Kdrof's Reef Garden (IM10 Nuvo) - New Surge Protector

[Kdrof]

Oh! One other thing regarding a powerhead... I originally thought the Sicce return pump upgrade would give me the ability to turn the tank over more and get more power out of the SpinStream in hopes of not requiring a powerhead. I did find one drawback to my plan.

 

I run Filter floss on top of the InTank media basket, then remove the middle shelf to create a big middle chamber where I run Seachem Matrix to colonize more nitrifying bacteria since I prefer less live rock. Due to my media basket setup, I can only have so much flow going through the media basket or my return pump is quicker than the media basket flow rate.

 

To prevent water on the floor from the tank overflowing, this leaves me with two options:

 

1.) Run the InTank against the back wall of the tank, which leaves a gap in front of the media basket. Most of the water goes around the media basket and only a subset of the water goes through the media basket. 

                    Pro - 100% return pump flow rate in turn getting maximum flow through SpinStream.  (Questionable if its enough flow for corals wanted)

                    Con - Tons of crap gets around the filter floss and ends up in the sump which over time will be a nutrient sink and more maintenance work required.

 

2.) Push the InTank towards the front wall overflow of the tank, which allows all water to flow through the InTank. Dial back the Sicce to around 60% flow.

                   Pro - Nearly all water runs through the filter floss allowing the majority of particulates and detritus to be captured and removed from the water column. 

                   Con - Less return pump flow which then may require a powerhead.

 

I pushed the InTank up with a temporary piece of Seachem Matrix for the time being 😂

 

 

Anyone had any issues with this?

 

Off to research some powerheads... Only have had MP10's recently. I love them but they are pricey. Hoping I can find some other options that are comparable but cheaper...

On 6/5/2018 at 8:19 PM, falcooo said:

Once I noticed how much the SpinStream reduces the pump, by about half from what I've gathered, I got to thinking the 1.0 might not actually be overkill. And yea the powerhead definitely takes up a lot of space in such a small tank.

 @falcooo - My issue above is one reason the 1.0 might be too much flow for you depending on your sump setup. I don't think in my scenario it would work. The .5 is too much for my media basket setup.. I would have to change my InTank chambers up.

 

 

 

[Kdrof]

The inverts were delivered and were healthy from LiveAquaria. I have only had great experience with them. They moved around after acclimating. Now they've been hanging out in one spot in different areas of the tank, then move, then do the same again. Hoping they will be okay. 🙂 

 

I have been busy with work and am preparing for a trip this weekend. I hope to get some pictures up soon!

 

My light should be done soon and I will get some frags shortly after! 😄

 

[Kdrof]

Hey everyone,

 

A quick update! ... So I posted this in the Nanobox Reef forum but feel free to take a look. I went down and built my light with Dave and spent the day with him! It was so awesome!

 

 

Here are some shots of the unboxing and it on the tank:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks again @DaveFason! I love it! It looks so good! Still need to grab an orange filter to tone down the blues, but it looks pretty close to this.

 

Now on to get some more flow and some frags! 😄

 

 

 

 

[ReefGoat]

Very nice man. I should've waited instead of being impatient and getting the kessil lol. I can't wait until Christmas. I'm using that as an excuse to get one lol. 

[Kdrof]

Ha. Nice.

 

I really love the Nanobox thus far...

1. Quiet fan.

2. The colors are different from nearly all LEDs I have seen and reminds me of t5 or MH. It’s hard to explain. The closest I have seen with soft realistic color is the Kessil.. 

3. The form factor is great. Not this huge monstrosity hanging over tank.

4. No cord showing with the wires ran inside the gooseneck is awesome. 

5. Cleaning seems like it will be easy as you remove 4 screws and the cover and can easily dust the unit and not blow dust further into places you cannot get to.

 

I dont have a ton of flow yet, but currently I don’t see any separation of LEDs (disco effect).. Maybe because the LEDs are so close together on the board? I’ll see after I get more flow in the tank. 🙂 

 

Quick question if anyone knows... in the Bluefish app, if I have night settings configured, do the lights come on every night or only based on lunar cycles in the specific location? Mine is set to Fiji. 

 

Any help is appreciated!

