rdck99's 16g Nuvo Reef (Now w/NanoBox Duo + 1st SPS!)

[CrazyCarl]

Good to hear the skimmer is working well. Would love to see some pictures of the wrasse in the nuvo, was contemplating getting one.

[rdck99]

You'll see some pictures tonight!

[rdck99]

I've been waiting for all fish to get out of the QT before taking on a large photo update, but as promised, tonight was the night. I've got one post with coral photos (below) and the next post will show livestock (including my new wrasse). Later this week, I plan to take the camera out again and get shots under the actinics.

Tank Tour Video (I didn't dub music over it, so you can get an idea how loud my setup is...IM Skimmer, Reactor, MP10, and stock pump)

Toadstool (huge and happy)

Duncan Closeup

Duncans (7 heads)

Acan (hasn't grown one bit...he's in the middle, under moderate flow and lighting...any thoughts?)

Torch (also huge and happy...4 heads)

Zoas (relatively new...any idea on the name?)

Bam Bams (have gone from 7 heads to ~25...by far my best grower)

Mushroom (couple new mushrooms have sprouted up as well)

[rdck99]

Clowns (they explore much more of the DT now, compared to before they went into quarantine)

Fairy Wrasse (and Nerite Snail)

Cerith (one of the last to survive the hermits)

Orange Clown

Group Shot

Hermit (my other hermits are all blue-legged...what is this guy called?)

Bristle Worm (one of the biggest ones left)

Candy Pistol Shrimp exiting his Den

FTS

[CrazyCarl]

Looks good in there. Great video and pictures. So you planning on adding anything else, or just letting it grow out?

[RollaJase]

Tank is looking great. I had one of those Lubbck's Fairy Wrasse's. Be careful, as it matures it may get aggressive towards the clowns, mine did, was definitely the boss of the tank.

[rdck99]

Looks good in there. Great video and pictures. So you planning on adding anything else, or just letting it grow out?

Thanks a lot! I think I'm going to sit tight for awhile. I'm not ready for SPS (i.e. I don't want to mess with a new light + dosing) and I think I'm about maxed out livestock wise. I had a mithrax crab for awhile that was kind of fun, but he disappeared...I may replace him with a tiny emerald crab, but that's the extent of my future addition plans

 

 

Tank is looking great. I had one of those Lubbck's Fairy Wrasse's. Be careful, as it matures it may get aggressive towards the clowns, mine did, was definitely the boss of the tank.

Thank you! I was skeptical of the wrasse for that very reason, but my LFS convinced me otherwise. At the moment, the black clown is top dog in the tank, but thanks for sharing your experiences. What exactly happened and what did you do about it (if anything), or did the clowns give in and all ended up being well with the new leader?

[RollaJase]

Thank you! I was skeptical of the wrasse for that very reason, but my LFS convinced me otherwise. At the moment, the black clown is top dog in the tank, but thanks for sharing your experiences. What exactly happened and what did you do about it (if anything), or did the clowns give in and all ended up being well with the new leader?

My LFS said the same thing, the issue was my sape didn't leave much room for the wrasse to hide. To start with everything was fine, it then started bullying my firefish and then my clowns. I had to completely rip appart the tank to catch the bugger and take it back to the LFS for a credit. My firefish was really sociable, now the poor thing hides all day. It really was a beautiful fish, I will get another when I upgrade to a larger tank.

[rdck99]

My LFS said the same thing, the issue was my sape didn't leave much room for the wrasse to hide. To start with everything was fine, it then started bullying my firefish and then my clowns. I had to completely rip appart the tank to catch the bugger and take it back to the LFS for a credit. My firefish was really sociable, now the poor thing hides all day. It really was a beautiful fish, I will get another when I upgrade to a larger tank.

Bummer of a story...I think my LR offers a lot of hiding places (I have no idea where he sleeps at night, so I assume it's a good hiding spot), so hopefully I won't have similar issues. Thanks again though!

[RollaJase]

Bummer of a story...I think my LR offers a lot of hiding places (I have no idea where he sleeps at night, so I assume it's a good hiding spot), so hopefully I won't have similar issues. Thanks again though!

Your rockwork has a lot more variety then mine did, I rescaped after I got the wrasse out. I'd say you will be fine, just dont add any timid fish .

[CrazyCarl]

Thanks a lot! I think I'm going to sit tight for awhile. I'm not ready for SPS (i.e. I don't want to mess with a new light + dosing) and I think I'm about maxed out livestock wise. I had a mithrax crab for awhile that was kind of fun, but he disappeared...I may replace him with a tiny emerald crab, but that's the extent of my future addition plans

Be careful with those emeralds, I came home to one eating my bubble coral. I really couldn't blame the crab since it looks pretty close to bubble algae. I missed the crab after I took him out, so I got a porcelain anemone crab. Not really part of the CUC but cool to watch and stays out almost all the time.

[rdck99]

Be careful with those emeralds, I came home to one eating my bubble coral. I really couldn't blame the crab since it looks pretty close to bubble algae. I missed the crab after I took him out, so I got a porcelain anemone crab. Not really part of the CUC but cool to watch and stays out almost all the time.

Those guys are cool...that may be what I go with! Thanks for the tip.

 

I'd like a shrimp that'd be out in the open too, but I'm hesitant because my Cleaner disappeared (died) and I hear Peppermints can be punks and eat at some coral.

[rdck99]

I decided to corral all my Innovative Marine MiniMax Reactor comments to one post...

 

10/8/13:

Reactor + biopellets added to a fishless tank.

 

11/1/13:

I dialed it in and had the biopellets bouncing around very nicely, but noticed a couple days ago that for whatever reason the pellets stopped getting good agitation (I don't know what would have changed), so I cranked it up again. It may be placebo at this point, because I hear there's a break-in period with biopellets before any results are to be expected, but I feel like my nitrates are less than normal and that my glass isn't requiring cleaning as much as before.

 

12/3/13:

A 1/4 of the biopellets tend to get stuck at the top of the reactor, while the other 3/4 bounce around the chamber just fine. When I notice this happening, I turn the reactor off, take out the canister, and let the biopellets fall back down, then readjust so they're all bouncing around nicely, but after a few days, more will be wedged into the top of the reactor.

 

12/10/13:

I changed out the biopellets, putting in about 20% less this time around (math below). The below picture is of the biopellets that I threw out...the biopellets and reactor were coated in a slime-like substance and as you can see, the pellets stuck together they were so sticky.

No doubt, this was causing them to stick at the top of the reactor. Is this slime normal? These pellets were in the reactor for about 2 months and the instructions say to replenish the biopellets every 3-6 months.

 

For anyone else using these biopellets, here's how I determined what to use...I have the 16g IM Nuvo and I estimate that there's about 12-13g of actual water. I'm using the AquaMaxx BioMaxx Plus BioPellets and the instructions say to use "0.5 to 1.0 liter of pellets for every 125g of water" (I use 0.75 liters/gallon). With this all in mind, here's my math...

 

• 0.75 liters of biopellets per 125 gal (or 750 ml)
• 750 ml of biopellets / 125 gal = 6 ml of biopellets per 1 gal
• 6 ml of biopellets * 13 gal = 78 ml of biopellets needed for my 13 gal tank

Converting to tablespoons was easiest for me...

• 1 ml = 0.068 tbsp
• 78 ml * 0.068 tbsp = 5.3 tbsp of biopellets needed for my tank

I initially added 5.3 tbsp, but biopellets were getting stuck at the top of the reactor. So, I emptied the reactor and added 4 tbsp (1/4 cup) and the flow seems to be better - see video below.

[rdck99]

I'm having some sort of algae outbreak - see photo below. These two things are popping up all over my sand bed but nowhere else. The brown stuff is sort of powdery and the dark algae is much more green than it appears in the photo and is rather slimy - it siphons out in clumps, stuck to bits of sand. It's been occurring for the better part of a month, but particularly bad the past couple of weeks. I'm able to siphon the stuff out during water changes easily enough, but it comes back pretty quickly.

My maintenance/feeding habits haven't changed: 3g water change every 10-14 days (due for one this week) using homemade 0 TDS RO/DI, pellet feeding 1/day (all food is consumed...I'm a light feeder), frozen mysis shrimp x2/week, stock lights are ran 9 hours/day, and I'm running a skimmer and reactor w/biopellets. My nitrates just tested at 5ppm and phosphate levels aren't recordable (pretty good levels, considering it's been nearly two weeks sine my last water change).

 

Even though I have an MP10, in addition to the stock return pump, it seems the algae flareup may have coincided with the addition of the rotating IM return pump nozzles. I'm told the power of the return flow is reduced with these nozzles, so perhaps the sand bed isn't getting enough movement?

 

I've perused other threads/photos, but I'm still not 100% confident I'm ID'ing this stuff properly. A positive ID and suggestions for removal/prevention are appreciated! Thanks in advance.

 

1/8/14 Update:

• The diatoms/cyano have remerged since my water change last week, so I did another change today (instead of changing 3g of water every 10-14 days, I'm switching to every 7 days until the algae clears up).
• I wrapped a towel around the lower portion of my tank, covering the sand bed, to prevent daylight (from a nearby window) feeding the algae during the morning when my lights are off.
• I lowered my MP10, so it's closer to the sand bed, and increased the flow/power.
• I may still upgrade the main return pump, but I'm just exploring options at the moment.

1/12/14 Update:

• I've now completed three 3g water changes in the past 12 days, and I continue to siphon up all the diatoms/cyano with each change. I'll continue doing at least one change each week.
• I'm only feeding every other day, instead of daily.
• I reduced my photo period from 9 hours to 7 hours.
• I also installed a new return pump (Cobalt MJ1200) to increase the flow (295 GPH)/water turns in my tank. I was using the stock pump (211 GPH). The pump is very quite and I'm already enjoying the increase in power - as soon as I turned it on, the water was full of debris, which tells me flow was getting to areas it wasn't previously - I think particularly in the rear sump where stuff likes to collect. My IM Spin Stream nozzles are also turning much quicker, which is a plus.

2/3/14:

• As my other methods were failing (namely, the "lots of water changes" approach), I decided to try the opposite - I went without a water change for just over two weeks, to see if I could starve the stuff (this was partially suggested by a LFS). Knock on wood, this seems to have worked! After about 10 days, I noticed that the diatoms/cyano were no longer spreading, and perhaps even receding. About a week ago, I completed a water change and siphoned out the little bit that remained and it hasn't come back. I'll go back to weekly 3g changes and hopefully it's gone for good!

[CrazyCarl]

It looks like diatoms and green cyano (cyanobacteria) to me. I don't have personal experience with the cyano, but I seem to always have some diatoms on my sand bed. I have read increased flow, limited feedings and reduced photoperiods are typical treatments for both. They are caused by elevated levels of phosphates and nitrates. Also make sure you don't have any missing inverts rotting away under the rocks. There are plenty of threads regarding treatments for both, It doesn't seem too bad yet in your tank so I would try to nip it in the bud.

[rdck99]

It looks like diatoms and green cyano (cyanobacteria) to me. I don't have personal experience with the cyano, but I seem to always have some diatoms on my sand bed. I have read increased flow, limited feedings and reduced photoperiods are typical treatments for both. They are caused by elevated levels of phosphates and nitrates. Also make sure you don't have any missing inverts rotting away under the rocks. There are plenty of threads regarding treatments for both, It doesn't seem too bad yet in your tank so I would try to nip it in the bud.

Thanks for the reply. Those were my two predicted culprits as well. Because my nitrates/phosphates are nil, I wouldn't think it'd have to do with feeding or something rotting (?), but I think I will order a more powerful return pump and maybe cover up the my sandbed with a towel, so there's less natural sunlight hitting it.

[CrazyCarl]

Yeah I've seen tanks with cyano where there were no detectable phosphates and everything otherwise seems healthy. Some things in this hobby seem to just be inexplicable. One of those things that may just be an eyesore, but if it starts getting out of control then you might have to worry about corals being bothered. Good luck. Hope you get rid of it.

[rdck99]

Diatoms/Cyano Battle:

• The diatoms/cyano have remerged since my water change last week, so I did another change today (instead of changing 3g of water every 10-14 days, I'm switching to every 7 days until the algae clears up).
• I wrapped a towel around the lower portion of my tank, covering the sand bed, to prevent daylight (from a nearby window) feeding the algae during the morning when my lights are off.
• I lowered my MP10, so it's closer to the sand bed, and increased the flow/power.
• I may still upgrade the main return pump, but I'm just exploring options at the moment.

In other news...

• Clowns: the black clown has always been the aggressor and I'd often see the orange clown convulse, which I understand is part of the male succumbing and pairing. Since the ich outbreak, the orange clown has caught up with the black clown in size, but the black clown is still the aggressor. I don't see the orange clown fighting back much, but I also don't notice the convulsions, so I worry where this may be heading...stay tuned. Unrelated, but each clown makes a little bed in the sand each night in opposite corners of the tank...really wish they'd start hosting my torch or toadstool!
• Skimmer: my last post was very complementary of the skimmer, as it seemed to work for several weeks, as advertised. However, it's pushed down in the chamber as far as it'll go and the air valve is completely open, and I can't get anything to collect in the cup and it's been weeks. I even turned it on right after my water/floss change tonight and it barely bubbled over a drip (usually, I have to leave it off for several hours after a change, because it'd overflow so easily). Who knows!
• More Floss?: I only have one InTank media basket at present, as the other chamber houses my heater. I'm considering moving the heater beneath the chambers in the main return area, so I have room to put a media basket with just floss in that overflow chamber. I think I'm seeing more debris than normal, and hopefully this would help.
• Additions: I'm down to 3 nerites, 3 nassarius, one cerith and 5-10 dwarf ceriths...I think I may replenish my CUC soon. I'm also still eyeing a porcelain crab and some rastas, though I don't know where I'd plug them just yet.

[rdck99]

Diatoms/Cyano Update:

• I've now completed three 3g water changes in the past 12 days, and I continue to siphon up all the diatoms/cyano with each change. I'll continue doing at least one change each week.
• I'm only feeding every other day, instead of daily.
• I reduced my photo period from 9 hours to 7 hours.
• I also installed a new return pump (Cobalt MJ1200) to increase the flow (295 GPH)/water turns in my tank. I was using the stock pump (211 GPH). The pump is very quite and I'm already enjoying the increase in power - as soon as I turned it on, the water was full of debris, which tells me flow was getting to areas it wasn't previously - I think particularly in the rear sump where stuff likes to collect. My IM Spin Stream nozzles are also turning much quicker, which is a plus. There were a couple minor curve balls with the installation, which I photographed below:

I wanted to use the suction cup bracket (three suction cups, forming a triangle), so the pump didn't vibrate in the sump and create noise, but the bracket does not fit. So, I had to cut off the two corner suction cup holders, and pushed a suction cup under where the bracket slides onto the pump. This mod allowed the pump to fit in just fine!

 

The MJ1200's outlet feed isn't as long as the stock pump's, and because I'm still using the original stock Y-tubes, the tubes didn't stretch down long enough to get the pump to rest flushly on the floor of the sump. Only one suction cup is on, but luckily the pump is still very quite and is not moving around.

 

 

IM Media Basket: I've had my heater in the media chamber on the right of the tank (InTank basket, Skimmer, and Reactor are in the other three chambers), but I moved it to the bottom/middle sump chamber (see picture above), so I could add the IM media basket back, filled with just floss. I figured it was dumb to only have floss collect debris on one of the two overflows, so hopefully this'll clear my water up a bit more.

 

I've always noticed that the InTank media basket didn't butt up against the overflow wall as nicely as I'd like. I'm always moving it closer, so the waterfall flows into the chambers properly, but it always slides slightly back, causing the waterfall to miss much of the filter media. So, to fix that, I shoved a piece of floss between the back of the tank and the InTank media basket - this keeps the basket flush against the overflow wall and I think the water will flow through the floss/Purigen/Chemi-Pure Elite much more than before.

 

Skimmer Update: I noticed the hose connecting the pump to the air valve was turning yellow and I thought water may be in it. I also saw that my sponge filter was dirty, and I had heard it's best to clean that out every so often. So, thinking these two things may be contributing to my skimmer's recent poor performance, I took my skimmer out for maintenance...

 

This is what the venturi line air hose looked like. I ran pipe cleaners through it and turns out it wasn't wet on the inside nor was there any kind of noticeable debris. I guess the dirty air had been staining it?

Side note: when trying to detach the tubing from the pump, I broke off the nipple on the pump that the air tube attaches to. Now, there was a hole in the inlet nozzle of the pump and I had nothing to attach the hose to. So, using a drill, I made the hole slightly larger, so a small nipple attachment from the MJ1200 could slide into it. I then used gel super glue to secure the new nipple in the hole. So far, so good...hopefully it holds up!

 

When I removed the sponge filter, I found 8 dwarf cerith shells inside. A dirty sponge, plus all this clutter was surely hurting the skimmer's performance...at least I hope I discovered/fixed the issue.

[rdck99]

• Diatoms/Cyano: as my other methods were failing (namely, the "lots of water changes" approach), I decided to try the opposite - I went without a water change for just over two weeks, to see if I could starve the stuff (this was partially suggested by a LFS). Knock on wood, this seems to have worked! After about 10 days, I noticed that the diatoms/cyano were no longer spreading, and perhaps even receding. About a week ago, I completed a water change and siphoned out the little bit that remained and it hasn't come back. I'll go back to weekly 3g changes and hopefully it's gone for good!

