August 28 UPDATE: Dubby's Second Attempt at Saltwater [IM Nuvo 4 Build]

[DubbyTee]

Hey everyone!

 

After about 2 years off from the hobby, I decided that it was time to get back into it. I had a previous tank that was alright. It was FOWLR, and I had it going for about 11 months (a 10 gallon tank) until it died off because I went on vacation and had no one to properly look after it.

 

After weeks of looking at what I wanted, I finally went to the LFS that is about 45 minutes away and bit the bullet. I left with the IM Nuvo 4, as I was searching for a tank that was AIO. I really just planned on setting up the tank, and decided where to place it yesterday, but of course I couldn't do that.

 

Because I have terrible gas mileage, I took the easy and convenient way out and went to Petco instead of going to the LFS again. I bought some of their live rock, caribsea live sand, a thermometer, real ocean water, and a timer for my lights. Today I went out and got RO water, and a turkey baster to help clean things up.

 

Yesterday the tank was extremely cloudy, and I decided that I was not going to take any pictures of it. When I woke up this morning, I woke up to the nice surprise of it being pretty clear, and I was able to take this picture with my iPhone (mind the quality).

 

 

Of course, I saw that there was sand everywhere (I might have put too much sand in the tank to begin with...) but I tried to clean it off with my turkey baster, and of course I stirred up the sand again....

 

Everything that I have is stock right now with the tank. It is using the stock lights, and the stock filter.

 

Any help or suggestions with the tank would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!

[aquarium]

Im excited to see where this tank goes, good luck

[DubbyTee]

Thank you! Finally found a LFS that actually cares about what is going on in my tank and they are extremely helpful. I am set up for success this time, and ready to see what I can do.

[uwdanno]

Great looking setup so far. I am just starting the nuvo 4 tank as well. Are you going to stick with the stock filtration in the media basket?

 

How are your parameters looking?

[DubbyTee]

Right now, I plan on staying with stock until I get everything up and running.

 

I have been a bit unlucky on the parameter side of things right now. Both my LFS and Petco did not have the proper test kit that I wanted, so I got a water sample test done on Friday, and everything looked good. I was able to pick up a hydrometer though, and my water is at 1.026, which I am pretty comfortable with right now.

 

How about yours?

[uwdanno]

Mine are great. Tiny trace of Nitrates still but I've just removed the carbon and phosphate filters and replaced them with chemi pure elite and purigen plus did a 25% water change. I've seen my nitrates go down over the last couple days.

 

 

Perfect timing too. Tomorrow I get an awesome shipment from Legendary Corals. Some awesome zoas and mushrooms. Ill post pics when they get cozy in the tank.

 

 

Soooo you going to be adding a CUC soon??

[DubbyTee]

That's awesome. I can't wait to see the pics. I just checked out your thread, and it is looking great.

 

I am gonna go down to the LFS this weekend, and get my water tested, and if everything is looking good, then I will get a CUC.

 

Hopefully they will have a test kit for me though.

[DubbyTee]

In a small update, I went back to the LFS store to get my water tested. Salinity was a little high, and my cycling just started.

 

Looks like I have another 2-3 weeks before I add anything.

[DubbyTee]

August 28th Update:

 

So I went to the LFS today to have my water tested after 5 weeks of cycling, and low and behold, everything checked out! So without further adu, the 2 new additions to my tank:

 

A Green Banded Goby:

 

 

Cleaner Shrimp (These things are hard to take a picture of):

 

 

 

Now that I finally have something in my tank, I will give it maybe a week or two before I add some softies to the tank. But I am finally excited for these additions!