[Kdrof]

Few updates:

Crab - So while watching the tank this evening, I thought the Scarlet Reef Hermit was dead and the shell looked empty. I looked and moved shell to sand bed and cleaned up the crabs body.... Thankfully, I did not pull the shell out and pitch it. It must have molted and was on the move shortly after. 🤨

 

Goodies - Also, made a trip to the LFS. I picked up a bunch of goods in preparation for the upcoming coral orders. I grabbed Ca, Alk, and Mg test kits. I also got 2 part Ca/Alk and Mg incase I need it with the coral and water changes aren't replenishing it. Lastly, I got some acclimation items and coral dip, etc. Oh! I also found that Real Reef Rock is making little realistic coral frag rocks that will be perfect size as islands on the sand or on the current rocks. They do not looks like frag plugs. Thought it was a neat idea.

 

Coral Planning - I decided to add a few corals onto my coral list. While visiting @DaveFason, I really liked 3 corals that he had that were not on my list. I liked his Green Leptastrea, Chalice's and Scoly. I did not realize the Scoly was such an active feeder and it really peaked my interest. So, I think one of each could be doable. 😄

Now, I will need to find a good place for these since I've planned rough coral locations. I think I can squeeze them in 😄

 

Parameters - I tested the parameters tonight with the new kits:

Sg: 1.025

Nitrate: 5 ppm

Calcium: 420

Alkalinity: ~9.8

Magnesium: ~1250

 

Coral!!!!

So... the moment I have been waiting for!

 

I placed an order for coral tonight. It will be delivered the week after next due to the 4th of July holiday and pre-planned work engagements.

 

I purchased the following from @Legendary Corals:

Rasta Zoa's

Emeralds on Fire Zoa's

My Clementine Zoa's

WWC Bizarro Cyphastrea (Just added the Cyphastrea to my list. I will isolate this on the sand-bed as its own island so it does not encrust the large rock structure).

 

So pumped! 😄

 

[DaveFason]

Good list! The Bizarro is one of my favorites out there. Place it away from anything else. 

-Dave

[Kdrof]

We are using the RSCP salt (small) bucket for our ATO reservoir. I liked it but it needed to not look so much like a salt bucket with RSCP salt info, labeling, etc... So, my wife dressed it up a bit. She may add some smaller rope or something else to the top.. But much better for now 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I have not got to building shelving and finalizing cable management inside the stand yet. So I tried to make the stand storage as functional as possible. Its like a... a... Tidy mess. Better than it was... No shelving is one huge downside to this stand, imo.

 

 

 

 

Lastly, a free gift that I chose from Marine Depot were their cable labels.. Me likey. 👍

 

[1891Bro]

On 6/25/2018 at 6:23 PM, ReefGoat said:

Very nice man. I should've waited instead of being impatient and getting the kessil lol. I can't wait until Christmas. I'm using that as an excuse to get one lol. 

Sell me that a160 on the cheap after you upgrade. 

[TatorTaco]

I think your wife did a great job gussying up the bucket.  Might I suggest black tubing though instead of the clear to help blend it in to the tank and stringing it under the power cord instead of over?  I'm excited for you.  This looks great so far. 

[ReefGoat]

11 hours ago, 1891Bro said:

Sell me that a160 on the cheap after you upgrade. 

Deal. It's yours.....Probably won't be until around Christmas though. 

[Kdrof]

13 hours ago, TatorTaco said:

I think your wife did a great job gussying up the bucket.  Might I suggest black tubing though instead of the clear to help blend it in to the tank and stringing it under the power cord instead of over?  I'm excited for you.  This looks great so far. 

Thanks! Yeah good call 🙂 I’ll look for some!

[Kdrof]

Hi everyone!

I have a few updates:

 

QT System:

I decided to pull the trigger last minute (Last weekend) on a QT system. I went with the Fluval Evo V (5 gal.). It came in and I took 2 gallons of tank water from my Sunday water change and mixed it with 3 gallons of new saltwater. The coral delivery was on Tuesday. I had everything prepped Monday night and ready to go:

 

 

Coral Delivery:

I come home from work when the package was delivered and go to float them…. I look at the QT tank and its super cloudy. It was not cloudy 2.5 hours earlier before leaving for work. Well, apparently, it looks like since the old tank water cooled and I mixed it some type of bacteria bloom occurred 😞 … Only thing I can think of. Later when cleaning the tank, I saw bacteria like gunk all over the return pump.

