Upgrading tank from 10 gal to 40 gal IM Nuvo Fusion

brunera

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Hi all! I finally bit the bullet and picked up a 40 gal IM Nuvo Fusion AIO on Craigslist. My previous tank was a 10 gal IM Nuvo Fusion Nanno AIO adopted from a friend who moved away last year so I'm still relatively new to reefing. But I'm hooked! It speaks to my inner chemist and my love of animals, both! It only took a couple of live sales to convince me that I needed a bigger tank.

I recently transferred my livestock to the new 40 gal AIO tank, and they seem to be doing well, but I have a question. My 10 gal was connected to a Skymz Sumpro Up18 sump. I didn't drill any holes in my tank, though, so I had a small pump that pumped water from the back overflow compartment to the sump and a second pump that brought the water back into the main tank. Unfortunately, we had a couple of episodes where the pump from the DT to the sump did not keep up with the pump from the sump to the DT. The DT would overflow and, since the sump level would decrease, the ATO would completely empty the 2 gallon ATO reservoir into the sump. Not nice for my wood floors but livestock did ok.

The sump currently has a Theiling Compact Rollermat, an IM Desktop Nuvoskim DC protein skimmer, a Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO, a titanium heater (don't remember which one), some Marinepure Gems ceramic media, and some chaeto and sea lettuce algae.

The overflow of the new 40 gal tank has a filter sock on one side and a filter chamber with filter floss balls and a bag of charcoal on the other. In one of the chambers, there is a glass heater and an IM Skimmate Ghost protein skimmer. I run the ZeoVit system so there is currently a bag of Zeovit in one chamber but this will be switched out with the Desktop Minimax Pro media reactor that had been running the Zeovit in the 10 gal. I've moved the Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO sensor to the middle chamber and connected to a 5 gal bucket with RO/DI water that I make myself. I use Tropic Marin Pro-Reef salt to make my salt water.

I have a Seneye Reefer sensor constantly monitoring the temperature, ammonia, nitrate, and pH as well as PAR/PUR light measurements. I use Hannah sensors for salinity, alkalinity, phos, and calcium and Salifert kits for magnesium and nitrite.

I've attached a picture of the current tank setup. I'm waiting to dismantle the 10 gallon until I'm sure I got all the snails out. Then I can work on some major cord management. Most of my coral is still on frag racks, waiting for me to decide their placement in the new tank. The ugly DIY rack in the middle of the tank is sitting on the rocks since it hangs too high in the bigger tank and the frags weren't happy there. That will be gone soon!

My question is: Should I keep the sump and connect it to my new 40 gallon AIO. If so, is there a better system for the overflow with this kind of tank, short of drilling holes for a bulkhead?

I can't wait to hear what people think and if there are some words of wisdom out there for this relatively new reefer! Thanks!!


Reef Tank.jpg
 

kireek

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I would attached the sump to the new tank.Don't know how though.Unless you are thinking of using your 10 gallon as a quarantine tank.In which case you might want the extra volume over there.
 

muzikalmatt

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First off, congrats on the new tank! I have a 40g IM Nuvo as well and absolutely love it!

With that said, I don't think I'd mess with trying to use the sump on the new tank unless you can drill it. As you already indicated, you were having issues on the previous tank with the pumps causing overflows which is bad for your parameters and your home. Most people will advise against using a sump in a non-drilled tank as it's not a question of if, but when, an overflow will occur. While having a dedicated sump is great, I've found very few issues with the small rear sump area for the 40g IM Nuvo. The only complaint I have is that it's very limited in the skimmers you can use with it due to the small chamber sizes unless you're willing to go with a HOB skimmer. Best of luck on the new build!
 

Sebastiancrab

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First off, congrats on the new tank! I have a 40g IM Nuvo as well and absolutely love it!

With that said, I don't think I'd mess with trying to use the sump on the new tank unless you can drill it. As you already indicated, you were having issues on the previous tank with the pumps causing overflows which is bad for your parameters and your home. Most people will advise against using a sump in a non-drilled tank as it's not a question of if, but when, an overflow will occur. While having a dedicated sump is great, I've found very few issues with the small rear sump area for the 40g IM Nuvo. The only complaint I have is that it's very limited in the skimmers you can use with it due to the small chamber sizes unless you're willing to go with a HOB skimmer. Best of luck on the new build!
Can you elaborate on your statement about using a sump with a non-drilled tank? Is this with an ATO also?
 

muzikalmatt

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Can you elaborate on your statement about using a sump with a non-drilled tank? Is this with an ATO also?

