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squirrel's IM 38, now that my butt-hurt is over...


squirrelieygrrrl

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squirrelieygrrrl

A little about my reefing history, more than a decade ago I worked at a large saltwater store in Daytona, FL after that I was hooked though I never did endeavor to actually set one up 7 years later. The 10 gal aga was pretty sad at best but a great stepping stone into reefing. It's successors are linked in my signature as well as my masterpiece the 16 bow.

 

This tank was born in the wake of disaster a rushed purchase after almost calling it quits after a series of struggles. If there was something that would go wrong it did; red bugs, hyper salinic water, shere neglect, two moves, broken equipment, byropsis, and a loss of focus. Well, after the complete failure that was my cad and almost throwing in the towel I've decided to give it another go thanks to my partners insistence on not giving up (thanks Amber). She basically did all the maintenance for the better part of 9 months while ignored the tank in a fit of reeling butt-hurt. However with a newfound inspiration and interest I'm back with big plans, this tank will be my project while I collect equipment to ultimately re-set up the cad, better than before.

 

 

 

 

What I settled on:

A simpler approach, less equipment and back to basics.

 

Tank:

 

Innovative Marine's Nuvo Mini 38; 19.02 x 19.02 x 23.62

 

Lighting:

 

Aqua Illumination Vega Blue in black, with a modded Kessil gooseneck for mounting

 

Flow:

 

Mp10w ES

 

456 gph stock pump, with dual return.

 

Filtration:

 

Stock trickle dual media baskets.

 

Skimmer:

 

Bubble Magus NaC3.

 

Heater:

 

Jager 150w TruTemp heater

 

Water source:

 

Max-Cap 5 stage RO/DI, two 47 gallon Brute trash cans on dollies.

 

Aquascape:

 

30 lbs of Tokota live rock

20 lbs of Oolite sand

 

 

What I haven't settled on:

 

Dosing delivery system: Most likely a calcium reactor

 

Supplemental Filtration: Possibly two of the IM Media Reactors

 

 

What I still need to get:

 

 

The stand that goes with the tank

 

A better thermometer

 

A refractometer (I know, I know)

 

Neptune Apex jr.

 

 

Fish:

 

Lunch, The Maroon Clown

 

The Mystery Wrasse that Amber hates

 

Coral List To Come

 

Now for a crappy iphone pic to tide you all over until my camera's battery charges.

 

IMG_0410.jpg

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squirrelieygrrrl

fanks!

 

I have a dilemma, my fish are currently living in a 5 gal bucket in my kitchen with a heater and a powerhead. Amber's classroom tank is full to the brim with all of my corals and such. Not to mention she has two fish as it is, and there is no place for my mystery wrasse, lunch the maroon, and the mandarin......

 

Do I cycle the tank as is normally done and risk the fish surviving in the bucket? (they have been there for 6 days)

 

Or do I add them to the newly set up 38 and make a go at soft cycling. I used my previous rock and kept it alive in a brute with a heater and pump. Before I added it to the 38 I scrubbed it all down with a brush to limit die off. It does have fresh sand, that wasn't something I wanted to reuse.

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You're back!!!!!!! :happydance:

 

So exciting...way to go Amber, for insisting you don't give up :happy:

 

ohmygosh....LUNCH!!!!! I forgot about your sweet baby clown. She must be huge by now. You've had her so long!!!!!

 

Sounds to me like your fish would have a better chance soft cycled in the 38. That's what I would do!!!!!!

 

Welcome back :wub:

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squirrelieygrrrl

yay! thanks Gena,

 

IKR? Amber is a god send for sure. Yes I still have Lunch little goober, he/she is such a little grump and a survivor considering the SG catastrophe he survived in the cad (almost two weeks worth of off the scale dense sw)

 

I've been leaning that direction, but I hesitate at the same time. I just got water in it this morning. However the few corals that were left on the rocks opened right up when I put the scape together. So that has to be a sign of sorts.

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Did you put any new live rock in this tank?

If not & this is all the old LR you had before, I'd go ahead and put the fish in the tank.

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squirrelieygrrrl
Did you put any new live rock in this tank?

If not & this is all the old LR you had before, I'd go ahead and put the fish in the tank.

 

Nope, It's all the same rock from the cad. I guess I need to go find my net.....lol.

 

Thanks Angel,

It's not as pretty or as artful as the cad's scape, but it'll do. :D

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Since you kept the rock alive in the brute I bet you won't have much if any sort of cycle. What kind of sand did you use? Dry or live? I totally think you'd be fine putting them in the new tank.

 

Can't wait to see pictures of Lunch and the rest of the fish :)

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squirrelieygrrrl

dry sand,

 

I do have the old sand still in the brute so I can still seed it though I wasn't sure it was necessary as the rock already has all the schtuff i need on/in it. The old sand was pretty scuzzy and I had a bag of chemipure explode when we were moving the tank so its got carbon fines in it.