 

Anyhow, the Original plan was float, acclimate, dip, then place in tank and head back to work. After work, I would further inspect and potentially put on new plugs if needed etc…

 

Well, that plan went out the window quickly due to bacteria bloom. I started floating the coral. I started acclimating with my display tank water. While acclimating, the frags looked very clean so I decided to pop the glue off and place the zoa’s on new plugs. I then dipped, rinsed and placed into tank on sand bed. The only frags I could not move to new plugs were the Leptastrea and Cyphastrea as they were fully encrusted. I got them in the tank and headed back to work. 

 

Legendary Corals:

I wanted to give a shout out to @Legendary Corals. Their packing was fantastic. The water was still warm without heat packs. The frags were double bagged and sealed. Super easy to float to temp acclimate. They also put frag plugs through a hole in condiment dipping containers so the containers take hits instead of the frag. Everything was as pictured and as described. 

 

The Leptastrea looked good when added to the tank. I noticed when I got home from work that it had started to peal in a spot. I hope that it will recover. Everything else looks really good today.

 

They also threw in a freebie for me and it happened to be another Zoa I wanted. Thank you Darwin and the gang. I will definitely buy from them again.

 

Jebao PP-4:

I needed some more movement in the display and would of needed some in the QT tank. So, I picked up a Jebao PP-4 to use in QT and then moved to the display tank. I then can decide if I want to keep it or get an MP10 or another option for the display tank. I really dont want to drop the coin on MP10. But we will see.

 

Here are some pictures from unboxing:

 

 

 

 

 

I am still trying to finalize pump placement. The pump is pretty strong for the IM10. If placed on the sides, it blows sand like crazy. I placed it on the lower back wall aiming upward toward the front glass and it worked ok but was still decently strong. With that said, I read some articles that you can swap the 24v 1A power supply for a 12v 1A power supply and it definitely helped. I ran out of daylight, so I will dial it in better tomorrow. I am not sure if this lower back placement is exporting detritus very well. It seems to stay in tank. I know most who have MP10’s place it on the side of the tank. Now that the power is less, I may see if I can move it back to the side… Ill have to play around with it 😄

 

Fish:

The damsel has made a tunnel under the rock from under the front all the way out the back of the rock. lol… He also is not used to the PP-4 pump and seems to stay near his spot rather than out and about. I am sure he will get used to it.. I hope. His movement all over the display was enjoyable.

 

Coral Pictures Coming Soon:

Lastly, I have not had a chance to get good pictures of the frags. I will work on that in the next few days and get them up!

 

Whew! Sorry that was wordy!

[Legendary Corals]

Hope all of the corals do well in the tank! Sorry about the leptastrea, if you pick something up in the big sale coming up I can toss a frag in as a freebie. Just mention it in the notes!

[Kdrof]

Just an update on the PP-4...I had a 12v 1a power supply that works perfect. Power is cut down and now the pump is placed on the side of the tank. I run it on random mode at about 75%. The tank temp is a few tenths higher. After roughly a week of running the pump, there was much less detritus on the rocks. 👍

[DaveFason]

Cant wait to see the tank with corals! 

 

I'll have to check out the PP4 for my home tank. I hate the AquaMia

[specore]

On 6/16/2018 at 3:09 PM, Kdrof said:

Oh! One other thing regarding a powerhead... I originally thought the Sicce return pump upgrade would give me the ability to turn the tank over more and get more power out of the SpinStream in hopes of not requiring a powerhead. I did find one drawback to my plan.

 

I run Filter floss on top of the InTank media basket, then remove the middle shelf to create a big middle chamber where I run Seachem Matrix to colonize more nitrifying bacteria since I prefer less live rock. Due to my media basket setup, I can only have so much flow going through the media basket or my return pump is quicker than the media basket flow rate.

 

To prevent water on the floor from the tank overflowing, this leaves me with two options:

 

1.) Run the InTank against the back wall of the tank, which leaves a gap in front of the media basket. Most of the water goes around the media basket and only a subset of the water goes through the media basket. 

                    Pro - 100% return pump flow rate in turn getting maximum flow through SpinStream.  (Questionable if its enough flow for corals wanted)

                    Con - Tons of crap gets around the filter floss and ends up in the sump which over time will be a nutrient sink and more maintenance work required.

