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IM Nuvo 40 - creating a refugium in back chamber


NYfishies

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Hey all,

 

I am not sure if this has ever been discussed in depth, but I wanted to share some of the experience we have had thus far setting up a very small refugium in one of the back chambers of our IM Nuvo tank.

 

We came up with the idea when researching Mandarin's which is an eventual goal for us. I am not sure we are going to add one to this tank as I feel it may be too small to yield the amount of pods we will require and we do not want to completely rely on frozen foods. We decided that having the pods grow in the fuge for our other fish would be equally rewarding. Having a diet of live food swimming throughout the tank in addition to our daily feeding is a great concept. Also, the benefits of natural filtration that a fuge offers to lower nitrates, stabilize pH and increase oxygen led us to believe this was a great idea. Due to the limitations we are facing with space this in tank fuge was our best option.

 

As for the build. We have already replaced the stock IM media baskets with CustomCaddy's (CC). While I have read a lot about inTank baskets I did not know about these when we bought the tank back in July (new to the hobby). The fuge is located in the back right chamber where the overflow is. We removed the center divider of the CC and inserted the top divider into the slot closest to the top of the CC. This creates a decent size space to add algae. On the bottom of the CC we cut 1 of the yellow mechanical sponges in half and placed the 2 halves at the bottom. This creates a thinner layer of mechanical sponge that helps prevent algae from flowing into the DT and also allows for more space. There are gaps on either side of the sponges which hopefully is enough for any pods to swim through. In the top portion of the CC we cut 2 mechanical sponges in half and then layered all 4 halves to completely fill the top of the CC. The top and bottom layers are roughly 1" thick. At the top, what this does is allow for the overflow to pour deeper (maybe 1/2" to 3/4" waterfall) into the CC resulting in better flow. At the moment we only have chaeto and some snails in the fuge as the ulva did not last. Chaeto I think is a good algae for pods to hide and reproduce and it also requires lower flow and can handle heavy direct light. We have the IM MagnaFuge LED light which is attached directly to the back of the tank flush against the glass and faces into the refguium chamber. As a result the LED's are very close to the actual algae. I would think this may "burn" some types of algae, but I could be wrong. The light is on for 8 hours each day alternate to the DT lights.

 

I am wondering if anybody else has set up a refugium in one of the chambers of their AIO. How did you do it? Are you using inTank baskets and do they work better for this application? They look the same as the CustomCaddy's so I am having a hard time understanding why people like them so much better? Also, are you concerned about flow or food build up in the fuge - any way to help with this?

 

Thanks all for any input. I look forward to hearing about any and all AOI fuge setups!

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I've got an inTank fuge basket in my Nuvo 16 with chaeto, lit by the submersible light on the website. I tried growing chaeto with the JBJ nano-glo in my old NC28, and that light burned the crap out of the chaeto. But this submersible one is growing it awesomely, to the point where I need to remove half every week of so. I also had awesome luck just propping a clip-on desktop lamp (6700K CF bulb) so it shined against the back wall, but that tank was sitting at an angle to the room corner so there was space for that.

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I've got an inTank fuge basket in my Nuvo 16 with chaeto, lit by the submersible light on the website. I tried growing chaeto with the JBJ nano-glo in my old NC28, and that light burned the crap out of the chaeto. But this submersible one is growing it awesomely, to the point where I need to remove half every week of so. I also had awesome luck just propping a clip-on desktop lamp (6700K CF bulb) so it shined against the back wall, but that tank was sitting at an angle to the room corner so there was space for that.

 

I have done this as well with two IM tanks, a Nuvo 8 & Micro 30. In my Nuvo 8 with the intank fuge basket & nothing in my Micro 30 just it sitting in my heater column. Both have been seeded with a combo of copepods, rottifier & feed one a week with phyto. The 10w submersable light works awesome, i have both of mine on reverse light cycle and not only do i have a good population of food growing but also very little nitrates & phosephates on overstocked tanks.

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Here is a picture of what it looks like.

 

15566764105_52f58df6b0_o.jpg

 

Nobody else is doing anything similar?

Not sure that is going to work how you have your cc set up. I dont think that the chaeto will get enough flow inside the basket, pods will be trapped between the sponges & you will have to cut some of the black off of the back of the tank to light the algae.

 

I would try something a bit different. Use your cc for ff on top, chemi pure elite in the middle & 100 ml bag of purigen on the bottom. Your sponges will just collect crud, by having ff on top you just reach in and grab it whenever you want and replace the floss with ease.

