GTi's 10 Gallon IM NUVO Fusion

[Merthynia]

I will keep that in mind! Thank you.

[GTi]

Today I superglued a small strip of acrylic to the back of the overflow grating. I felt the water level in the display was too low - now it's within 3/4" of the rim and covers the return nozzle nicely too.

 

 

The snails all seem happy so I'm going to transfer the GSP next. If all seems well then the rest of the 34G makes the move tomorrow!

[Drew11]

I considered doing the same to the overflow, I am not a fan of how low the water line is on this tank. My Fusion 10 only has about 7.5 gallons of water if I remember correctly.

 

Looking good... Im really starting to like gorgonians as well!

[GTi]

I considered doing the same to the overflow, I am not a fan of how low the water line is on this tank. My Fusion 10 only has about 7.5 gallons of water if I remember correctly.

 

Looking good... Im really starting to like gorgonians as well!

 

Thanks! I can't wait to get everything moved over and the Tide set up over the tank!

 

There are a lot of different gorgonians out there. Some of the most beautiful are non-photosynthetic and require feeding which can also affect water quality. The photosynthetic ones are often duller colors but there are some exceptions. I have stuck to photosynthetic ones so far mainly because I had a mixed reef before and wanted to keep my SPS happy! As this tank is softies only (plus the plate) a little N and P is fine but the feeding is going against my low maintenance goal!

[GTi]

I moved the GSP over on to its own rock and fragged the Yuma off its rock and in to the Nuvo.

 

I also fragged some Rastas, Bam Bams and Gobstipper palys for sale. I have them healing up for shipping in a week or two.

 

Tomorrow the remaining corals, the Firefish and conch will make the move. And the Tide.

[Bella's Reef]

I opted to run open top with my Kessil that "screen" is terrible and cuts out so much light

[GTi]

I opted to run open top with my Kessil that "screen" is terrible and cuts out so much light

 

I'm worried about the Firefish jumping so I'll be modifying the screen top I made for the CADlights. Finer mesh, narrower frame.

[GTi]

This morning I moved the Gorgonians, Tide, one of the MP10s and then the Firefish and plate coral. I did it in this order to minimize activity while the fish was getting used to his new home.

 

He has made his home under the main rock structure, as expected and has been checking out the tank a bit.

 

[GTi]

Side view as the lights are dimming down. The phone camera picks up the individual colours on the sandbed but the eye doesn't. It also shows how much shading the stock screen top mesh creates - it's quite thick.

The Firefish is settling in well but he's probably missing his snacks; he's still chasing particles to eat but they're just sand or detritus. Pods coming next week from Keydiver.

[Rehype]

This morning I moved the Gorgonians, Tide, one of the MP10s and then the Firefish and plate coral. I did it in this order to minimize activity while the fish was getting used to his new home.

 

He has made his home under the main rock structure, as expected and has been checking out the tank a bit.

 

 

Looking good man!Super clean and sleek

[GTi]

 

Looking good man!Super clean and sleek

Thank you!

 

I'm sitting next to the tank watching the lights dim down and transition to moonlights and I was just thinking how I like the clean look of the new rock! I guess my 34 that I just took down had some algae issues so clean rock is a nice change!

[Rehype]

Thank you!

 

I'm sitting next to the tank watching the lights dim down and transition to moonlights and I was just thinking how I like the clean look of the new rock! I guess my 34 that I just took down had some algae issues so clean rock is a nice change!

 

Well keep an eye on that dry rock because it tends to leech phosphates into your tank for a while.

[teenyreef]

Looks like a great start - following!

[GTi]

 

Well keep an eye on that dry rock because it tends to leech phosphates into your tank for a while.

 

I've had that with some dry rock before. This is Reefcleaners and they say that it's cleaned and soaked in water to release any disclosed organics. I soaked it in a bucket of RO with a powerhead for a couple days and couldn't measure any phosphate, so fingers crossed. Maybe I'll take a baseline measurement tomorrow.

 

 

Looks like a great start - following!

 

Thanks - yours looks incredible!

[Rehype]

 

I've had that with some dry rock before. This is Reefcleaners and they say that it's cleaned and soaked in water to release any disclosed organics. I soaked it in a bucket of RO with a powerhead for a couple days and couldn't measure any phosphate, so fingers crossed. Maybe I'll take a baseline measurement tomorrow.

 

 

It definitely needs more than a soaking to release bound phosphates. Typically a bath in Lanthanum chloride is the only thing that does the trick. Hopefully it isnt an issue for you though.

[HarryPotter]

 

I've had that with some dry rock before. This is Reefcleaners and they say that it's cleaned and soaked in water to release any disclosed organics. I soaked it in a bucket of RO with a powerhead for a couple days and couldn't measure any phosphate, so fingers crossed. Maybe I'll take a baseline measurement tomorrow.

 

 

 

Thanks - yours looks incredible!

