My Nuvo 10 build

[Blaze0303]

The tank will be home to a clown pair, Softies and some LPS, plus cleanup crew. No plans for SPS

Tank- Innovative Marine Nuvo 10

 

Return- Cobalt MJ-600 (160gph)

 

Light- Used black AI Prime

 

Substrate- 10lbs Live Sand

 

Live rock- 5 Pieces, about 6-7lbs in total

 

Heater- Aqueon 50w

 

Media Basket- Filter floss and Chemipure blue

 

Power head - Hydor Nano 240

[Obsessed Reefer]

You'll definitely want to pick up a heater. You don't need anything fancy. A 50w heater will do. But you'll need to keep it between 78-82°.

 

You might also want to upgrade the return pump or add another power head in the display tank, such as a Koralia nano, or a maxi jet 600 to replace the return pump.

 

The light will be perfectly fine, and will work for SPS if you want to add some down the road.

 

As long as you keep up with about a 20% water change each week you can skip the protein skimmer right now.

 

For rock, I'd say get like 2-3 decent sized pieces. Weight is not always a good thing to go by because some could be more pourus than others. You'll want to leave plenty of room for the fish to swim, and to be able to make a nice aquascape. I'd say take a look at a few of the tanks on here to get an idea.

 

I believe the fusions will come with the filter sock by default. You can get the media basket and alternate between the two.

[Blaze0303]

Thanks a lot, what do you think would work out better? A upgraded return with a spin stream or a koralia 240 for tank Flow. 20% WC won't be an issue for now, but I'd definitely like to get a skimmer if there is any decent ones for a tank this size. I've been looking at the ghost and the fluval ps2. Also do I need the heater when I start my cycle?

[Clown79]

I would definitely get a heater and set it up from the beginning. Temp stability is very important and in small tanks, stable temp can be hard to maintain.

 

Upgrade the pump. The stock one will not move the nano stream- actually, the stock pump barely moved my water.

Sicce, Tunze, and Maxijet/Cobalts fit in the IM.

I used the mj900 with the maxijet and no powerhead. I couldn't get the Sicce here.

 

I use no skimmers on nano's. Water changes is enough. Skimmers on small tanks can deplete essential elements that corals need.

 

If you aren't doing an sps dominated tank- save your money because most nano skimmers don't have great reviews and not necessary to have a successful reef.

 

I upgraded to the im media caddy and love it. I just use filter floss changed 2x a week and chemipure blue.

 

Lr- 8 lbs is enough in the 10g.

[Blaze0303]

Thanks for the tips! I think I'll upgrade the return to the maxijet and maybe add the spin stream if flow is an issue. My lfs sells the caddy so i'll probably get that or the in tank one.

[Mariaface]

I say get as much rock as you find visually appealing. Vacuum the sandbed regularly, and you shouldn't have a big filtration issue, especially if you invest in a couple of the small aqua clear media bags and some carbon (I use matrix carbon since it's in convenient little spheres). Maybe even GFO/phosguard/xport-phos if you find need for it along the line, which you may if you're going to be feeding two clowns.

 

Definitely grab a heater - I think the 50W cobalt neo therm has been selling for a nice price on amazon, but marine depot will price match if theirs isn't the same or lower c: And BRS has free shipping on everything now, last I checked.

 

You likely won't need a skimmer if you keep up with water changes and have carbon to adsorb organics. Keep in mind that carbon/GFO should be used in small quantities and replaced once every week or two, before bacterial film renders it useless.

 

Sicce Syncra Silent 1.0 might be a good upgrade, if it fits? I think the tubing doesn't quite fit the nozzle in my Fusion 20, so you may want to double-check that and see if you can get an adapter or something. And inTank has great recommendations for return upgrades. If you get high enough flow, you may not need to take up space in the tank with circulation. Especially with the 10's footprint.

 

Don't use the IM filter sock. It's not the same as what people are using in their sumps; it's a really tough mesh affixed to the plastic holder. I highly recommend the inTank media baskets! I actually think I have an extra one laying around in case I ever start a Fusion 10 - I wouldn't put it past me.

[Obsessed Reefer]

Thanks for the tips! I think I'll upgrade the return to the maxijet and maybe add the spin stream if flow is an issue. My lfs sells the caddy so i'll probably get that or the in tank one.

I'd say start with the MaxiJet and grab the spin stream at a later point if you think you need it. For the media basket, while you can not beat inTank's quality, the custom caddy from IM is very very good, and almost half the price of the inTank one, and they recently changed the design of the IM one to make it even better.

