introduce all the fish first, before any corals. This would allow me to build up the biological filtration, work on stability, and get an understanding of what's normal/abnormal for this tank. Most important, I want to get through all the tank phases before I think of adding coral.

Maintenance has consisted of changing the poly filter pads twice a week, 4 gallon water change once a week, cleaning glass three times a week, dosing 7 drops of MicroBacter7, and dosing Alk/Ca to maintain my desired levels. Because I started with cured live rock from my LFS, which has a great amount of coralline algae, I suspect this is where the Alk uptake is coming from. I do not run any chemical filtration, no carbon, no Chemipure or Purigen, nothing. Just poly filter pads and the cheato reactor.

I'd really like to add some corals, I'm waiting for my first signs of coralline algae on the glass, MP10s, or Spin Streams. I'm shooting for some LPS and Zoas to start, and have been looking at Duncans, Chalice, Leptastrea, Acans, and any cool looking Zoas.

Until next time, thanks for watching!
 
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SliceGolfer

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FTS May, 2019
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Left Island:
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Right Island:
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Hey Reefers! Time for an update!

My tank just hit 4 months old and is really settling in at this point. The Clowns, Royal Gramma, and Tailspot Blenny have been doing great, and I'm starting to see a couple baby Banded Trochus snails moving about. I've been fighting small croppings of Ulva lettuce, turf algae, and some other nuisance hair algae over the past couple months. I've learned how to keep the algae in check and the CuC is doing a good job on the nightshift.

I had a breakout of dino ostreopsis last month, which I attribute to near zero N & P. I also noticed that some of my corals (Golden Eye Chalice) began to lose it's color due to low nutrients. I've been dosing N & P with great success. Dinos disappeared after 2 weeks, and now all the colors are popping in the tank. I'm learning how to adjust the dosage when I start to see some algae pop up here and there to keep it in check.

Thanks for following along and happy reefing!
 
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SliceGolfer

SliceGolfer

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What’s up Reefers! Picked up a few new corals this weekend, and seriously upgraded my photo game. I’ve been disappointed with the photos from the iPhone, and I’ve been looking to replace my old digital camera. So now I’m a novice photographer with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Looking forward to growing into this camera and hope to bring some amazing shots like others here on the forum.

New corals this weekend are:

Blue Green Millepora
Acropora Horrida
Honeycomb Leptastrea
Agent Orange Zoas
Striped Acan

Here’s some new shots, hope you enjoy!

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Indiana Reefin

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Very nice! How is the algae reactor working? How often are you doing water changes?
 
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SliceGolfer

SliceGolfer

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Chaeto reactor is still going strong. I would say it works too well. I prune the Chaeto every other month and clean the reactor. I’ve started rinsing the Chaeto in clean saltwater when I put it back together. Amazing the amount of detritus that gets caught in the Chaeto.

I do water changes every two weeks. I dose Alk, calcium, mag, nitrate, and phosphate. I strive for 35ppt SG, 8.6DKH, 480 calcium, 1440 mag, under .09ppm P04 and 2ppm nitrate.
 

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