Sure! In general, I think it's a risky practice to have a sump with a tank that is not drilled. You're forced to pump your display tank water over the top of your tank instead of simply draining by gravity through the drilled hole into the overflow box/drain. Eventually something is likely to go wrong and you'll have an overflow which will not only affect the tank's parameters, it will likely cause a lot of damage to your home. And in my experience stuff like this always seems to happen when you're not home to deal with it which only exacerbates the issue.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who haven't had any issues with this type of setup, I just think it's risky. Regarding an ATO, I don't think that would affect the risk of using a sump with a non-drilled tank as it's usually the overflow box and/or return pump that leads to the issue.

I hope that answers your questions!
 
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brunera

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Geeze! Time flies. Here's a couple of current pics of my tank. I still have the sump running in the cabinet with some rock and chaeto, but it's not plumbed to the DT tank. Yet. I'm still tempted to do it so that I can use the Theiling Compact Rollermat I have down there. I tend to feed heavy and I think that would give me better nutrient export than changing out the 2 filter socks 1-2 times per week. I've added the Aquatic Life 24" Hybrid T5HO 4x24 fixture with 2 AI Primes and four ATI T5HO bulbs, 2 Blue Plus, one Aquablue Special, and one Purple Plus. I purchased a 15 watt Advantage 2000+ UV Sterilizer, but haven't set it up yet.

Livestock includes:
3 clownfish
1 bangaii cardinal
1 blue-green chromis
1 yellow tang
1 yellow eyed Kole tang
1 court jester goby
1 chalk basslet
1 Randall's pistol shrimp
1 tuxedo urchin
3 emerald crabs
various snails
2 bubble tip anemones
several torch and hammer coral
about 70 various lps, sps and softies, mostly frags at this point

I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention something but I can always answer questions if it comes up.

Reef Tank 2 11_8_2020.jpg Reef Tank 11_8_2020.jpg
 
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brunera

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Hi all!

So I've had the dreaded unexpected temperature drop occur one night a few months ago, but luckily only a few losses. Unfortunately, one was my beloved Yellow Eyed Kole Tang and a few nice coral. I also lost several euphyllia to BJD, including the torch on the left, the octospawn above the torch, and one of the hammers, but quickly got it under control with some leftover ciprofloxacin that I had in my medicine cabinet. Then my two BTAs decided to split and turn into 6, killing several coral as they marched across the rock work. Such is life in the "real" word!

I decided to try and frag the large leather coral that is in the bottom left in the picture above. It was just getting too large for this crowded tank. I now have about 8-10 frags that are doing pretty well and will need to be taken to my LFS, probably along with four of the BTAs. The leftover leather coral is still pretty large, but doesn't seem quite as "pretty" as before I fragged it. Maybe it'll improve with time or maybe I'll just keep one of the better small frags and give the large piece to my LFS. Decisions, decisions!
 
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brunera

brunera

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I have been following projects in the 3D printer threads and have printed several different types of frag plugs and racks, as well as a nice nori holder for my yellow tang and a magnetic frozen food holder that I like. I noticed a thread discussing 3D printed filter rollers to fit in smaller spaces, like those in the back of my IM 40. I started playing with the idea of adapting a Klir Di-4 to work with my tank and went ahead and picked one up when they went on sale. I finally think I have a setup that so far has been working well and posted it there. I thought I'd post what I did here in my build thread as well:


I think I've got the Klir DI-4 working pretty well in the back of my IM 40 for a few weeks now. Let's see if I can explain what I've done and I'll post some pictures.

1) The only modification I had to make to the tank is to gently pried off the small plastic lip that is under the overflow opening in the back compartment so that the Klir would fit and sit closer to the overflow wall. If you're careful, you can save that piece and reinstall it later if you decide not to use the Klir anymore.

