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Coral Vue Hydros

Mini Monster 38


BusterDB

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zeroblake07

Got bit by the reef bug late last year and realized there was no known cure for this infection. It has a death grip on me and all I can do now is.... buy a new tank!

 

I quickly out grew my BioCube 14 and bought this new tank to add a little flavor to the family room. I figured it would give the kids something look at (but not touch), my wife something to complain about and give myself something to fuel my obsession. I am not an expert by any means and usually have to make a few mistakes before I get it right. So I welcome all feedback / advice.

 

Current FTS: April 18

 

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March 15

 

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Feb 10

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January 7

 

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November 16

 

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Equipment:

 

Tank - Innovative Marine Mini Nuvo 38

Stand - Innovative Marine

Lights - Aqua Illuminations Vega

Flow - MP10wes x2

Skimmer - Innovative Marine Skimmate

Heater - Ebo Jager 150w

Stevie T Filter - Baskets x2 - Chaeto, CPE, GFO and Floss

Rock and Sand: Tonga live rock 28lbs Caribsea Arag-Alive 40lbs

 

Fish:

 

Black and White Ocellaris​ (moved to basement tank)

Standard Ocellaris (moved to basement tank)

Purple Firefish (m.i.a.)

Bangai Cardinal

Six-Line Wrasse

Blue Spotted Jawfish (jumped through lid)

Mystery Wrasse

Yellow Tang - returned to LFS - (red turff algae experiment)

Phantom Clownfish

Davinci Clowfish

 

Inverts:

 

Clean up crew - Various snails and crabs

Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp

Pom Pom Crab ( seen 3 times since introduced)

Emerald Crab

 

Corals:

 

SPS - Purple Highlighter Acro

ORA Bird of Paradise

Ice Fire Echinata

ORA Borealis Acro

Hawkins Echinata Acro

Purple Plasma Acro

Pink Pocillapora

Forest Fire Digitata

Superman Montipora

Rainbow Montipora

Tubbs Blue Montipora Stellata

Green Monti Cap

Pink Setosa

Lemon Lime Shortcake Acro

Red Planet Acro

Mellow Yellow Acro

Blue Tort

Raspberry Delight Purple Tip Millipora

 

LPS - Ultra Pink Rainbow Acan Colony

Blue Rainbow Acans

Red/Green Acans

Incredible Hulk Acans

Red/Blue Acan

Mystery Chalice

Blue Moon Chalice

The Hills Have Eyes Chalice

Miami Hurricane Chalice

Blastomussa Merletti

Green Frogspawn

Purple and Green Euphylia

 

Zoas/Paly's - God of War Paly

Metalic Pink Paly

Super Neon Paly

Gauntlet Zoa

Radioactive Dragons

Sunny D Paly

Ice Fire

Alien Explosions

 

 

Hahaha!! That bug bit me too, there's not cure for that! Just give a shoot of corals or inverts or if is to bad , buy a new tank is the best drug to be painless again!! Hahah!!

 

What can i say, your tank looks " bien perron" that means so awesome. I'm waiting to go to buy my 30 gallons nuvo system also, but after I saw your 38 gallons I may thinking to wait a little more to get that one too. I'll like to set it up like yours is the best aquascape that ever seen before in a nano reef! You look like very experienced aquahobbyst. To me i'm planning a reef with just 2 or 4 fishes, i don't get dirty the water with all the food and the fish wated poop or things like that. Couple BTA to a pair of phantom clownfishes. I want to try the SPS corals I only been keep just soft corals, one question? Did you uses the filter system from your tank to add a refugium or you build a separated tanl to add the refugium? I want to know if is possible to add a little refugium on the back side of this aquariums. I've been looking for info about it but nothing comes out related to refugiums on NUVO systems . Also are you using the nuvo skimmer on your tank! If so how is it working for you! Also what about the mini max reactor have you tried ? Well buddy have a great day !! And once again what a great tank congratulations!!

