Gooba's IM Nuvo 20 - Pic Heavy

[goobafish]

Updated Picture:

 

Hi everyone! Welcome to my tank's thread. Here you will find my many mistakes, successes and hopefully join me in the fun I am having with my first reef tank. I started using Aquariumate to track everything with my tank, so it really keeps me on the ball.

I am trying to keep this updated with what is current as it has gone through a lot of changes. Updated this on April 1st.

Tank: IM Nuvo 20 Gallon
Stand: Wood stand 24"x15", custom shelving and cable management installed
Lighting: 2x IM SKKYE LED Lights (18w 50/50 white/royal blue), 1x PAR 38 (36w full spectrum)
Heater: 50w Eheim Jager heater

Skimmer: IM Ghost Skimmer - Desktop
Mechanical/Chemical Filtration: IM Custom Caddy - Filter Floss, Chemi-pure Blue, Poly-Filter
Chemical Filtration: IM MiniMax Media Reactor (1/2 carbon with gfo tumbling on top)
UV Filter5 watt external with variable flow (currently set at 200gph for algae
Biological Filtration: Refugium built in IM Custom caddy lit with a 25w PAR38 w/reflector through the back of the tank)

Flow: 2x IM Spin Stream
Wavemakers: 2x Jebao RW-4

Water Source: Puratek Vertex RO/DI 100gpd
Salt: Reef Crystals
Auto Top Off: TCA-200


Fish:
Whitebanded Possum Wrasse - Wetmorella albofasciata
Yellowbanded Possum Wrasse - Wetmorella nigropinnata
Spikefin Goby - griessingeri goby


Invertebrates:
11 Cerith Snail
3 Nassarius Snail
3 Nerite Snail
4 Astraea Snail
5 Trochus Snail
7 Red-Legged Dwarf Hermit Crabs
2 Emerald Crab
1 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Lettuce Nudibranch

Food
Live Copepods - self cultured
Live Rotifers - self cultured

Doc's Eco Eggs
Marine Snow

Frozen Mysis Shrimp
Frozen Baby Brine Shrimp
Reef-Roids
Fauna Marin SPS

Test Kits:
Refractometer
API Ammonia
Seachem Nitrite/Nitrate
Salifert Magnesium
Salifert Calcium
Salifert Alkalinity/Hardness
Salifert Phosphate
Salifert Iodine
Hanna Iron Checker

Additives:
Kent Coral-Vite
Kent Magnesium
Kent Calcium
Kent Alkalinity Buffer
Kent Stromium & Molybdenum
Seachem Fuel
Seachem Iodine
Seachem Trace Elements
Redsea Coral Colours A+B+C+D
Redsea NO3:PO4-X
Zeovit Coral Fertilizer
Zeovit Sponge Power
Zeovit Amino Acid LPS
Zeovit Pohl's Extract
Refugium Phyto: Concentrate Nanno and Tet


Water Parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.05
Nitrate: 5
Calcium: 450
Magnesium: 1450
Alkalinity: 10 dKH
Salinity: 1.026
Phosphate: 0.03








10x filter:


















Other Pics

[/spoler]

Old Update

Equipment:

Tank: IM Nuvo 20 Gallon
Stand: Wood stand 24"x15", custom shelving and cable management installed
Lighting 2x IM SKKYE LED Lights 18w each
Heater: 75w Eheim Jager heater
Sediment: Aragonite
Filtration: 13lb Live Rock in tank
Filtration: 5lb Live Rock rubble in baffles of back reservoir
Filtration: IM Custom Caddy - Chemi-pure Blue, Filter Floss, Poly-Filter
Flow: 2x IM Spin Stream
Flow/Wavemaker: Jebao RW-4
Skimmer: AquaEuro Nano Skimmer
Water Source: Puratek Vertex RO/DI 100gpd
Salt: Instant Ocean
Auto Top Off: TCA-200

Fish:
Green Clown Goby
Citron Clown Goby

Invertebrates:
11 Cerith Snail
2 Nassarius Snail
3 Nerite Snail
4 Astraea Snail
5 Trochus Snail

Test Kits:
Refractometer
API Ammonia
Seachem Nitrite/Nitrate
Salifert Magnesium
Salifert Calcium
Salifert Alkalinity/Hardness
Salifert Phosphate
Salifert Iodine
Hanna Iron Checker