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squirrelieygrrrl

well we have a bag 'o fish, and a much better pic. I really need to get lightroom on my computer so I can edit again yeesh.

 

DSC06133.jpg

 

Anyone have any thoughts on some supplemental light, I was thinking about doing a couple of par 38's because I already have the fixtures for them. The kessil is just a bit too dim for my liking.

 

After some digging I found a skimmer I'm interested in unless some one has a better suggestion. This will be my first AIO so i'm a bit new to this game.

 

Bubble Magus NAC5E

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Sweet rock scape! PAR38s could work out nicely space wise given the shape of the Kessil (as opposed to trying to fit them around a rectangle). Thought about upgrading to the A350?

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squirrelieygrrrl

thanks owenj,

 

I think I"m most interested in varying my lighting a bit instead of settling with one fixture/one spectrum. Then again there is always the vega in the back of my mind. However that can't happen any time soon, we need a fence built at the new house. So a cheap fix would be two par 38's.

 

Any thoughts on whether to go with a blue/violet mix, or a white/blue? I'm leaning toward a white/blue since the kessil is so blue as it is.

 

rapid led? ocreef? any other suggestions?

 

also what about suggestions on a cone/cylinder hob or compact skimmer? Did any one take a peek at that link for the bubble magus?

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Awesome tank! I am in the process of gettin my IM 30 gallon set up, I love these tanks! I am actually going to be getting the IM skimmate skimmer my buddy uses it on his tank and he has had nothing but good things to say about it. How are you keeping the dry side on the mp10 dry with it being in the rear chamber? I can't wait to see how it looks with the fish and corals in!

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squirrelieygrrrl

Thanks JG,

 

I just keep the water level about 3 inches lower than the mp10 dry side. Risky I know. As far as their skimmer goes I had considered it but I kind of wanted something with a bit more ooomph.

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Thanks JG,

 

I just keep the water level about 3 inches lower than the mp10 dry side. Risky I know. As far as their skimmer goes I had considered it but I kind of wanted something with a bit more ooomph.

 

Looking good! I have the same tank in white w/ a Vega. Couldn't be any happier with this tank.

 

I like the look of that MP10 in the rear chamber but that would make me a little nervy. I know I would turn the return pump off, forget its back there... and good bye Vortech :o

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thanks owenj,

 

I think I"m most interested in varying my lighting a bit instead of settling with one fixture/one spectrum. Then again there is always the vega in the back of my mind. However that can't happen any time soon, we need a fence built at the new house. So a cheap fix would be two par 38's.

 

Any thoughts on whether to go with a blue/violet mix, or a white/blue? I'm leaning toward a white/blue since the kessil is so blue as it is.

 

rapid led? ocreef? any other suggestions?

 

also what about suggestions on a cone/cylinder hob or compact skimmer? Did any one take a peek at that link for the bubble magus?

I'd say go blue/violet or full spectrum for better coloration in the corals. People speak pretty highly of the LEDtric & RapidLED ones, though there can be a problem w/spotlight "disco ball" look from them. I ordered some full spectrum PAR38s from Bright Aquatics which hopefully will be shipping sometime this week.

 

I've never run a skimmer so can't be much help there :mellow:

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squirrelieygrrrl
I'd say go blue/violet or full spectrum for better coloration in the corals. People speak pretty highly of the LEDtric & RapidLED ones, though there can be a problem w/spotlight "disco ball" look from them. I ordered some full spectrum PAR38s from Bright Aquatics which hopefully will be shipping sometime this week.

 

I've never run a skimmer so can't be much help there :mellow:

 

thanks owenj,

 

I'll have to mull it over some more. hmmmm.... I'll be interested in what you think of the par38's from bright.

 

I have a BM skimmer right now and I've been very pleased with it, however the hob version looks bulky so I was curious if any one had used one.

 

 

Sorry to hear about the tank crash sg but really glad to see your back. Tank looks great so far.

 

Thanks Hype,

 

Its ok, we saved what we could and I'm going to revaluate my approach to reefing. I'm obviously not a techie reefer by any means. lol

 

It's good to be back for sure. I think I definitely needed a little NR to get my reefer juices goin again.

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I really like the rock in your tank. The texture is really nice. As far as lights, I have two ledtric par38 full spectrums on a 20 and really like them.

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Thanks Hype,

 

Its ok, we saved what we could and I'm going to revaluate my approach to reefing. I'm obviously not a techie reefer by any means. lol

 

It's good to be back for sure. I think I definitely needed a little NR to get my reefer juices goin again.

 

Well you know we're always here to help.

 

I know the feeling :happy::grouphug:

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