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Hahaha!! That bug bit me too, there's not cure for that! Just give a shoot of corals or inverts or if is to bad , buy a new tank is the best drug to be painless again!! Hahah!!

 

What can i say, your tank looks " bien perron" that means so awesome. I'm waiting to go to buy my 30 gallons nuvo system also, but after I saw your 38 gallons I may thinking to wait a little more to get that one too. I'll like to set it up like yours is the best aquascape that ever seen before in a nano reef! You look like very experienced aquahobbyst. To me i'm planning a reef with just 2 or 4 fishes, i don't get dirty the water with all the food and the fish wated poop or things like that. Couple BTA to a pair of phantom clownfishes. I want to try the SPS corals I only been keep just soft corals, one question? Did you uses the filter system from your tank to add a refugium or you build a separated tanl to add the refugium? I want to know if is possible to add a little refugium on the back side of this aquariums. I've been looking for info about it but nothing comes out related to refugiums on NUVO systems . Also are you using the nuvo skimmer on your tank! If so how is it working for you! Also what about the mini max reactor have you tried ? Well buddy have a great day !! And once again what a great tank congratulations!!

 

Lol. Thank you for the high praise, I appreciate the kind words. However, there are many tanks around here that put mine to shame. Take a look at MedRed's, Viewpoints or even this months TOTM if you are looking for spectacular aquascaping / tanks. Those are some of the nicest tanks among many here on NR. Med's might be the best / most original reef tank I have seen anywhere!

 

As far as the refugium goes, I used one of the filtration chambers in the back to house a small amount of chaeto. I stuffed about two baseball size clumps down in the 2nd chamber from the left. This has worked just fine for me. I'm sure you could find a hang on refugium to fit the back wall if that is something you are looking for. They can be expensive from what I have seen.

 

I am running the larger version IM skimmer. This skimmer pulls out some nasty skimmate and I would have no problem recommending one for a tank smaller than 40gal. The only negative I have found with this skimmer is that it produces quite a bit of microbubbles during the break in period. This is typical of many skimmers but it can get annoying. The media reactor from what I hear is one of the best of its kind on the market. I will be looking to add one soon, but the trick is trying to find one in stock. They are sold out just about everywhere at the moment.

 

I hope I answered your questions and feel free to ask any more once you get your IM going. You should start a thread once you get yours up and running. Also, check out the Innovative Marine Nuvo Index thread for some other ideas on these tanks. Thanks for stoppin by!

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zeroblake07

Of course thank you for answer!! I know that there is a lot of reef aquarium that looks amazing, but is the 1st nuvo system with a ecxellent aquascaping now i have an idea in what i have to work for my set up. I'm trying to buy the mini max reactor for my next tank, but is only preorder yet. And also i've been trying to looking for a HOB refugium to add to this display but the owner of the FS told me that i might not need a refugium to this kind of tank because they have a very filtration system that they doesn't require a refugium. I will like to add one to have more benefits and nutriments for the aquarium , so it's to hard to find info about a refugium with this tanks class! If is possible to add some pics from your back side! That will be awesome to figure out my self to work on that! Are lighting the back side to keep your chaeto ?! Thanks again and have a good day!!

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If is possible to add some pics from your back side! That will be awesome to figure out my self to work on that! Are lighting the back side to keep your chaeto ?! Thanks again and have a good day!!

Lol. You want to see pics of my backside?... trust me you dont. :o But I will show you a pic of my filtration system...

 

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Your LFS owner may be right about the HOB fuge. I think that would be overkill on a all in one tank. Check out StevieT's media baskets for the IM tank line. He has some quality media racks to accommodate whatever media you wanted to run. They also have a basket to make a fuge in one of the smaller chambers in the Nuvo 30/38. There are a number of smaller led fuge lights out there, I bought a 1w submersible pen light from StevieT when I ordered my racks. They work great for the small chambers of the Nuvo.