[Blaze0303]

I'd say start with the MaxiJet and grab the spin stream at a later point if you think you need it. For the media basket, while you can not beat inTank's quality, the custom caddy from IM is very very good, and almost half the price of the inTank one, and they recently changed the design of the IM one to make it even better.

 

Thanks, the IM caddy is $25 locally and I think i'll grab it, but i'll upgrade the return for sure. I can't wait to start picking everything up tomorrow.

[Obsessed Reefer]

I also second checking amazon for items. I know the neotherm is like $30 cheaper and the MaxiJet is probably like $10-$15 cheaper.

[Blaze0303]

Got all the stuff!

 

[Blaze0303]

Here we go! Here's a few photos of what I did tonight. I got the Tank, live rock, custom caddy, live sand, AI prime, 50 watt heater, chemipure blue and filter floss. Right now i'm just using the media sock while the cloud settles then I plan on switching to the caddy with chemipure and floss. Is this correct, is there anything else I should be doing right now?

 

 

Getting my live rock sorted.

 

 

Cloudy mess

 

 

Spin Stream works great!

 

 

Finally all done for now.

[Obsessed Reefer]

So I'd hold off on the ChemiPure for right now, and just stick to filter floss while you cycle. Was the live rock cured or uncured? You can look at getting something to help jump start the cycle such as Seachem Stability. While people will say that once you add that you can add a fish right away, I'd still let the tank stabilize for a few weeks while monitoring the levels with a test kit.

[Blaze0303]

It's cured rock from my lfs, thanks for the tip with the chemipure.

[Mota]

Nice aquascape. I like the cave you have. I just started my own IM 10 a couple days ago.

[Obsessed Reefer]

It's cured rock from my lfs, thanks for the tip with the chemipure.

 

So if it's cured and it was not out of water for too long there should be minimal die off, which will also help speed up the cycle a bit. Again, definitely wait a few weeks.

[Blaze0303]

Nice aquascape. I like the cave you have. I just started my own IM 10 a couple days ago.

 

Thank you, my LFS actually helped me pick the rock so I would be able to build a cave and have a flat top for coral later on.

 

 

So if it's cured and it was not out of water for too long there should be minimal die off, which will also help speed up the cycle a bit. Again, definitely wait a few weeks.

 

Thanks!

[Blaze0303]

Couple of photos, CUC was added today after water tested good. Thinking of adding a Fire Fish as my first addition, thoughts?

 

 

[Obsessed Reefer]

Fire fish are nice. They are jumpers, so make sure you keep our lid on.

[Blaze0303]

Bought my own testing since you can never fully trust lfs, good thing is tests are looking good!

 

 

[Clown79]

Is the red test ph? Are you testing nitrates?

 

Did you do a water change before adding the cuc?

 

The tank looks good.

I love purple firefish, had one in my 10g.

Its a peaceful fish thats has a good personality and gorgeous. Never jumped.

 

The standard firefish(red/yellow) are really skittish. They are jumpers. Mine carpet dove 4 times- it didn't make the 4th jump.

 

Be careful what other fish you choose with the firefish. You want something that doesn't have an aggressive personality or the same body shape.

[Blaze0303]

Is the red test ph? Are you testing nitrates?

 

Did you do a water change before adding the cuc?

 

The tank looks good.

I love purple firefish, had one in my 10g.

Its a peaceful fish thats has a good personality and gorgeous. Never jumped.

 

The standard firefish(red/yellow) are really skittish. They are jumpers. Mine carpet dove 4 times- it didn't make the 4th jump.

 

Be careful what other fish you choose with the firefish. You want something that doesn't have an aggressive personality or the same body shape.

 

Yes, the red looking one was pH, it was 7.8 everything else was zero.

 

I did do a water change, I think i'm going to go with a single clown and something for him to host...just not sure yet. Maybe Frogspawn. Still playing with idea's since I have some time.

[Blaze0303]

Tanks not so lonely anymore, a clown and softie were added to the tank. Softie came from a friends tank, he's pretty sure its a rhodactis. Can anyone confirm? Also looks like I might have to move it, it opened up much bigger than I thought it would.

 

 

[Blaze0303]

Question, if I want to polish my water a bit how long should I use my filter sock for?

[Mariaface]

If you're talking about IM's stock sock: Use the sock for two days, then throw it out 8D

 

But really: Filter floss is amazing. The bonded 1.5" stuff? Super great. I have it running right at the overflow (inTank media baskets) all the time, and throw out the pieces every two or three days.

[Clown79]

Use filter floss in the media basket. So easy. Put the floss in, change 1- 2x a week. Buying socks and replacing every few days gets expensive.

 

You could also run a good carbon as well. Something like Matrix carbon or chemipure blue nano which will keep the water clear.