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

[DaveFason]

Looking great and the new pickups will fill the tank quick. 

-D

[Kdrof]

On 8/15/2018 at 8:24 AM, DaveFason said:

Looking great and the new pickups will fill the tank quick. 

-D

Thanks Dave!

 

The Reef Glass bundle from Marine Depot arrived today. I had to run and get some more airline as it only came with 4 ft. I ran the skimmate line to an old glass milk container. I drilled 3 holes into the lid on. One for the skimmate line and two for breathing. The pump that comes with the bundle (Marina 200) was quite loud as it has two airline outlets. Even covering them both with airline created a pretty loud Hummmmm due to it rumbling. The only thing you hear on the tank is the fan on the Nanobox which is very quiet and hardly noticeable... Almost like white noise. But the humming from the airline was not ideal. I had ordered the Marina 50 just in case even though they recommend the 200... The 50 was way smaller, quieter, and it making the same sized micro-bubbles. I will keep the 200 around incase the 50 for some reason doesn't work, but thus far it seems just fine.

 

I will have to provide an update when it is broke in over the next few days... But.. At first use is it fantastic.

 

Pros:

Small footprint that easily fits perfect in the IM10 second chamber with my heater and room to spare

Super easy to clean all parts

Quiet

Low profile and not bad looking considering tank is in dining/morning room

No heat added to tank

Very easy to dial in with consistent micro-bubble level right off the bat

 

Cons:

My only downside is that the bundle comes with 4 ft of airline. This did not even make one run to my floor where inlet and outlet hoses were running to. I purchased 25ft of line and cut to size both runs to and from skimmer. All in all, not a big deal.

 

With that said, I hope to let it break in for 3 days or so. Then I plan to start the Red Sea Reef Care Program. I plan to keep the bubbles low over the next few days until the skimmer is broken in.

 

Here are a few phone shots of the skimmer in action:

 

 

 

Lastly, I hope to take a FTS and more pictures soon. I also have an itch to make a small tank video.

 

Take care,

Kevin

 

[Kdrof]

I read through the Red Sea Reef Care Program documentation this AM as I prep to start after the skimmer breaks in shortly.

 

Couple of things:

I found out that they have a powder form of their Foundation ABC elements (Ca, Alk, Mg) product called Foundation ABC+. It contains Ca, Alk, Mg and two of the Trace Colors products (Iodine+ and Potassium+). You put the powder directly into a high flow area of the system and it dissolves. This should drastically simplify dosing and not require me to dose as many of their products daily. The only time I would need to dose Ca, Alk, or Mg on their own is if any of them need altered if the others are in check. You basically test your levels, get them where they should be to start... Then base your dosage of ABC+ off of your Calcium levels and it should keep all elements pretty closely in check. Over time I could have some minor adjustments of single elements to make but between weekly water changes, ABC+, and my current low uptake it should be minimal. 

 

I submitted a question to Red Sea because I believe I will have to dose the Iron+ and Bioactive Elements along with ABC+, but want to validate to be sure. The Trace Colors kit has 4 supplements and two of them are contained in the ABC+.. With that said, it had great reviews and I want to keep this as simple as possible.

 

The skimmer is already pulling a little skimmate out of the water. I am running it pretty dry at the moment to ensure I don't pump out good tank water while it breaks in and then the ATO throw salinity off. I know this is redundant, but I really like this skimmer thus far. So quiet and simple.

 

 

[Kdrof]

Quick Update:

 

Red Sea RCP:

Hoping to start Red Sea RCP this week... More on that to come. Had a question on dosage amount for support. Playing it safe to not dose the incorrect amount.

 

Reef Glass Skimmer:

I am not even sure this skimmer had to "break in." This thing is great and has been so consistent from the start. So easy to clean during maintenance each week. Love it!

 

Coral:

All coral is doing well! I am working to get some pictures and new FTS up soon.

 

Build Simple Shelves:

I have been so sick of the APS stands limited space with no shelves. I would neaten it up and as soon as I got something out, it became a mess again...

Today, I took the time to build a quick shelve. I had to design it so I could put it together in the cabinet due to the doors being so small.