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Just posted an updated FTS with the Pro. I've only had the light up for a few days so I cannot really give a true evaluation of the light at this time. Really, I bought the Pro to see if I could enhance the growth and color of my coral. I'll have to wait a few months to see how my coral responds to really see if its worth the extra $$$ over a Vega.

 

My initial impressions were holy sh## this light is BRIGHT! I am still playing around with the settings and intensity of each led. At the moment I'm running the high growth preset at 75% intensity. I will slowly increase the intensity up a bit each week as this thing is a par monster.

 

I will say the blue light w/ UV makes everything pop. The blues on this light definitely look nicer than the Vega, (but to be fair my Vega did not have the UV leds). The daytime setting with the cool white is nice and is growing on me. When I first hooked it up I was put off by just how bright it was with all the CW led blasting in my tank. But the more I look at the tank the more it has grown on me. Everything seems to be doing great so far with very good color.

 

Alright time for a small Radion Pro photo dump..... :happydance:

 

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more to come.....

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  • 2 weeks later...

I stopped down at my buddy Than's greenhouse, Tidal Gardens for a few items today. Went down to pick up the dry goods that I ordered and had plans to buy a piece or two of coral. I was only looking for a nice acan and to pick up a piece of unbelievable montipora that he was holding for me. I had no intention to buy any more SPS, but as soon as I walk in I'm instantly drawn to the over 2000 gallons of wall to wall SPS. I feel like an addict buying coral sometimes. Tidal Gardens for me is like what Amsterdam is for stoners. :blink: Lucky for me its only 40 mins away.

 

Anyway, I managed to show some restraint and only bought one frag of sps. I haven't been a huge fan of Pocillipora but this one looks way different than most I've seen. Purple and pink tips with bright florescent green polyps (which weren't out just yet).

 

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I wish this was the "frag" of monti that I was picking up, but I only got a small piece of this one. Picture does this one no justice, it has a very different color pattern. Green, purple and blue base with orange polyps. FYI the colony below measured almost 12".

 

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I took a chance on this acan that wasn't doing so hot and got a good discount on it. If I can get this one fat and happy like the others, then it should be a nice score. (small orange and purple acan)

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks! Spin streams work pretty well. Not the strongest flow, but it's better than just having directional flow IMO. I like them.

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My tank is a JBJ 28g. I was wanting to up grade my circulation. My Controller has a wave maker but i like the idea of the current having the spin to it. Most of the post I have read say that they loose about half of the flow do to the restrictor to actuate the spin motion. Any thoughts on this? These are my only water movement and I do not no plan on using other power heads. I am also wanting to upgrade to a larger AIO reef. What is your opinion on the IM 38g's quality. I have read mixed reviews there also. Most people have complained about the material used to cover the sump area and low quality of the workmanship used when siliconing everything together.

 

Thanks

Billy

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If you don't plan on having any other powerheads for flow than I would definitely recommend the spin steam nozzles. The rate of flow is slightly affected from the nozzles but you can compensate buy adding a larger pump. I've even seen people run two separate pumps, one for each nozzle. What type of tank are you planning as far as livestock and coral are concerned?

 

IMO the only knock against Innovative Marine is their tanks are manufactured in China. The quality control on some of the equipment is suspect. My tank was no exception. I did have a small leak in the silicone between the acrylic false wall and the side glass. That has Ben my only issue with the tank. I will say their customer service is excellent and offered to replace the tank. I couldn't wait another two weeks to get a new tank so I opted to fix the leak myself with a little aquarium silicone from HD. The guy from IM shipped a pair of spin steams for the inconvenience next day FedEx.

 

Overall, I am happy with the tank and think it looks pretty good. Just don't buy the stand if you have small kids. I think it's top heavy and I'm looking to get something a little more sturdy.

