Excited to get back into reefing!

[Baka Mop]

Hello, everyone!

New member here, and have decided to get back into reef tanks this year after being out of the hobby for over 7 years. I'm excited to show everyone my tank build and was amazed at how the hobby has evolved after all this time.

 

This is my Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion 15. The corals aren't open because I decided to take pictures at 4 in the morning. Temps are kind of low due to me turning off the heater to reorganize all the wires.

 

 

Tank inhabitants include:

• 2 Picasso Clowns
• 1 Trochus Snail
• 4 Turbo Snails
• 3 Hermits
• 2 Peppermint Shrimp
• 1 Coco worm

 

Corals so far: A Forest Fire Montipora, a half green half purple hammer, star polyps, and some kind of favia I think. A kenya tree is also on the way!

 

Gear:

• Innovative Marine Nuvo 15 tank with screen lid
• Hipargero A029 Lights - This thing apparently hits 300+ PAR at the upper 1/3rd of the tank!
• Dry (formerly live) Real Reef rock that I kept for all these years. Sterilized.
• CaribSea Arag-Alive Pink Sand 20lbs
• Red Sea Salt Mix
• BRS RO/DI Unit
• Capetsma Digital Thermometer - It's not crazy accurate, but it works well enough to get a general idea of what the temps are. I just like it for the aesthetic, the touchscreen transparent display and the temperature alerts.
• ASF 280gph Wavemaker and the stock 130gph return pump. 8.6x sump turnover, 18.6x display turnover, total turnover ~27x.
• InTank Media Basket holding filter sponge, floss, carbon, and lava stone bio media
• Marineland 100w Heater
• Middle sump section is a refugium housing chaeto and pods, lit with a Hygger 6w fully submersible LED light. It's only 7.8in long, so I just plopped it deep into the chamber, no cutting the back vinyl and no fuge light bleeding into the display tank, even at full brightness!
• AutoAqua ATO

 

The best part about this whole setup? It's all voice controlled!

All the gear is connected to a smart wifi power strip, which is connected to my Alexa app and speaker. I then have each piece of gear in a specific group and name them accordingly, and can turn them on and off at will, set timers for the lights, and set reminders for things like feeding, water changes, and maintenance. For example, if I need to feed, I just say "Alexa, turn off the pumps." and the return pump, wavemaker, and ATO will turn off.

 

Here's what everything looks like under the hood. My ATO reservoir doubles as a container to hold RO/DI water for water changes due to limited space. May get another jug later on. The bunches of cables look scary, but rest assured that the picture does not show what it actually looks like. Every cable is managed and tied together properly and all have drip loops. All the cables are hidden unless you specifically look under the desk. Do not mind the damaged drywall. I made the mistake of using double sided automotive tape to mount my previous power strip. 😂

 

 

My goal for this build was to avoid part of what got me out of the saltwater hobby all those years ago. It was me over-complicating things, adding gear I didn't need, chasing the numbers, listening to everyone that told me to "get this" or "buy that" or "you NEED this for your tank" to the point that all I was ever doing was chasing that dream tank in my mind, letting it take over my life and not appreciating what I already had. This time, I wanted to keep everything simple, easy to manage, and very sleek & clean. I think I achieved that goal with this build, and I am excited for what's to come in the future.

 

Let me know your thoughts about my setup! What would you have done differently or what do you think can be improved?

 

Here's to many more years of reefing!