 

I would Then cram your chaeto in your skimmer/media column with either the intank fuge basket or if your using a skimmer/reactor just stuff your chaeto in your heater column. Add the 10w sub light from Intank, place on timer reverse cycle. Start your seeding in there & inthink you will have great results as i did on both of my tanks from all aspects.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Fishsticks2187

Hey all,

 

I am not sure if this has ever been discussed in depth, but I wanted to share some of the experience we have had thus far setting up a very small refugium in one of the back chambers of our IM Nuvo tank.

 

We came up with the idea when researching Mandarin's which is an eventual goal for us. I am not sure we are going to add one to this tank as I feel it may be too small to yield the amount of pods we will require and we do not want to completely rely on frozen foods. We decided that having the pods grow in the fuge for our other fish would be equally rewarding. Having a diet of live food swimming throughout the tank in addition to our daily feeding is a great concept. Also, the benefits of natural filtration that a fuge offers to lower nitrates, stabilize pH and increase oxygen led us to believe this was a great idea. Due to the limitations we are facing with space this in tank fuge was our best option.

 

As for the build. We have already replaced the stock IM media baskets with CustomCaddy's (CC). While I have read a lot about inTank baskets I did not know about these when we bought the tank back in July (new to the hobby). The fuge is located in the back right chamber where the overflow is. We removed the center divider of the CC and inserted the top divider into the slot closest to the top of the CC. This creates a decent size space to add algae. On the bottom of the CC we cut 1 of the yellow mechanical sponges in half and placed the 2 halves at the bottom. This creates a thinner layer of mechanical sponge that helps prevent algae from flowing into the DT and also allows for more space. There are gaps on either side of the sponges which hopefully is enough for any pods to swim through. In the top portion of the CC we cut 2 mechanical sponges in half and then layered all 4 halves to completely fill the top of the CC. The top and bottom layers are roughly 1" thick. At the top, what this does is allow for the overflow to pour deeper (maybe 1/2" to 3/4" waterfall) into the CC resulting in better flow. At the moment we only have chaeto and some snails in the fuge as the ulva did not last. Chaeto I think is a good algae for pods to hide and reproduce and it also requires lower flow and can handle heavy direct light. We have the IM MagnaFuge LED light which is attached directly to the back of the tank flush against the glass and faces into the refguium chamber. As a result the LED's are very close to the actual algae. I would think this may "burn" some types of algae, but I could be wrong. The light is on for 8 hours each day alternate to the DT lights.

 

I am wondering if anybody else has set up a refugium in one of the chambers of their AIO. How did you do it? Are you using inTank baskets and do they work better for this application? They look the same as the CustomCaddy's so I am having a hard time understanding why people like them so much better? Also, are you concerned about flow or food build up in the fuge - any way to help with this?

 

Thanks all for any input. I look forward to hearing about any and all AOI fuge setups!

any updates since starting this? i am waiting for my light megnafuge led to ship to me and am going to set it up pretty much the same way as you. have you notices pods making there way into your display tank? also why wouldnt you leave your light on 24/7? this will be my first refugium but i was under the impression that the light stays on all day everyday.

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any updates since starting this? i am waiting for my light megnafuge led to ship to me and am going to set it up pretty much the same way as you. have you notices pods making there way into your display tank? also why wouldnt you leave your light on 24/7? this will be my first refugium but i was under the impression that the light stays on all day everyday.

 

I constantly have pods on the glass, and my clowns will munch on them whenever they like. Right now the clowns are out in a hospital tank because they managed to catch internal parasites off the rocks that were recently added to the tank, so the pod population in the display has almost tripled in a week.

 

You can certainly leave the light on 24/7, but plants do need a respiration period like they have during the night in nature. Some people have success running it 24/7 for six days, then leaving it off the seventh. The benefit to running it opposite the display tank's light cycle (off during the day, on during the night) is that the chaeto will take up the CO2 being created by the tank's inhabitants. Then during the day, when the chaeto is respiring, algae and other photosynthetic inhabitants in the display tank will take up CO2. Because of the role CO2 plays in pH, you're helping to balance the night-day difference in pH in the aquarium. Also, keeping up O2 levels for the inhabitants so nothing suffocates in the middle of the night. >>

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any updates since starting this? i am waiting for my light megnafuge led to ship to me and am going to set it up pretty much the same way as you. have you notices pods making there way into your display tank? also why wouldnt you leave your light on 24/7? this will be my first refugium but i was under the impression that the light stays on all day everyday.

 

I removed the mechanical sponges from the bottom to allow the pods to flow easier into the tank and also more room for the chaeto to grow. I also cut the top mechincal sponge layer in half to provide more flow into the chamber. I think both have helped quite a bit.