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I was planning on using two maxi-jet 1200 that I currently run in my 28g. I didn't think about how IM uses just one pump on the 38g. My coral selection is all over the place. I currently have Zoas, Palys, Favia, Leathers, assorted SPS, hammer, torch, and a maxima clam. Assorted fish and invertebrates. I replaced the compact lights with 90 watts of Cree LEDs from LedGroupBuy.

 

So your leak was internal between compartments and didn't leak out of the aquarium? I made a custom stand for my JBJ and it was made for me to upgrade to a 24" cube. All of my past tanks have had overflows and sumps in the cabinet. I am starting to really like the AIO tanks. Very simple to use, clean, and balance. I do a 4 gallon water change every week which takes me less than 5 minutes. My old tank required way more time and attention.

 

 

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I was planning on using two maxi-jet 1200 that I currently run in my 28g. I didn't think about how IM uses just one pump on the 38g. My coral selection is all over the place. I currently have Zoas, Palys, Favia, Leathers, assorted SPS, hammer, torch, and a maxima clam. Assorted fish and invertebrates. I replaced the compact lights with 90 watts of Cree LEDs from LedGroupBuy.

 

So your leak was internal between compartments and didn't leak out of the aquarium? I made a custom stand for my JBJ and it was made for me to upgrade to a 24" cube. All of my past tanks have had overflows and sumps in the cabinet. I am starting to really like the AIO tanks. Very simple to use, clean, and balance. I do a 4 gallon water change every week which takes me less than 5 minutes. My old tank required way more time and attention.

Yep just one pump in the IM38. The stock pump is just fine for my system. Anything more would sound like a waterfall running over last chamber into the return reservoir. I think you mentioned you have a wave maker, if not you will definitely need more flow than just the spin stream nozzles with your current stocking list. With one MP10 and the spinstreams, I still had a few dead spots which were growing cyano. I have since added another MP10 and run them anti-sync around 50% and everything seems much better.

 

The leak was internal. I found it during the leak test by filling up the back chambers. It was fairly small, maybe a cm in length, but enough for me to notice. I dug up a pic that I sent to IM...

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It was an easy fix and didn't effect the overall performance of the tank so I moved forward with stocking. Unless you have a custom built tank, than you will more than likely find some sort of flaw in the manufacturing process. That's the beauty of outsourced Chinese labor i guess. :lol: I even had the same issue with my BC14, which I fixed the same way.

 

As far as the stand goes, I'm looking at plans to build my own since I haven't seen much that would work and does not look like a pos. The stand you built would be perfect for a Nuvo 38 if my picture doesn't scare you off. lol

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I'm still leaning toward the IM 38g. It is the largest AIO tank that will fit in the 24x24 footprint that I have for my stand. Also I have a HOB refugium that I just love. It houses both my skimmer and my macro algae. I think it will fit fine on the back of the IM 38g. Here is a link to my stand build. I spent almost 7 years without a tank so I have plenty of time to think about a stand. I guess I did good since I have it built and there's really nothing I would do differently. Thanks for all your input and help.

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I'm still leaning toward the IM 38g. It is the largest AIO tank that will fit in the 24x24 footprint that I have for my stand. Also I have a HOB refugium that I just love. It houses both my skimmer and my macro algae. I think it will fit fine on the back of the IM 38g. Here is a link to my stand build. I spent almost 7 years without a tank so I have plenty of time to think about a stand. I guess I did good since I have it built and there's really nothing I would do differently. Thanks for all your input and help.

 

Wow... well done on the stand! Looks like the perfect stand for a black IM38. Impressive work on that controller as well. Good luck with the future build.

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Thank you. I just noticed you have the IM Skimmate Skimmer. How do you like it? Does it seem to fit and work well? I just have an old style skimmer with an air pump. So I was looking to upgrade when I upgrade.

