Cali Kid Corals

Mozby's Noob Nano Reef (Nuvo 20)

Mozby

Mozby

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Hi Guys, a tad overdue for a journal, so here goes....

Background:
Sometime last year, I randomly wandered into an LFS on a lazy Sunday with my family. My 3yr old had shown an acute interest in marine life, so I thought it would be a good idea to have a look-see. While at the store, I was instantly reminded of my own childhood fascination with ocean life and the reefing hobby. We left the store with a betta fish for my kid, but the seed had already been planted for my soon-to-be reefing journey.

In the following months, I started doing tons of research (still ongoing!) and began procuring equipment. By the time I joined BAR, the rock was curing in the bin and I had the necessary (and then some) equipment to start the tank.

Equipment:
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  • Tank - IM Nuvo Fusion 20 gallon
  • Light - AI Prime HD
  • Heater - Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm 75W
  • Return Pump - Cobalt Aquatics MJ900
  • Powerhead - Hydor Koralia 425
  • Skimmer - IM Auqa Gadget Desktop Ghost Skimmer
  • Reactor - IM Auqa Gadget Minimax Desktop All-in-one Reactor
  • ATO - IM Auqa Gadget Hydrofill
Rock/Aquascape:
Ordered 14lbs of Pukani and Fiji Dry Rock from BRS (plus 2lbs of pukani rubble)
Rocks.jpg


Despite watching videos and learning about the rule of thirds, I had no clue on how to do the aquascape. I only knew that I wanted a tower/spire and a cave/tunnel effect. So I started with this...
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I wasn't satisfied with it, but started curing the rocks to move forward.
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After countless adjustments and modifications (even during the curing process), here is what my final aquascape looks like...
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2/6/18 - Tank is finally up and running!

Tank Setup
(1) Light and equipment in the back chamber. (2) Side with the ATO mounted.
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(3) Power strip organization and ATO reservoir (aka 2.5g water dispenser lol).
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(4) Media basket with chaeto and pukani rubble in overflow chamber. (5) Chaeto grow light
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Other details:
  • Rock - ended up using approx 12lbs of Pukani/Fiji.
  • Sand - 20lbs of CaribSea Special Grade Arag-Alive Reef Sand
  • Water - Saltwater and RO/DI from LFS at time of setup
  • Filtration - Left chamber: filter sock w/ chemi-pure blue, Right chamber: Media basket w/ filter floss, chaeto and rubble
Stay tuned for first tank inhabitants in the next episode!!!
 
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[emoji106]
I have the same fish tank! I love it.
How do you like having one of the chambers full of cheato? Do you run socks or media basket?


-edit- reading back thru I noticed you have media basket! What do you use in it?

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Nice tank. I love the IM tanks. I currently have the IM 120 and have also run the IM10 and IM 25 Lagoon. Let me know if you have any questions as you get things cooking.
 
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jorahx4 said:
[emoji106]
I have the same fish tank! I love it.
How do you like having one of the chambers full of cheato? Do you run socks or media basket?


-edit- reading back thru I noticed you have media basket! What do you use in it?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yes, its a media basket. Right now it has filter floss on top, and chaeto/rubble rock in the body. I removed one of the shelves to give the chaeto room to grow. The jury's not out yet on whether this is a good idea. I'm told the amount of chaeto that can fit in the overflow chamber is insufficient to support the tank, so I might have to go a different route eventually. Its either more chaeto in a fuge basket in the secondary chamber, or an algae reactor (like the one you set up). How do you like yours?
 
Mozby's Reef said:
Yes, its a media basket. Right now it has filter floss on top, and chaeto/rubble rock in the body. I removed one of the shelves to give the chaeto room to grow. The jury's not out yet on whether this is a good idea. I'm told the amount of chaeto that can fit in the overflow chamber is insufficient to support the tank, so I might have to go a different route eventually. Its either more chaeto in a fuge basket in the secondary chamber, or an algae reactor (like the one you set up). How do you like yours?
Click to expand...