Food/Additives:
Live Copepods - self cutured
Live Rotifers - self cultured

Doc's Eco Eggs
Marine Snow

Frozen Mysis Shrimp
Frozen Baby Brine Shrimp
Reef-Roids
Fauna Marin SPS


Kent Coral-Vite
Kent Magnesium
Kent Calcium
Kent Alkalinity Buffer
Kent Stromium & Molybdenum
Seachem Fuel
Seachem Iodine
Seachem Trace Elements
Redsea Coral Colours A+B+C+D
Redsea NO3:PO4-X
Zeovit Coral Fertilizer
Zeovit Sponge Power
Zeovit Amino Acid LPS
Zeovit Pohl's Extract
Refugium Phyto: Concentrate Nanno and Tet


Water Parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 1
Calcium: 450
Magnesium: 1350
Alkalinity: 10 dKH
Salinity: 1.026
Phosphate: 0

Original Post:

After reading so many of these and learning so much, I figured I should start one of these for my first saltwater aquarium. Seems like a great way to keep track of things and get feedback.

I have a lot of experience with freshwater fish, i've done planted tanks, discus, and many different cichlids. But after moving to an apartment many years ago I haven't kept anything. After stumbling on this forum I couldn't help but start up again .

The stuff:
Equipment:
IM Nuvo 20
2x IM SKKYE LED Lights
Stand
IM Custom caddy
2x IM Spin stream
50w Eheim Jager heater

Supplies/Basics:
RO/DI system
Salt
Aragonite
Live rock
Live rock rubble
Magnet scraper
Thermometer
Timer
Gravel cleaner
Fish net
Refractometer
Reef master test kit
Turkey baster
Frag tools

This is what I still plan on getting:
Filter floss
Purigen
Chemi-pure

Set the tank up for a water test last night, love how the lights look.



Got the stand built and picked up the water today. Need to borrow a drill to get the cabinet doors on .



Started the setup this evening. I have 1 inch of substrate in there and the salted r/o water. Just waiting for the sediment to settle to put the LR in.

For filtration I filled up two of the sections in the back with LR rubble (taking out one of the caddys) and put a sponge on top of the rock. The heater is installed in the back as well. After cycling I plan on taking out the other stock caddy and adding a custom caddy with filter floss, purigen, and chemipure.


Stocking plan: Still not sure on this, but something like:
1 Firefish
1 Goby
1 Clownfish

Nessarius/Cerith snails

For corals, I think I will start with some mushrooms, zoa, and green star polyps, any other ideas?

Excited to get started!

Pictures!
http://s34.photobucket.com/user/goobafish/slideshow/Reefers%20Anonymous

Click here for the rest:

 

[jeremycee]

Congratulations on the new tank and welcome to reef keeping!

 

Sounds like you are off to a great start with all of the equipment and plans to stock.

 

Those corals sound perfect for beginners. They are very hardy and will do really well under the proper water conditions. Good luck with your cycle and don't be afraid to ask questions. There are tons of really helpful people on this forum!!

[goobafish]

Thanks! I hope it looks as nice as some of the other tanks I see on this site, all I see is murky water so far .

 

After the sediment settled enough to level it, I added the LR and turned on the heater/pumps going to have to do some aquascaping tonight.

 

[reefernanoman]

Great start! My friend who is new at reefing got the same setup(tank and light) like yours. It was my suggestion. Good luck.

[goobafish]

Thanks! Anyone see a problem with adding Cleaner Shrimp to the stocking list? How many would be good? Or maybe a pair of pistol shrimp to go with the goby?

[jeremycee]

Thanks! Anyone see a problem with adding Cleaner Shrimp to the stocking list? How many would be good? Or maybe a pair of pistol shrimp to go with the goby?

 

i would do ether/or usually one pistol shrimp per tank in a small volume of water as there are cases where they tend to be aggressive towards each other. also one cleaner shrimp would be okay.

 

The cleaner shrimp will def be more active in the tank and you'll see it more often vs the pistol. sometimes they are so small they pick a spot in the back where you never get to see them

[goobafish]

Sounds like a good plan, thanks.

 

Got my aquascaping done, not sure if I am happy with it yet, and the sediment has settled down quite.

