njasmin Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Hello nano-reefers! I know there is not much to a Nuvo 16 AIO build but I just wanted to share how my tank came to be.... It all starts with a stand! For the most part this is not required for these tanks as a lot of people just set them on counters, bookshelves etc. I could not personally find a suitable piece of furniture that fit my price range and needs. It had to have a cabinet space so i could have an ATO. but everyones needs are different. It starts with getting some material 2 - 2x3 2 - 2x4 1 sheet 1/2" MDF 6' section of 1/2" quarter round small nails, screws(i used 2.5" screws for the frame and 1.5" for the mdf), paint, cabinet hardware, handles, spakle etc a lot of item u will ideally already have Once materials are gathered we can start assembly! I started by making 2 squares measuring 12.25"x24" out of the 2x3's...remember, measure twice cut once I had the MDF precut at HD in 30" sections as i wanted my stand to be approximately 36" tall. Come to find out a 2x3 is actually more like 1.5"x2.5" so my stand is 35" tall. With that being said I cut 4 - 35" sections out of the 2x4s and attached it to one of the squares. I determined which square was going to be the base and top, also front/back by looking at which wood had the least amount of blemishes on it...examine it carefully bc once in place its not changing! I guess I should have mentioned that before actually assembling the square pieces Now that the basic frame is in place, I drove 4 screws toward the top just to hold the top brace in place. This is an important step as it is going to determine whether you stand is level or not. I actually went as far as to level it at the location where the stand will be not in the garage bc garage floors generally tilt toward the door. The picture just demonstrates the process. Start with one corner at a time and put the square frame slightly ABOVE the 2x4 to account for errors. Test all corners, sides, length..u name it test it for being level! Once level i added an additional top brace and the top piece(I used the same piece that was cut out for the door in the next steps) For the door i started by measuring FLUSH with the 2x4 lengths so my piece ended up being 30"x21"(same goes for the sides, the gaps will be filled with quarter round). I measured 3" in on all sides to make the square to cut out for the cabinet. As mentioned previously I used the 'scrap' door piece for the top. Attach your quarter round for the edges with the small nails... Once all assembled, its time to fill/spackle and sand! I spackled/sanded 2 times to ensure all spaces filled and a final sanding before the paint. Mount your door with the cabinet hardware and its all done! Now that the stand is built, its time to get this bad boy filled up! I used all existing LR from my 5 year old 60 gallon tank that i was breaking down along with 50% of the water, new sand bed. Aquascape has changed many times lol Now that my tank is running something just wasn't right about the lighting...I wanted to do a full diy but it needed to be 'wife proof' aka no hanging fixtures or a DIY look lol, had to be gooseneck at the very least. I didn't order the skyye lights that come with the nuvo 16 as tehy got bad reviews, after looking at some pics i decided to get 2 - 9x1w clip on Beamswork reefbright fixtures (I have since ordered a nano box duo but waiting for it to get done) These were $28/piece but i didnt like the color(too white for my liking) so i decided to mod them Disassembly is just stupid easy, literally pop the lenses off and 2 screws hold the cover in place. I thought about what color LEDs to put and where for about a week and finally came up with this layout... These LEDs are a little tricky to get off the board as they are soldered on, just FYI there is no salvaging the LEDs you take off. The only way I had success taking them off is pushing the soldering iron on them in a forward/sideways motion and practically melt them off My mod would require....(all 1w, 350mA) 8 - Royal Blue 2 - Blue 2 - Warm White 2 - UV 4 - Cool White(the only LEDs original to the fixture) The board is labeled with a +/- lead already so i used a DMM to determine which was the correct lead on the new LEDs. Also, I did one at a time, plugging the fixture in afterwards to make sure it works! The entire process took about an hour, start to finish. I am much more satisfied with the color until i receive my Duo! Before: After: Besides that other equipment is as follows... Stock nuvo 16 return and flow valves Stock media baskets(just ordered the customcaddy 16 also) Use them for filter floss and carbon, and a BRS media bag with rowaphos in fuge chamber with heater. AquaEuro Nano II Skimmer....Yes this fits in the fuge colum PERFECTLY and does not throw microbubbles in the tank, pulls skim well also 50W Heater Cobalt Neo-Therm 75W heater Jebao WP25 set on Else mode S3 Jebao WP10 Else mode S1 DIY ATO system made from ebay float switch, extension cord, 3 gallon trash can, 50gph return pump, and some tubing Livestock 6 line wrasse lawnmower blenny assorted snails/hermits emerald crab hammer coral monti cap 2 acros, one table one cluster acan green star polyps kenya tree red musroom 2 riccordea 2 frags of zoas favia 2 chalice(one im nursing back to life as it was almost dead!) Sorry if this was lengthy, but i hope this helps someone or someone got some enjoyment out of it. Link to comment
treedog5 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 That's a awesome build thread, very detailed and picture filled. I wish I could mod some leds like that. I will definitely keep track of this thread. ? Link to comment
hersheyb Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 big improvement on the light, nice colors Link to comment
TeamIM24 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Looks great. I am curious if you are going to water proof your MDF. I know you said you are going to paint it. Are you going to seal it as well so it doesn't swell when it gets wet? Link to comment
londonloco Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Very impressed you have a WP25 on else mode in this tank. I have a hard time w/it on my 36" tank blowing sand around. Love your rock work! Link to comment