 

2.) Push the InTank towards the front wall overflow of the tank, which allows all water to flow through the InTank. Dial back the Sicce to around 60% flow.

                   Pro - Nearly all water runs through the filter floss allowing the majority of particulates and detritus to be captured and removed from the water column. 

                   Con - Less return pump flow which then may require a powerhead.

 

I pushed the InTank up with a temporary piece of Seachem Matrix for the time being 😂

 

 

Anyone had any issues with this?

 

Off to research some powerheads... Only have had MP10's recently. I love them but they are pricey. Hoping I can find some other options that are comparable but cheaper...

 @falcooo - My issue above is one reason the 1.0 might be too much flow for you depending on your sump setup. I don't think in my scenario it would work. The .5 is too much for my media basket setup.. I would have to change my InTank chambers up.

 

 

 

I had this same issue with my InTank media basket.  I think part of the issue is eash shelf in the basket is laser cut in a way that only about 60% of the shelf is cutout.  When you plop floss or a floss pad flush against thee holes then there is only about 60% of the surface are of the pad available for water to actually pass through.  I have found mine works MUCH better if I cut the pads deeper (front to back) than the basket by about 1 inch.  This allows the pad to sit at a diagonal so that all water still passes through the pad, but at the same time much more of the pads surface is actually available for water to pass through as it isn't sitting flush against the acrylic shelf.  Not sure if my explanation makes complete sense, but it works ;).  Pictures below 

[Kdrof]

@specore thanks for the tip. I will definitely try that! Wasn’t sure if it was the floss on top or because of amount of media I have in middle chamber only allowing so much water to pass through. With no obstruction, there was no issue. Thanks again!

[Kdrof]

Few updates...

 

The WWC Bizzaro Cyphastrea is not happy. It has not really had any polyp extension. I have moved it several times to see if its a flow or light issue. I dont think it is a parameter issue. SG, CA, Alk, and Mg are all on point. I tested Nitrates and they are 5-10..

 

Lastly, I promised some photos. My Macro lens is jacked up. It has some issue and it is blurry. Dave noticed this as well when we were shooting together on his office tank. I don't get it and i'm looking for a replacement. I may rent a few lenses to see what I like.

 

Anyhow, I took a ton of blurry shots (yes I was square to the glass and on a tripod 🙂) and a few came out alright. So this will have to work for now 😋

 

Halloween Hermit:

 

LC Burning Man Leptastrea (My favorite coral in the tank currently):

 

 

Fruit Loop Zoas:

 

LA Laker Zoas:

 

Rasta Zoas:

 

 

[DaveFason]

Looking good. Let the bizzaro sit for a bit. They are very hardy corals. 

-D

[Kdrof]

Quick update:

I am so pumped! I got a few pieces in the Legendary Coral sale today...

 

I got some Yuma and Ricordea that should just about complete the Ricordea garden. I also picked up a few more Zoa's.

 

I was on the lookout for Torch coral but came up empty on that front. Wanted the Torch to add movement on rock structure.

Edit: Checked back later and they had Torch's (Euphyllia) posted so I was able to snag one that I wanted!

 

I will post some pictures when I get them... Will most likely be a few weeks because of shipping request with work schedule.

 

Lastly, the Bizarro Cyphastrea is not really improving. Hoping it will bounce back.

 

[Daniel91]

Kdrof - been following you for a while. Quality content and updates, please keep it up.

 

What other plans do you have for corals?

[Kdrof]

9 hours ago, Daniel91 said:

Kdrof - been following you for a while. Quality content and updates, please keep it up.

 

What other plans do you have for corals?

Thanks Daniel! Appreciate it!

 

Currently, I am awaiting the latest LC order with more Zoas, a Torch, and Yuma/Ricordeas I spoke about above. That should nearly complete the Ric/Yuma garden. The Zoa garden is also close to being complete other than grow out and I plan to piece a few more in every so often. The torch will be the start of the Torch garden up top. 

 

Next, I plan to add 2-3 more torch’s (Rainbow, Gold, Green/Purple tip) up top. Also, want a Frogspawn on top distanced from the Torch. I think that will add nice movement up top in the Euphyllia garden.

 

I plan to start the Acan garden on the lower right on sandbed around rock soon.

