MB's IM Nuvo Nano 8

[MooseBranch]

Current FTS 1-6-14

 

 

1-3-13 PAR30 (my cameras suck )

 

11-20-12 PAR30


3-25-12 FTS Under IM Skyye Light


Innovatine Marine Nuvo Nano 8

Maxi 900

Intank Media Basket
BoostLED PAR30 2rb1b1cw1nw with Clamp mount
50 watt Jager heater
Ecotech MP10ES
Dual float ATO
Misc Zoas

Misc Chalice

Xenia
Torch
GSP
Hammer
2 Firefish
Peppermint Shrimp (Acan eater )
Misc snails



Hello all! This is my very first saltwater tank. Ive had easy tanks in the past, goldfish and beta lol.
I was originally gonna do a Fluval Edge 6G tank but saw the IM Nuvo 8 and liked more of the features and space straight out the box.

Things purchased late January:
Innovative Marine Nuvo 8 (3 part sponge filter/media rack and LED light included)
50 Watt heater
Prepared Saltwater from LFS
RO water from LFS
CaribSea live sand
10-12 lbs live rock
Purigen
Plus misc cleaning items and tools

PICTURE TIME!

2-10-2012
Pic of live rock. Very colorful with secrets to be discovered.........



Water sand and rock added



SCAPING IS SO DIFFICULT!
In these pics, only 2 rocks are used




Then



DARN HITCHHIKERS!
I think its a snowflake eel....Gotta go lol. We played the live rock for 30 minutes at the LFS and he was nowhere to be seen nor did they know he was in the rock tank(I called LFS the next day) I wouldn't mind him if I had a much larger tank, plus he may eat my livestock once I start adding it


Clam/Oyster??
Thought it was a loose rock when I was scaping. Then later that night I saw something move. I watched and realized it was opening! lol Guess he can stay. I assume he will help filter the water



Thanks for looking. Many more updates to follow

[jgpico]

What i want to know is how that eel lived lol. I am getting one of these tanks soon. This looks like a sweet build. Im interested to see how it turns out.

[Fluffeh]

oh man that eel would creep me out. to be handling the rocks with that creature in it is a bit strange!

 

can that light on that tank really support many corals? I was doing research on that light and everyone told me that it would be difficult to keep any LPS corals with it. i heard those lights were mainly created to use as freshwater lights as I know Innovative Marine makes a reef-capable light but it was a few hundred dollars more.

[Pandion]

Most people get pest like bubble algea and gorilla crabs, not free eels! That's so awesome! Love the lines of the tank and the aquascaping!

 

Still can't get over that eels...that is soooooooo cool. Did they give you a store credit for the eel you didn't buy

[Deleted User 4]

lol wow nice eel, you should just trade it for store credit at a different lfs.

[MooseBranch]

Most people get pest like bubble algea and gorilla crabs, not free eels! That's so awesome! Love the lines of the tank and the aquascaping!

 

Still can't get over that eels...that is soooooooo cool. Did they give you a store credit for the eel you didn't buy

 

I manage to get the eel out and "donated" it back to the LFS lol They actually gave me a GREAT deal on my live rock, so I didn't feel bad giving him a better larger home.

The clam is still in the tank though

[MooseBranch]

oh man that eel would creep me out. to be handling the rocks with that creature in it is a bit strange!

 

can that light on that tank really support many corals? I was doing research on that light and everyone told me that it would be difficult to keep any LPS corals with it. i heard those lights were mainly created to use as freshwater lights as I know Innovative Marine makes a reef-capable light but it was a few hundred dollars more.

 

As far as the light, Im not sure. My LFS has 2 of them on the Nuvo 8 tank but I believe its a bunch of soft coral in that tank.

[MooseBranch]

Checked the water yesterday.....

 

 

 

Also I have a Aiptasia outbreak

Ive been pulling the rock out and "spot burning" them. Then super glue gel lol

Ive destroyed about 8 already and I get home and see 3 more. Its fustrating!!! No live stock or coral yet.

[gupebreedr]

Looking good!!! What a surprise to find an eel as a hitchhiker, glad you were able to remove him and return him to the LFS. It looks like you have a lot of life on your live rock, hopefully you do not have much die off that will prolong your cycle. So what are your eventual stocking plans? Best of luck and keep us posted on your progress with lot'sa pics. I'll be tagging along on your progress.

 

rob

[748S911]

great looking lr, where did you get it from?

[MooseBranch]

Looking good!!! What a surprise to find an eel as a hitchhiker, glad you were able to remove him and return him to the LFS. It looks like you have a lot of life on your live rock, hopefully you do not have much die off that will prolong your cycle. So what are your eventual stocking plans? Best of luck and keep us posted on your progress with lot'sa pics. I'll be tagging along on your progress.

 

rob

 

Coral wise, I wanna start off slow. Theres a bunch of Zoas I like and some frogspawn. I'll see how well these live and go from there.

I REALLY like fire shrimp visually, I want one. Also I would love to have a Firefish.

 

I have some diatom blooming so I'll monitor my water and hold off on the CUC for now. I guess some off the large algae leaves on my LR is dying. I wonder if the Aiptasia will die lol that would be nice...I kill 8, then 3 more pop up.

 

I'll post some new pics later this evening.

 

Thanks for tagging along

 

great looking lr, where did you get it from?

 

 

Thanks. I got it from my LFS, Blue Planet Aquariums here in Georgia.