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Its a good skimmer. Pulls out a ton of dark nasty skimmate. I did have an issue with micro bubbles and the water level adjusting itself a few times. I called IM and the sent me out a new pump and venturi no questions asked. Check out the IM reactors as well, I dont have on yet but I've heard very good things. They are sold out just about everywhere now...

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I did a water change this week and took a few nice top down shots. I'm really liking the color pop in my coral from the Radion :)

 

 

Coral Photo Dump:

 

 

Hawkins echinata looking really good. Noticing more purple than before in this one.

 

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Birds of Paradise growing out nicely

 

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Pink Pocillopora

 

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Ice Fire. It's hard to get a good shot of this one since the tips are so blue.

 

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Left side of coral mountain

 

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Man this is looking very nice! Couple questions. What salt are you using? Dosing anything? Having experience with both the Vega and the Radion, would you say that one is 'better than the other? Were you getting the same colors from the corals with the Vega? Many people are trying to convince me to get the Radion ($$$), but I just set up a Vega converted from a SOL.

 

Also I'm about to look at your stand build because I think I have one coming up!

 

Nice work man, keep the pics coming.

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Man this is looking very nice! Thanks Bro!

 

Couple questions. What salt are you using? Aquavitro Salinity (good stuff!)

 

 

Dosing anything? ESV B-ionic 2 Part (20ml daily...still trying to dial in params).

 

 

Having experience with both the Vega and the Radion, would you say that one is 'better than the other? They both have their pros and cons. I like the controllability of the AI way more than the Radion. I'm not digging hooking my computer up to the Pro every time I want to see a setting or make a change. Looks like director is almost ready for the masses as well and I'm sure that will be pretty slick.

 

As for the rest, its really not fair. The Radion beats the Vega hands down. Almost double the led's, broader spectrum, better optics, more efficient led's and more par.

 

Were you getting the same colors from the corals with the Vega? Many people are trying to convince me to get the Radion ($$$), but I just set up a Vega converted from a SOL. Out of the box my Vega did not have the UV or any of the options available with the puck customization. So the standard Vega comparison to the Pro is a little unfair.

 

I've only had the Pro about a month and I've noticed color change in just about everything from SPS to LPS. I wouldn't say its drastic but it is noticeable only after 1 month. The pro is pretty spendy, and I toiled over this upgrade for quite some time. But in the end I'm happy with my purchase. Is it worth it? Probably not to some people but it worked out for me.

 

Also I'm about to look at your stand build because I think I have one coming up! Haven't started one yet, in fact I was checking out your google sketch of your stand. That looks awesome! I will be downloading that program after work to see what I can come up with. Stay tuned...

 

Nice work man, keep the pics coming. B)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Phantom is really filling out. I love the pattern on this guy.

 

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Since the wrasse war a few weeks back. I lost my favorite fish (Mystery wrasse) to the Six Line. I was under feeding the tank and things got hostile between the wrasses (totally my fault). The Mystery got flushed and so did the six line.... just kidding but I really wanted too. Six line has since been moved to my basement tank and is currently awaiting his new home in JR's slick ADA 60-F.

 

Now that I have cleared some room for a new fish, I have been on the prowl for a fancy new wrasse. I got an email yesterday from my LFS who said they just got a very nice small Labouti wrasse in their last shipment. I know my tank is on the small side to house a Labouti but for the price ($99) and size of this fish I couldn't say no. I asked for them to hold the fish until Monday. They said no problem.

 

They sent me a picture text of the fish since I could not make it to the store until Monday.

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So naturally I was pretty stoked for Monday. Until I got an email from the LFS this morning that read: Bad news... the Labouti was dead this morning. Not sure what happened. I will try to order another one for next week.

 

That sucked. Hope I didn't get undercut by someone who saw the fish at the store and offered to pay more. Who knows?... I know these fish are notorious for not shipping well, so maybe he did croak. Either way I'm back to square one.

 

Unless, I just get another Mystery wrasse, which is in stock at the same store. Not sure what I'll do... stay tuned.

 

 

 

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