[Innovative Marine Nuvo 24] April Giveaway Build Thread

[Deleted User 4]

Nice!!

[defender.TX]

They totally messed up and chose the wrong Austinite!

 

Congrats!

 

Austin has such an active reef community I knew I couldn't have been the only one representing ATX in the giveaway!

[defender.TX]

I figured now would be as good a time as any to start talking about equipment.

 

Planned Equipment (subject to change):

 

Lighting:

• Innovative Marine Dimmable DualStrip Skkye Light (came with the giveaway)
• JBJ Nano-Glo LED Fuge Light

Heating:

• Eheim Jäger TruTemp 75 Watt (100 Watt?)

Automation:

• Digital Aquatics RKL with SL1 & PC4
• Tom Aquatics Aqua-Lifter for ATO
• Digital Aquatics float switches

Water Quality:

• InTank Fuge Basket

Water Movement:

• Hydor Koralia Nano 425 or Evolution 600 (?)
• MP10 down the road

Does anybody have any criticisms/comments/thoughts about this?

[Deleted User 4]

I'm so jelly!! Hahaha

[Yeobe1]

As you know, I'm completely new to this, so my comment should be commented on by others more experienced.

 

My personal thoughts on the heater would be go with more wattage than less. You are running a Digital Aquatics RKL as a redundancy to make sure you are safe even if the heater breaks in the on position. If you don't get the RKL at the beginning that may change things. That being said, I live in Alberta Canada and -40 (when it gets this cold it doesn't matter if it's Celsius or Fahrenheit) temperatures are not uncommon so I am probably more concerned with keeping the tank warm than most.

[defender.TX]

You are running a Digital Aquatics RKL as a redundancy to make sure you are safe even if the heater breaks in the on position. If you don't get the RKL at the beginning that may change things. That being said, I live in Alberta Canada and -40 (when it gets this cold it doesn't matter if it's Celsius or Fahrenheit) temperatures are not uncommon so I am probably more concerned with keeping the tank warm than most.

 

I am planning on getting the RKL and the ATO setup before water is ever in the tank, but the light is going to take up 3 plugs on the PC4 which only leaves 1 for the Aqua-Lifter. So, unless I get a second PC4, I won't be able to have failure protection for the heater. Not sure if it's worth getting another PC4 just for that or not.

[defender.TX]

I've been thinking lately a lot about a quarantine tank. It would be nice if I could have a small quarantine tank on the shelf under the cabinet so that I could monitor new fish for a while before transferring them to the Nuvo. I was looking at the Ecoxotc EcoPico 5 since it already comes with a powerhead/light. If I threw a heater and some PVC fittings in there it would be perfect as a quarantine. I might be able to get something cheaper put together if I pieced it out individually, though.

 

Any suggestions?

[defender.TX]

The wait is killing me! The freight company called me Friday to setup a delivery period (between 9-12 tuesday morning) since I have to be home to get it off the pallet on the truck. Just for the sake of doing something I created a dimensionally correct cardboard cutout of the bottom of the tank so that I can get my aquascape right and glued before moving it into the tank.

[defender.TX]

Finally! Something showed up on my doorstep today...

 

 

Everything came in one piece and I'm leak testing it right now - so far so good! I set the light up just for the photo .

 

[claval01]

I cant take this !!! Beautiful!!!! I must get one ha

[Jay Wee]

Woohoo!!! SICK! What's the progress on the stand?

[defender.TX]

I'm picking up all the supplies for the stand Friday night on the way home from work. Should be done by the end of the 3 day weekend.

[Jay Wee]

I'm picking up all the supplies for the stand Friday night on the way home from work. Should be done by the end of the 3 day weekend.

Nice. Can't wait.

[defender.TX]

This is my first attempt at woodworking so don't hold your breath! My main goal is to end up with something stable and functional.

[defender.TX]

So, a little bit of a disappointment and honesty as I decided that I will not be building my own stand and buying one instead. I really wanted to build my own stand and did a lot of planning but I had to be honest with myself about my situation and I realized that just wasn't the best route for me. I would have to buy multiple tools that I have no room to store, I'm light on time as it is and want to spend the time I do have working on the tank and not the stand, and I just don't have the woodworking experience to build the type of stand that I want. So instead of starting on the stand tomorrow night I will be ordering the stand which will hopefully be delivered sometime next week.

