CedarReef
New Member
Hi All,
This is my introduction into the reef-keeping hobby and I have enjoyed the journey so far. My ultimate goal is to set up a SPS and Tridacna clam dominant reef with a few showy, Indo-Pacific reef-safe inhabitants. For this build I selected the Innovative Marine NUVO Aquarium Fusion 40L Pro. I was lucky enough to find this tank and stand on sale at a LFS for less than the list price online, thus avoiding the $300 s&h fee. Really any tank around this volume/footprint/price range would have worked had I found it in-store. I was waffling between this tank and the Waterbox 50.3, ultimately choosing the IM simply because the stand seemed to be better quality and it came with a nice return pump included. The tank+stand fit nicely in the back of my hatchback and I hauled it home with the help of an extra set of hands.
Build Details:
I currently have no stock, and my stocking plan is subject to change as a research, but currently is as follows:
Planned Fish:
May order a "CUC pack" from one of the online retailers rather than assemble it piece-meal, as I am still learning what's available. The tank seems to be ending an "ugly" phase as the nitrates drop and the introduced pod population peaks, obliterating the algae on the glass and substrate.
Setting up the tank:
I filled this tank with water four weeks ago with RO/DI water and added salt directly into the bare tank. I ran the return pump and powerhead to mix the salt, periodically testing the salinity until it was 1.025. I didn't calibrate my spectrometer but I did purchase 5 gallons of saltwater from my LFS when I purchased the 5 gal. caddy. I replicated the spectrometer reading of this water for the tank water.
At this point the tank had no light, ATO, hardscape, substrate or heater.
Week 1: Adding the substrate
I built the hardscape on a piece of eggcrate and poured in the bags of the live sand. Of course, the water became very turbid. After a day, I didn't notice much difference in the turbidity of the water, so I stuffed the returns on both sides of the built-in sump with filter floss and added a bag of Purigen. within a few days the water had completely cleared up and the floss was filthy. The Purigen didn't seem impacted much, and perhaps it was overkill. I expected the sediment to get stirred up every time the substrate was disturbed but it seems that the fines get bound up by biological activity over time.
Week 2 and 3: Cycling the tank
I had assumed that "live sand" from Caribsea would be able to provide the microbes necessary for establishing the nitrogen cycle, but from my experience I wouldn't recommend this approach. I raised the temperature up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and for the next week and a half I started the nitrogen cycle by adding a very small amount of fish food before graduating to a more concentrated ammonia source: urine. Yes, pee. At the beginning of the second week of the cycle I added three teaspoons of urine each morning (when the level of caffeine would be lowest). Over the next couple of days I didn't measure a significant increase in ammonia so in an effort to reach 4 ppm I began adding 4 then 5 tbsp each morning. Then suddenly the ammonia levels shot up. I think this delay was probably due to the undetectable Urea being metabolized to ammonia. NH3 reached levels of around 8 ppm, NO2 maxed out my test kit at 5.0 ppm and NO3 was about 80 ppm.
At this point I did the first small water change and stopped adding pee. NH3 dropped to about 4 ppm and NO2, NO3 were very high. For almost a week, these parameters seemed stable. Finally, I got fed up and added a piece of live rubble I had been storing in a 10 gallon "pod farm" right in front of the powerhead.
Within 24 hours, ammonia dropped from 4 ppm to 2 ppm, and NO2 dropped significantly. In 48 hours, NH3 was undetectable and NO2 was close to 0. This is why I don't suggest using just "live sand" (Caribsea aragalive). Probably would be better to use a live sand product in conjunction with a bottled bacteria product if not actual live rock.
I turned on the light cycle (default LPS light settings in the Reefi) and a thin layer of algae started to cover the glass and hardscape.
Week 4: Adding pods
I introduced copepods and a wad of chaetomorphia from the pod farm, which seemed to thrive on the high NO3 until it got sucked into the powerhead. The pod population obliterated the algae on the glass. Currently NH3: 0, NO2: 0, NO3: low. I should probably add some bio-load to the tank to sustain the cycle.
This is my introduction into the reef-keeping hobby and I have enjoyed the journey so far. My ultimate goal is to set up a SPS and Tridacna clam dominant reef with a few showy, Indo-Pacific reef-safe inhabitants. For this build I selected the Innovative Marine NUVO Aquarium Fusion 40L Pro. I was lucky enough to find this tank and stand on sale at a LFS for less than the list price online, thus avoiding the $300 s&h fee. Really any tank around this volume/footprint/price range would have worked had I found it in-store. I was waffling between this tank and the Waterbox 50.3, ultimately choosing the IM simply because the stand seemed to be better quality and it came with a nice return pump included. The tank+stand fit nicely in the back of my hatchback and I hauled it home with the help of an extra set of hands.