[goobafish]

The sediment has finally cleared and its starting to look nice. I am having trouble wiping the tank down without leaving any streaks through .

 

While trying a few different ways of cleaning the glass this morning I spotted a hitchhiker from my live rock, a baby starfish. It is so small, was hard to snap a shot of.

 

So awesome! Do I need to start feeding this little guy? Anything incompatible with starfish?

 

Thanks!

[jeremycee]

Isopropyl alcohol with a soft towel and then microfiber cloth is what I use to clean without streaks.

 

Those are asterina hitchhikers will scavenge on the leftovers in your tank from feeding. but I've also known some who have talked about those preying upon their corals as they get bigger. I usually pick then out when I find them.

[goobafish]

Awesome, will try that. Found another hitchiker. Very tiny, and not sure if this pic will help. I think its a bristleworm?

[jeremycee]

can't tell, bristle worms are okay when they're small as they will filter through your sand and stuff keeping it nice and clean but they can get big and irritate corals in the future. I would wouldn't worry too much about that lil guy. just be sure to lookout for the fireworms variety as those can do serious damage to corals. there is a thread here that will explain more about hitchhikers if you are worried about it.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/132956-the-ultimate-id-thread-before-you-post-whats-this-look-here/

[goobafish]

Thanks, awesome thread.

 

I am now 5 days into cycling, and unless I am misreading my test kits, my ammonia has dropped and I already have trace amounts of nitrites.

 

Just noticed a new growth on one of the rocks, no idea what it is but it seems to be getting larger.

[jeremycee]

could be some type of macro algae. what kind of test kits are you using?

[goobafish]

I have a few kits, trying to figure out whats easiest for me to read. API, Seachem and an Ammonia alert. As of this afternoon looks like my Ammonia is near zero and nitrites are slowly rising.

[jeremycee]

i have found that the api tests are the easiest for me to use and also pretty accurate for testing things like ammonia,nitrite, nitrate, alk, and phosphates.

 

you should try and snap some pictures everytime you do your tests so you can compare/reference them on your tanks cycling progress

[goobafish]

Really good call. I can even use some photo editing software to compare colors to the chart.

[jdog]

Do you have a full picture with the lights on? I was wondering how the lights looked?

[goobafish]

Yep. Sorry, I am working on my camera skills with the tank, its taking a lot of practice. Here you go:

[goobafish]

Trying to come up with a plan for stocking the tank and looking for places I can find the fish i'm looking for. I am thinking:

Ocellaris Clown (some sort of hybrid with black)

Green Banded Goby

Citron Clown Goby or Dottyback

 

Cleaner Shrimp

CUC (Snails only)

 

Finding it very difficult to put together a compatible stock list for such a small tank, but its been fun to research.

[jeremycee]

i usually checkout liveaquarias website. you can enter in your tanks water volume and they give recommendations as to which types of fish are compatible for you. and also let you know if they are difficult to care for or if they are reef safe

[goobafish]

Yep, that site is great, been using it to look at coral too.

Ammonia has been zero for almost a week now, nitrites have fallen to below 0.05 and my nitrates are at around 5. Things are looking good, decent algae growth.

 

Apparently the local aquarium society is having a coral cutting workshop tonight, so I am going to get some firsthand experience before I invest in tools.

[goobafish]

A few updates:

 

Both nitrites and nitrates dropped a ton after a 10% water change in the morning, leaving the tank almost clear of nitrites and nitrates of around 2. Really grateful that the store pulled the LR from their sump and gave me live sand to start off, really started off my tank nicely!

 

I got a 75w heater to replace the 50w, as at maximum temp the 50w was only just adequate, and I wanted to be able to compensate for opening a window every once in a while.

 

I picked up an AquaEuro Nano Skimmer and installed it last night, fits great!

 

Had a great time learning to frag last night, got to try my hand at fragging softies, LPS and SPS, so I got to learn a bunch.

 

I will get a picture up soon once I have started stocking it!

 

Updated stocking plan:

2 Black Ice/Snowflake Clownfish (is it better to get the same type, or different?)

1 Yellow Watchman Goby

1 Pistol Shrimp

[goobafish]

Sorry to people following, I am posing everything a few days after it happens as I am just spending so much time watching the tank and learning.