 

ReefCleaners wont leach phosphates

[GTi]

 

It definitely needs more than a soaking to release bound phosphates. Typically a bath in Lanthanum chloride is the only thing that does the trick. Hopefully it isnt an issue for you though.

I was working on the basis that if the soak water showed zero phosphate then the rock wasn't and wouldn't leach. Do bound phosphates behave differently?

 

 

ReefCleaners wont leach phosphates

[HarryPotter]

I was working on the basis that if the soak water showed zero phosphate then the rock wasn't and wouldn't leach. Do bound phosphates behave differently?

 

This rock contains No pests, and it is professionally cleaned so no need to cycle/cure - it is devoid of organic compounds, and has been treated to prevent phosphate leaching. Rinsing rock dust from the rocks is a good idea though. You can use fresh water for this task.

 

[GTi]

 

I was working on the basis that if the soak water showed zero phosphate then the rock wasn't and wouldn't leach. Do bound phosphates behave differently?

 

This rock contains No pests, and it is professionally cleaned so no need to cycle/cure - it is devoid of organic compounds, and has been treated to prevent phosphate leaching. Rinsing rock dust from the rocks is a good idea though. You can use fresh water for this task.

 

 

Thanks Harry. I rarely believe anything that I'm promised but John's a good guy and hasn't let me down so far!

[GTi]

Since last posting there have been a few small changes.

 

I added some pods from keydiver and even though I added them over rt. course of 2 days when the lights were off and filtration removed, I thought the Firefish had managed to eat them all! I'm glad to say that in the last couple of days I have seen them on the glass and rear wall of the tank. The Firefish eats them off the surfaces during the day.

 

I added some zoanthids from a recent frag swap (Radioactive Dragon Eyes and My Clementines) and 2 Red People Eaters from the 34. The RPE are not looking the greatest as they had a peroxide dip and didn't seem to care for it too much. It seems like some zoas react a lot worse than others to a peroxide bath - my polyp of Candy Apple Red closed up and never reopened, slowly dissolving over a week.

 

I also purchased 2 Yumas from Reefgardener - a Midnight Orange and a Deep Violet. The Orange settled in like a champ but the Violet (and free baby) are both sitting in cups with rubble rock for them to reattach.

 

While the Yumas are settling in, I have turned off the MP10 and the only flow is from the return pump. I have also dialed back the Tide to 25% on all channels except the blues which are on 40%. With these changes the Plate coral is also happier - puffier and with more tentacle extension. There's enough water movement to sway the GSP which is now opening up more and coloring up. I'm watching the Gorgonians to make sure they have enough flow; the Yellow Polyp Gorg had a few strands of algae growing on the tip where the skeleton was exposed (presumably from where it was cut to make frags before I bought it at the swap). A good strong puff with a baster blew the algae off. I'm monitoring in case it returns and hoping the Gorg will grow flesh over the exposed part otherwise I will just trim that area back a little.

 

I also made a new screen top. I tried cutting down the old one from my 34 and made an error so I had to buy a new pice of frame from Home Depot. I sprayed it black with Krylon Fusion. The frame is narrower and thinner than the one that came with the tank and the mesh is thinner, clearer and blocks a lot less light. The IM mesh was so thick, significant light was reflected off it. The new top sits just below the rim of the tank.

 

 

 

I'll try to get some more photos up this weekend but here are a couple to get started:

 

Plate:

 

Yumas. Front left- Midnight Orange, Rear Deep Violet, Right Orange from Lalani:

[Slowtwitch]

I like where this tank is going. Good luck with the RPE's. They are pretty tough and should recover. Mine happen to be closed up for the last couple days as well for no apparent reason. Sometimes they just do that.

[GTi]

I like where this tank is going. Good luck with the RPE's. They are pretty tough and should recover. Mine happen to be closed up for the last couple days as well for no apparent reason. Sometimes they just do that.

 

Thanks! Zoas are the funniest things - they can ride out the toughest situations and then melt away for no apparent reason! I think Yumas are similar - although they are mushrooms, they are a lot more particular. Coming from a mixed reef with SPS, it's hard to remember that I don't need to fry the corals and not to blow them away!

[HarryPotter]

Home Depot has black framing? Nice! Last time I just saw white

[GTi]

Home Depot has black framing? Nice! Last time I just saw white

 

No. This was dark brown but I spray painted it black before putting the mesh in. I prefer the black as it coordinates with back wall, vinyl wrap and silicone.

[GTi]

I just seeded the tank with some coralline algae scrapings from some snails and live rock in my frag tank. There are a variety of purples so hopefully they'll take a hold here.

 

Just a few more photos. No FTS for now as the tank is a mess - I have some frag racks in there as well as 2 small cups with rubble rock for the Yumas to attach to.

 

Radioactive Dragon Eyes:

 

My Clementines:

 

Green Star Polyps:

 

Red Mangrove that just put out 2 more leaves earlier this week: