IM Nuvo 8 w/ the Tampa Bay "Package"

[diverseyboats]

The mantis was removed a week ago... Tried to be gentle, but ended up hurting the guy... I still hear popping at night thought... Sounds a little different, not sure if it's another mantis or a pistol. This is night 3 with the peppermint in there with the popper, so I guess we shall see. I really don't want him to be eaten!

 

Nobody else has any answers to my crazy list of questions??

 

Thanks in advance!

[Polarcollision]

Found your build from the Nuvo 8 thread links. I have the same tank and loving it!

 

Let's see what I can answer from your list of questions:

 

I use superglue gel to attach everything, including a fairly large sponge. So far so good. The SuperGlue brand seems to stick the best over time--that was always frustrating to tap a frag in a water change and send it crashing down.

 

+1 on having your LFS check your nitrate readings. I didn't know they could even get that high!? Kinda sounds like your test kit isn't getting the right readings somehow.

 

I use activated carbon and Purigen to control nitrates and organic wastes. Filter floss is changed out around every 3 days since I feed corals heavy and have 3 fish, and I also have 4 types of display macroalgae mixed in the aquarium and used the caribsea live sand which seeds nitrifying bacteria to reduce nitrates even further. So far, so good. Nitrates and phosphates stay between .25 and 1 PPM and I do a 20% water change every 2-3 weeks.

 

I am stocked to the gills with coral and most of this food below is for them.

For foods, I use OysterFeast (http://reefnutrition.com/oyster_feast.php), ROE (http://reefnutrition.com/roe.php), and phytoFeast (http://reefnutrition.com/phyto_feast.php). Frozen foods for the acans, chalice and fish are mysis, blood worms, spirulina brine shrimp and cyclopeze. (http://www.hikariusa.com/products/biopure/). Once or twice a week everything gets added to the tank until the water is cloudy, as in can't see the back of the tank cloudy. Then I change out the filter floss the next day so what isn't eaten by the corals and fish doesn't decompose.

 

Daily the fish get Hikari marine S pellets.

 

Also add Brightwell Vit C, Amino Acids, Microbacter7, and KoralKolor ideally once a day, but really it's kinda random.

 

If the algae is hair algae, snails will take care of it and it's not a bother once your tank settles in and the Purigen/Carbon are replaced on schedule and/or display macroalgae export nutrients when it's trimmed back. Other hardier nuscience algaes have to be picked off; though I've had some success with a tiny bit of hydrogen peroxide on frags. Brandon has a great thread for details if you want to try it.

 

AND NOW... Here's a bunch of other noob questions! Of course after typing this I'll Google it, but wanted to try here.

 

1) I have an orange sponge.. Think it's a Angelas sceptrum - maybe. What's the best way to "mount" sponges? Just bury it in the sandbed? Marine epoxy? Gel?

 

2) Same question for the purple color piece... Think it's a Bent sea rod - Plexaura flexuosa? Has a very non-descript base... How to mount?

 

3) I know this is common, but my Nitrates are through the f'n roof. Put Part 2 of The Package in two days ago. Have done 2 x 2 gallon water changes so far... one yesterday and one today. Before my last swap about an hour ago, the red was off the chart... 160+. Now it looks more orange but at least 80ppm. From reading about nanos and cheato, seems like the verdict is to just run Purigen and Chemipure Elite and be done with it - which is what I have in there. I'm also definitely starting to see more green growth on the established set of live rock that soft cycled the tank. Been doing tests about every 6 hours for the last 48 and everything else is, I THINK, under control for a new nano with a crap ton of livestock just added... PH went up a little to 8.2, Ammonia has been stable at .25 and Nitrites are somewhere under .25. Should I just keep doing the 25% water changes until it's under control? Burning through salt like crazy.

 

 

5) And then there's the anemone... I think it's a flower one... Maybe an inch in diameter... Put it on a rock and the thing crawled to the underside of the rock in an arch and lodged himself into a crevice so he's "looking down". Just acclimation? I assume he'll come out when he wants light?

 

6) Finally... Food. I have Coral Frenzy freeze-dried Cyclopeeze along with Kent A&B Nano supplements. Now, I haven't added a single thing to the tank yet as I wanted to get water under control first. Is this correct? Will everyone have enough to eat? Note : other that a VERY little bit of green algae on two of the rocks, I don't see any growth.

[diverseyboats]

Thanks for the nice response!

 

I've attached a new pics... I decided to purchase some additional reffcleaners rock (the white stuff) to fill in the voids left by the TampaBay rocks I ended up removing from the tank. Water quality seems to be in check... I'm stocked with a pair of clowns (only a day old courtesy of my LFS) a pep shrimp, 3 stars (well 4 if you can't the minute baby that I just spotted the other day) a rock anemone, a sponge, 2 gorge and a CUC population of maybe 8-10 misc snails and hermits.

 

And now, a question... I'm using the Nuvo glass lid to the tank now that I have the clown... These stories of suicide fish aren't sitting well with me. The stock LED lamp is now that much less bright due to the glass and associated dust / water / etc... And the original LR towards the back just ain't getting enough. I'm thinking of a gooseneck Kessil as a replacement...For those that have single lights like this, how about moonlights on a rimless? A second clamp-on? Any suggestions?

 

Thank you!

 

[diverseyboats]

So... Since the beginning, I've had a red brittle star that came up from Tampa in The Package... Been a great little guy... Fun to watch and feed, etc.

 

Recently, he's been either going through the overflow (which I don't think is possible due to the media baskets) or over the top to hang out in the filter area of my Nuvo8. The guy likes to be under the heater or wrapped around my bag of chempure by the return pump which I do NOT like due to the impeller that's just waiting to make little brittle bits.

 

I brought him back over twice - which was a PAIN... He hangs out, I feed him a nice big piece of frozen scallop, then within a day or two he's back to the dark side.

 

Here's my question... This never happened for 4 months. Only thing I can think of that changed is the Razor light I have above the tank... Which isn't even close to set at its brightest levels during the day.

 

Could he simply not like the light? I could bring him back over and put some mesh over the overflow, to keep him in, but....

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks!

[diverseyboats]

Here's a question for everyone....

 

After 6 months, my brittle has grown to have quite the wingspan.... (pic attached)

 

Question.... at what point do I start looking for a new home for my friend? He's very active, day and night, but appears to be getting a little big!

 

Looking forward to everyone's thoughts!

 

Also - the clarity of the water? New bag of Purigen. Crazy.