 

I'll be making a visit to Austin Aquadome to have them put together a sand/live rock package for me this weekend.

[defender.TX]

First modification to the tank. I'm planning on running InTank's Fuge Basket as soon as it's released with the JBJ LED Fuge Light, so I needed to remove some of the black backing on the tank to get light in there. I also figured if I was removing some of it, I should remove a bunch of it! I'm not really sure what purpose it serves other than to give the tank a more "finished" look. I prefer being able to see what's going on down in the sump so I can clean in there as needed and keep an eye on things.

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

I just marked 5 inches in from either side, scored with a straight edge and a razor blade, then peeled it right off. Sorry for the crappy iPhone pictures, the camera app meters the black on the tank and cranks the ISO speed way up so it get's grainy. When the tank is actually setup I'll get the DSLR out.

[Jay Wee]

Great idea. Damn it I should have done that on mine. Now mine's on the stand and flush to the wall. No way am I gonna empty the tank, rotate it and cut out the black decal. Any news on when the intank basket gonna release?

[defender.TX]

Great idea. Damn it I should have done that on mine. Now mine's on the stand and flush to the wall. No way am I gonna empty the tank, rotate it and cut out the black decal. Any news on when the intank basket gonna release?

 

Unfortunately both the Media Basket and the Fuge Basket show "Coming Soon" on InTank's website. I put in a request to be notified when either is ready since I plan on running all 3.

[SerenityReef]

Any plans for the MiniMax reactor on IM Skimmer?

[defender.TX]

Any plans for the MiniMax reactor on IM Skimmer?

 

Not sure yet. I'm open to running both but I'm not going to start with them. If I have problems down the road that need to be addressed I'll add them. I originally planned on running the IM Skimmer from the get go but I'm going to run with the Fuge Basket and Chaeto instead - I've had good results with plants in my freshwater tanks lowering Nitrates so I'm going to see how it goes with the reef. If I still have problems I'll throw in the Skimmer.

[defender.TX]

Ordered almost everything I need today from Bulk Reef Supply. Here's what I'm going to be starting out with:

• Eheim Jäger 100W
• Hydor Koralia Nano 425
• Black Egg Crate
• BRS Refractometer

It's killing me to wait for all this stuff and my stand to be delivered. As soon as it shows up I'm going to get my rockwork done and get the tank cycling! I've decided I'm doing a sandbed, albeit a shallow one, and have a scape in mind with the rocks.

 

Now I really need to talk about stocking. For corals I'm planning on Zoas, Palys, Frogspawn, Hammerhead, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I would also like a Scoly and a clam. I'm not sure exactly what my lights (and experience) can support. For fish I'm planning a pair of clowns (naturally) and a goby or two. I want to stick with fish that are good for smaller nano tanks to make the tank look bigger than it is. I would like the clowns to be the largest fish when they are grown.

 

Anybody want to help me out with stocking?

[defender.TX]

Stephen from Innovative Marine just gave me another call. I noticed that on my Skkye Light the blue channel LEDs are always on at the lowest setting even if I click the potentiometer all the way to the "off" position. Normally, I wouldn't care one bit about this but this tank is going in my bedroom and even on the lowest setting these LEDs light up the entire room with a dim blue light at night. He offered to ship the light back and fix it, but since the rest of my equipment shows up today I don't want to delay the build any longer. Resolution: IM is sending me two new potentiometers and the rest of the equipment I need to replace the bad one. The customer service of Innovative Marine really is incredible.

 

Onward! My stand showed up last night and I should be putting it together when I get home tonight. My shipment from Bulk Reef Supply should also be here tonight. The stand that I finally ordered is an Aquatic Fundamentals 30/38/45. I have read some horror stories about this stand but I've also read that if you put it together properly it can be a nice stand. It was cheap, so I'm really only expecting it to be functional and safe. I'll be posting my thoughts on it after I put it together tonight. If I get it all put together and it just really seems unstable, I'm going to brace it with 2x2's inside until I can build a replacement. A friend at work offered to let me use his woodshop and vast woodworking experience for my next stand attempt, so this stand might not last very long. We'll see!