 

Materials:

3 - 11x12 (Base and shelves)

4 - 11x10 (Sides)

Double Sided Tape

Black Spray Paint/Clear Coat

1 inch Deck Screws

Drill, Screw Driver (Ratchet with phillips screwdriver head), jig saw

 

*Note - I could of made the shelves a little bit bigger but I wanted to have a little room to assemble easier. It did help out.

 

1. I started by notching out the bottom base board to fit around the door magnet

(picture was taken after paint):

2. Build 2x shelves (1 shelve connected to two sides with 3 screws per side - drill first to not split wood)

(Picture was taken after paint)

3. Paint Shelves and Base

4. Place base, take apart one painted shelve and place into stand and put back together inside stand.

5. Lift up shelve and place two pieces of double sided tape down per side to hold the sides to the base

6. Take apart the second shelve, put in stand and reassemble on top of the first shelve. Attach to other shelve with double sided tape.

This step was easiest screwing in screws with a ratchet with a phillips head attached to the ratchet because space is tighter at the top.

 

Finished Product:

 

 

 

 

 

Dosing equipment shelve, Testing equipment shelve, and food/glass cleaner shelve 😄

 

I am doing one final thing. I ordered a surge protector that has 6 individually controlled outlets. I plan to mount this on the back leg of the metal APS stand. This will allow me to clean up the wires and not unplug cords while doing maintenance. I can easily flip a surge protector switch any outlets.

 

Take care,

Kevin

[TatorTaco]

The shelves turned out great.  I really appreciate the cut lists and diagrams.   I hope this doesn't bum you out, but supposedly IM will start selling shelves.  Granted, they'll be much more expensive than DIY.   Here's a link:  https://blog.marinedepot.com/2018/05/aps-stand-shelf-kits-let-you-customize-your-aquarium-stand-see-photos-details-pricing.html

 

 

Coming Soon! APS Stand Shelf Kits

 

What will you put on your shelf?

On a recent visit to Innovative Marine’s headquarters in Cerritos, CA, we spied shelves inside several of the Aluminum Profile Series stands that were on display with their tanks. Of course, this excited us to no end … so we asked them about it!

Royce Suzuki, Innovative Marine’s Director of Marketing, spilled the beans. He said the shelves lock into place using the same tension lock system that secure the frames of the stand in place. Each APS Stand Shelf Kit will include one HDF (high density fiberboard) shelf that will fit perfectly inside the stand along with four cam locks to lock it in place.

The coolest feature about these new shelves is that you can position them at any height you want inside the stand. So you can place one near the top for food, another underneath for your doser, and so forth. This sort of post-purchase personalization of an aquarium stand is an industry first to our knowledge. Whether you want a single shelf in the middle or three shelves equally spaced apart, it’s really up to you! You’re only restricted by space, so if you have a NUVO-EXT tank with a sump in the stand, these probably aren’t for you.

Innovative Marine APS Stand Shelf Kits will be available in the United States around July 2018. Shelves will start at approximately $25 (for the Fusion 10 Cabinet Stand) all the way up to $40 (for the SR 80 Cabinet Stand). We were also told that the shelves for the Shallow Reef 80 gallon stand will be full-length—extending all the way across the stand—instead of being cut in the middle, as is the case with some aquarium shelving systems.

[DaveFason]

Great job! 

[Rory282]

Tank is looking great man! Love the nanobox! Love the rics and zoas. 

Makes me want to by more rics for my tank!

I also added a skimmer recently to my setup, how often are you planning to change your airstone? I'm thinking bi monthly.

[Kdrof]

On 8/27/2018 at 10:08 AM, Rory282 said:

Tank is looking great man! Love the nanobox! Love the rics and zoas. 

Makes me want to by more rics for my tank!

I also added a skimmer recently to my setup, how often are you planning to change your airstone? I'm thinking bi monthly.

Hey Rory, I think it says the limewood can go up to 4 months. I have been cleaning the limewood during maintenance each week to see if that gets me a few months I’d like. I would guess 2-4 months, maybe?

 

Red Sea RCP:

On another note, I heard back from support and my planned dosages were correct. Only issue is, my daily dosages are so tiny that I may require a micropippete and a scale that can measure under 1 gram.