 

Also, I want to get a small piece of Ultra/Neon Green Star Polyps for on a tiny rock on the sand bed. Always liked the bright GSP, but I want it isolated so it doesn’t spread rampantly. 

 

I want a few Rock Flower nems on the lower left of main rock structure.  I plan to add 3 Gorgonians I like to be in back right by wall to grow up behind rock structure.

 

Lastly, I want a few Chalices and a bright Scoly. I am not sure on placement of those. Those were not in original plan, but I’ll find room. 🙂

 

The majority above were all planned corals in planned locations. There are a few others I have seen that I may look at down the road after completing the plan above... WWC Looney Toon Stylo, LC Nightstalker Alveopora, and maybe another Leptastrea. 

 

I only want to have my favorites in this tank and every choice is intentional. Following the plan has kept me grounded. 

 

I cannot wait for the next shipment. Look at this Yuma I ordered. I am so pumped for it!!! (Pic from Legendary Corals):

 

Thanks for tagging along!

[Kdrof]

Hello everyone.. Few updates...

 

Zoas and Bizarro Cyphastrea:

Everything has been going very well. The Fruit Loops, Circus, and Emeralds on Fire Zoa's have each popped out a new polyp. The Rasta's have popped out two new polyps. Everything else has looked pretty healthy. The LA Lakers Zoa had a polyp pop off of the super glue and I lost one of the two polyps on that.. Seems to be doing OK though. The Bizarro is looking Meh... lost a lot of color but hoping it will bounce back. It has not gotten any worse over the past 2 weeks so I will wait a bit and try moving it if it doesn't improve.

 

Levels:

My Nitrates are sitting right around 4ppm. My Phosphates are showing 0 (not sure if little bit of green algae on plugs is consuming it.. planning to test again tonight). No algae in tank though other than little green on a few frag plugs. Ca, Alk, and Mg seem to be doing well and staying pretty consistent with water changes and RSCP salt.

 

Red Sea RCP/Skimmer:

With that said, I ordered and plan to start the Red Sea Reef Care Program soon. I am not doing this to combat any big issue, I just read a lot about the program and looks like it could be beneficial adding low doses of trace/minor elements, foundation elements (if required at some point), coral nutrition and algae management to ensure everything is getting the proper nutrients. I also like that its a complete system and not mixing and matching tons of different products. I have read some solid reviews on they RCP and after seeing some green algae starting on the frag plugs, I decided to cut back on feeding a touch and start the program. I started reading the No3-PO4-X instructions and they recommend having a protein skimmer. With that said, I decided to place an order for a Reef Glass Nano Skimmer Bundle from Marine Depot with a Marina 200 Air Pump. I will get the skimmer on the tank and hopefully set it really dry to not pull a lot of beneficial nutrients out of the tank, just the gunk from the No3-PO4-X. I may not run the skimmer all the time if I stop using the No3-PO4-X.. More to come on this. I will start with a very low dosage with the products and see the impact before increasing it as the tank is in great condition currently.

 

Does anyone have any experience using RS Reef Care Program and have any feedback or recommendations for me?

 

Coral Arrival:

The coral arrived this morning and has been acclimated, dipped, and placed in the tank. @Legendary Corals nailed it again. Everything looks healthy and I will continue to order from them. Darwin and the gang are top notch. When polyps are out when you open packages it is a good sign 🙂Also, their pictures on their site are on point to the specimen you will receive.. Still trying to take pictures like them!

 

I placed all Zoa's on the sand bed until they open up. I placed the Ricordea/Yuma's in their area (on the Sand bed rock). I left them on their plugs for now until I make sure they are happy. Lastly, the Black Torch coral was placed near its final position at the top of the main rock structure. When everything opens up and is placed, I will take a FTS and some macro shots of them.

 

Until then... I took some quick shots because pictures are more fun than words 😄Enjoy!

 

Zoa's Acclimating on Sand bed:

 

Ricordea Garden:

Front:

 

Left:

 

Corner:

Sorry about the reflection and the LED color separation..

 

Blue Ricordea:

 

Aqua Blue Ricordea:

 

All are pretty - but these three are mind blowing in person...

Orange/Pink Pastel Haitian Ricordea:

 

White Bubbly Yuma:

 

Rainbow Yuma:

 

Take care,

Kevin

 

 

[TatorTaco]

That Rainbow Yuma is nucking futs man.  Nice haul!