[Innovative Marine Nuvo 24] April Giveaway Build Thread

[defender.TX]

You are more brave than me. I saw way too many negative reviews of the IM skimmer to purchase it. I completed the mod for the Tunze and plan on installing it after the ich in our DT is gone.

 

I guess you missed the tons of negative reviews on the Tunze then? I figured that, as Protein Skimmers have to be tuned to work properly, a ton of people will buy them, be unable to properly tune them, and then post a bad review. Honestly, it was really difficult to choose between the Tunze and the IM because I just read so many negative things about all of them. In the end, I didn't feel like doing the airline mod on the Tunze (and spending the extra $35 + $20 for the InTank cup) so I went with the IM. I'm pretty confident I can get it producing good skimmate but only time will tell.

 

I will keep up with your build to see how the Tunze works out! If you're able to pull a better skim I might just switch .

[chicagoreef]

I have an aio tank with what looks to be an impossibly simple skimmer - it is just an acrylic tube with a hole about midway for a venturi pump and then a cup and cap on top. However, this thing works, though it took me months to figure it out

[Cameron6796]

Lol yeah their sweet spots match their size ... Very small

[Steensj2004]

Heard some good stuff about he Eshopps Nano, Gonna try one in my 16. It is what it is, most nano skimmers require some mods. Nature of the beast I suppose, but I am going to need one at some point.

 

Love the tank BTWm killer coral selections, this will be beautiful when it fills in!

[Cameron6796]

So far do you just have the gsp

 

Wait lol you have a candy cane, much rooms and zoas right

[defender.TX]

So far do you just have the gsp

 

Wait lol you have a candy cane, much rooms and zoas right

 

Yea so far I have GSP, Candy Canes, Torch, Green/Red Mushrooms, and a small colony of Zoanthids. I had a Ricordea in the beginning but lost it during the move.

 

My wife and I agreed that we weren't going to buy anymore corals until we got the skimmer and upgraded our lights. Now I just need the lights and it will be coral time! I've decided this is going to be a lagoon tank so it's going to contain a lot of colorful softies (Blue Sympodium and Toadstool Leather), some macro, gorgonians (photosynthetic), and choice LPS (Acans!). No SPS this time around.

[TeamIM24]

I guess you missed the tons of negative reviews on the Tunze then? I figured that, as Protein Skimmers have to be tuned to work properly, a ton of people will buy them, be unable to properly tune them, and then post a bad review. Honestly, it was really difficult to choose between the Tunze and the IM because I just read so many negative things about all of them. In the end, I didn't feel like doing the airline mod on the Tunze (and spending the extra $35 + $20 for the InTank cup) so I went with the IM. I'm pretty confident I can get it producing good skimmate but only time will tell.

 

I will keep up with your build to see how the Tunze works out! If you're able to pull a better skim I might just switch .

I saw that without the mod the Tunze had a lot of negative comments but with it the vast majority of people were very pleased with it. I will keep you posted and let you know if it is any good (accounting of course for operator error!).

 

We are ready to add a bunch of stuff to our tank but I finished our taxes last night and had to write a check to our friends at the IRS so for the time being we are going to have to get by with our CUC, Royal Gramma, Toadstool and Birdsnest.

[Cameron6796]

You had to pay... Isn't it supposed to be other way around lol^

[defender.TX]

So the IM Skimmate Desktop has been in the tank for about ~48 hours and it's quieted down nicely. Also, the micro bubbles are gone. To solve the micro bubbles issue I had to reverse the orientation that I installed the skimmer at. Originally I had the air silencer closest to the overflow and the water discharge tube closest to the return chamber. In that configuration I was getting a ton of micro bubbles (looked like a snow storm in the tank!). I reversed it so that the air silencer is closest to the return chamber and the water discharge tube is closest to the overflow and the micro bubbles are gone.

 

I also emptied the cup because I was messing with tuning it the first day, so I have 24 hours worth of thick dark skim in the cup. It's a little darker than black tea but not as dark as black coffee. I'm still hoping to get a darker skim but I feel like for 48 hours of break-in it's not too bad!

[TeamIM24]

So the IM Skimmate Desktop has been in the tank for about ~48 hours and it's quieted down nicely. Also, the micro bubbles are gone. To solve the micro bubbles issue I had to reverse the orientation that I installed the skimmer at. Originally I had the air silencer closest to the overflow and the water discharge tube closest to the return chamber. In that configuration I was getting a ton of micro bubbles (looked like a snow storm in the tank!). I reversed it so that the air silencer is closest to the return chamber and the water discharge tube is closest to the overflow and the micro bubbles are gone.

 

I also emptied the cup because I was messing with tuning it the first day, so I have 24 hours worth of thick dark skim in the cup. It's a little darker than black tea but not as dark as black coffee. I'm still hoping to get a darker skim but I feel like for 48 hours of break-in it's not too bad!

Sounds like a good start.

[Ecospire]

Any updates?

[defender.TX]

Any updates?

 

Not much to report right now! I'm getting the skimmer dialed in; I've produced one full cup of dark, nasty, smelly skim but it's a little more wet than I would like. I've got the air line all the way open so I raised the skimmer out of the water as much as possible to see if that helps. So far the next cup looks a little thicker. Either way, it's obviously working really well!

 

My GSP has tripled in size (expected), I've got a single head on my Candy Canes that is splitting 4 ways, and my Zoas are finally (!) getting new polyps. All livestock is doing great. I still haven't added anything new because I might be moving soon so I'm kind of in a holding pattern until I figure out what happens with my living situation.

[defender.TX]

So I only have a small update on this tank: I've ordered a PicO 20G and will be transferring everything in this tank to the new tank once I get it. You can find the new build thread in my signature or in the Members Aquariums subforum.

 

With that said, I will be taking one more FTS of this tank before I shut it down because I really like the way everything turned out. All in all this was a great tank and I will have had it up and running successfully for over a year before the change. I am going to be selling the tank, stand, light, skimmer, and powerhead as a package deal so if you are interested and in Central Texas we can work something out.

 

Also, a little note on salt quality: I've been using Instant Ocean for the past 6-7 months and finally switched to Red Sea Coral Pro for my last water change. I did a 5 gallon water change with Red Sea Coral Pro at 1.025 salinity. I was absolutely SHOCKED at the explosion of coralline algae I saw over the past week after that water change. Before the change in salt I had a few spots of coralline on one of my rocks. Just in the last week I now have patches of coralline growing on every rock, on the back wall, even on my SpinStreams and powerhead! It's obvious that the mineral content of the Coral Pro is far superior.