 

 

With my ~8 gallon tank volume and consuming ~15ppm calcium per week, my daily dosage for the ABC+ powder is 3.2g per week equating to .46g daily. Then since the simple version of the system uses Calcium uptake to calculate some of the other supplements, the Trace colors C and D would require .24 ml per week or .03ml per day...

 

I am looking at options to follow the program daily. But if the scales and micropippets are very expensive then I’ll see if I can combine and dose 2-3 times per week. Still trying to figure this out. 😞

 

Not stressing about it. Colors are fantastic and everything seems happy. The Bizzaro was moved and is still ticked it seems. The Leptastra has awesome polyp extension and hopefully it will color up a little more but is doing well. 

 

I promise new pictures soon. 🙂

[Kdrof]

To finish the cabinet, I wanted to get a surge protector with 6 individually controlled outlets to not require me to unplug things while I am doing maintenance. I know there are Bluetooth/Wifi versions with phone apps, etc.. but I really just wanted to be able to flip a switch quickly and not be having dirty, wet hands touching my phone.

 

Anyhow, Tripp Lite had a cheap option in black with 7 outlets total, 1 always on and the other 6 individually controlled. I was able to place it in the back of the middle shelf on the stands rear right leg with double sided tape. I am able to hit all switches without removing things. 👍

 

 

 

 

I also mounted the Nanobox drivers and the Jebao pump controller on the opposite leg so everything is off the ground!

 

😄

 

[Kdrof]

On 8/27/2018 at 8:55 AM, TatorTaco said:

The shelves turned out great.  I really appreciate the cut lists and diagrams.   I hope this doesn't bum you out, but supposedly IM will start selling shelves.  Granted, they'll be much more expensive than DIY.   Here's a link:  https://blog.marinedepot.com/2018/05/aps-stand-shelf-kits-let-you-customize-your-aquarium-stand-see-photos-details-pricing.html

 

 

Coming Soon! APS Stand Shelf Kits

 

What will you put on your shelf?

On a recent visit to Innovative Marine’s headquarters in Cerritos, CA, we spied shelves inside several of the Aluminum Profile Series stands that were on display with their tanks. Of course, this excited us to no end … so we asked them about it!

Royce Suzuki, Innovative Marine’s Director of Marketing, spilled the beans. He said the shelves lock into place using the same tension lock system that secure the frames of the stand in place. Each APS Stand Shelf Kit will include one HDF (high density fiberboard) shelf that will fit perfectly inside the stand along with four cam locks to lock it in place.

The coolest feature about these new shelves is that you can position them at any height you want inside the stand. So you can place one near the top for food, another underneath for your doser, and so forth. This sort of post-purchase personalization of an aquarium stand is an industry first to our knowledge. Whether you want a single shelf in the middle or three shelves equally spaced apart, it’s really up to you! You’re only restricted by space, so if you have a NUVO-EXT tank with a sump in the stand, these probably aren’t for you.

Innovative Marine APS Stand Shelf Kits will be available in the United States around July 2018. Shelves will start at approximately $25 (for the Fusion 10 Cabinet Stand) all the way up to $40 (for the SR 80 Cabinet Stand). We were also told that the shelves for the Shallow Reef 80 gallon stand will be full-length—extending all the way across the stand—instead of being cut in the middle, as is the case with some aquarium shelving systems.

Lol - they would come out with them now/recently 😉

 

Oh well no big deal! I enjoy making things it is peaceful to me. Also, I like my layout as it fits everything I need nicely with minimal stacking. Good find!

[Kdrof]

Regarding the RCP program...

 

Since I need .03 ml of Trace Colors C and D, I just thought I can use an old test kit syringe that has 1ml that goes from .01-1.0ml. I’m dumb sometimes lol. I was dead set on a pippette as that is what they send in the supplement packs. Then I’m like “Don’t I dispense 1ml of liquid .01 at a time when doing test kits?” 😆

 

I also ordered a cheap scale that can read .1 - 1000 grams to get close to the .46g 

 

Hopefully starting the Red Sea RCP program this weekend!! 

 

I also snagged some FTS’s last night and they didn’t turn out to well and pictures were quite noisy. Trying again soon 😕

 

[Superdave]

Came across this thread through a search--very nice setup!  Any recent updates or pics?  

[Christopher Marks]

We miss you @Kdrof! How's your reef tank doing these days? Hope you're well!