I really like it. It grows quick! Why I prune it often. Only down size is the mess it makes to remove some cheato. And the two little fishie reactor seems like cheap plastic because it is cracking all around the location of the led strip. Talked to some people and they have had similar issue. I just hope it doesn’t start a leak.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
Nice tank. I love the IM tanks. I currently have the IM 120 and have also run the IM10 and IM 25 Lagoon. Let me know if you have any questions as you get things cooking.
Click to expand...

Wow, IM120! Awesome! I always have tons of questions, so thanks for the offer as I will certainly take you up on it!
 
It depends on your purpose of having the chaeto as to whether it will be sufficient or not. Are you using it to propagate pods? It will likely do fine for this. Are you using it for nutrient export? It will aid in this but probably won’t be able to handle 100% of it. It is possible if you feed the tank very little but that’s like feeding a couple pellets every other day. Most likely you’ll be utilizing your skimmer for the majority of your nutrient export and then wc’s if the skimmer and chaeto aren’t keeping up. Are you using it to limit the ph swing by lighting it opposite of your display? It will likely do very little in this regard.
 
Yeah, I only think it'll have a noticeable dent if you load up each of the large sections on both sides of the rear sump. Together those areas will give you about 5-7% of total water volume.
 
jorahx4 said:
I really like it. It grows quick! Why I prune it often. Only down size is the mess it makes to remove some cheato. And the two little fishie reactor seems like cheap plastic because it is cracking all around the location of the led strip. Talked to some people and they have had similar issue. I just hope it doesn’t start a leak.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Bummer. If it ends up leaking, maybe try the Aquamaxx Fr-se Reactor http://a.co/7No0mhc. Recommended by @RandyC.
 
Flagg37 said:
It depends on your purpose of having the chaeto as to whether it will be sufficient or not. Are you using it to propagate pods? It will likely do fine for this. Are you using it for nutrient export? It will aid in this but probably won’t be able to handle 100% of it. It is possible if you feed the tank very little but that’s like feeding a couple pellets every other day. Most likely you’ll be utilizing your skimmer for the majority of your nutrient export and then wc’s if the skimmer and chaeto aren’t keeping up. Are you using it to limit the ph swing by lighting it opposite of your display? It will likely do very little in this regard.
Click to expand...

Well said. My main purpose is nutrient export. I'm fine with it not being a 100% solution as long as it is aiding to a reasonable degree (i.e accomplishing more than a filter sock?).
 
Mozby's Reef said:
Well said. My main purpose is nutrient export. I'm fine with it not being a 100% solution as long as it is aiding to a reasonable degree (i.e accomplishing more than a filter sock?).
Click to expand...

Think the filter sock is more for catching the solids.

I honestly didn’t like the sock. Took it out and just use pads and throw away every 2 days. After I feed. So any extra food that wasn’t eaten gets caught and throw away before it breaks down.


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jorahx4 said:
Think the filter sock is more for catching the solids.

I honestly didn’t like the sock. Took it out and just use pads and throw away every 2 days. After I feed. So any extra food that wasn’t eaten gets caught and throw away before it breaks down.


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Click to expand...
Wanna donate your unwanted filter socks to me? :)
 
Episode 2 - First tank inhabitants 2/11/18

Picked up some frags: Chalice, Candy cane, Birds nest, and 3 zoas (pink zippers, rastas and scarface). Thanks @RandyC!

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Sorry for the bad pics. I've since downloaded an app that will make the photos a little better. Might also get an aquariclip eventually.

Other notes:
  • Skimmer was producing microbubbles all over the tank. Took 3 weeks for it to break-in and the micro bubbles have gone away.
  • Installed spin stream on one of the return nozzles. It had an annoying clicking sound in the beginning but also broke-in and has quietened down significantly.
 
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