Build Details:
- Tank: Innovative Marine Nuvo 40L AIO
- Stand: Innovative Marine black APS stand
- Light: Reefi Uno 2.0 Pro LED
- Pump: 2x MightyJet 538gph DC return pumps
- Powerhead: Jebao SLW-20 SINE Wave pump
- ATO: Fzone Auto Top Off + 5 gal. caddy
- Skimmer: None
- Filtration: IM Custom Caddy w/floss + carbon + phosguard if necssary, 200 um filter sock
- Heater/Controller: Hygger 200 W Titanium Heater element with Inkbird controller
- Rocks: 40 lbs recycled real reef rock from the Pacific seeded with cured rock rubble from the same LFS.
- Sand: CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink Aquariam Sand, 40 lbs.
- Automation: TBD
- RODI system: Apec 5-stage RO unit + dual stage DI unit from BRS.
- Salt: Red Sea Salt 8kH
I currently have no stock, and my stocking plan is subject to change as a research, but currently is as follows:
Planned Fish:
- Ocellaris Clown pair
- Red Firefish, Nemateleotris magnifica
- Purple Firefish, Nemateleotris decora
- one of the wrasse spp. below:
- Leopard Wrasse, Macropharyngodon spp. (bipartitus, ornatus)
- Flasher Wrasse, Paracheilinus spp. (mccoskeri, rubeus)
- Tailspot Blenny, Ecsenius stigmatura
- Tridacna clams
- T. squamosa
- T. derasa
May order a "CUC pack" from one of the online retailers rather than assemble it piece-meal, as I am still learning what's available. The tank seems to be ending an "ugly" phase as the nitrates drop and the introduced pod population peaks, obliterating the algae on the glass and substrate.
Setting up the tank:
I filled this tank with water four weeks ago with RO/DI water and added salt directly into the bare tank. I ran the return pump and powerhead to mix the salt, periodically testing the salinity until it was 1.025. I didn't calibrate my spectrometer but I did purchase 5 gallons of saltwater from my LFS when I purchased the 5 gal. caddy. I replicated the spectrometer reading of this water for the tank water.
At this point the tank had no light, ATO, hardscape, substrate or heater.
Week 1: Adding the substrate
I built the hardscape on a piece of eggcrate and poured in the bags of the live sand. Of course, the water became very turbid. After a day, I didn't notice much difference in the turbidity of the water, so I stuffed the returns on both sides of the built-in sump with filter floss and added a bag of Purigen. within a few days the water had completely cleared up and the floss was filthy. The Purigen didn't seem impacted much, and perhaps it was overkill. I expected the sediment to get stirred up every time the substrate was disturbed but it seems that the fines get bound up by biological activity over time.
Week 2 and 3: Cycling the tank
I had assumed that "live sand" from Caribsea would be able to provide the microbes necessary for establishing the nitrogen cycle, but from my experience I wouldn't recommend this approach. I raised the temperature up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and for the next week and a half I started the nitrogen cycle by adding a very small amount of fish food before graduating to a more concentrated ammonia source: urine. Yes, pee. At the beginning of the second week of the cycle I added three teaspoons of urine each morning (when the level of caffeine would be lowest). Over the next couple of days I didn't measure a significant increase in ammonia so in an effort to reach 4 ppm I began adding 4 then 5 tbsp each morning. Then suddenly the ammonia levels shot up. I think this delay was probably due to the undetectable Urea being metabolized to ammonia. NH3 reached levels of around 8 ppm, NO2 maxed out my test kit at 5.0 ppm and NO3 was about 80 ppm.
At this point I did the first small water change and stopped adding pee. NH3 dropped to about 4 ppm and NO2, NO3 were very high. For almost a week, these parameters seemed stable. Finally, I got fed up and added a piece of live rubble I had been storing in a 10 gallon "pod farm" right in front of the powerhead.
Within 24 hours, ammonia dropped from 4 ppm to 2 ppm, and NO2 dropped significantly. In 48 hours, NH3 was undetectable and NO2 was close to 0. This is why I don't suggest using just "live sand" (Caribsea aragalive). Probably would be better to use a live sand product in conjunction with a bottled bacteria product if not actual live rock.
I turned on the light cycle (default LPS light settings in the Reefi) and a thin layer of algae started to cover the glass and hardscape.
Week 4: Adding pods
I introduced copepods and a wad of chaetomorphia from the pod farm, which seemed to thrive on the high NO3 until it got sucked into the powerhead. The pod population obliterated the algae on the glass. Currently NH3: 0, NO2: 0, NO3: low. I should probably add some bio-load to the tank to sustain the cycle.