CUC: as I hinted earlier, my CUC was depleted, so I restocked. I now have: emerald crab (new), 4 hermits (1 red legged is the only new one...and the stories are true - he's much calmer than the other hermits), 50+ dwarf ceriths (all came from my order of 10), 4 florida ceriths (all new), 4 nassarius (1 new), and 5 nerites (2 new). I also ordered some of the dwarf planaxis snails from ReefCleaners, but they were forgotten on my order, so John issued a refund

Wrasse: unfortunately, adding the CUC into the water scared my fairy wrasse into hiding and he's not been seen since. It's been over two weeks...RIP. I've never heard of this happening, but as soon as he heard the splashing of little shells, he darted into the LR. Could that little bit of stress been the culprit? All my levels were fine and he seemed otherwise healthy?

New Fish: with the loss of my wrasse, I may add a new fish some time in the future. My QT tank is no longer setup, and I don't feel like messing with it, so it may be awhile. I'm considering perhaps another fairy wrasse, tailspot blenny, or maybe a damsel (talspot or allseni), but I hear they can be a bit aggressive. Any fish suggestions?

Skimmer: since cleaning my skimmer a few weeks ago, the bubbles have been out of control (no, I didn't clean the inner column - just the airline tube and sponge), so I've kept it off the past week. My tank looks SOOO much cleaner and runs SOOO much more quietly when it's not running. I think I may sell it and switch my Reactor to GFO. Stay tuned.

New Zoa: I added a small frag of 3 rasta heads. VERY cool color combination.

[RollaJase]

So sorry to hear about the wrasse, they can be pretty cunning though so he may still be alive and kicking.

[rdck99]

So sorry to hear about the wrasse, they can be pretty cunning though so he may still be alive and kicking.

2+ weeks seems like a LONG time, but here's to wishful thinking!

[rdck99]

• Skimmer: I decided to remove it...the tank looks/sounds so much better without it, I couldn't resist. The thing worked properly for about 1 of the 8 months I owned it, and that's not good enough. I may contact IM about returning it (crazy as that sounds), otherwise, I'll probably sell it. Should I ever get another tank, I may try the Tunze 9002, but for now, the skimmerless life is for me! In related news, my heater is now out of the main sump area and back in a chamber. Also, I plan to keep the reactor, but have removed the biopellets and will likely buy some GFO soon.
• Sand Bed: I've been reading about sand bed maintenance, considering my recent bout with cyano/diatoms, but I've received conflicting information on how to properly "clean" it. I've heard the entire thing should be gradually disturbed/cleaned with water changes and I've also heard you should never disturb it, because you're siphoning out/killing all the beneficial organisms that live there (heard this in one of newyorksteelo's videos). Taking newyorksteelo's advice, I decided to jonly disturb the front of the tank's sand, where it touches the glass, to release the remaining cyano that was sitting just beneath the sandbed. I'm told it thrives in low oxygen areas, like beneath the sand, so releasing it, will prevent it from growing there. I must say, my sand bed looks good as new!
• Random: I spotted a single zoa growing on the bottom of some LR that must have hitchhiked in (can't get a picture). Kind of cool in that it's the only "coral" that has hitched in. I took a photo of this yellow sponge (you can see some feather duster hitchhikers nearby), as well as some strange white, root-like sticks growing all around the base of one of my LRs. Some branches stick out a couple inches. I've looked under this rock before and this network of white roots is extensive! I assume it's some kind of snail or worm, but I haven't been able to find an ID that definitively looks like what I have here. Any ideas? I'm tempted to break off the visible branches...would this hurt anything? Lastly, I have some GHA growing around this zoa colony. It's not growing fast, but it's kind of ugly and my emerald crab doesn't seem interested. I tried picking it off with tweezers, but it doesn't really come off (small strands here or there, but I'd never get the whole thing clean with tweezers). Any idea how to clean this off?

[CrazyCarl]

Too bad about the wrasse… I have no idea what the white tubes are and other than tweezers I really don't have a recommendation for getting rid of the hair algae. Congrats on going skimmer less! Good to hear the cyan is under control.

[RollaJase]

Pic 1 - Yellow thing is just a sponge, I have one growing on the base rock of an SPS colony.

Pic 2 - I had these when my tank was new, they hung out in really low flow areas, I don't believe them to be harmful though.

Pic 3 - Cant help you with the GHA, tweezers or picking it out would probably be best.

 

As for sandbed maintenance I stir mine weekly (top layer) and gravel vac bi-weekly. I get a lot of detritus settling on the top layer of my sand bed, the millions of bristle worms don't seem to mind the vac (they never end up in the bucket somehow). Newyorksteelo's videos are really informative and helped me a lot when I was starting out. Now that I am more educated in reef keeping I don't agree 100% with his views but all the information is still there to make a great start in reefing.