Nepenthe's Innovative Marine Nuvo 16

[Nepenthe]

Current FTS Taken 1-16-13:


Display: 16 Gallon Innovative Marine Nuvo in Black
Lighting: stock and a Kessil A150 in 10000K 'Sky Blue'
Heater: 70 watt Ehiem Jager

Powerhead: EcoTech Marine Vortech MP10
Filter media: Filter Floss
Biological Filtration: 15+ lbs of live rock
Substrate: Carib Sea Special Grade

Tank arrived at 8:30pm on Thursday.


I did a thorough inspection, leak test, and added my pre-mixed water, everything looked perfect! So I washed the Carib Sea and added it in. The color and grade of the Carib Sea are really great, but in retrospect I should have washed it WAY more thoroughly. I removed the media baskets (which are by the way, the only downfall of this tank, they're totally flimsy, and I'm glad that the suggestions was made to order replacements) and stuffed them with filter floss.

Parameters held steady so live rock was added the next day. The largest piece was from a tank that had been torn down, the rest is cured Fiji. Here's a closeup of the coralline on the largest chunk.


I'm pretty happy with the scape, I'm not one for super dramatic tanks, and I think that this looks pretty natural, I'm just hoping that it's enough live rock. I threw on an extra HOB filter that I keep around with more floss to polish the water. I can't stand a cloudy tank. I'm just waiting for the cycle to finish so I can add in some Purigen to the media basket.


The water parameters have been holding steady for the past three days.
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 80
PH: 8
Calcium: 440
Alkalinity: 10.5
Nitrates: 0
Potassium: 0

There isn't much in there. A couple of microscopic feather dusters, what I think are a few tiny corynactis, three lone zoanthids which all seem to be getting along okay for now.... and the most heathy thing in the tank....aiptasia. I ordered some Stop Aiptasia, a syringe, another larger Aquaclear (that I'll set up as my fuge in a couple weeks), and a powerhead. After I put my HOB on the side (HOS?) I noticed that there were some dead spots that need to be hit with a little more current.

That's all for now. Oh, I should mention that while I was picking up my live rock, my LFS had the cutest clownfish (and most expensive) I had ever seen. So, I suppose when I stated in a prior thread that I had no interested in fish, it was total BS. Anyways, I'll post another update when I nuke those aiptasia... or if.... god forbid, anything goes wrong with the tank. For now I guess it's just a waiting game for the tank to cycle itself. Thank you everyone, for such an informative forum, I would NEVER have been able to get this going without this platform to learn from.

[jgpico]

Looks really good so far. I love the nuvo tanks! Can't wait to this tank stocked.

[Nepenthe]

Spent another $220 on supplies today. Yikes, this is not a cheap hobby. I'm seeing slight ammonia and nitrate spikes so, the tank is starting to cycle. Yay! I went to my closest fish store just to scope it out, I've never been on the other side of the store after all. I saw that they were selling Aiptasia-X (for $18.00 a bottle ) and asked if they had Joe's Juice, I was told that it was "no longer legal to be sold in California"... okay... I know Marine Depot has it. The person working there then tried to convince me that my tank was fully cycled and that I could start adding livestock. O RLY? I seriously have problems with stores that are just out to make a profit. I will gladly make the 20min drive to support an honest business. Is it weird that I'm really enjoying staring at my empty tank?

[northeastern]

Its very hit or miss store to store employee to employee in my experience. I picked a store I liked and have always tried to purchase from the same employee That way I'm not just stone face.

 

Aside awesome tank so far I want one so bad!

 

And aptasia x works wonders. Completely wiped it out of my old tank. Did just notice a new aptasia tonight from some new lr. Will get it tomorrow. Just my 2 cents.

[Nepenthe]

Its very hit or miss store to store employee to employee in my experience. I picked a store I liked and have always tried to purchase from the same employee That way I'm not just stone face.

 

Aside awesome tank so far I want one so bad!

 

And aptasia x works wonders. Completely wiped it out of my old tank. Did just notice a new aptasia tonight from some new lr. Will get it tomorrow. Just my 2 cents.

 

Point taken, I've just never had a positive experience at this particular store. I've read nothing but good things about Aiptasia-X, and I ordered some tonight... $10 rather than $18. I run a small business and I understand that the small stores need to make a profit... but $8 more + tax. No thank you.

 

As for the Nuvo... I've got nothing but good things to say about it so far. That tank has class.

[Nepenthe]

Okay, day 4 of this thing cycling and I still have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and I had slow rise of nitrates that's now back down to 5ppm. What's going on here?

[MrAnderson]

Okay, day 4 of this thing cycling and I still have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and I had slow rise of nitrates that's now back down to 5ppm. What's going on here?