[Jay Wee]

Stephen from Innovative Marine just gave me another call. I noticed that on my Skkye Light the blue channel LEDs are always on at the lowest setting even if I click the potentiometer all the way to the "off" position. Normally, I wouldn't care one bit about this but this tank is going in my bedroom and even on the lowest setting these LEDs light up the entire room with a dim blue light at night. He offered to ship the light back and fix it, but since the rest of my equipment shows up today I don't want to delay the build any longer. Resolution: IM is sending me two new potentiometers and the rest of the equipment I need to replace the bad one. The customer service of Innovative Marine really is incredible.

 

Onward! My stand showed up last night and I should be putting it together when I get home tonight. My shipment from Bulk Reef Supply should also be here tonight. The stand that I finally ordered is an Aquatic Fundamentals 30/38/45. I have read some horror stories about this stand but I've also read that if you put it together properly it can be a nice stand. It was cheap, so I'm really only expecting it to be functional and safe. I'll be posting my thoughts on it after I put it together tonight. If I get it all put together and it just really seems unstable, I'm going to brace it with 2x2's inside until I can build a replacement. A friend at work offered to let me use his woodshop and vast woodworking experience for my next stand attempt, so this stand might not last very long. We'll see!

Yeah IM's customer service is super rad. Glad that you're setting up!

[defender.TX]

So the rest of my stuff showed up friday night!

 

 

Unfortunately they sent me a Sicce Voyager HP 4000 Powerhead instead of the Koralia Nano 425 that I ordered. Nice powerhead, but way too big for the tank. I called Bulk Reef Supply and let them know and they had a tracking number to me in 10 minutes. I also assembled the stand on Friday night.

 

The Stand

 

 

Let me say that I was very nervous about this stand, an Aquatic Fundamentals 30/38/45. I wasn't able to view the stand in person before ordering, and I had read some pretty horrendous reviews from people claiming the stand fell apart and their aquarium shattered the second they put water in it. However, it was $106 and free shipping as a memorial day sale, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Wow, I could not be more happy for the money. If constructed properly the stand is rock solid. It has no play lateral or front to back and looks great. My only complaint is that it has one door instead of two, but for $106 I feel like I can forgive that. It still has plenty of storage space and room to mount your gear.

 

Aquascape

 

When saturday rolled around, I knew it was time to finally get this tank wet! Off to Austin Aquadome for live rock, sand, and water. The rock from Austin Aquadome is pretty nice - they call it "Live Fiji Rock" and it's in a big tub with water, heat, circulation, and a huge protein skimmer. As soon as I started handling it I could tell it had a lot of life on it.

 

I started by cutting the black egg crate from BRS into smaller pieces that I knew I would use under the rock in the tank. I've seen a few people do this and always thought it was a good idea. One, it keeps the rock off the glass and helps distribute the weight. Two, it keeps the rock from shifting in the sand over time.

 

 

Originally, I thought about doing two opposing rockscapes in the tank with a negative space in the middle. My wife had an idea to do one rockscape as a gentle crescent with negative space in the front of the tank, and I liked that idea a lot. This is what I came up with after the glue cured:

 

 

The scape is actually glued together as 4 large pieces that can be moved/removed individually.

 

 

Water

 

What else can I say, time to get the tank wet!

 

 

Once the sandstorm cleared up a bit I took a few with the DSLR of the scape under the lights. I think it's going to look awesome once it clears completely. There are a ton of caves, passageways, and overhangs for fish to hide in and I can already see a few spots I want to put corals!

 

 

 

In all I ended up putting roughly 14 pounds of rock in the tank and probably 10 pounds of sand. I know the general rule is 1 pound per gallon and this is a 24 gallon tank, but I like a minimalist look and the tank only ended up taking 19 gallons of water. So, it's still a little light but I think the biological filtration is going to fine regardless.

 

I also found that the 100 Watt Eheim Jager that I bought does not fit in this tank. I knew it was a little tall, but I was about half an inch short to the minimum water line in the heater compartment. I have it in at an angle in what's eventually going to be my refugium for now while I order the 75 (or whatever the next shortest size is).

 

I'll be posting a lot more pictures soon as the tank clears up and have time to clean the glass. Meanwhile, I'm just waiting for the cycle.

[Red_Blenny]

Looking good! That aquascape is nice... especially the arch.