R1sky_Biz Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Hey everyone, wanted to start this thread in an effort to document my first reef build. Snagged an 8g IM Nuvo because I couldn't handle reading anymore about this hobby without experiencing it first hand. I caught the bug in March of this year when I went to an LFS that had a killer 130ish gallon display tank. Here's an iPhone pic of the tank that gave me the bug. Since then, I've been reading, youtube-ing and doing research pretty much non stop. I made the mistake of going too big early on and bought a 72g bowfront and a proflex 3 sump as well as some 5 channel LED chips from overseas thinking I could piece together a decent sized tank on the cheap.. I couldn't have been more wrong.. Sold all that off and decided to start small and upgrade later on once I get the hang of things. With any luck and hopefully some help from this community I'll have a decent shot at it. Thanks ahead of time for checking out my thread and hopefully some of you follow along! Cheers! -Matt Link to comment
R1sky_Biz Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 Ordered the tank last night from MD.com I heard their shipping is crazy fast because Im super anxious! Went to the LFS today and grabbed a couple things in anticipation. Some Fiji Pink and some Salt... Nothing super fun but its pieces to the puzzle nonetheless! Link to comment
cmb2104 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 i just got that tank online, black friday sale... its been running about 2 weeks now... so far so good! the only things i changed were the media basket.... everyone here recommended the intank basket... they were right! and i added a timer to the lights since they dont actually have a switch. Link to comment
cindyp Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 good luck! i have a cadlights 8g myself. i'm looking forward to your progress! Link to comment
Infinitereef Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 My nuvo 8 i did a few upgrades. Skkye light didnt grow coral that well so upgraded the light with a par38 full spectrum bulb. Changed the media basket also. -filter floss -chemi pure elite -purigen ATO jbj with aqualifter pump. Koralia 240 power head. Spin stream nozzle. Just to give you an idea on how my setup is. Heres a fts with the iphone. Been running for 3 weeks now. Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 A display like that got me hooked too. I look forward to seeing you put all the pieces together and get the tank going! Link to comment
R1sky_Biz Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 i just got that tank online, black friday sale... its been running about 2 weeks now... so far so good! the only things i changed were the media basket.... everyone here recommended the intank basket... they were right! and i added a timer to the lights since they dont actually have a switch. Nice, I read about the media basket problem as well but I assumed that there was an option for a replacement or I could build something myself if I had to. I'm actually going to run a tiny Refugium in its place and a small Carbon reactor/tumbler (I think). Good call on the timer, I'll have to pick one up. Thanks for the info! good luck! i have a cadlights 8g myself. i'm looking forward to your progress! Thanks! Your tank is an inspiration! I hope I can figure out how to get mine on that level! My nuvo 8 i did a few upgrades. Skkye light didnt grow coral that well so upgraded the light with a par38 full spectrum bulb. Changed the media basket also. -filter floss -chemi pure elite -purigen ATO jbj with aqualifter pump. Koralia 240 power head. Spin stream nozzle. Just to give you an idea on how my setup is. Heres a fts with the iphone. Been running for 3 weeks now. http://s596.photobucket.com/user/ImportRacer1867/media/Mobile%20Uploads/7C27AE6E-3C94-461A-AC93-B18B296D0E5A_zpstkrw4yfd.jpg.html'> That's great! I'm a big fan of your mod list! Definitely going to handle the flow issue and the lighting. Thought about throwing a little stunner strip on there until I get my kessil A160. Where is your ATO located? I guess you have it on a stand? Seems like that power head takes up a good amount of room though? I thought about getting the jebao rw-8 but haven't decided yet. Like the low profile of the MP but there's no way I'm spending that much for a nano setup. Link to comment
R1sky_Biz Posted December 28, 2014 Author Share Posted December 28, 2014 Ordered a few more things over the holidays. Got a heater coming as well as a koralia 240 and a couple salifert test kits. Does anyone run a reactor in their IM setups? I was looking into chemi pure to run in a reactor since its carbon & GFO. Anyone have any experience with this product? Link to comment
R1sky_Biz Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 Wanted to update on Tuesday when the tank arrived but with the Holiday Hangovers I've been moving a bit slow . Everything arrived safely, nothing broken. As far as the packaging goes I thought Marine Depot did a good job. Had to throw some water in it and get it hooked up just so I could get an idea of what I would be working with. Quiet operation so far, very little in the way of bubbles from the pump etc.. I definitely need to get the bigger media basket. It's hard to understand why they would even send the filter to begin with? Undersized is an understatement. and the light is certainly not capable of growing SPS thats for sure so I'll be looking into some other options as everything gets moving along. Heading to the LFS today to grab some live rock and a few other things. Hopefully i can get the cycle started tonight. Would it be wise to run carbon and GFO during the cycle process or should I wait?? Link to comment
R1sky_Biz Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 The cycle has finally started!!! Grabbed 11lbs of rock from my LFS (I believe they said it was some type of Carib Sea engineered rock?). This store uses brightwell chemicals in their tanks so I decided to start there for now. Also picked up some Chemi Pure Elite. Im not 100% on the aquascape though. Here was the first version Then about an hour later I had my arm in the tank again.. I cant decide if the pieces are too big or if its just because the tank is so tiny. Would love to get some feedback on this. Here is a shot of the chemicals I picked up today. Anyone have any experience with this line? Link to comment
R1sky_Biz Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 Been super busy the last couple months but I wanted update my tanks progress. Had some water parameter issues a few weeks back and things seemed to stop growing for a few weeks but all of that has changed now. Got my parameters back in check as of 4/1: Salinity - 1.025 PH - 8.2 dKH - 10 Cal - 390 Mag - 1300 Nitrate - 0 Nitrite - 0 Phosphate - 0 Ammonia - 0 Photos! My Clownfish Clyde givin' a wave of the fin Montiporas This red monti cap stopped growing completely while the water was effed. But now theres a bunch of new growth and the polyps are extending nicely. Green one in the back I just picked up so I think it is still adjusting. Couple little colonies of Zoas/Palys (not sure which) New heads almost every week! GSP that I fragged and stuck to some rock work. This is growing so fast! Ive had to frag it 6 times since I got it. Only have this and another piece that has a Tunicate growing on it left. Here is the other frag of GSP with the Tunicate and something else growing on it. Picked up a Birdsnest and a small colony of Acans as well. Love these pieces! Here is a quick FTS. The left side is blank because Im getting a Torch next week and I want to give it some room. Might add some more Euphyllia around it but we'll see. Getting a Kessil A160 next week so hopefully that will kick up the growth a bit. Thanks for stopping by! Link to comment
teenyreef Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I just caught up on your thread - looks like a good start! The CAD Lights is a nice tank. Your corals will love the Kessil What kind of macro is that on the right? It's pretty Link to comment
R1sky_Biz Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 I just caught up on your thread - looks like a good start! The CAD Lights is a nice tank. Your corals will love the Kessil What kind of macro is that on the right? It's pretty I believe it's "Dragons Breath" I really love this stuff. Grows really fast and the colors are great, especially under the actinic lighting. Link to comment
ml86743 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Hell yeah this is sick! You have some very nice color in there. Nice macro too..Ive been looking for Dragons Breath for awhile. Link to comment
R1sky_Biz Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 Hell yeah this is sick! You have some very nice color in there. Nice macro too..Ive been looking for Dragons Breath for awhile. Thanks! I'm excited about tomorrow, Gonna go get some more coral including an electric green torch and a Kessil A160WE.. Pretty pumped to finally get a good light over the tank! Link to comment
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