Just another Nuvo 10: Zoa advice requested

[wallyman424]

Hey all, been without a reef tank for a few years. Decided this time around to make it a lot simpler. I'm planning on skipping the skimmer, fuge, GFO, dosing etc... and just doing weekly 1-2 gallon water changes. Planning on 2 clowns, a gobie, couple small critters and a mix of easy LPS and softies. Just dosed ammonia and added a bottle of Dr Tims this evening.

 

IM Nuvo 10 tank

JBJ Cubey gloss white stand

Kessil A80

Cobalt 50W heater

IM Mightjet DC return pump with spinstream nozzle

Intank media rack (planning on running filter floss, chemipure blue and seachem matrix, would appreciate input on this)

Old Apex Neptune with pH, temp and outlet control

Tunze ATO

 

Took my time with the wiring on the back of the tank, I think it looks pretty clean. I'm still working on the inside of the stand and in search of an ATO container

 

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome to the Nano-Reef Community @wallyman424! 👋

 

Congratulations on getting your new nano reef up and running with water, the IM10 is a great system to have. It looks really nice on the JBJ Cubey stand too, I hadn't seen that combination before. Did you source them separately by chance or had you seen them together before? As someone who appreciates good cable organization, bravo! 👏

 

I like your all natural filtration plans as well, keep it simple! Are you mixing your own water or sourcing it elsewhere?

[wallyman424]

Thanks! I had been looking for a pedestal stand and just stumbled upon the cubey stand on liveaquaria. It was reasonably priced and the perfect size. 

 

I'm mixing my own water. I'll take a picture of my water setup soon. I had the brs 6 stage chloramine rodi set up from my old tank. Just got a 35 gallon water container and put it on my old mixing station stand. 

[specore]

Looks like a great start.  It's not easy getting everything organized in such a small space!

[wallyman424]

Here's my water making setup. Not as tidy as the tank wiring yet. Haven't gotten around to routing everything properly. I just keep rodi in the tank and mix in a 5 gallon bucket as needed. 

[wallyman424]

And here is a shot of the inside of the stand. Set up the tunze ato, not the nano. I also added a separate emergency float switch tied into my Apex to shut off the ato outlet if there is an issue. I have ato paranoia. 

 

I sure have a lot of wiring for a 10 gallon tank....

[wallyman424]

Cycle is almost complete. Started on 9/15, dosed Dr Tims Ammonia to 2+PPM (used 36 drops) and poured in one bottle of their starter bacteria. Ran without any filtration for 2 days, then added just my filter floss and media rack with seachem matrix. Ammonia went completely to zero yesterday. My nitrite spike began on 9/22, and I just tested it today, Nitrites are down to .25ppm. By tomorrow Ammonia and Nitrite should be zero. Nitrates are ~40. If Ammonia and nitrite are zero tomorrow, I'll do an ammonia challenge and recheck in 24hrs to make sure my parameters are still zero'd out. If so I'm off to buy something to put in the tank this weekend (that is after a >50% water change)

 

I'm pretty impressed with the speed of that cycle. I used biospira + a small amount of fresh live rock in my last tank and I don't remember it being much faster.

[Lula_Mae]

Your wiring is so neat and clean!  That stand really is the perfect size.

[wallyman424]

Well, cycle wasnt ready yet. Ammon/Nitrite had zeroed out, I added 8 drops of Dr Tims ammonia and after 24hrs, ammonia and nitrite were .25ppm each, not zeroed out. I just added another bunch of ammonia to equate to 1PPM and ill let that run till everything is zero again. Guess I didnt have enough bacterial growth.

 

 

[wallyman424]

Got some inhabitants this past weekend. A skunk cleaner, couple snails and some zoa's. 

 

The zoa's look pretty happy. I'm giving them a couple weeks in the sand until I decide where to mount them. Then I'll be back to wwc for a fish and some more coral.

[banasophia]

Looks like a great start! And I love how you organized your wiring - very neat, and with a W for wallyman!!!

[Marek]

I am in the process of setting up a new nano reef and oh my lawd you have some clean organization skills!!!! Inspiring for sure!

[wallyman424]

Heres the full tank shot. Had a small amount of diatoms that seems to be going away. Also have some green coraline growing on the rocks.