2) I happen to have some remnants of a 24" x 48" sheet of Optix Acrylic (but any thin sheet of plastic should work) that I purchased from Home Depot for another project. I cut a rectangular piece to just barely fit horizontally in the compartment behind the overflow. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of the one that is installed and working now. Here is a picture of my first attempt that wasn't centered very well and broke. The purpose of this piece is to fit snuggly below the level of the overflow so that as the filter gets dirty, the water level rises.
20210426_095721.jpeg



3) Once I got the outer size correct, I removed the round filter sock adapter from the Klir and used the inner opening of the adapter as a template for cutting the opening in the acrylic. I then carefully carved out the center of the acrylic piece with my Dremel so that it would fit snuggly around the Klir and replaced the round filter sock adapter with the new rectangular version I made.
1621799658776.png

Make sure you pay attention the orientation so that the hole for the screw is on the correct side and the water flows into the Klir from the right direction. For me, this was with the roller motor facing the back. Also note, the sensor doesn't fit if installed where it is suppose to go on the Klir. Leave the sensor uninstalled. You should now be able to carefully push the Klir with the new rectangular adapter down into the space behind the overflow. You could use an aquarium safe silicone sealant around the edges for an even better seal, but I haven't found a need to do that yet. In fact, I achieved such a nice, tight fit that I will probably need to break the acrylic piece I made if I ever need to completely remove the Klir.

20210409_123652.jpeg


4) At this point, if you have a pretty good seal around the acrylic piece, you could just eyeball when the water level around the Klir seems to rise and dip the sensor briefly in the tank water to move the filter roll manually. This worked pretty well for a while until I found a pattern for a 3D printed sensor holder that I thought might work.

5) I found a couple of 3D printer patterns on Thingiverse for sensor holders and hooks and merged them together on Tinkercad.com to make these:

20210523_132555.jpeg


I had to print out several trial versions until I got the length of the holder and the depth of the notch just right. The sensor holder hangs just next to the Klir (inner side) and allows the sensor to sit just below the edge of the inner wall.


20210515_170140.jpeg


The nice thing about having this placement and having it be easily removable is that when I have the return pump turned off for some reason, and the back compartments fill with water, the sensor doesn't cause the roll to continually move and waste filter paper. I just lift the sensor temporarily out of it's location and replace it easily when I'm done.

6) Once I found the correct depth for the sensor, I then adjusted the depth of the ATO sensor. If I left it higher in it's previous location, then any time the Klir compartment started to fill, the ATO would add water. And as soon as the Klir filter paper moved, the water level would rise significantly, causing too much fluctuation in the water level. Placing the ATO sensor lower decreases the fluctuations of water level caused by the Klir and prevents the ATO to inadvertently add too much water. In this image, the white wire is leading to the ATO sensor in the center back compartment

20210515_170151.jpeg



The top down image below shows the entire back compartments of my IM 40. From top to bottom, the first compartment has the tubing from the ATO leading into a filter sock, next compartment holds the skimmer, middle compartment with ATO sensor, tank heater, and return pump, next compartment with a lonely mangrove seedling, and a small reactor with a layer of Zeovit and a layer of RowaPhos (my ammonia and nitrite are almost 0, but phosphate and nitrate levels are still a battle, thus trying out the Klir), and the last compartment with the Klir and sensor.

20210523_133902.jpeg


Some thoughts:

So far, I'm very happy with this system as it cuts out half of my filter sock cleaning since I used to replace two filter socks twice a week, now just one. And I HATE cleaning filter socks, but they are so far the best for my system and trying to get the nitrate down.

The Klir seems to move the paper a perfect amount, just a couple of centimeters each time, and it doesn't seem too excessive how often it moves, but I haven't timed it yet. Like I said at the beginning, I've had this running at least 3 weeks and haven't run through the first roll of filter paper yet. I'll try to pay more attention and post how long a roll lasts with this set up. I do have a heavy bioload with lots of fish and I'm a generous feeder so others with lighter load may not go through the roll as fast as I do.

The aesthetic isn't great, but not too bad. If things continue to run smoothly, I might even consider installing another one on the other side and completely get rid of filter socks.

20210515_170004.jpeg
20210515_170044.jpeg


I'd love to hear thoughts and ideas from everyone. I love these projects that require me to think outside of the box and "jerry rig" something together. Especially when it works!!
 
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brunera

brunera

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I though I'd post a quick image as an update. Instead of the Klir, I added a HOB overflow and plumbed down to my Theiling Compact Roller in the sump in the cabinet under the tank. You can see the overflow hanging on the right. Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Reef Tank 12:25:2021.jpeg
 

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