 

I have 2 main issues at the moment that I am not sure how to solve. The first is that it appears that the algae has debris/waste on it which has flowed from the DT. I have several small snails in the refugium, but this doesn't seem to cut it. Also, it appears that the light may be burning the chaeto which touches the glass right where the LED's shine in. As a result a build up of some sort appears on the glass. Unless I removed the Custom Caddy from the chamber this cannot be cleaned.

 

I have also added a folded piece of filter pad and placed it behind the Custom Caddy so that it pushes the CC against the overflow snug.

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Fishsticks2187

I constantly have pods on the glass, and my clowns will munch on them whenever they like. Right now the clowns are out in a hospital tank because they managed to catch internal parasites off the rocks that were recently added to the tank, so the pod population in the display has almost tripled in a week.

 

You can certainly leave the light on 24/7, but plants do need a respiration period like they have during the night in nature. Some people have success running it 24/7 for six days, then leaving it off the seventh. The benefit to running it opposite the display tank's light cycle (off during the day, on during the night) is that the chaeto will take up the CO2 being created by the tank's inhabitants. Then during the day, when the chaeto is respiring, algae and other photosynthetic inhabitants in the display tank will take up CO2. Because of the role CO2 plays in pH, you're helping to balance the night-day difference in pH in the aquarium. Also, keeping up O2 levels for the inhabitants so nothing suffocates in the middle of the night. >>

very informative thank you. hopefully your clowns get well soon!

 

I removed the mechanical sponges from the bottom to allow the pods to flow easier into the tank and also more room for the chaeto to grow. I also cut the top mechincal sponge layer in half to provide more flow into the chamber. I think both have helped quite a bit.

 

I have 2 main issues at the moment that I am not sure how to solve. The first is that it appears that the algae has debris/waste on it which has flowed from the DT. I have several small snails in the refugium, but this doesn't seem to cut it. Also, it appears that the light may be burning the chaeto which touches the glass right where the LED's shine in. As a result a build up of some sort appears on the glass. Unless I removed the Custom Caddy from the chamber this cannot be cleaned.

 

I have also added a folded piece of filter pad and placed it behind the Custom Caddy so that it pushes the CC against the overflow snug.

thank you for the update, yeah i figured the sponge on the bottom would be an issue. the build up on the glass would just be algae it self since the light is shining on it, or could be feces from the snails

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So in order to clean the glass of the gunk and algae I must remove the CC from the chamber which means the Chaeto is removed from the water. How will this effect the pods and their home in the Chaeto?

 

Also, any suggestions for how to keep the Chaeto clean of waste and the gunk that seemingly covers it?

 

Thanks!

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So in order to clean the glass of the gunk and algae I must remove the CC from the chamber which means the Chaeto is removed from the water. How will this effect the pods and their home in the Chaeto?

 

Also, any suggestions for how to keep the Chaeto clean of waste and the gunk that seemingly covers it?

 

Thanks!

 

Just take the chaeto out and put it in a clean container while you clean. When you're done and have the chaeto back in place, swirl the container in the tank (you may want to remove any stray pieces of chaeto if they broke off) so copepods and whatnot will just go right back in the tank.

 

I keep detritus and whatnot out of the chaeto by making sure water needs to pass through filter floss first. I've also got a Sicce 1.5 running in what probably amounts to 14 gallons of water, though, so it's got a decent amount of flow going through it. Detritus also builds up in the filter floss just after the chaeto. Honestly, just poke it or rinse it in old tank water when you do WCs or something, it's not that big a deal. Unless by 'gunk' you mean cyano or dinoflagellates, in which case you've got other problems. >>

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  • 3 years later...
On 10/18/2014 at 2:02 PM, Mariaface said:

I've got an inTank fuge basket in my Nuvo 16 with chaeto, lit by the submersible light on the website. I tried growing chaeto with the JBJ nano-glo in my old NC28, and that light burned the crap out of the chaeto. But this submersible one is growing it awesomely, to the point where I need to remove half every week of so. I also had awesome luck just propping a clip-on desktop lamp (6700K CF bulb) so it shined against the back wall, but that tank was sitting at an angle to the room corner so there was space for that.

Can you tell me what submersible light you got for the chaeto? I was going to get a chaetomax light but it seems overpriced. Thanks

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5 hours ago, Mozby's Reef said:

Can you tell me what submersible light you got for the chaeto? I was going to get a chaetomax light but it seems overpriced. Thanks

 

Oh my goodness, this was so long ago.. I'm pretty sure I just picked up a submersible light from the inTank website or amazon or something? It was just a bulb on a cord that plugged in :P And one day the seal on the bulb/wire finally gave out and the bulb fried..

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