njasmin Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 Looks great. I am curious if you are going to water proof your MDF. I know you said you are going to paint it. Are you going to seal it as well so it doesn't swell when it gets wet? There is actually 4 coats of paint on that stand. Although it might have seemed like i had it up in a short amount of time...the stand itself just with the wood took one day. Final sanding the next day after everything was smoothed out, and did the first coat. Did an additional coat every following day for 3 days letting paint cure for 24 hours in between. Stand itself took about a week from start to finish. Very impressed you have a WP25 on else mode in this tank. I have a hard time w/it on my 36" tank blowing sand around. Love your rock work! At first the pump was crazy!!! I ended up using a universal dc adapter running it at 15v until after about 3 weeks the pump broke in and doesn't pump as fast once it gets going. Its back on original PSU now and doing fine....needless to say everytime it gets turned off/on or comes out of feeding it kicks on full blast LOL its only for a couple seconds though I do appreciate all who viewed this, and thank you all for the posts! Also...Since the pics are a little old and I realized You will not be able to see all the coral listed(some are not in the original pics) I have decided to post an up to date pic! Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Looking good man! Quick question(As I cannot get anyone else to answer me), I got my picture in my signature, but how do I make the pic the click on link? As you can see, my link is above my signature picture,lol Link to comment
njasmin Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Thanks man, It took me a while to figure it out also. Insert you picture with the image button near the bold, italic, etc.....Next single click the picture to highlight it(it should turn blue) Now Click the link button(it is next to the bullets...1.2.3, to the left of the image button). Copy and paste your link and you are done! Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Thanks man, It took me a while to figure it out also. Insert you picture with the image button near the bold, italic, etc.....Next single click the picture to highlight it(it should turn blue) Now Click the link button(it is next to the bullets...1.2.3, to the left of the image button). Copy and paste your link and you are done! Bro, you are the MAN! thanks! Link to comment
njasmin Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Just wanted to give an update here. I decided to mess around with the aqua euro nano II skimmer i have running. I am very happy with the results right now. If you want to check it out the thread is here. I have also added a few more things to the tank and rearranged some things. I'll get another FTS here soon Link to comment
njasmin Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 New FTS 4/2/2014 Still working with a crappy camera, its impossible to get the colors as they actually appear Link to comment
njasmin Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Wow spilling up nicely Your tank is looking great! Thanks a lot! I think i can squeeze maybe 2 more frags in it before i let them start really growing LOL My nanobox duo is going to arrive on Monday/Tuesday next week so it will look even better! Still doesn't change the fact I dont have a nice camera to take pics with... All in good time. Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Thanks a lot! I think i can squeeze maybe 2 more frags in it before i let them start really growing LOL My nanobox duo is going to arrive on Monday/Tuesday next week so it will look even better! Still doesn't change the fact I dont have a nice camera to take pics with... All in good time. I feel you on the camera...I am such a cheap ass by nature that this is the ONLY thing I spend money on(and a lot of money at that). Every time I consider buying a nice camera I think how many cool frags I can buy for my tank Link to comment
njasmin Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 I feel you on the camera...I am such a cheap ass by nature that this is the ONLY thing I spend money on(and a lot of money at that). Every time I consider buying a nice camera I think how many cool frags I can buy for my tank Yea it's hard to come up with the cash for things like that. I'm with you 100% I dont care to spend money if I don't have to lol honestly if I'm going to drop 500-700 on a material item, it will probably be a Neptune apex so the camera is far from the grand picture right now. My gf wants a nice cam tho so maybe I will get her one and borrow it when I need to lol Link to comment
njasmin Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 I just wanted to give a little update since it has been a decent amount of additions/changes. First and foremost...I RECEIVED MY NANOBOX DUO!!! The lights are absolutely amazing and the colors of the coral look way better. Here it is with the duo Besides that, I have added a few more coral, a couple monti pieces, a couple pocillapora, another trachphyllia, and a duncan. Here are some pics And the new updated FTS as of today Link to comment
njasmin Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Just got a new camera! It's a point n shoot but has many features that my other cameras did not. I haven't exactly spent the time to learn anything yet lol but here are some pictures taken out of excitement Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Woah, is that second one a monti? I want that one! hehe, what camera did yah get? I need to invest in one soon.... Link to comment
njasmin Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 I just bit the bullet and ordered a MP10!! Super excited, I know it will be a worthwhile investment Woah, is that second one a monti? I want that one! hehe, what camera did yah get? I need to invest in one soon.... The second one is a monti cap, it has actually shown a lot of growth since I first put it in the tank. Im sure the Nano Box Duo helps a lot compared to the previous lights lol. I ended up getting a Sony Cybershot H200 on newegg refurbished for $90. It's not the best but is a stepping stone to a DSLR. A lot of negative reviews on it but I like it, just have to adjust your settings accordingly for the environment. Not so much of a 'point n shoot' like people expect which is why i believe it got bad ratings. Still messing around with it tho Link to comment
Muddy Waters Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 looks very nice, cool that you could make your own stand on the cheap too tank stands are one of the biggest rip offs in the "hobby" , most are total junk. again looks very nice. as I'm new to all of this , one thing I notice is tank size is VERY hard for me to judge, if that makes any sense. untill I see photos that are taken a bit farther back . for instance I was just looking at a 50 gallon tank build and it seems the same as this 16 lol Link to comment
NanoFever Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Tank is looking great Nate! Link to comment
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