[MooseBranch]

I decided to add the third piece of LR I had. Theres a nice open cave now.

 

Now I just gotta get rid of the Aiptasia thats popping up in several areas

 

[MooseBranch]

I was staring at my tank today and saw what seems to be quite a few little white organisms all around my tank on the glass and back wall. I think they are Copepods.

and I saw something scurrying quickly around the bottom of a LR. Looked like a miniature shrunken shrimp or something. It was quick lol white/translucent, maybe an Amphipod.

I aslo spotted a spaghetti worm in the shadows. I see lots of "strings" moving about kinda clustered together.

AND I spotted an addition clam/oyster/mollusk wedged in the top of a piece of LR.

So much life in my tank already. Its crazy

[MooseBranch]

Finally added a few monsters:

10 assorted hermits

4 Astrea Snails

1 peppermint shrimp (aiptasia control hopefully)

 

These guys have been non stop since going in the tank lol All you can eat algae buffet

 

Hopefully I'll pick up a frag or 2 this weekend

 

[Pandion]

I love this tank! Can't wait to see it with coral, the scape looks great!

[MooseBranch]

So far everything is going smoothly. My pepp shrimp has eaten all the aiptasia lower in the tank. I got lucky lol. He's still a bit shy climbing to the top of the rock. CUC still going non stop eating algae. Im headed to a frag meeting saturday hosted by ARC here at the Georgia World Congress Center. So far it seems its gonna be a huge event. Hopefully I can get some cool frags

[MooseBranch]

Well...........I got rid of ALL the hermits(sold em to a local reefer). They killed one of my Astrea. I had 10 nassarius snails also. Sold 6 to local reefer. So current CUC consists of 4 nassarius and 3 Astrea. Wish I followed my first gut instinct and talked to John at Reef Cleaners, which I have recently and have a better crew on the way. I assumed I knew what was best CUC wise, but didn't do enough research.

 

I recently acquired some goodies. ZOAS! lol... I really like Zoas and wanted to start of slow with some "easy" coral.

 

MY TANK IS A BIT DIRTY AT THE MOMENT. WAITING ON CUC AND OTHER GOODIES IN THE MAIL

 

 

 

3 colonies on bottom right, $10, free, free

The 2 free ones(frag meet goodies) came on some cool ceramic plugs(Thrive Aquatics)

 

 

$10 for all these

 

 

I really like the mouths/eyes on these

 

 

And my recently molted Peppermint shrimp "Pepper", who has eaten all my Aiptasia. I got lucky lol! Back wall looks gross.. Astreas cleaned most of it, then stopped lol

 

 

None of the coral is glued done ATM. I plan on rearranging/placing them sometime this weekend when I do my water change

 

 

 

Overall Im happy so far. I gotta clean my sand bed. It has lots of debris from me going on the hermit hunt and removing them. Also Ive already figured out how I want to scape my next tank(maybe a year or more from now as Im still learning reef keeping). Patience is key. Research!

 

 

Thanks for looking!

[MooseBranch]

New goodies came in the mail today. Extra powerhead only for salt mixing. New Jager heater. Current heater will be used for water changes. Koralia 240. Aqua putty

[MooseBranch]

I finally did my first water change. 2 gallons. It was pretty easy. Also I clean all the filters and pump.

I've had several opportunities to stock the tank quickly with fish and coral but I wanna take it slow and see how things go. I will most likely get a Firefish next though. Im still waiting for the rest of my CUC.

 

 

[MooseBranch]

I finally place the frags on the LR

 

DAY

 

NIGHT(I should've turn of the room light also)

 

You can see 2 of my Astrea here....dirty shells. Also it was my first time using Aqua Putty. It looks a bit sloppy the more I look at it

[ReefTankForMe]

Your tank looks great so far. I am about to set up the Nuvo 8 myself. question for you...how much sand did you add (a 10LBS bag?).

 

also did you run all 3 filter inserts from the start?

[Zeadon]

WOW!! i cant belive you got an EEL as a hitch hiker. thats so crazy!!

[MooseBranch]

Your tank looks great so far. I am about to set up the Nuvo 8 myself. question for you...how much sand did you add (a 10LBS bag?).

 

also did you run all 3 filter inserts from the start?

 

 

Thanks. I didn't measure how much sand, but my sand bed is 1.5-2 inches deep. I would say close to 10lbs but not quite. Also I ran all 3 filters from the start. I didn't really have a cycle either. I took this pic of the rear chambers.

1st chamber as of last week: filter floss, stock 3 filters that came with tank, then a bag of Purigen at the bottom.

 

I may Just remove the yellow mechanical filter and run just filter floss. The floss seems to do a better job filtering. I can see a difference by just looking at the filters and my water. Water is clearer after using floss too.

 

Hope that helps

 

WOW!! i cant belive you got an EEL as a hitch hiker. thats so crazy!!

 

Indeed lol! It freaked me out at first, but I knew my tank was too small for him.

[Zeadon]

Indeed lol! It freaked me out at first, but I knew my tank was too small for him.

 

haha i still cant get over that, i wish that i was that lucky, all i ever get is sponges and sometimes a pest crab. I think i would have kept him for a few weeks just to enjoy having an eel for a while haha. then wen he outgrew the tank traded him for something else.

[darthvictor]

Now I want to know where do you order your liverocks, those are awesome!