 

sounds like your rock is just finishing up cycling and hit a bottleneck at the anaerobic stage of denitrification. that metabolism is generally slower than aerobic nitrification, so while you're getting nitrogenous wastes produced, they're getting rapidly broken down through part of the nitrogen cycle, but getting hung up at the final stage where nitrates are converted to free nitrogen. give it time and your populations will come up in number and activity and nitrates should go down.

 

personally, i'd add more rock.

[Nepenthe]

sounds like your rock is just finishing up cycling and hit a bottleneck at the anaerobic stage of denitrification. that metabolism is generally slower than aerobic nitrification, so while you're getting nitrogenous wastes produced, they're getting rapidly broken down through part of the nitrogen cycle, but getting hung up at the final stage where nitrates are converted to free nitrogen. give it time and your populations will come up in number and activity and nitrates should go down.

 

personally, i'd add more rock.

 

Well shoot, I was figuring something like this was the case. This past day I seem to be getting (what I assume) is a heterotrophic bacteria bloom too... so there's that. Yeah, I was afraid I didn't have enough live rock in there.. I'm just really reticent to add any more, I like the "open" feeling the scape has. I guess I'll give it another week and see where I'm at. Thanks for the words of wisdom.

[MrAnderson]

Well shoot, I was figuring something like this was the case. This past day I seem to be getting (what I assume) is a heterotrophic bacteria bloom too... so there's that. Yeah, I was afraid I didn't have enough live rock in there.. I'm just really reticent to add any more, I like the "open" feeling the scape has. I guess I'll give it another week and see where I'm at. Thanks for the words of wisdom.

 

hm that depends, what are you seeing? might be autotrophs if they're reddish. photosynthesis in marine bacteria is accomplished with all sorts of accesssory pigments, not just the chlorophylls. it's kind of an academic distinction. anyhow, if your bloom is visible it's prolly mostly aerobes, and that would explain the bottleneck because they're expanding faster than the populations/activity of your anaerobes. just wait it out.

 

i like open scapes too, they look more natural, but there's no substitute for the waste-processing capacity of a tank closer to the 2 lbs/gal side of things. however, you don't NEED to add more, but your system will require consideration when waiting for cycling from added bioload down the road.

[Nepenthe]

hm that depends, what are you seeing? might be autotrophs if they're reddish. photosynthesis in marine bacteria is accomplished with all sorts of accesssory pigments, not just the chlorophylls. it's kind of an academic distinction. anyhow, if your bloom is visible it's prolly mostly aerobes, and that would explain the bottleneck because they're expanding faster than the populations/activity of your anaerobes. just wait it out.

 

i like open scapes too, they look more natural, but there's no substitute for the waste-processing capacity of a tank closer to the 2 lbs/gal side of things. however, you don't NEED to add more, but your system will require consideration when waiting for cycling from added bioload down the road.

 

Well, I'm convinced. Off to pick up more rock the weekend then.

[Nepenthe]

I just found out Vivid Aquariums is half hour drive from me. Muahahaha, my bank account will never know what hit it.

[Nepenthe]

Water parameters holding. Diatoms and macroalgae are coming on strong, and the bloom in the water column has completely subsided. I'm picking up a small clean-up crew and some more fully cured rock tomorrow. I don't have nearly enough water movement from the stock returns so I'm getting a Koralia Nano also. I purchased a Ecoxotic 12.5 Inch Stunner 6 watt LED Strip in Royal Blue to suspend in between the stock fixtures, although in retrospect, I have no idea why (don't drink and buy equipment people).

 

Hitchhiker list is growing:

Feather dusters

Spionid Worms

Spirobid Worms

Foraminiferans

Bristleworms

Asternia Stars

Caulerpa

Aiptasia Aiptasia-X worked like a charm

 

On a personal note, my ex stopped by, I think because he forgot why I broke up with him and needed it explained to him for a third time. Halfway through our conversation I started to check the water parameters, doing my daily maintenance, etc. He became aggravated and told me, "So you broke up with me for a fish tank." The truth is, I rebounded with a fish tank. Sure, it can't keep me warm at night (that's what the cat is for) but the conversation is just as interesting as it was with my ex. I sit and stare at it, it looks pretty, and I wonder where all my money has gone.

[dling]

I dont think you really need any more rock just give it time. Have you tried seeding the tank with water

form an older system? That will help speed up the cycle.

[Nepenthe]

I dont think you really need any more rock just give it time. Have you tried seeding the tank with water

form an older system? That will help speed up the cycle.

 

I haven't, but maybe I will. It's been weird, I've had hardly any coralline die off just a little bit of bleaching on the top of the rock where there's full light exposure, the zoas that came with the rock are super happy, I'm just not getting any significant spikes in, well, anything. Nitrates went up to 7ppm and now they're back down to 5. Ammonia was at .25ppm for a few days and now it's undetectable. I'm thinking that there wasn't enough die off to cause a spike? I don't know what I'm talking about, mind you. I want a little more rock anyways. So that's happening regardless. I guess I'll wait it out for another week. Maybe do a little ghost feeding?