 

 

I mounted the two zoas I want to keep. The third one thats still in the sand doesn't have the coloring I'm looking for. Was part of a 3 for 10 frag deal. It'll sit in the sand for a while. Maybe I'll find a small rock to put it on. Here are the two I like. The orange guy already has 2 new small heads form in the couple weeks I've had it.

 

 

Also just got a Tangaroa Goby and a neon hammer coral. The hammer seems to be doing well. The goby hasn't eaten frozen food yet (only been 2 days), but I've seen him hunting some of the pods in my tank.

 

 

Speaking of pods. I have a TON. I'm actually pretty impressed, theyre everywhere. I didn't do anything special. They just showed up. Heres a shot where you can see them on the glass.

[wallyman424]

Oh, and before yall give me grief, I was too chicken to pry the zoas off of the plug disc. I just cut off the post and glued them down. I'm going to try and get the whole coral off the disc for the hammer.

[Lula_Mae]

What a neat little goby!  I don't think I've seen one yet in a tank.  And if you're too chicken, so am I!  I do the same thing haha.  Sometimes corals will be glued on the plug and you can sort of pop them off with a thin/sharp object.  They'll still be on the glue but I find that less obstrusive than a ginormous plug.

[wallyman424]

I caught the hammer taking a crap today. Scared me at first, he was all retracted and looking mad. He's back to normal now.

 

[banasophia]

Haha I hope he flushed. 😂😂😂

[Snazxy]

Followed, looks clean (setup wise and wire-wise)

[letskeepcoolpeeps]

This is an incredible setup.   My Nuvo 10 and basic accessories are on the way and I'm down to gadgets and stands.   I can get the JBJ Cubey Nano Cabinet Stand - White 15 Gallon for $150 at DFS store.  I also have a white prime LED so I like the white theme.    Is this a slam dunk buy?  Are you happy with it?  My other option would be probably getting one of the white ikea wall cabinets but I don't think I'd be saving much money going that route.

[MrObscura]

I highly, highly recommend the random flow generator. You should look into it if you haven't. 

 

As for filter media, I have an intank basket as well. I run floss in the first compartment, and a packet of chemipure blue nano in each of the others. That's it. Your rock will take care of the bio filtration so matrix really isn't necessary and will just act like a detritus trap imo. 

[letskeepcoolpeeps]

16 hours ago, letskeepcoolpeeps said:

This is an incredible setup.   My Nuvo 10 and basic accessories are on the way and I'm down to gadgets and stands.   I can get the JBJ Cubey Nano Cabinet Stand - White 15 Gallon for $150 at DFS store.  I also have a white prime LED so I like the white theme.    Is this a slam dunk buy?  Are you happy with it?  My other option would be probably getting one of the white ikea wall cabinets but I don't think I'd be saving much money going that route.

 

Nevermind.  Found the Innovative Marine NUVO APS Open Stand Fusion 14 @ DFS for $60 grabbed that.  

[wallyman424]

No complaints about the jbj cubey stand except the cam locks are a little cheapy. I added a couple metal brackets from home Depot to stiffen it up, but they're probably unnecessary. 

 

I have the spinstream nozzle on there already. It's fantastic. I have good flow throughout the whole tank and no powerhead. 

[wallyman424]

Weekly water change and I mounted the neon hammer to the rock. Since it had a bony pedestal I felt more comfortable prying it off the disc. Looks a lot nicer than having that plug remnant. Skunk shrimp and tangaroa goby are doing well. The shrimp is a PIG. The thing never gets full. I think next week I'll be getting a couple designer clownfish (thinking snowflake clowns) and another piece of coral. Maybe an acan? I'd take suggestions for what kind of coral would work well nearer to the top of the rocks or on the two small shelves near the top. Here are a couple pictures.

 

[wallyman424]

Got my last fishy inhabitants (I think). A paired set of "Ultra Premium" Bullethole Clownfish. Saw them in one of our local shops and couldnt pass it up. Most I've ever spent on a fish. They look so cool. Also All the corals are doing great.

 

[letskeepcoolpeeps]

wow cool clowns.  There is a premium (not extreme) of davinci clowns for $100 i want to get at my store