 

Some major updates in the last bit:

After a few days of no ammonia or nitrites and really low nitrates, I decided it was time to start stocking up.

 

Parameters: Ammonia: 0, Nitrites: 0, Nitrates: 1, Salinity: 1.024, Temperature: 81

 

After the cycle was complete I swapped out the last media basket I had left for a custom caddy with Chemipure Blue, Filter floss and poly-filter.

 

I started with a couple snails and a pair of beginner coral frags (a zoa and a Green Star Polyps) to see how they would do with the water chemistry and the little bit of algae that started to develop.

 

A few days later after everything looked healthy and happy, with all my parameters above staying constant I added 6 more snails to combat growing algae, a and a couple coral frags.

 

Finally time for fish! My local store had a sale on clowns, both designer and regular, but I opted for something more simple to start off in case I had any issues. I picked up a black Ocellaris Clownfish and a orange Ocellaris that is less than half the size.

 

I picked up 8 more snails to fight the ever-growing diatom algae, and more coral to fill out the tank. I was given a small "pack" of frags by some local fellow hobbyists, unfortunately they vary so much in care level and requirements that I am not sure how long they will last. I am also having trouble exactly identifying them and ensuring they are healthy.

The fish have been in my tank a week now and are happy and healthy. Most of my coral is looking really great with growth already showing on the Zoas and Palys. The clean-up crew is not really keeping up with the algae growth, and I think I need to vary up my snails a little more.

 

Got some new equipment which I will post up top, and will write up my experiences with a few of em.

 

Wow, i've done a lot of shopping . I will update my equipment and stock list in the original post and get some pictures up. I really need a macro lens, as taking pictures of coral is quite difficult.

[goobafish]

Some pictures from the last little while, sorry about the quality on some, half DSLR, half phone. Some of these frags look much different now that they have been in my tank for a bit. I will also post pics of the frags I am unsure of what they are.

 

 

These next pictures are pretty low quality, so I am not expecting for any help id'ing them, gotta get that macro lens

 

I thought this was Green Montipora, but it seems to have a few "mouths" coming out:

Kenya Tree?:

Red Montipora?:

 

 

[goobafish]

Everything is going great so far, fish are happy and eating, corals look good, eating, and are changing rapidly.

 

Algae:

So the diatom algae continued to spread despite my cleanup crew over the last week, so I am kept adding new snails to the tank depending on where I was seeing the spread. Hopefully I have put together a crew that will do the trick, as they cleaned up quite a bit of it over the last day, but at the same time I hope it isn't too many snails when this algae is at bay. I had a lot of trouble finding the snails at LFS, as many staff seem to be misinformed about what the snails do/eat. Multiple stores did not stock Trochus Snails, because Nassarius snails are "better sand sifters and algae eaters". From my understanding they only eat excess waste, and not diatom. I was also advised against any kind of Conch because they "eat other snails".

CUC: 7 Cerith Snail, 2 Nassarius Snail, 3 Nerite Snail, 4 Astraea Snail, 5 Trochus Snail

 

Corals:

With the algae under control, and the snails/me cleaning the detritus off the rock and corals almost everything has started opening up, and quite a few pieces are growing new polyps at a very fast rate. Corals from every family are doing well, an Acro frag has sprouted a new head, every paly and zoa have also sprouted and begin spreading. The coral I was told was Pink Sun started showing a yellow center when the lights are on.

 

Equipment:

Been really impressed with everything I've bought so far with the exception of the ATO, whose instructions were barely English, and I ended up needing to makeshift a solution to ensure the sensor would sink in the reservoir. I also installed the ATO tubing touching my tank, and when the pump shut off, the tank began to siphon out into the reservoir and minorly flood my apartment . I was home testing the unit, so I caught it really quickly and there was no damage. Love the Jebao WP-25, feels like it creates great flow and at a fantastic price. Not sure what setting it should be on for a 20 gallon.

 

Questions:

 

I created two little areas for Zoas and Palys in the sandbed, pushing the plugs into the sandbed and putting some live rock around. Is this a decent idea, or should they all be kept on a bigger piece of LR so they can spread?

 

I bought a piece of live rock from a shop's sump to place corals on, and on further inspection it has many little black worm-like things on it. I was unsure of what to do, so I left it out of the tank and am keeping it sealed covered with water. Any ideas?