[Deleted User 4]

Nice tank!!!

[Nepenthe]

Nice tank!!!

Thanks!

[Nepenthe]

So, a few updates. I added a minimal CUC last week to increase the bio-load of the tank and see if the parameters would remain stable, which they have been. I also added a xenia last week, as my 'canary in a coal mine' which worked out great because one of the snails died, the ammonia spiked and the Xenia looked like crap. I found the corpse and did a 4 gallon water change, everything went back to normal. The Xenia is currently relocating itself to the adjacent live rock. It's a strange process to watch as it divides itself from the plug. I'm currently loosing a battle with the dreaded bryopsis. I added a Blue Legged Hermit Crab and he LOVES the stuff. So, I'm hoping that with persistence I can win the war.

I'm going to try a technique where you boost the magnesium in the tank. I'm also putting together a wishlist for corals and livestock and plan to start adding them a little bit a a time. Here's the tank a week ago before the bryopsis really started going crazy. I'm really happy with the new scape (for now anyways).

That's really all there is to report for now.

[Nepenthe]

Not much to update. I'm adding some more stock this weekend. It's a daily battle with the bryopsis. I decided to add a fuge and up the water changes to twice a week. I also ordered some Kent-M, and will start daily dosing. Perimeters are steady! I'll bee adding fish when get back from my little vacation. For now....

[MrAnderson]

something's not right.

 

i'd slow down and figure out what it is before adding anything, livestock or equipment (including a fuge). i'd let things stabilize - and i'm not talking about nitrates or ammonia or anything like that.

[Nepenthe]

something's not right.

 

i'd slow down and figure out what it is before adding anything, livestock or equipment (including a fuge). i'd let things stabilize - and i'm not talking about nitrates or ammonia or anything like that.

 

If you have any idea, be my guest. There's nothing in this tank but a CUC, bryopsis, the palys that came with the tank which are multiplying, and that Xenia I added (which has since moved onto an adjacent rock). I feed the snails minimally (and I do mean minimally) and nothing is left behind. The only thing that I can think that the bryopsis is cutting into my very slow cycle. The pods are all over the glass, I was under the impression that they were supposed to make an entrance months down the road. By livestock I don't mean fishies, I mean some zoos, something that I don't think will have much of any effect on the bioload. I'll hold off on the fuge. I need to dose for the bryopsis though, I can't let it go for more than a day or it will put on substantial growth.

[MrAnderson]

what i would do:

 

you don't have to feed the snails - they're herbivores/detrivores. there's already a ton for them to eat in the tank.

 

cut the lights down to 4 hrs/day for a few weeks.

 

just stop doing stuff and let the tank stabilize for about 2 months. forget about the tank for a while, it will sort itself out as long as you don't keep changing things. after that, it will be bulletproof, you won't be able to screw it up if you tried... otherwise you'll be fighting fires the entire life of the tank.

[Nepenthe]

I've restricted the photoperiod on the tank, as recommended by MrAnderson, and have been seeing a lot more of my tank's nocturnal denizens. I finally got an image of my big bristle worm last night, the weird distortion is from using my iphone (with flash) to take the shot, but you get the idea, the iridescence is stunning.

[MrAnderson]

holy carp that's awesome! this is why marine tanks are SO the ####.

 

and wow, somebody listened to me.

 

so what's good with the algae?

[Nepenthe]

holy carp that's awesome! this is why marine tanks are SO the ####.

 

and wow, somebody listened to me.

 

so what's good with the algae?

So, the first few day of last week I was implementing a regimen that involved daily manual removal, it's since stayed off the rocks and I've kept the photoperiod at 4 hours. I've been doing 3 gallon water changes a week, as usual. Here's the progression from two weeks ago, one week ago, and yesterday. The rocks are sparkling, but there's still tiny bits of bryopsis in the sand where the snails don't like to venture. Despite the minimal light I'm getting coralline growth on the back of the tank, and everything now is blushed with hints of fuchsia. The pod population has not diminished, and continues to cover the walls in mass. I'm assuming the population will level itself out given some time. I'm leaving town for a week starting the 1st of August, so I'm going to keep this routine until I return. I'll sift what I can out of the sand this evening. I have a laundry list of corals that I want to slowly introduce, so hopefully, things will be cleared up upon my return...I hope. If it isn't, I'm going the Kent M route.

 

[gena]

Really beautiful tank. The rock has an elegant look to it, I think!!!!! Nice work getting rid of the pest algae too!!!!!