DC’s IM Nuvo 20 Ride Along

[der213]

Hey whoever’s reading, I decided to start a little journal on my up coming tank build to track its progress and to share my journey with all of you.

 

I’m prettt new into the hobby, just under a year. I currently have a Fluval Evo and when I saw this tank for sale I couldn’t pass on the price and decided to start up a second tank. 
 

I finally finalized my scape and am just waiting on some live sand (CaribSea Special Grade Reef Sand 20lbs) before I can get her wet. I went with 4 CaribSea LifeRock Nano Arches and a couple other LifeRock pieces from my LFS. I plan on housing mostly softies and LPS with a little dabble into the world of sticks. 
 

Still can’t decide which bio media I want to use between Seachem Matrix, MarinePure Bio Balls or Brightwell XSport Cubes, feel free to chime in. 
 

Equipment:

Tank: Innovative Marine Nuvo 20 Pro

Pump: Stock Mighty Jet DC Pump

Light: EcoTech Radion XR15 Blue with RMS Mount

Wave Maker: EcoTech MP10w QD 

Protein Skimmer: IM NuvoSkim Desktop

Heater: Cobalt NeoTherm 50W

2x InTank Media Baskets

InTank Refugium Basket (just for extra bio media)
 

Fish Ideas:

Tailspot Blenny ✅

Bengai Cardinal ✅

Royal Gramma ✅

Red Dragonet ✅

Helfrichi Firefish ✅

 

 

 

 

[der213]

Finally got the tank set up, took a little longer than expected due to Covid. I used about 17lbs of CaribSea Special Grade Reef Sand and ended up going with MarinePure Gems. I swapped out the heater for a 75W Cobalt Accu-Therm. I will eventually be running it off of an InkBird Temperature controller in the summer, but so far its been pretty consistent keeping the tank around 78F. I ended up running my Radion XR15 Blues on the AB+ setting on a 10 hour cycle running at 20% intensity. Need to rent a PAR meter from my LFS to see if that's the right amount of light for this tank.  The MP10 I have running on the schedule seen below (Constant->ReefCrest->NutrientTransport->Lagoon->Constant). At first they were running at a higher intensity but it seemed like too much flow for my new little friend. 

 

I quick cycled the tank with Fritz TurboStart 900 and added my first livestock, a Royal Gramma. After hiding the first day or two, its been out and about exploring his little new home eating frozen food daily. No corals just yet, but am thinking of moving some corals over from my Evo 13.5.

 

Will hopefully be adding more livestock and possibly corals in the coming week, so stay tuned!

[der213]

Looking at my tank this past week my Gramma seemed a little lonely, so I hit up my LFS this past weekend and grabbed a couple goodies. I decided to get a second fish in the tank and went with the Bengaii Cardinal. I tested the water and everything looked good, Ca-385 KH-9.2 Mg-1440. I decided to get a few frags (pics below). I also added a light CUC, 2 margarita snails, an astrea snail, and 2 dwarf hermit crabs. Seeing some diatoms in the tank, but that should clear up this week. Gonna beef up the CUC this weekend and hopefully add a protein skimmer and ATO in the near future!  

 

Brain Coral

Teal Blastomussa 

Superman Encrusting Monti

Super Yellow Goni

JF Grafted Sun Cap Monti

[Zer0]

I really like your scape. I think it's going to look awesome when things start filling out.

[der213]

2 hours ago, Zer0 said:

I really like your scape. I think it's going to look awesome when things start filling out.

 

Thanks! Can't wait to see it grow out as well! 

[der213]

Not too many changes with this update. My diatom bloom has past and the sand bed is clean and white again. Got a new friend in the tank, meet my Tailspot Blenny. Everyone's been getting along nicely, no aggression what so ever. I added some Tigger and Apex pods to the tank to seed the tank for my next fish! What does everyone else feed their fish? I switch between frozen LRS Nano Frenzy and Reef Nutrition Arcti Pods.

 

I also added this beautiful Volcano Chalice, picture does not do it justice! More corals to come!

 

I added more to my clean up crew, I got a conch, and a blood red fire shirmp ( couldn't get a picture of either unfortunately).

 

Last addition was a Kamoer ATO. What I love about this ATO is that not only does it come with an optical sensor, but it also has a back up overfill float sensor! Definitely do not miss manually topping off the tank!

[der213]

 Another small little update on the reef this week. Went to the LFS to special order my new fish, so it should be in by next weekend, can't wait!! While I was there I grabbed a couple goodies.

Water parameters stayed stable from the previous time I tested so I decided to try my luck at an acro.

 

Other things added to the tank this week:

Hellfire Torch (hopefully will colour up in the next few weeks)
Toxic Blotchy Hammer

Golden Hammer

Fuzzy Blue Acro (Tenuis)

 

More to come in the coming weeks so stay tuned!!

[der213]

Hey everyone, here's another short little update on the reef tank after this past weekends trip to the LFS. Tank is looking great and corals look like they are thriving.

 

Got a new resident to the lagoon, a Helfrichi Firefish. I've wanted this fish from the moment I've seen it, and thankfully it was on sale this past weekend. Guess it was meant to be! There was a little aggression towards him from my Tailspot Blenny, but after a couple days the aggression went away and everyone seems to be friends again. 

 

Lastly, I got a new torch, an Aussie black arm pink tipped torch with a green mouth. Love the colours in person! The pictures with and without the lens filter do not do this coral justice! Its crazy how much the arm width differs from Indo torches! I have my zoa colonies growing out in my other tank so hopefully I can get a few polyps in here soon! 

 

Waiting for one last resident in my lagoon then will consider this tank fully stocked with livestock! 

 

 

 

[der213]

Hey all, I know its been a little bit since my last update, and I do have a few new things in here! I have finally got the last resident in my tank, a Ruby Red Dragonet! One of the smaller dragonets, so I figured it would work in this tank. A small little guy for now so I can't wait to see him grow in this tank! He is trained to eat prepared foods (saw him eat at the LFS) but I mostly just seem him picking at pods along the substrate and rock work. I do not have a refugium in my AIO, however, I did purchase a Pod Hotel and placed it in the back of my AIO. Not sure if it'll actually be a safe home for pods but it doesn't hurt I guess?

 

Anyway, back to the fun stuff that get us all hooked in the hobby, the new corals! I've slowly added these corals a couple a week since my last post and here's what I have added:

 

- A small little Acan colony

- Possibly a Powerball Bounce Mushroom (added from my other tank)

- Neon green nano Plate Coral

- Pink Goni with yellow tips and blue base

- The one coral that wanted me to get into the hobby, a Glitter Goni ❤️

 

Unfortunately not all the corals have flourished in the tank. My Monti cap has bleached, so I moved it to a less flow area and have to become more consistent with my parameters. Also, my Acro has not had the same polyp extension that it used to. Thinking about starting to dose now that coralline is starting to appear on the wavemaker, return nozzles and rockwork. Definitely something to monitor as it would be nice to keep a few SPS pieces in here as well.